{"id":6056,"date":"2018-01-17T13:10:20","date_gmt":"2018-01-17T10:10:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/e-inon.gr\/magazine\/?p=6056"},"modified":"2018-01-17T13:10:20","modified_gmt":"2018-01-17T10:10:20","slug":"tourism-increase-in-crete","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/e-inon.gr\/magazine\/2018\/01\/17\/tourism-increase-in-crete\/","title":{"rendered":"Tourism increase in Crete"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Crete plays a leading role, with tourism increases above the average\u00a0 in Greece and in 2017 we expect it to reach\u00a0 10% and 4.5 million international arrivals,” stressed Elena Koundoura, Minister of Tourism in an interview to In-On magazine.
\nQuestion.<\/strong>\u00a0What is the new planning to increase the tourist season in Crete?
\nAnswer.<\/strong>\u00a0 Our goal is to make Greece a world-renowned tourist destination for 365 days a year. The national regional tourism\u00a0 plan that we have designed and implemented since 2015 has driven all the tourist figures during the last three years to reach the highest performances of all times. Crete is an amazing\u00a0 destination with a strong tourist product and international reputation, which stands out for its authenticity. At the same time it is a mature destination that covers all the requirements\u00a0 to directly support the goal for tourism throughout the year. For three consecutive years that our tourism policy has been implemented, Crete is leading the way with a growth above the average increase in Greek tourism\u00a0 and in 2017 we expect we will have 10% increase and about 4.5 million international arrivals. In order to materialize our strategic and development goals, we have sought and have succeeded to have excellent cooperation with the Region of Crete so as to:
\n\u2022 widen the summer tourist season, which already has given excellent results,
\n\u2022 attract visitors traveling all year round from the new markets we have opened,\u00a0 enhancing at the same time\u00a0 connectivity and direct flights,
\n\u2022 promote the emergence of new destinations in Crete
\n\u2022 promote the development of thematic tourism focusing on the authentic experiences and based on the competitive advantages of the region,
\n\u2022 and attract new high quality tourism investment
\nThrough our contacts and strategic agreements with international travel groups and airlines, we have ensured the expansion of their programs from the end of March until November 2016 and even more dynamically in 2017. This has resulted in that September, October and November being the best months ever and also showing double-figured growth in international arrivals.
\nOur immediate goal in order to implement our business plan is to start direct flights to Crete throughout the year.
\nWe also focus on supporting the destination with new availability and high quality infrastructure and services so to serve the ever-increasing demand in the coming years. Proposals for\u00a0 4 and 5 star hotels were submitted to the services of the Ministry of Tourism over the past two years and more than 380 tourist businesses were licensed. Investments in three complex tourist accommodation units are now at different licensing stages\u00a0 and 47 hotel investment proposals have been submitted to the development law reaching a total budget of over 117 million euros. Strategic investments are in progress in Lasithi, as well as the construction of new units by international tourist groups that reinforce\u00a0 their hotel portfolio on the island.
\nQuestion.<\/strong>\u00a0Tell us your deals with TUI and major tour operators for the increase of tourists in Crete
\nAnswer.<\/strong>\u00a0With targeted negotiations during the last three years and with the strategic partnerships we are developing with international tourist groups, we strengthen the popular destinations of Crete by showing new destinations and all the thematic experiences that Crete offers as far as tourism is concerned throughout the year. Crete constitutes now a strategic choice of international groups and especially in the last two years we have sought to increase our tourist share from the traditional markets of Europe as well as from Russia, a country which we have strengthened and promoted even more dynamically with the 2017-2018 Greek-Russian Year of Tourism and also\u00a0 in the new markets we\u00a0 have opened in China, in the Middle East and in India.
\nThe messages for 2018 are very positive and the reservations for Crete have started with an increase of more than 5% from all major markets.
\nWe continuously upgrade the product; namely the sun and the sea, while promoting very dynamically the thematic forms of tourism so that visitors come all year to experience the historical and cultural heritage of Crete, its rich tradition, customs, the Cretan music and its festivals, the infinite possibilities for alternative tourism in its unique nature, the authentic experiences of the island\u2019s interior and the dozens of traditional villages all year round. With its excellent climate and modern infrastructure, Crete is ideal for sports and training tourism, for health and wellness tourism, also having a great potential\u00a0 for conference tourism and city trips and above all the unique Cretan gastronomy. Furthermore, we are\u00a0 actively promoting sea tourism, cruise and yachting\u00a0 and diving tourism. Through our strategic partnerships, such as with TUI, we promote Crete as a home port for the cruise. The Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO) as the national body of the Global Communication for the Promotion of Communication Strategy implements a very dynamic program with mixed advertising, co-advertising, promotion on global electronic platforms and television networks establishing enhanced presence in International Tourism with exhibitions and the organization of the largest\u00a0 in number ever\u00a0 familiarization trips.
\nQuestion.<\/strong>\u00a0What are the new schemes for agr\u03b9-food tourism with the contribution of the Ministry of Tourism?
\nAnswer.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0Linking tourism to primary production and the agri-food sector is a priority in our government policy for the country\u2019s reproductive reconstruction. Crete is a blessed land, with abundant and high quality local products, which constitute an integral part of\u00a0 its history, its tradition and its\u00a0 gastronomy which is based on the healthy and nutritious Cretan diet. Extra virgin olive oil, excellent wines,\u00a0 pure cheeses, the unique aromatic herbs\u00a0 with their beneficial properties and\u00a0 the fresh fruit and vegetables are definitely associated with the destination\u2019s identity and add more value to the tourist product. Through the Agr\u03b9-Food\u00a0 Industry and Tourism Forum that we have established with the relevant ministries, specific policies are being developed in order to encourage the creation of value chains, networking and other cooperative bonds between businesses in these fields. Specific actions will be included\u00a0 in\u00a0 the co-funded NSRF programs. We also support the inclusion of products in the hotel and tourist chain through the\u00a0 project of\u00a0 “Greek Breakfast”\u00a0 supervised by the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels. We\u00a0 also promote\u00a0 the scheme of \u00a0\u00abBreakfast Basket\u00bb in the rented rooms and tourist accommodation and we give the special licenses\u00a0 of\u00a0 the Greek cuisine and the visiting winery. We support the targeted actions of the Region of Crete for the programs and routes of agrotourism and agri-food. We also strongly support the pilot project for the promotion of Crete as an example of a\u00a0 sustainable diet holiday destination implemented by the TUI Group and the European Futouris Network with the participation of over 200 producers, olive presses and wineries as well as the development of excursion projects. We have established with the Ministry of Rural Development and Food the specifications of the tourist accommodation so as to be included\u00a0 in the NSRF Leader programs and we are working on the new framework for the standards of agro tourism and the provision of a special license for it.
\nOur aim is to support tourism in Greece and especially in Crete through local tourism, to help the professionals of these productive sectors through new professional activities, new sources of income and new jobs. Tourism is a powerful driving force for growth which generates economic and developmental benefits that we seek to achieve\u00a0 in all destinations and local communities.<\/p>\n

Curriculum vitae\u00a0<\/strong>
\nElena Kountoura is the minister of Tourism of Greece.
\nShe was born in Athens. He has been a member of the National Athletics Team for many years and was a Greek champion in high jump at 100m. with obstacles winning pan-Hellenic records, pan Hellenic victories and international distinc tions.
\nShe is a graduate of the school of Physical Education and Sports Science at the National Kapodistrian University of Athens.
\nShe speaks English, French and Spanish
\nCAREER
\n1984 -1996: International career in the global fashion industry
\n1996 -2003: Career in publishing and magazines with an emphasis on women\u2019s and social issues.
\nPOLITICAL CAREER
\nShe was elected a Member of the Greek Parliament 6 times.
\nIn the period 2004-2007, she was MP of the first district\u00a0 of Athens under the New Democracy political party. In 2012, she was the first to participate in the Independent Greeks political\u00a0 movement group. She was the first to elect in the first district of Athens under the Independent Greeks political party during\u00a0 the four national elections, two in 2012 and two in 2015.
\nShe has served as Secretary General of the Parliamentary group of the movement and also in the sector of Tourism.
\nIn the co-operation of the parties of SYRIZA\u00a0 and Independent Greeks in January 2015 under the Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, she was given the portfolio of tourism as Deputy Minister of Economy, Development and Tourism and in November 2016 she was appointed Minister of Tourism.
\nShe has been a member of the Tourism, Health and Social Solidarity Committees, President of the Parliamentary group of the Greek-Korean Friendship and a member of the Friendship Groups with Romania, Jordan, Uzbekistan and France.
\nShe has also participated in the Special Standing parliamentary Committee on Equality and Human Rights, in the\u00a0 Special Standing parliamentary Committee on the Protection of the Environment and in the Special Standing parliamentary Committee on Educational Affairs.
\nShe is the president of the non-profit organization “Europa Donna Hellas” for the prevention and information on breast cancer and the claim for better services for cancer patients.
\nShe has been awarded for her support to the dissemination of Greek Paralympic Volunteering. In December 2007, she was honored by the Greek State as Goodwill Ambassador for Social Volunteering.<\/p>\n

Source of publication\u00a027th edition In-On<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Crete plays a leading role, with tourism increases above the average\u00a0 in Greece and in 2017 we expect it to reach\u00a0 10% and 4.5 million international arrivals,” stressed Elena Koundoura, Minister of Tourism in an interview to In-On magazine. Question.\u00a0What is the new planning to increase the tourist season in Crete? Answer.\u00a0 Our goal is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5940,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[275],"tags":[8560,1275,645,2856,304,656,1281,8552,1985,1606,8555,8554,632,972,8556,3207,1628,8557,643,812,303,1285,8561,39,1568,8553,8558,5790,8559,2219,1570,1980,4420,155,8487,1622,8562],"class_list":["post-6056","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interview","tag-alexis-tsipras","tag-athens","tag-china","tag-cretan-business-magazine","tag-crete","tag-curriculum-vitae","tag-education","tag-elena-koundoura","tag-european","tag-france","tag-global-communication","tag-gnto","tag-greece","tag-greek","tag-greek-breakfast","tag-greek-national-tourism-organization","tag-health","tag-hellenic-chamber-of-hotels","tag-hotel","tag-in-on-magazine","tag-interview","tag-jordan","tag-korean","tag-magazine","tag-markets","tag-minister-of-tourism","tag-national-athletics-team","tag-nsrf","tag-physical","tag-promotion","tag-region-of-crete","tag-romania","tag-russian","tag-tourism","tag-tui","tag-university","tag-uzbekistan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/e-inon.gr\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6056","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/e-inon.gr\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/e-inon.gr\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/e-inon.gr\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/e-inon.gr\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6056"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/e-inon.gr\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6056\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6057,"href":"https:\/\/e-inon.gr\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6056\/revisions\/6057"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/e-inon.gr\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/e-inon.gr\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/e-inon.gr\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/e-inon.gr\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}