“Tourism in Crete is a key area of wealth,” Greek Tourism Minister
Olga Kefalogianni said while speaking at a conference in Heraklion,
Crete.
The conference took place on 17 October and explored possibilities of developing
special interest tourism types (agritourism, wine tourism and pilgrimage/religious tourism) to create a development strategy for South and inland Crete.
“The biggest challenge is to balance development between the southern
part of the island and the inland… But Crete can utilize the many
unique elements and proceed towards a balanced development,” Mrs.
Kefalogianni said.
The tourism minister underlined that all stakeholders must join forces to support tourism on Crete.
More into her speech, she spoke in regards to the initiatives of the
Tourism Ministry for the further development of special interest
tourism.
More specifically, Mrs. Kefalogianni highlighted amendments made to a bill for tourism that set the standards for the
development of agritourism and wine tourism in Greece.
The amendments defined agritourism-related activities and the types of
businesses and accommodation units that can practice the alternative
form of tourism and receive the special agritourism seal or wine tourism
seal.
“For the first time, minimum requirements for the activity of agritourism and wine tourism businesses were set,” she said.
On
pilgrimage/religious tourism, she highlighted the
cooperation protocols signed between the ministry and the Church of
Greece that see to the promotion of Greece’s unique religious monuments
to visitors.
Mrs. Kefalogianni added that the implementation of the national plan
for tourism resulted to the industry developing into a “catalyst” for
economic growth. In 2014, revenues and arrivals increased by 13.4
percent and 15.6 percent, respectively, according to data from the Bank
of Greece.
Source: gtp