The opening ceremony of “Greek Tourism Week” was held at the Shanghai Library on the afternoon of Aug. 27. The event, which was organized by the Greek Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Greek National Tourism Organization, has been made possible with the support of the Greek Consulate General in Shanghai.
Greece’s Minister of Culture and Tourism Pavlos Yeroulanos inaugurated the “Greek Tourism Week” (Aug. 27 – Sept. 3). The Greek high-level delegation under the Ministry of Culture and Tourism during the events also includes the Secretary General of Tourism George Pousseos and the Secretary-General for Olympic Utilization Yannis Pyrgiotis.
Greek Tourism Week will be one of the major events organized in the context of the country’s participation in the World Expo, and important issues will be raised in the course of various events (exhibitions, forums) with regard to the synergy between cultural and tourism assets, especially in modern urban environments.
The core activity of the Greek Tourism Week will be an exhibition under the theme “You in Greece” aspiring to highlight closely-related facets of Greece’s tourism industry and cultural traditions and suggest ways of further promoting them in the Chinese market.
Important segments of the exhibition include: a 3D interactive gateway to Greece’s famed scenery, island architecture and landscape; Greece and its magnificent Aegean sea as a honeymoon destination where young couples will have the opportunity to be photographed in front of their favorite landscapes; regeneration of urban landscapes in post-Olympics Athens; the revival of the Olympic Games in the modern era and the significance of the Games and similar mega-events for the development of urban spaces; the Athens-Attica 2014 urban regeneration program engineered by the Environment, Energy and Climate Ministry; the Piraeus Port Authority renovation program aimed at transforming Greece’s largest port into an international maritime and cultural center; a presentation of various alternative forms of tourism in different areas of Greece as evidenced in the activities and displays of various local museums and cultural institutions; Greece’s celebrated history in ceramic art, both ancient and contemporary, etc.
Within the context of the Greek Tourism Week, two forums will be also organized:
A forum titled “Alternative Forms of Tourism – Therapeutic tourism; the Greek and Chinese Approach” will be held on Aug. 29 in the Shanghai Library; attendees may learn more about the synergy between Greece’s rich cultural and scientific tradition in the fields of alternative medicine, health management and Mediterranean diet on one hand, and tourism and leisure on the other.
A second forum titled “Sustainable Tourism and Urban Regeneration: The Way to Growth” will be held on Aug. 30 in the Shanghai Library. The morning session of the forum, aspires to pinpoint the comparative advantages of Greece’s tourism industry, especially with regard to the utilization of Olympic property and Olympic cultural heritage, environmental protection, urban regeneration, cultural preservation and accessibility.
The afternoon session will present new forms and competitive tourism products, such as ecotourism, conference tourism and therapeutic and Spa tourism. Attendees may learn ways through which tourists may avail themselves of Greece’s unique natural environment and cultural traditions, so they can make their sojourn in the country a most enjoyable experience.
Taking into consideration the importance attached by both Greece and China to culture and tourism and the common experience shared by the cities of Athens and Beijing, which successfully hosted the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games, respectively, the aforementioned themes of Greek Tourism Week resonate well with the concept of the Shanghai 2010 World Expo “Better City Better Life.” Athens, Beijing and Shanghai may share and reflect on their common experiences as hosts of events of international significance and their relevance and importance for the field of domestic and international tourism.
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