Earlier on today, Greece’s Minister of Tourism, Vassilis Kikilias – who is visting London participating at the events of the World Travel market where Greece has a unique pavillion, was interviewed on the morning Breakfast show of the British television network SKY News with Kay Burley.
The Minister of Tourism spoke about the sustainable tourism development and the campaign that Greece has organized for 2023 on the subject of a sustainable tourism model, friendly to the environment and with low carbon emissions, referring at the same time to the ‘ eco islands ‘ initiative, i.e. islands with energy autonomy from renewable energy sources. Vassilis Kikilias made a special mention of Symi, Halki and Astypalaia Islands that joined this initiative last year and the effort to extend this program to hotels, complexes, clean beaches and clean cities.
The Greek Minister spoke about the 3 million Britons who visited Greece this year, the special relationship between the two peoples, the love that British tourists show for both the Greek islands and mainland Greece, but also for Greek gastronomy. He also pointed out the extension of flights to Greece until November and the start of the tourist season earlier, from April, emphasizing that Greece is a wonderful destination even for the weekend, the so-called ‘ Greekend ‘. “Greece is a ‘ state of mind ‘”, underlined the Greek Minister, “from ancient times until today, Greeks have learned to offer our hospitality, it is part of our culture and DNA “.
Finally, to the journalist’s question about sustainable tourism development, Vassilis Kikilias emphasized that the transition to sustainable tourism is not an easy path at all, it must be done one step at a time. He spoke about airlines that must take into account carbon emissions, hotels that must take measures to protect the environment, and noted that Greece has included in its program the upgrading of public infrastructure as well as the management of private investments. Greece is one of the first tourism brands in the world, and is opening the way to sustainable tourism development, the Greek Minister underlined. “We achieved this transformation of small islands into environmentally friendly ones, successfully, therefore we proved to the world that it can be done”, pointed out at the end the Minister of Tourism, V. Kikilias.
