ATHENS — Tourism Minister Vassilis Kikilias was the keynote speaker on Thursday evening at the annual Conference of the Association of German Tour Operators (DRV), organised in Costa Navarino, Messinia.

During the opening ceremony, Kikilias was awarded by the German organisers for the management of the pandemic while he was health minister, for the health protocols implemented by Greece, the sense of security the country inspired its visitors, but also the exemplary way in which tourism professionals implemented the safety protocols.

Kikilias stated that the 2022 tourist season will start in mid-March and urged the Germans to discover new destinations in mainland and island Greece, which may not have been well known until today, but offer an authentic tourism experience. He clarified that Greece’s strategy is to be at the forefront of sustainable tourism and to become a model of sustainable tourism development and he stressed to German tourism professionals that our country is ready to capitalise on the positive climate of this tourist season and is already preparing the ground for Greece’s upward trend in 2022 in the largest tourist market in Europe.

In statements to the media, Kikilias stressed that the selection of Greece and the participation of more than 450 German tourism professionals, “mark the hard work done in autumn and winter, in order to reap the fruits for the next summer and to support the Greek economy. This has already been done to a significant degree in 2021 and we expect it to become stronger in 2022.”