Greek Tourism Minister Harry Theocharis on Wednesday spoke of a new strategic plan concerning sustainable tourism, which can be brought about by consultation with the tourism industry itself so that new tourism products will have an ecological footprint and not burden the natural environment, in an address to the Third Sustainability Summit for South-East Europe and the Mediterranean held in Athens on October 16-17, ANA reports.
Theocharis mentioned among other things how Greece saw fewer Scandinavian tourists so far in 2019, due to environmental campaigns against pollutant emissions from the use of airplanes. The minister pointed out that challenges for the tourism industry are ever-present and that Greece should prepare so as to be able to attract visitors for what he called a genuine and sustainable experience.
Achieving a sustainable tourism economy will have to rely on ‘green certifications’ and investments through EU funds allocated for that purpose, the minister noted.
Based on figures cited by Theocharis concerning the penetration of the so-called ‘blue economy’ into Greece’s GDP, he said this represents a 7.2 pct of GDP and employs 350,000 workers. In fact, he noted, three-quarters of these workers are located in the country’s coastal areas, he added.
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