ATHENS – Greece’s push to bring in more tourists during the lingering COVID-19 pandemic doesn’t mention islands like Mykonos ripping off visitors but a campaign to keep them coming will feature an Austrian man named Otto.

It’s a true story too, said the Greek National Tourism Organization’s (GNTO) about the man who came to in 2013 but loved Greece so much he decided to stay – like scores of thousands or more of others like him.

“This year we chose to focus on the emotions caused by visiting our country. A true story inspires the new promotion campaign of Greece abroad, through the narration of the experience of a traveler who originally came to our country for a vacation, but the peace, simplicity and beauty he experienced led him to stay, work, start a family in Greece, and finally change his life forever,” said Tourism Minister Vassilis Kikilias, reported Kathimerini.

GNTO General Secretary Dimitris Fragakis added that “a true story becomes the basis of the campaign’s content this year, which touches the feeling of travelers, and puts in the foreground the authenticity of the destination called Greece. Identity and authenticity so strong that they will make the visitor think of staying in our country forever.”

Curiously, while there’s a 92-second video as well, showing him on an unnamed Greek island (it appears to be Milos) scant details are given apart from his passion that if you come to Greece, “You will want to stay forever.”

That’s the message from the campaign of the same name as part of the GNTOs All You Want is Greece, coming after previous reach-outs aimed at getting people to come year-round.

The new campaign is supported by the Onassis foundation, the GNTO become more active in marketing the country in recent years after long leaving it to word-of-mouth to get people to come.