Greek Minister of Tourism Olga Kefalogianni participated in the “Bridging Destinations” Forum, organized by the Italian Ministry of Tourism, with the participation of Southeast European countries. The event took place in Rome on Friday, July 18, following an official invitation from her Italian counterpart, Daniela Santanch?.
During her intervention at the ministerial roundtable, Minister Kefalogianni emphasized that Southeast European countries can develop a collaborative tourism model for the broader region, tackle shared challenges, and work jointly toward sustainable tourism development.
She stressed that the participating countries can create one of the most attractive tourism offerings, enabling visitors to combine multiple destinations during a single trip.
Kefalogianni proposed issuing a visa for visitors wishing to travel to more than one EU country. She specifically referred to the increasing tourism interest from India and China, highlighting the need to fully respect the security and control requirements of the Schengen Agreement and European regulations.
Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani, who also participated in the Forum, stated that, in consultation with his European counterparts, he would advance the proposal and elaborate further on it.
Minister Kefalogianni went on to say:
“We face common challenges such as climate change, shifts in visitor preferences, seasonality, and high tourist concentration in specific destinations. It is essential to embed sustainability at every level of tourism policy. The answer lies in transforming fragmented actions into synergies between Southeast European countries.”
She added that aligning national and regional strategies is a key step toward achieving shared objectives. She noted that during Greece’s presidency of the EU Strategy for the Adriatic-Ionian Region (2024–2025), the Sustainable Tourism Pillar was a top priority, aiming to create a model of balanced tourism development through cooperation between ministries, local governments, and private stakeholders.
The Minister also called for the institutional strengthening of tourism within the EU and invited Italy and Bulgaria, as EU Member States, to join forces with Greece to elevate tourism to the status of an independent policy, promoting the necessary structural, institutional, and financial reforms.
“In this way, we will prepare the ground for candidate countries’ integration into the EU, particularly in the tourism sector,” she stated.
Furthermore, she noted that Greece, Italy, and Bulgaria, as Schengen Area members, could explore ways to collaborate more closely on accelerating visa processing to boost incoming tourism flows to the region.
Speaking about cross-border cooperation under the Interreg program, Minister Kefalogianni referred to the Greek Ministry of Tourism’s participation in the “ALTTOUR” project with Albania, “Tourism-e” with Bulgaria, and the “Visit Rhodope” project between Greece and Bulgaria.
She emphasized, “We encourage all partners to take advantage of the funding and technical support available from Interreg and related EU programs, which are crucial for implementing cross-border projects focused on sustainability, capacity building, and digital innovation.”
She also mentioned infrastructure upgrades underway in Greece, including the modernization of tourist ports, spa tourism facilities, ski resorts, the creation of diving attractions, and projects to improve beach accessibility.
Minister Kefalogianni highlighted several initiatives by the Greek Ministry of Tourism that could serve as best practices for Southeast Europe. These include the creation of Destination Management & Marketing Organizations (DMMOs) in municipalities and regions, the development of “Model Tourist Destinations,” and the establishment of a National DMO for Agritourism and Gastronomy, aiming to support entities promoting culinary heritage and local experiences, linking tourism with agriculture and rural development.
She also emphasized the importance of the operation of the “Observatory for Coastal and Maritime Tourism in the Eastern Mediterranean,” which already includes several Mediterranean countries and can provide vital scientific data for policy-making.
In the second part of the forum, representatives of Italian industry bodies such as the National Chamber of Commerce Union, the travel agents’ association, hotel operators, Italy’s national airline ITA Airways, its low-cost subsidiary Volare, MSC Cruises, and others took part. Minister Kefalogianni underlined the importance of Greek tourism as a key pillar of the economy, highlighting the critical role of the human factor in Greek tourism and hospitality.
She placed priority on improving infrastructure, strengthening investment, promoting sustainable development, supporting innovation in tourism, and highlighting alternative forms of tourism such as mountain and diving tourism, yachting, wine tourism, wellness tourism, and gastronomic tourism.
Finally, she noted that through the Recovery and Resilience Fund, investments are being financed for upgrading tourist ports, ski resorts, spa facilities, diving centers, and beach accessibility.
