ATHENS – Tourism Minister Vassilis Kikilias, was interviewed on Monday on the British television channel SKY News, in the context of the World Travel Market which opened its gates in London.

Kikilias spoke of the sustainable growth of tourism and Greece’s campaign for 2023, which focuses on a sustainable tourism model that is environmentally friendly and has low carbon emissions. He also referred to the initiative “eco islands”, namely energy independent islands using only renewable energy sources, such as Symi, Halki and Astypalea.

The minister also spoke about the 3 million British citizens who visited Greece this year and the special relationship between the two countries, the British people’s love for both the Greece islands and the Greek mainland but also for Greek gastronomy. He pointed out the extension of flights to Greece into November and the start of the tourism season earlier, from April, noting that Greece is a wonderful destination even for the weekend, or the so-called Greekend. “Greece is a state of mind”, Kikilias said, adding that “the Greeks from the antiquity until today have learned to offer our hospitality, as it is part of our DNA and of our culture”.

Asked about the sustainable tourism growth, he underlined that the transition to sustainable tourism is not an easy path and has to be taken one step at a time. Greece is one of the first tourism brands internationally and is paving the way for sustainable tourism growth, Kikilias said.