Mr. Jean-Claude Baumgarden President of WTTC expressed his support to Greece and its tourism product in his business meeting with the Greek Minister of Tourism Development Ms. Fani Petralia in Athens.
“We are…
Mr. Jean-Claude Baumgarden President of WTTC expressed his support to Greece and its tourism product in his business meeting with the Greek Minister of Tourism Development Ms. Fani Petralia in Athens.
“We are experiencing a great development period in the tourism industry. Tourism is flourishing around the world. This is a tremendous opportunity for a country such as Greece to improve its image and its product in order to make a middle-turn and a long-turn plan in a much improved environment during the last years. Now is the right moment for strategically decisions to be taken and the most significant one is the creation of a product that will respond to the demands and the preferences of the people. So, Greece must be a preferred destination and that doesn’t mean only a popular destination but also a destination of first choice,” as Baumgarden stated after the meeting.
He went on to say “the planning that you have for the development of the marinas, for yachting and cruises are some significant choices for the visitor. In other words we didn’t have a typical meeting with Ms. Petralia but a business meeting. We worked together and I am pleased as we are going to have good results now and in the future. I will be coming in Greece in regular basis and gradually we well build this preferred destination project.”
As Ms. Petralia stressed “Mr. Baumgarden and WTTC had conducted a special study for Greece, which we hold today in our hands. We have ensured WTTC’s President that our strategy focus on environment and in human resources. These two features are the strong cards of our country in the tourism industry.”
When asked how the incident in Santorini and the Sea Diamond wreck will affect Greek tourism he said “Firstly we have to acknowledge that there are two sides. One has to do with the human factor. Unfortunately this is a tragedy. And second comes tourism. It is true that the tourism sector had faced many tragedies but always managed to survive. Before my arrival here I was in contact with WTTC members and the truth is that there is no willing for canceling any trip to Greece. We consider that this is a crisis. A unfortunate incident but a crisis which was handled with great success.”
Many associations and tourism entities from Greece were also in the meeting which took place in the offices of the Greek Ministry of Tourism Development and it will take place every six months.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
