2024 is a record-year for tourism, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Friday speaking at the 3rd “Greece Talks” conference entitled “Identity, Future and the Traveler” organised by the site Travel.gr and Proto Thema.
According to Bank of Greece, tourist receipts have increased and now Greece is ready to successfully extend the tourism season. He also underlined that Athens has turned into an all-year tourism destination.
Talking with the editor of Monocle Magazine Andrew Tuck, Mitsotakis said that the people should get familiar with new destinations in Greece. He also said that people visiting Greece must enjoy a unique experience and value for money holidays.
Visitors must feel the need to come back to Greece in order to discover new destinations, the prime minister noted, adding that this contributes to the economy as tourist receipts exceeded 20 billion euros last year. He also estimated these figures are expected to furtner increase this year.
He also referred to the Greek hospitality, explaining that “incidents with local communities attacking to tourists have not occured in Greece. I don’t even expect it to happen,” he said.
The prime minister also said that Greece has small businesses that can be very successful by offering quality tourism services.
He also said that our natural heritage seems to be supporting new trends as people are really looking for experiences. New destinations in mainland Greece are promoted as Greece offers unique winter destinations in addition to summer ones. He also referred to local food and local music as well to the cultural heritage.
The Greek premier noted that Greece is happy to welcome international companies that invest in the tourism sector, but at the same time he said that he is also happy that there are Greek companies in the hospitality sector that are extremely successful.
Mitsotakis emphasized that he feels proud when he sees Greek tourism companies expanding abroad, while he also referred to the high quality human resources.