Greek National Tourism Organisation moves to promote winter tourism in mainland Greece
Declaring “Greece has a winter too” as a new motto incorporated into the country’s main promotional campaign for tourism, dubbed “All you want is Greece”, the Ministry of Tourism and EOT, the Greek National Tourism Organisation, aim to promote the beauty of Greek mainland destinations and the rich experiences they promise.
The new winter tourism campaign motto, it should be reminded, was first revealed by Travel.gr.
The creative work and production entailed in the campaign were kindly funded by the Onassis Foundation on behalf of the country’s Ministry of Tourism. The campaign focuses on promoting winter tourism, while also highlighting the country’s natural beauty as well as activities making up the tourism product offered by Greece during the winter period.
Based on the values of authenticity, unique identity, Greek tradition, as well as safety, the campaign promotes Greece’s countryside, gastronomy, as well as recreational activities in nature, the objective being to acquaint the wider public with Greece as a country that has more to offer beyond the islands, namely the mainland.
Greece, a favourite destination attracting millions of visitors each year, has already proven to be a leading choice for summer holidays. However, the country can be a lot more than just a summer destination, as the new promotional campaign aims to prove.
“Greece has a winter too,” announces a young lady, the protagonist of the promotional campaign’s new clip, whose task will not be easy. The campaign will strive to convince international travellers to become acquainted with Greek winter and the mainland. There are many mainland areas, all different and possessing distinct qualities. These mainland locations offer an abundance of choices and experiences satisfying all expectations, among them mountain biking on snow-covered slopes, paragliding, rafting, as well as delicious traditional dishes in the cosy warmth of guesthouses.
The new campaign, planned to run for four months, will be subject to adjustments, as needed, in real time, depending on the course of the pandemic in target markets, which include the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, Poland and Israel.
The campaign will also be specially enhanced to project the country’s major city destinations, Athens and Thessaloniki.
The Minister of Tourism, Mr. Vassilis Kikilias, stated: “For the first time, the declared goal of mitigating the high degree of seasonality and geographical concentration of visitors is acquiring tangible features in the promotion of Greece’s tourism product through EOT’s first campaign for winter tourism. The campaign comes at a difficult time for all of Europe as a result of the [latest] COVID-19 variant, but our objective, nevertheless, is to support our winter destinations that have been severely challenged over the past two years. Also, the campaign will be flexible, monitoring developments concerning target-market countries. I would like to thank the Onassis Foundation for its assistance in the effort to create value for Greek society, through its sponsorship of the Ministry of Tourism for this project, as well as ensuing promotional projects for domestic tourism, city breaks, as well as the major campaign for summer.”
The Secretary-General of EOT, Dimitris Fragakis, noted: “The new EOT strategy treats all of Greece as a potential tourism destination throughout the year. Moving ahead based on this logic, we are proceeding with the first campaign, which concerns the country’s mainland destinations, possessing all the attributes required to play leading roles in winter tourism. We are putting into practice our determination to highlight the country beyond its well-known sun-and-sea reputation and are reinforcing destinations and enterprises that offer unique winter experiences. I would like to thank the Onassis Foundation for its generous offer, vitally important for this major effort we are making amid particularly difficult conditions. In a few weeks from now, we will also launch our next campaign abroad, concerning city-break destinations, to further bolster the country’s image as a winter destination in markets that interest us.”
