Vassilis Kikilias: With €100 million in domestic tourism, we support the Greek family

The strategy and the network of interventions that have resulted in the “Greece” brand being number 5 worldwide this year, was mentioned by the Minister of Tourism, Vassilis Kikilias, in an interview with radio station Parapolitika 90.1 and journalists Dimitris Takis and Christina Korai, pointing out that “this year’s huge success in Greek tourism is the result of a very hard effort”.

Mr. Kikilias underlined that the benefits obtained from the tourism development all the links of the Greek economy – from the primary sector with farmers and breeders who supply hotels, accommodation and shops with their products, to trade, catering and of course the tourist businesses – prove that tourism is in no case a monoculture and, offering 25% of the GDP, constitutes the country’s heavy industry.

This is also the reason, as the Minister of Tourism pointed out, that the main pillar of the strategy developed this year was the attraction of travelers who spend a lot of money on their holidays, strengthening businesses and the average Greek family with “hot money”.

In terms of infrastructure, the 320 million euros earmarked for tourism from the Recovery & Resilience Fund as well as the resources from the new NSRF should be made the most of, at a time when new investments from international giants are constantly coming.

“You see it’s not just domestic investment anymore, but One and Only, Mandarin, HYATT, Marriott, Accor, Brown are all coming and investing in the country. What does that mean? New jobs, more travelers and tourists, more products from the Greek land, more services – from the packaging to the tour guides, the scooters, the sunbeds – to the raw material, the feta cheese, the nuts, the olives”, said the Minister of Tourism.

Regarding the social tourism programs, he stated that for the first time a government of the country is giving 100 million euros, in order to support citizens who cannot or do not have in a very difficult year. “So it’s 30 million from the “Tourism for All” program plus another 30 million from the same program announced by the Prime Minister, we reach 60 million euros. An additional 30 million from the Ministry of Labor and the OAED plus 5 million euros which is the special e-pass for North Evia and Samos. So in total more than 100 million euros will be allocated”, as he said.

Speaking about the choice to “illuminate” new destinations in the country – a goal that, from the data so far, seems to be achieved – he referred to the characteristic and completely successful example of Messinia, in which significant investments were made as a result of which it developed rapidly and now has tourism as ‘ throughout the year.

Regarding his initiative to invite German and Northern European pensioners to spend the winter in Greece due to the energy crisis, which will burden countries with a cold climate much more, Mr. Kikilias announced that in September, in collaboration with the EOT, will travel to Germany to attract travelers as part of the strategy to extend the tourist season.

“The logic is as follows: We invite to Greece the pensioners of northern Europe (because the rest work, their children go to school), the Germans, the Swiss, the Austrians, the Scandinavians and we give them the opportunity to host them here in the country us in the winter months, as, due to the energy crisis, it is advantageous for them to spend their winter in Greece. We have already spoken to the professional associations and hoteliers in areas, such as Crete for example. They accept and support it. We are also in discussions with the big tour operators of Germany, TUI and Intertouristik and I had the honor to host the German Ambassador at the Ministry of Tourism.At the beginning of September we will travel to Germany, with a special campaign and a road show for this very reason, the possibility to extend even more so during the tourist season for Northern Europeans in Greece” he characteristically stated.

Finally, V. Kikilias pointed out that “we are working on the development of a sustainable tourism model, friendly to the environment and its protection”.