Online Tourism Campaign Goes Public

The Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO) is going through changes, as it will operate as an agency for the promotion of Greece abroad, Culture and Tourism Minister Pavlos Geroulanos told Greek journalists.

Last month, the culture and tourism minister presented 13 new promotional videos (in English, German and Russian) available on the “You in Greece” website and briefed journalists on the new tourism campaign strategy the ministry is following to advertise Greece abroad.

He underlined that the advertising campaign will not change every year as it did in the past but will continue on from the one already running (YouinGreece).

According to Mr. Geroulanos, culture and tourism ministry officials have contacted directors of GNTO offices abroad to organize the campaign based on each market’s characteristics.

Moreover, the ministry aims to stop the exclusive promotion of the “sun and sea” model and promote alternative forms of tourism.

“If we do not broaden our horizons then we will have no difference with Turkey,” the culture and tourism minister said.

These experiences would be 10 for each of the nine tourism forms namely, nautical, meetings, seaside, Athens and Thessaloniki, culture, luxury, nature, touring and wellness.

Mr. Geroulanos introduced the new portal visitgreece.gr and announced the ministry’s new Internet program entitled my-greece.gr, which is the revamp of the “YouinGreece” online campaign and “Alliance for Greece” campaign.

(The “YouinGreece” campaign was presented in June by the minister as a response to the negative publicity Greece had received in the international media. “Alliance for Greece” was launched in late July and is a private initiative drawn by sectors of the broader communication field and aimed to attract domestic tourism.)

Within the framework of the my-greece.gr project, Internet users will be able to upload their favorite photos and videos with the aim to reveal the “Greece they love,” the country’s beauty and all the characteristics that make it special.

The minister said the goal is to encourage Greeks themselves to promote the country abroad.

“For the first time, we are all invited to shape our country’s campaign and become protagonists of the stories we tell,” he said.

The uploaded material will be accompanied by a 25-word text, through which the users will describe their experience.

Mr. Geroulanos stressed that for the first time, all internet users are invited to shape Greece’s tourism campaign and become protagonists of their stories.

The minister emphasized that in a later stage, the archive of my-greece.gr would be used as a basis for a total of 90 experiences that would be available on visitgreece.gr.

These experiences would be 10 for each of the nine tourism forms namely, nautical, meetings, seaside, Athens and Thessaloniki, culture, luxury, nature, touring and wellness.

In regards to future plans, a new program is in the works named “Athens Every Week,” which will provide information on events in Athens. This will be an effort to enhance the Greek capital’s image as a city break destination.

For Thessaloniki, the minister had announced in September a program entitled “Thessaloniki Cultures Crossroads,” which sees the Greek city hosting a geographical region every year for five years. The first culture to be featured will be that of the Middle East in 2011.