Dr. Christos Pallis, President Greek National Tourism Organization

Philoxenia 2013 greeting.

The International Tourism Exhibition Philoxenia 2013 is a point of reference for the tourism industry of Greece.

For many years, Philoxenia has been opening the way for important business meetings and workshops between all relevant parties that focus on the development and progress of Greek tourism, thereby laying the foundations for the launch of synergies between the public and private sector to achieve common objectives.

Today, Greek tourism is experiencing an extremely fruitful period. This is confirmed by the growing tourism demand and by the fact that arrivals in our country for 2013 reached record levels. Greece is gradually reclaiming its rightful place within the international tourism market.

The positive development in tourism is the outcome of an integrated action plan of the Tourism Ministry, the Greek National Tourism Organization and all stakeholders. The economic climate in recent years and the effort for recovery has highlighted the importance of tourism as a key pillar for growth.

We are constantly enriching ​​the tourism product of our country with new values. We are monitoring developments and carrying out a series of reforms that raise the competitiveness of Greek products and services to an international level.

At the heart of efforts to diversify our product is also the strengthening of special interest tourism and the promotion of the undiscovered treasures of our country. Because Greece has a long history, a unique cultural and historical heritage, a unique natural environment and dozens of unknown features that are worth informing our guests of: the Greek lifestyle, hospitality, culture of everyday life and the contemporary appearance of our cities.

Our goal is the sustainable development of tourism and we should all work together for this to be implemented.