HARIS KOKKOSIS General Secretary of the Greek National Tourism Organisation INTERVIEW

LESSED with a perfect climate, a host of beautiful islands, and the most extensive coastline of all Mediterranean countries, Greece is well established as an ideal place for a vacation of sun, sea, and fun. Now it is diversifying its appeal in a bid to increase visitor numbers.

“We are trying to capitalize on our opportunities,” says Haris Kokkosis (INTERVIEW), General Secretary of the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO). “The tourism of tomorrow will be different to what we have traditionally known. Modern tourism is more personalized and tailor-made to suit the individual,” he says.

“People today fly into Greece at a low price, and then they hire a car and follow their own itinerary. We try to cater to that by providing opportunities for a range of cultural and recreational activities and tastes.”

The tourism promotion campaign will target specific sectors. These will include spas and thalassotherapy (preventative and curative treatment based on the therapeutic virtues of seawater), cultural and urban tourism, convention and business tourism, eco-tourism and agro-tourism, and marine tourism, including activities such as diving and yachting.

“We aim to expand the alternative, quality, sustainable tourism product to a level that will be considered part of our national identity” says Mr. Kokkosis.

The GNTO is also seeking to promote Greece as a rewarding location for foreign investment in tourism. “We are trying to promote Greece as a good place for investment due to the modernization that has taken place because of the Games. We already have a lot of interest for complex-type tourist investment such as spas, golf course facilities, etc. This is the type of integrated development we are looking for.”

The completion of major transport infrastructure projects this year will open up new parts of the country to tourism development. The western part of Greece is one such area, with the opening earlier this year of the new Rio-Antirio Bridge linking the Peloponnese with Western Greece, and with the Ionian highway, which will link the northwestern port of Igoumenitsa to the city of Patras. To the north, the Egnatia highway, connecting west to east, will make Thessaloniki and its vicinity accessible.

Part of Greece's appeal is its unique heritage, from the philosophy of the ancient Greeks to the art of the Greco-Roman period

“There is going to be growth, there is no doubt about that,” says Mr. Kokkosis. “We want to expand in the urban tourism market and I believe that we can. We know that our main product is still the islands, but places like Nafplion are coming up.”
The potential of new markets is being explored. China, Russia, and the Arab states are all being targeted for the future.

Attracting tourists from the United States is a key objective, and Mr. Kokkosis is confident more will come. “We consider the U.S. to be a major additional market for us along with Europe, which is our natural regional market. I am sure that we are going to surpass previous levels of American visitors once the euro-dollar ratio is lowered.”

A major advantage from the point of view of appealing to the U.S. market is that Greece is a safe place to visit—a point reinforced by the incident free staging of the Athens Olympics.

“Greece is one of the few destinations where you go out at night and you do not have to think about being robbed,” says Mr. Kokkosis. “We want people from the United States to come to Greece and invest in long-term tourist developments.”