The contribution of the Athenian Riviera to its launch development dynamics as a whole in the Attica region, highlighted the panel speakers on its tourism development, from the stage of the ATHENS RIVIERA FORUM 2024 which takes place in Athens. It is characteristic, as underlines Alexandros Thantos, designated consultant of the SETE, that nights in Athens hotels increased in 2023 by 26% compared to 2022, while revenues, in turn, increased by 30 %.
These performances, as Mr. Thanos pointed out, make the Athens region the most dynamic in all of Greece, with the contribution of the Athenian Riviera to this development being decisive. A consequence of the above is the fact that Athens is not a City Break destination, but a destination where the visitor sits back and discovers it, as we have highlighted.
Athens also has a waterfront
Today, 80% of visitors to Athens know that Athens has a waterfront, just like the Argosaronic Islands. This was emphasized by Evgenios Vassilikos, general secretary of the Union of Hoteliers of Attica and Argosaronica, which was not the case until now. Mr Vassilikos stressed that the modernization of seaside hotels has put Athens on the global tourism map, but cited a gap in public infrastructure, which he said cannot support the existing burden. Litter and traffic are two of the issues that need improvement.
A reference point for the Athenian Riviera is the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, in the Faliro Delta, which may be a landmark for Athens, but as its director, Elli Andriopoulou, explains, it was not the goal. The objective was and still is the promotion of culture and the link with the local community, following in the footsteps of sustainable tourism. However, it is typical that in 2023 the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center was visited by 3 million visitors, while 3,000 free actions were implemented for the whole world. For his part, Yann Gillet, general director of One&Only Aesthesis, focused on luxury tourism, which, according to him, has evolved a lot in recent years, because there are clients all over the world who are looking for this type of tourism.Finally, the Deputy Minister of Tourism, Elena Rapti, in her intervention focused on the new strategy for Greek tourism, which, as she said, includes a detailed action plan, with interventions that will contribute to the he expansion of tourist activity throughout the country and beyond the peak tourist months. Focusing on actions that promote the competitiveness of the country’s tourism product, Ms. Rapti noted:
Recovery Fund Resources
For health and wellness tourism, resources of €21.7 million are reserved under the Recovery and Resilience Fund. TAA resources with a total value of 8.1 million euros are used in diving tourism. For the development of fishing tourism, there already exists a memorandum of cooperation between the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Rural Development and Food.
For the development and promotion of religious and pilgrimage tourism with the signing of a joint protocol of cooperation of all agencies and for the first time the recording of the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of our religious visitors.
For the development of sports tourism/outdoor tourism/outdoor leisure activities, the necessary legislative and regulatory framework is being developed. To raise awareness of the country’s agrotourism and culinary destinations and activities, actions worth 10 million euros are planned. To strengthen mountain tourism, projects with a total value of 59.4 million euros are planned, again through the TAA.