World Tourism Day requires us to respond to the ever-increasing quality demands of the tourism market, making tourism a permanent and sustainable source of wealth for the country, experiencing the special forms of tourism with upgraded services all year round. Highly qualified and well-paid staff are required, creating surplus value and perspective with a new model of tourism directly linked to longevity and well-being. The pandemic and its severe effects caused changes in the preferences and consumer behavior of the traveling public, with a focus on special forms of tourism, such as health tourism and especially spa and wellness tourism.
Modern travelers are looking for unique and authentic experiences, while as the markets gradually recover, Greece with its strong advantages of its geographical position, its hospitality, its brand and its Polynesia should be the focus of European Quality tourism. The absolute number of arrivals is of secondary importance as emphasis is placed on average length of stay, average expenditure, as well as economic, social and demographic characteristics of visitors.
Continuous crises, pandemic, climate change, global inflation, energy insecurity and war in Europe are crippling tourism, which is why the reconstruction of the national goal with a 20-year perspective is required, intertwined with the internationally strong desire of the world to travel after the pandemic shock and the long covid syndrome. Furthermore, the digital transformation in each hotel requires applications that contribute to the achievement of sustainability goals, energy savings and a lower ecological footprint according to the data of the convocation with the green transition of Greek tourism.
The approach to tourism must be made not with quantitative but with qualitative characteristics, in order to avoid over-tourism for geographical and temporal balancing, since the evolution of the Greek product cannot be random even at the mercy of the circumstances in the special momentum of 2023.
The Minister of Tourism, Mr. Kefalogiannis, announced on World Tourism Day that the Regional Tourism Council is being instituted, giving new possibilities in terms of decision-making, joint actions and data exchange that will contribute to balanced development with the cooperation of Municipalities and Regions, in order to achieve the common national goal for the development of Greek tourism.
The World Tourism Day must be celebrated in our country 365 days a year, as tourism is our heavy industry, with an extremely large contribution to the economy, development, employment. The Ministry of Tourism, the EOT, the Regions and the Municipalities must strengthen the tourism promotion of the country, plan new actions, contribute to the development of thematic tourism and encourage new investments in the auspicious global development where Greece must ensure a sufficient percentage in Health and Wellness Tourism, still having an excellent bioclimate, despite the climate crisis.
Konstantinos Kouskoukis
Professor of Dermatology
Lawyer
President Hippocratic Academy of Thermal Medicine
President World Academy of Chinese & Complimentary Medicine