The Greek Minister of Tourism Spiliotopoulos predicts that Greece will weather the current economic downturn well. With tourism development projects underway emphasizing ecological sustainability and diversity of projects it requires only a half-step forward until the country emerges as a global leader offering both sides of the sustainability coin -- ecological and social; green and Universal Design.
Sustainable development is today very high on the Ministry of Tourism agenda. “We are already blessed to have turned our back to massive tourism developments in the past. In contrary to some of our Mediterranean competitors, our coasts are still today relatively untouched and immune from large accommodation units of concrete,” Minister Spiliotopoulos said.
The tourism ministry has been carried out projects to diversify Greece tourism products, especially by targeting specialized activities. Investments have been made for 14 new marinas around the country, the renovation of over 200 hotels, the development of agro-tourism, city break tourism or the launching of labels for boutique hotels as well as eco-friendly hotels. Promotion is also accelerated for less known regions such as Macedonia, Thrace or Epirus. “All these projects show that above all, we care about sustainability of tourism for our own future. We do not have inexhaustible resources.
Posted by rollingrains at November 23, 2008 07:36 PM