Greek National Tourism Organization Participates in SATTEGenX to Reconnect with Indian Travel Market

by  EVENTFAQS Bureau Business Events | October 8, 2020 | News

Greek National Tourism Organization SATTEGenX

The Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO) participated in the first-ever virtual version of South Asia's travel and tourism exhibition, SATTEGenX, which was held between October 5-6, 2020 with an objective to re-establish its connection with the travel trade fraternity in India and entice Indians to visit Greece.

The focus was to touch base with the Indian travel trade association and together explore future opportunities. GNTO at SATTEGenX communicated the COVID-19 situation in Greece and shared the safety measures and travel guidelines that are being followed to ensure travel safety.

GNTO aims to capitalize on the opportunity to ensure that the health and safety of visitors is the priority of the tourism board. The GNTO team expects the two-day event to manifest into Indian arrivals in Greece after lockdown relaxations.

Dimitrios Fragakis, Secretary General, GNTO, said, “’ Health first’ has been our imperative since the onset of the COVID-19 crisis. I am proud to say that we have been successful. The Greek government designed detailed health protocols, in consultation with leading experts. The protection measures have been implemented professionally, consistently and credibly by the businesses and the Greek state, since the reopening of borders in July, 2020. My clear message as the Secretary General of the Greek National Tourism Organisation is that this summer, Greece managed to keep its visitors safe, by implementing all health protocols in tourism. The South Asian market, and in particular the Indian market, is a new dynamic and exciting field for the Greek Ministry of Tourism and the GNTO. We look forward to enhancing our collaboration with the Indian market.”

Harris Theoharis, Minister of Tourism, Greece, said, “India is one of the emerging markets of high quality and importance on the international level and it is one of the strategic goals of Greek tourism to enter this market dynamically in the next three years. Already, before the pandemic started, we were in close cooperation with the Ministry of Tourism of India, the first goal being to establish a direct flight connection. In fact, last February I was at the OTM (Outbound Travel Market) and met with my Indian counterpart Prahlad Singh Patel. In these bilateral meetings, we agreed that there is great interest from both countries to sign an MoU on issues of investment and tourism, the priority still being that we ensure a direct flight connection. I want to communicate to the trade and consumers that the Ministry of Tourism is always at your disposal to help with such efforts and I am sure that soon, there will be international flights without restrictions and that I will be back in India and will welcome friends from India to Greece.”