Greece’s International Tourism Campaign to be Ready by Late March

Photo source: Visit Greece

The upcoming tourism campaign to promote Greece abroad is expected to be ready by the end of March, the secretary general of the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO), Dimitris Fragakis, said on Tuesday.

Speaking during a press conference on the 2020 hotel performance in Athens and Attica, the GNTO’s secretary general reminded that the organization will not launch a usual-type campaign, but instead follow a three-year strategic plan to promote Greek tourism to international markets.

Greece’s new promotional campaign – to launch once the conditions allow for the re-opening of tourism – will be “adaptable and flexible” to changing conditions as they develop and will go way beyond just promoting the classic “sea and sun” model.

According to Fragakis, the three-year plan has several scenarios which can be adapted to the changing data of countries targeted by the campaign.

Specifically for 2021, the GNTO will launch a main campaign for the country’s promotion and a series of micro campaigns, which will focus on thematic forms of tourism such as sea tourism and yachting, health/wellness tourism, gastronomy tourism and also promoting the country as an ideal destination to host luxury tourism events.

The GNTO’s new campaign, which for the first time will have the input of tourism professionals of the private sector, will also shine the spotlight on Greece’s mainland and mountainous regions, aiming to promote the whole country as one potential tourism destination and target specific audiences.

Greece has more ‘ammunition’ for 2021 tourism season

Commenting on the 2021 tourism season, Fragakis said he is optimistic that Greece will do much better than in 2020 as authorities are counting on the high number of vaccinations as well as the health protocols as “ammunition” in the fight against the coronavirus (Covid-19) this year.

“This year we have more ‘ammunition’ than last year. We have the progress of vaccinations, which I believe will accelerate in the near future in Greece and abroad,” he said, adding that this year Greece has the opportunity to do more, cheaper and more accurate rapid tests for those who wants to visit the country.

He also highlighted the health protocols being followed by tourism businesses throughout the country since 2020.

“Last year we managed to save a small part of tourism – a 20 percent – with revenues of some 4.2 billion euros,” the GNTO’s secretary general said.

Fragakis said that Greece is depending on a high percentage of last minute bookings to boost tourism’s recovery this year, adding that he expects recovery to begin after the Easter holiday in May.

“If all goes well, towards the end of May we will see the first recovery of Greek tourism. This year will be a better year overall compared to 2020 … Last minute bookings will be much more this year than pre-scheduled bookings,” he said.

The secretary general also mentioned that the GNTO this year is in the process of launching partnerships to promote Attica.

According to Fragakis, the organization is in discussions with the Region of Attica and will also soon sign a memorandum of cooperation with Athens’ digital tourism guide “This is Athens”, aiming to contribute to the promotion of the Greek capital to international markets.