(TAN): The Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO) is gearing up to begin an advertising campaign to improve early bookings, reports said.
The new campaign, reportedly a new edition of GNTO’s traditional annual ad campaign which usually starts in the first quarter of each year, will be implemented during the first few months of 2020 to highlight Greece as a year-round destination. According to reports, 70% of the EUR 8 million (USD 8.9 million approximately) campaign will use all the available digital tools and target the markets of the United States, Canada and Europe.
“We are starting earlier, compared to previous years, with the launch of a dynamic four-month campaign that will target traditional tourism markets in Europe, the US and Canada,” GNTO Secretary General, Dimitris Fragakis was quoted by Greek Travel Pages Headlines as saying.
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Reports said the GNTO has approved EUR 1 million from the total sum to promote Greek destinations to the United States market between January and May this year.
The organisation plans to participate in 47 international tourism fairs over the course of this year, as per reports.
Fragakis reportedly added that the GNTO could roll out a special communication programme to back regions heavily impacted by the rise in migrant flows, such as the North Aegean islands.
Grigoris Tasios, President of the Hellenic Hoteliers Federation, an employers’ organisation representing the hotel enterprises operating in Greece, said he hoped this year will at least generate the same numbers as 2019, amid more competition from countries such as Turkey and Egypt, as per reports.
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“We are interested in how the country will fare in general, moving away from the sun-and-sea model. It will take plenty more work,” Ekathimerini quoted Tasios as saying.
However, Tourism Minister Haris Theocharis reportedly said 80% of Greece is covered by mountains, which needs to be promoted.
“Our objective is to achieve a much greater increase in tourism revenues. Our country is 80 percent mountains, which many people abroad do not know, and we should promote that,” Theocharis was quoted by The National Herald as saying.
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Last month, Theocharis presented the seven pillars of Greece’s strategic tourism plan from the ten-year period of 2021-2030, reports said.
“This is a plan based on sustainable development, diversification of the tourism product, season expansion, the emergence of new destinations, the enhancement of the value added product, which will lead to salary raises for the sector’s workforce; and strengthening the country’s image in international markets,” he was quoted by Greek Travel Pages Headlines as saying.
Tasios reportedly hoped for “peace and quiet in our country for 2020, and that the government sees us as a first priority, because tourism has been of great help to the country”.
