Specialist backs Greek prime minister’s vision for year-round tourism
James ChappleThe boss of Greece specialist Planet Holidays has thrown his weight behind prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’s ambition for the country to become a year-round destination.
Planet Holidays director Harry Kyrillou said his business was ready to provide year-round travel experiences and weddings in Greece and across the country’s many islands.
It comes after Mitsotakis told a recent EU tourism summit exploring "resilience in the era of the climate crisis" that extending the season year-round would "ease congestion during peak months" and spread the country’s tourism over all 12 months, as well as create opportunities to market new experiences unique to Greece’s off-season and shoulder seasons.
Greece currently hosts between 30 and 32 million tourists a year, but Mitsotakis stressed it was spend – not numbers – that most mattered, revealing he could envision a future where the country welcomes fewer tourists overall but a greater proportion of higher spending visitors, providing an economic and environmental boost.
"We fully support the Greek PM’s vision for a year-round tourism market," said Kyrillou, highlighting how the business has long offered Athens year-round and, in the past decade, extended this to Thessaloniki, Crete and Rhodes, while also offering fly-drive holidays to specific areas where hotels have winter availability.
Kyrillou said regions with specific cultural heritage and wide-ranging special interest activities, such as gastronomy, cycling, hiking and wine tours, would be candidates for extended tourism seasons. However, he also acknowledged the trend would have to start on the mainland and on Greece’s larger islands.
"The transformation towards year-round tourism requires collaboration between the tourism sector and the Greek government," Kyrillou continuted. "This entails active involvement from hoteliers, restaurants and other service providers. Many of our clients prefer authentic local experiences and supporting the local economy, rather than booking all-inclusive resorts."
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