A new image to bring in visitors who spend more
Greece has a lot more to offer than sun, sea and cheap package holidays. Its new Minister of Tourism is determined to portray the country as a high quality destination to suit a variety of tastes

For the majority of visitors, the weather and the beaches are the main attractions. However, the government is keen to move Greece’s international image on from just sun, sand, sea and cheap package holidays, and to attract people all year round instead of just in the summer months.

Aris Spiliotopoulos, the newly appointed Minister of Tourism, has been given the task of promoting Greece as a high quality destination with a wide variety of activities to offer. “In a global world, Greece must have a multi-faceted image to become a global brand which can target any type of travellers,” he says. “We have to break free of unidirectional notions of sand, sea and sun. We have to look towards a more open tourism model so that we can sell more months of the year. We have to act like a mega-brand.”

Mr Spiliotopoulos is not the first to stress the importance of Greece upping its game by raising standards and diversifying its product in order to compete successfully in the highly competitive international tourism market. However, Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis is relying on him to advance the agenda.

Away from the beaches, the focus will be on developing everything from archaeological, cultural and religious tourism to agritourism, gastronomic, marine and sports tourism – particularly golf – and the conference and exhibition market. Particular emphasis is being put on ‘green tourism’; Mr Spiliotopoulos is keen to promote eco-friendly activities such as camping, mountain-hiking and walking tours, and to see ‘green’ investment with the natural environment strongly factored into new tourism villages and accommodation.
Efforts to promote city break tourism are being focused not only on Athens, where the long-awaited ultra-modern Acropolis Museum is due to open in stages next year, but also on Thessaloniki, Greece’s second largest city.

Aris Spiliotopoulos Minister of Tourism

Greece has long been a popular international holiday destination, particularly with the British, Germans and Scandinavians, and recently a marked increase in arrivals from eastern Europe has helped swell the number of visitors to more than 17 million per year.
Mr Spiliotopoulos will also be targeting new markets in Russia and in Asian countries, including China; Air China recently launched twice-weekly flights from Beijing to Athens via Dubai. “Asia generates quality tourism, as travellers from the region do not come to Greece only for our sea-plus-sun product but also for our culture.”

A specialised campaign will be launched both within and outside Greece, targeting the 10 per cent of tourists who are looking for new, genuine experiences, as reflected in the new marketing slogan “Greece, the New Experience”.

A critical part of the marketing drive will be the embracing of new media. “Buyers are on their computer screens and visitors and tourists alike are not just going to materialise. We must be able to win them over in order for them to become visitors,” says Mr Spiliotopoulos.

Crucially, the government wants to close the gap between tourist arrivals and tourism revenue; tourist arrivals are increasing by around 6 per cent per year, but revenues are rising by just 3 per cent. It means getting tourists to spend more while they are in the country. “What matters is that they leave more currency behind,” says the Minister.