In its establishment Greece as of now friendly tourist destination for LGBTI+ community targets the Ministry of Tourism, with Mrs. Olga Kefalogianni signing today a memorandum of cooperation with the Queer Destinations Organization.

At a special event today, where the Ministry of Tourism’s strategy for attracting LGBTI+ visitors was presented, Mrs. Kefalogianni noted that Greece is the first country in Europe that practically opens its arms to the LGBTI+ community, stating specifically: The equal participation of LGBTI people in the tourist activity is certainly the only option for us, and it reflects the values ​​that we want our country to represent as a tourist destination. The Queer Destinations Organization aims for inclusion in tourism experiences, aspiring to act as a connective tissue between governments, destinations and tourism businesses. To this end it has developed the “Queer Destinations Committed” program/mark of distinction, the award of which ensures a certain level of excellence, quality and safety for LGBTQ+ travelers.

It is characteristic that the tourism of LGBTQI people constitutes more than 10% of the demand worldwide and about 16% of the total travel expenses, which in absolute terms exceed 195 billion US dollars annually. As far as the actions of the tourism policy are concerned, the following are included:

The correlation and interconnection of the national strategy of the Ministry of Tourism, with the strategies of individual destinations.

The modification of the framework that governs Hotelier-Customer relations.

The connection (as a quality criterion) of the classification of tourist accommodations, with a graded criterion of the degree of training of the staff and the services provided for the LGBTI+ community.

The collection, processing and maintenance of data, regarding LGBTI+ tourism,

And finally, building relationships with specialist (specialized in LGBTI tourism) travel and research organizations abroad.

At this point, the Minister of Tourism emphasized that the Hellenic Tourism Organization will soon become an active member of the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association. Regarding the actions now, to enrich, diversify and upgrade the tourist offer, the following are planned:

The mapping of locations, which par excellence are popular destinations for LGBTI+ tourism

Achieving synergies with the private sector for the development of tourism products in LGBTI+ tourism destinations.

The creation of personalized packages per target market, in combination with special forms of tourism.

Promoting the adoption of innovative trends, developments and standards in the accommodation sector

The encouragement of continuous and systematic evaluation of the services provided & measurement of customer satisfaction.

In the meantime, the direct communication and promotion actions relate to the creation of special promotional material for LGBTI+ tourism in Greece, as well as the development of branding and the organization of a specialized communication campaign, as well as the enrichment of the VisitGreece website, with full themes related to LGBTI+ tourism, but and updated information and interactive map.

Furthermore, there will also be a collaboration with the XEE for the implementation of seminars for employees in the field of tourism in the context of the diversity and inclusion strategy.

Remaining on the promotion side, Mrs. Kefalogianni focused on the annual organization of the Pride Festivals, Athens Pride, and Thessaloniki Pride, which, as she said, will host the EuroPride 2024 festival next June, an event that the Ministry of Tourism will support with specific promotional actions.