In a very good atmosphere, the meeting of the President of Greek Health Tourism Council -Elitour and Athens Medical Association Mr. George Patoulis with the General Secretary of Greek National Tourism Organization Mr. Dimitris Fragakis and the CEO of Enterprise Greece Mr. Marinos Giannopoulos took place at the offices of the Greek National Tourism Organization.
The President of Elitour, Mr Patoulis, referred to the efforts made for the promotion of Health and Wellness Tourism and assured that there will be close cooperation between the three entities. He also pointed out that greater possibilities and opportunities have now been created for Health Tourism, and in this effort, the very good medical staff and structures that are constantly being improved play an important role. Finally, he stressed that Health and Wellness Tourism can clearly be an important pillar of economic development in many regions of the country.
The General Secretary of the Greek National Tourism Organisation, Mr Fragakis, pointed out that Greece has those comparative advantages that can make it competitive in the field of Health and Wellness Tourism. The purpose of the meeting was to look together and agree on the pillars of our cooperation for 2024 as well as the objectives of promotion abroad. We thank Mr Patoulis, President of Elitour and Mr Giannopoulos, CEO of Enterprise Greece for the close and continuous cooperation.
The CEO of Enterprise Greece, Mr. Marinos Giannopoulos, pointed out that there are many competitive advantages that our country has in the field of Health and Wellness tourism. He stressed that the benefits that will result from the coordinated actions and activities of the three entities will have a multiplier effect on other important sectors of the Greek economy. For this reason, as Mr. Giannopoulos stressed, Enterprise Greece is taking initiatives to organize specialized actions for the further increase of investment flows in this sector, with the data so far being encouraging for Greece, which is estimated that very soon will be one of the most important destinations in wellness and health tourism worldwide.
The meeting discussed, among other things, the common ways of promoting Health – Wellness Tourism, the cooperation of Elitour with the GNTO offices abroad and the efforts to attract foreign investors. At the same time, Elitour informed the relevant stakeholders about the initiative it has taken to organize the Greek Health and Wellness Tourism Forum, which will take place in April 2024, in New York.
The Greek Health Tourism Council (ELITOUR) has as its primary objective the promotion of Greece as a dynamic destination for Health and Wellness Tourism worldwide, with emphasis on areas in which our country has comparative advantages, such as its well-trained medical and scientific human resources.
Enterprise Greece is the competent national body, under the supervision of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for the attraction of investment in Greece and the promotion of exports of Greek products and services abroad.
The meeting was attended by the General Secretary Mr. Petros Mamalakis, the Head of the Committee for Externalisation and Networking with Institutional Stakeholders Ms. Vacky Paka and the Head of the Funding Committee Mr. George Kakoulidis. From the side of Enterprise Greece, Director Investment Promotion Tourism, Real Estate & Creative Industries Ms. Hilda Alisandratou and the Director General of Communication and Marketing and Stakeholder Relation Ms. Vaso Kirkou were present. On the side of the GNTO, the Director of the Office of the Secretary General of the GNTO, Thanasis Gogos and the Advisor to the Secretary General, Giorgos Kourakis.