At the Conference “Greek Tourism, a National Case!” Destination Crete!” Alexis Kalokairinos

At the Conference on “Greek Tourism, a National Case!” Destination Crete!” which took place in Heraklion in the presence of the Minister of Culture Olgas Kefalogiannis and the Deputy Minister of Culture Elena Rapti and presented by the journalist Nikos Hatzinikolaou, was attended by the Mayor of Heraklion Alexis Kalokairinos.
Alexis Kalokairinos had the opportunity to present aspects of the Municipal Authority’s vision for the parallel development course of Heraklion and tourism, highlighting initiatives and interventions of the Municipal Authority.

As Alexis Kalokairinos pointed out: “Heraklion has some special characteristics. Heraklion is not a tourist village, nor can it become a tourist village. We need to determine how we want to plan tourism for the next few years. We must overcome the lags and develop the city’s potential in terms of urban infrastructure.”

In this context, the Mayor of Heraklion spoke about Kastelli airport and BOAK, emphasizing the problematic nature of the road connection between them which will create, as he said, sustainability problems in the city. Mr. Kalokairinos also referred to the conference and sports infrastructure of the Municipality, the distinct culinary identity of Heraklion which, as is known, is an international UNESCO culinary destination as well as the Development Organization of Heraklion which is expected to play a crucial role in the development of tourism in the Municipality of Heraklion. As he emphatically noted “all the planning should be part of the reasoning of a technocratically sustainable development which actually concerns the resilience of the place and the capacity of the island and the Municipality of Heraklion”.

Special emphasis was placed by Alexis Kalokairinos on the close cooperation of the Municipal Authority with the leadership of the Ministry of Culture, mentioning the active participation of the Municipality in the procedures for the inclusion of Knossos in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites as well as in the programming contract that the Municipality of Heraklion is expected to sign with the Ministry of Culture and the Region of Crete for granting the utilization of the Venetian Walls to the Municipality.

It is noted that on the sidelines of the Conference the Mayor of Heraklion had the opportunity to talk with the Minister of Tourism Olga Kefalogianni in view of their meeting which will take place in the next period in Athens at the Ministry of Tourism.

The Minister of Tourism Olga Kefalogianni spoke, among other things, about the goal of the qualitative development of tourism in terms of sustainable development, the opportunities provided by the Recovery and Resilience Fund, about the role of Culture in the development of tourism and about the tightening of the framework governing the market of short-term leases by imposing specific operational specifications.

Among the topics discussed during the Conference, were sustainable infrastructures in tourism and the qualitative advantages of Crete, cruising, yachting and new markets as well as Cretan products and thematic tourism.

The Conference, which was held at the Capsis Astoria hotel on Saturday 20/4, was also attended by the Secretary General of the Ministry of Rural Development & Food Giorgos Stratakos, the Regional Governor of Crete Stavros Arnautakis, the President of the PED of Crete, Mayor of Rethymno Giorgos Marinakis, self-governing bodies, experts, academics, market players and journalists. The Conference “Greek Tourism, a National Case! Destination Crete!” was held under the auspices of the Ministry of Tourism and the Hellenic Tourism Organization and was organized by Next is Now and Dome Consulting Firm.