By Nikolas Kelaiditis, Chairman of the Board of Danaos Group DMC and Aurenza Hospitality
Evia, the second largest island in Greece and the closest “big escape” from Attica, has everything it takes to become a model of quality and sustainable tourism: diverse landscapes, vibrant communities, authentic cuisine, history, thermal springs, and land access. Despite its potential, it remains underutilized. The goal is not simply to attract “more people,” but to build a steady model that offers better experiences, fairly distributes benefits to residents, protects the environment, and spreads visitor flows across the entire year.
The first step is to clearly define what the destination offers. Evia can be positioned as “a nearby escape, authentic nature and wellness, all year round.” Its core product rests on three strong experiences:
- “Evia Trails”: well-marked hiking routes, gorges, and mountain peaks with rest and water points, a digital map that works offline, and simple safety protocols.
- “Evia Wellness & Healing Cooperative” around Aidipsos: mild therapies, proper nutrition, walking, and relaxation.
- “The Sea of Evia”: small marinas and shelters, sea excursions, sports, and diving with respect for the environment.
These are complemented by culinary and producer routes, religious trails, climbing and canyoning, family cycling, and small cultural events that enliven spring and autumn. The main visitors are day-trippers from Attica and Central Greece, families and nature lovers, wellness seekers outside peak season, and remote workers looking for quality of life and good connectivity.
Infrastructure must serve this purpose. Safe, clearly signed roads that link points of interest into understandable routes; targeted upgrades to existing shelters and small marinas with simple rules for clean waters and quiet neighborhoods.
In key settlements: clean public spaces, EV charging stations, reliable mobile and fixed coverage, information centers, and public restrooms operating year-round. On beaches: a management plan with use limits, dune protection, regular cleaning, accessibility for people with disabilities, and designated activity zones to balance bathers and sports. Within settlements: care for façades, calm traffic, and organized parking.
Coordination is essential. A Destination Management Organization (DMO) should be created, with participation from the Region, Municipalities, and professionals. This body will manage destination branding, the annual program, the official website and app, service quality, crisis management, and performance monitoring. It will produce a simple “identity guide” (messaging and image) and an “operations guide” for tours, trails, food-experiences, and outdoor activities, ensuring consistent standards of quality and safety. It will also set rules for short-term rentals to protect neighborhoods, establish a code of conduct for visitors, and run the program “Tourism Supports the Place,” where a small share from each overnight stay or experience funds reforestation, cleanups, and trail maintenance.
Critical issues often left out must be addressed:
- Carrying capacity: limits for each beach, trail, and settlement.
- Risk maps and civil protection: fire, flood, and earthquake plans with clear roles and rapid communication.
- Accessibility in depth: audits and adaptations so people with disabilities can move comfortably in trails, museums, and the sea.
- Water, energy, waste: savings, recycling, composting, reduced single-use plastics, and incentives for green business practices.
- “Last-mile” mobility: local routes to trails and beaches, bike-sharing points, and parking areas at the entrance of popular sites.
- Seasonal staff housing: accommodation solutions and incentives for businesses to attract and retain workers.
- Heritage protection: conservation of monuments and traditional architecture, visitor limits where needed, multilingual interpretation.
- Data: trail counters and anonymous app statistics to guide planning, with respect for privacy.
Local community at the core. An “Evia Tourism Academy” would provide training in service, digital skills, cooking with local products, thematic guiding, and sustainable practices. Small businesses would get microfinance and technical support to upgrade facilities, reduce energy use, and develop new experiences. Stronger links between producers, restaurants, and accommodations would be fostered through “local breakfast,” “Evia basket,” and minimum local sourcing quotas in restaurants. A simple citizen feedback system would be set up, along with a public dashboard of key indicators to track progress.
Promotion requires a clear, unified online presence. The official site and app will aggregate trails, events, useful information, and booking options. For Greece, we launch the idea “Evia – 52 Weekends,” themed getaways combining nature, food, and culture. Abroad, we work with travel agencies and booking platforms, while hosting journalists and photographers to showcase the destination.
A “Evia Experiences Pass” will be introduced, a digital pass with discounts for museums, trails, transport, and local products—easy to use for both visitors and businesses. Plans also include film tourism, facilitating productions that respect the place and leave added value, plus online reputation management: monitoring reviews, calm factual responses, and quick fixes when issues arise.
Sustainability and resilience underpin everything. Alongside reforestation and stream care, measures will ensure cool public spaces, shade, water savings, and fire prevention. Softer night lighting will reveal the starry sky and create calm stargazing experiences. Events will be low-impact and aligned with landscape and community. Monuments, traditional villages, and sensitive areas will enter a phased program of conservation and clear visiting rules.
Funding must be mixed. Public funds for shared projects; PPPs and concessions for marinas and some facilities, under strict transparency; micro-grants and low-interest loans for small businesses. The DMO will act as a “one-stop shop”: guidance for permits, template technical files, ready-to-sell experience packages, and support to mature investments properly before launch.
Everything must be measured. Overnight stays, average length of stay, occupancy and RevPAR, seasonality, visitor spending, trail traffic, visitor satisfaction, business certification uptake, local sourcing percentage, plus environmental indicators (waste, water, energy). Social indicators too: permanent population retention, new jobs, resident acceptance of tourism. Data will be public, and when something doesn’t work, it will change.
Evia doesn’t need to copy anyone. It can become mainland Greece’s close, quality escape: trails into nature without hassle, clean and calm seas, flavors that support the land, residents who benefit from tourism without losing their daily life. With clear direction, simple rules, respect for the environment, and cooperation without ego, Evia’s tourism development can be meaningful and resilient for many years.
