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Greece. Always in Season: New Campaign Aims to Attract Tourists All Year Round
Posted On 30 Jan 2020
Tag: All Year Round tourists, Angela Gerekou, Greece - Always in Season, Greece comparative advantages, Greece hospitality, Greece New Tourism Campaign, Greece tourism, Greece travel, Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO), Greek tourism ambassador network, Harry Theoharis, modern digital tools, roadshows in target markets, sustainable tourism development
“Through the campaign we are highlighting Greece’s identity, its comparative advantages, and the fact that it is a country that contains many other ‘countries’, in the sense that is offers a wide array of choices.”
GNTO President Angela Gerekou
Early indications are showing that Greek tourism in 2020 will see further growth, according to Greek Tourism Minister Harry Theoharis.
Speaking during a recent press conference in Athens, Minister Theoharis underlined the importance of the early launch of the country’s new tourism campaign by the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO).
Greece. Always in Season, which launched on January 15, highlights the ministry’s strategy to attract tourists to Greece all year round.
“All of our GNTO offices abroad have underlined the significance of the campaign’s early launch,” the minister said, adding that early bookings to Greece for the 2020 season are currently on a positive pace.
This was echoed by the GNTO’s president, Angela Gerekou, who said the campaign’s aim is for Greece to have a strong presence abroad, especially in Western European and US markets, to attract early bookings.
Greece’s new campaign will focus mainly on the use of modern digital tools to promote Greece on a global scale.
As part of the campaign, for the January – May 2020 period, Greece will appear in media including Euronews, BBC, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal and Financial Times. The country will also advertise via Google, Tripadvisor and Twitter, while it will also be promoted through Mastercard to attract higher-profile visitors.
“Through the campaign we are highlighting Greece’s identity, its comparative advantages, and the fact that it is a country that contains many other ‘countries’, in the sense that is offers a wide array of choices,” she said, adding that each Greek region has its “own color”.
According to amendments in presidential decree no. 78/2018, the GNTO’s president now participates in the process of preparing and carrying out the tourism promotion programs of all the 13 Greek regions.
Gerekou said the organization will look to highlight each region’s advantages within the context of a single promotional strategy that contains a thematic and regional focus.
“The new strategy of the GNTO and the tourism ministry is based on sustainable tourism development,” she underlined.
Moreover, GNTO’s president listed the organization’s marketing goals, which focus on increasing the spending of each international visitor in Greece and gaining more direct tourism revenue.
The GNTO’s goals include the creation of a Greek tourism ambassador network that will include volunteer celebrities of science, art and sport; roadshows in target markets, in collaboration with tour operators, to highlight the local features of regions; and revamping Greece’s image at international tourism exhibitions.
The organization will also focus Greece’s digital promotion through a comprehensive project targeting influencers and with the support of special #hashtags to drive traffic and gain impressions on social media.
Gerekou said that the performance of all digital efforts will be tracked and decisions will be made based on the results.
The first phase of the GNTO’s campaign will run until May under a budget of 8 million euros. Further actions to take place after May will be announced.
I think many would spend winter in Greece if there were 1-2 direct flights through autumn and winter. Older people especially prefer cooler weather but can’t cope with a change of planes. If we had one or two flights from Northern England and the same in the south I think many would come. I live in Crete and it’s the lack of flights that put people off. Additionally, not everywhere is open so tourism would have to be in the larger towns where there is a decent infrastructure all year round. Please get a few flights and see if that helps as those I know who want to come also want a direct flight. Just one or two a week would certainly help.
About time. People think Greece is just the beaches in the summer. Tourists are taken to the same places always. It is only when I retired to Greece that I discovered that Greece has ski resorts in winter, beautiful countryside and festivals outside of summer. All these need to be advertised. Greece is losing so much revenue not keeping tourism alive all year around.