Santorini Experience (photo: Vassilis Sfakianopoulos).
Santorini’s sports tourism event, “Santorini Experience”, which every year exceeds the country’s borders, recently received recognition from the international institution Travel & Hospitality Awards.
ATHENS – Santorini returns dynamically to the sports action for the 5th edition of “Santorini Experience” that will attract the worldwide interest of professional and amateur athletes of running and open water swimming on October 4-6, 2019.
Santorini’s sports tourism event, “Santorini Experience”, which every year exceeds the country’s borders, recently received recognition from the international institution Travel & Hospitality Awards. In particular, the co-organization of the Municipality of Santorini, the Municipal Sports Cultural Environmental Organization of Santorini (DAPPOS) and Active Media Group were honored for “Santorini Experience” as the Unique Tour Company of the Year 2019. Travel and Hospitality Awards are the recognition of the hard work and accomplishments across the travel industry. Honoring hotels, tour companies, travel buyers and influencers across six continents, it is a stamp of recognition for long-standing customer satisfaction.
The aim of the event to extend Santorini’s tourist season and to offer tourism for 365 days a year was verified by the recent measurements of Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE) / Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) data indicators. Santorini Experience from 2016 onwards, when the event was moved in October, contributed to the doubling of international airline arrivals at Santorini Airport from 17,143 in 2015 to 34,888 in 2018.
Runners will have the opportunity to enjoy the three established routes on the Caldera, overlooking the enchanting images of the volcano and the background scenery of Imerovigli, Firostefani and Oia. Specifically, the 5km “Aristides Alafouzos” route concerns the running and dynamic walking, the 10km is addressed to the most experienced in distances and the 15km route to those who love strength, endurance and adrenaline. All routes start from the desalination plant in Oia, including parts of trail track, and finish in Oia. The running routes are designed by the former marathon runner, Greek classic route record holder, running trainer and director of All About Running, Nikos Polias.
Open water swimming will have an honorable position in this year’s schedule as well. Specifically, the participants will have the opportunity to swim from the volcano to the old port of Fira, having the imposing view of the island in front of them, in the 1.5 miles (2.4 km) race. Organization will provide amateur athletes with a high-quality safety lifeguard buoy, giving them extra motive to choose “Santorini Experience”. Swimming route will take place with the upmost safety in the enchanting sea of Santorini (average water temperature of 20-22 degrees Celsius), under the technical direction of federal coach with Olympic and World Championship distinctions, Nikos Gemelos, who has designed this unique route. Once again, specialized lifeguards will contribute in safety measures, providing staff as well as lifeboats. Distinguished age categories will be formed depending on the final participation entries, while a separate classification for those wearing wetsuits will be added.
The event is part of the Global Swim Series (GSS) [numbering more than 150 swimming races]. This way, all participants in “Santorini Experience” as well as in the rest of GSS races will earn a global ranking. The rating is based equally on participation and speed. The more races they do the higher their ranking will be. Respectively, “Santorini Experience” has become part of the global community of World’s Marathons [numbering more than 4.282 running races worldwide].
“Santorini Experience” is a co-organization of Municipality of Santorini, Municipal Sports Cultural Environmental Organization of Santorini (DAPPOS) and Active Media Group.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
