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Travel and Tourism Tourist Attractions Greece

Greece Travel and Tourism Project Funding

In 2021, the European Union launched its Recovery and Resilience (RRF) funding program for Member States. As part of its Greece 2.0 plan, the country will receive over $37 billion in EU funding through loans and grants by 2026 to make critical investments and distribute into priority sectors including green transition, digital transformation, employment skills, private investments and economic transformation. 

The tourism sector in Greece is a critical market driver, amounting to 13% of its GDP and bringing in revenues of over $25 billion in 2022. The Greek government has earmarked $420 million from its National Recovery and Resilience Facility funds for the tourism sector, with a fous on health & wellness as well as spa tourism, gastronomy and diving tourism, port upgrades, beach accessibility and special training and upskilling programs for tourism sector employees. The projects are centered around four actions:

Action 1: “Tourism Development” – Budget: $349 million
The Tourism Ministry has published notices and invited proposals for the following tourism development projects:
– the support of mountain tourism (upgrade of ski centers and mountain refuge facilities). Projects must be completed by July 31, 2025.
– the improvement of accessibility to beaches. Projects must be completed by December 31, 2025

– the upgrade of tourist ports. Projects must be completed by December 31, 2025.

The Ministry is expected to release calls for expressions of interest for the four sub-projects, which include:

  • The creation of DMMOs (destination management and marketing organizations);
  • upgrade of thermal springs facilities (for promotion of health and wellness tourism);
  • development of an agrifood/gastronomy tourism network; and
  • the upgrade of existing diving/marine parks and financing studies for new ones. 

Action 2: “Tourism Education” – Budget: $49 million 
Tourism education efforts include the reskilling and upskilling of tourism sector employees. The training programs cover various job positions and address existing and future needs of the industry. The action includes distance learning programs, expected to benefit the country’s 18,000 tourism employees. Calls for expressions of interest are to be announced in Summer/Fall 2024.

Action 3: “Digital Transformation of the Register of Tourism Businesses” 
– Budget: $11 million 
The Greek government has several digitization initiatives to improve services provided to both citizens and tourism enterprises. The action will include: the creation of the MyDigitalTourism digital platform to educate entrepreneurs and travelers; the creation of a subsystem for recording arrivals and departures of visitors to tourist accommodations; and the digitization of the Ministry’s services which will facilitate the submission of documents for licensing tourism businesses and the provision of information about legislation and procedures required for the establishment and operation of a business in the sector. Calls for expressions of interest for Action 3 are to be announced in Summer/Fall 2024.

Action 4: “Digital Transformation of the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO)” – Budget: $11 million
The government seeks to develop a Digital Tourist Map that will present the country’s tourism products in detail and an innovative platform for travelers with real-time information, as well as upgrade official website (visitgreece.gr) of the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO).
Calls for expressions of interest for Action 4 are to be announced in Summer/Fall 2024.

Opportunities for U.S firms:

For more information on these opportunities and to review published expressions of interest, please visit: State Aid Actions of the Ministry of Tourism (mintour.gov.gr)
Information on tenders for digital solutions can be here: Notices | Ministry of Digital Governance (mindigital.gr). 

Firms interested in entering the market will need to secure a local partner who is familiar with the industry. If you would like more information on identifying potential partners, market conditions and opportunities, please contact the U.S. Commercial Service Travel & Tourism Commercial Specialist Mary Simopoulou at Mary.Simopoulou@trade.gov.

 

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