Awards & World Recognition For Greece In Summer 2014

During the summer, Greece received various industry awards and recognition for excellence in regards for sites, hotels, restaurants, sustainability, etc. The following are some of Greece’s most important accolades.

The Acropolis shines at World Travel Awards 2014

The Acropolis in Athens won the title of Europe’s Leading Tourist Attraction at the World Travel Awards Europe Gala Ceremony 2014 held in August. Also nominated for the title were the La Sagrada Familia, Spain; the EDF Energy London Eye, England; the Eiffel Tower, France; and the Roman Colosseum, Italy.

Dunes Beach, Costa Navarino. Photo source: TEMES

Greece scored a total of eight top European titles in various categories at the gala ceremony, which was held in Athens: Corfu took the title of Europe’s Leading Beach Destination; Aegean Airlines was announced Europe’s Leading Regional Airline; the Divani Apollon Palace & Thalasso was announced Europe’s Leading Spa Hotel; the Grand Resort Lagonissi was voted Europe’s Leading Meetings & Conference Center; Porto Zante Villas won two awards and claimed the titles of Europe’s Leading Luxury Beach Villas and Europe’s Leading Private Beach Hotel; and Costa Navarino walked away with Europe’s Responsible Tourism Award.

Mideast’s owner and managing director, Katerina Mousbeh and manager, Maria Mousbeh.

On a country level, 18 Greek tourism enterprises were recognized for pushing the boundaries of industry excellence, such as Minos Imperial Luxury Beach Resort & Spa (Leading All Inclusive Resort), Iconic Santorini (Leading Boutique Hotel), Avis (Leading Car Rental Company), Athenaeum InterContinental Athens (Leading Conference Hotel), Mideast Travel Worldwide (Leading Destination Management Company), Elounda Peninsula All Suite Hotel and Residences (Leading Hotel Residences), Presidential Suite @ Arion, A Luxury Collection Resort & Spa (Leading Hotel Suite) and Bill & Coo Suites (Leading Luxury All Suite Hotel).

Athens Airport in the spotlight

Athens International Airport CEO Yiannis Paraschis (center) with the award for Best Airport in Europe in the 10-25 million passenger category. Photo source: AIA

Athens International Airport (AIA) “Eleftherios Venizelos” was applauded during the summer as it was recognized as the best European airport in the “10 – 25 million passenger” category at the 10th Annual ACI EUROPE Best Airport Awards held in Frankfurt. AIA was also deemed the most efficient airport in Europe in the small/medium-size airport category, according to the Global Annual Benchmarking Report of the Air Transport Research Society (ATRS).

Best regional airline in Europe

Eftichios Vassilakis, Vice Chairman of AEGEAN. Photo © Aegean Airlines

Aegean Airlines was titled as the Best Regional Airline in Europe at the 2014 Skytrax World Airline Awards held during the Farnborough International Airshow 2014 held in the UK. It is the fourth consecutive year – and fifth time since 2009 – AEGEAN has been recognized as the best regional airline in Europe. Aegean Airlines also was honored this year with the Corporate Social Responsibility Award at the “ACCI 2014 Awards” of the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which recognize the best businesses and entrepreneurs in Greece.

Social responsibility

After intensive auditing, the Creta Maris Beach Resort in Hersonissos, Crete, was honored with the Travelife Gold certification. Travelife is an international certification scheme for hotels and accommodations that helps them improve how they manage their environmental and social impacts, such as the way their energy or water consumption, or how they implement a corporate social responsibility towards employees and the local community in which they operate.

Popular online travel site Tripadvisor awarded the Melia Athens hotel with GreenPartner status in its “Green Leaders” program. The hotel met the program’s minimum “green” requirements including recycling, a towel and linen re-use program, using energy-efficient light bulbs, tracking energy usage, and educating staff and guests on green practices.

Certificate of Excellence award by Tripadvisor

Tripadvisor also honored more Greek establishments with the Certificate of Excellence award for consistently achieving outstanding traveler reviews. The Olive Garden Restaurant & Bar of the Titania Hotel received an award after receiving a score of 4.5 out of 5 stars rated by TripAdvisor users. Also, the Hellenic Motor Museum was recognized as a top performing museum by travelers and received a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence award.

Tripadvisor also released a list of the 25 Best Beaches In The World For 2014 and included Elafonissi located in west Crete.

Crete’s Tourism Campaign Wins Three More Awards

Photo source: Region of Crete

Crete’s successful tourism campaign “Incredible Crete: Surprisingly yours!” won more awards from international institutions during the summer. The Region of Crete was honored at the International Tourism Film Festival “Zagreb TourFilm Festival” in Croatia with an award for the video “Crete: Incredible Hospitality” in the “Best video/film – up to 3 minutes” category and won a special award in the “Best screenplay” category for the video “Crete: All the world on one island.” Also, at the “Baku International Tourism Film Festival” held in Azerbaijan, the video “Crete: All the world on one island” won the Golden Award in the “Country, Region, City” category.

Best wine lists

GB Roof Garden

The Greek restaurants GB Roof Garden of the Hotel Grande Bretagne and the Tudor Hall of the King George hotel, both located in Athens, were honored in July through the Wine Spectator magazine’s annual Restaurant Wine List Awards program. Wine Spectator’s Restaurant Wine List Awards recognize restaurants whose wine lists offer interesting selections, are appropriate to their cuisine and appeal to a wide range of wine lovers.