Greece retails culture travel

Greece’s tourism board has started its 2026 push with campaigns built around culture, food, city trips and nature, rather than a summer-only beach pitch. (ekathimerini.com) The Greek National Tourism Organization said on April 4 that its new campaign is running on TikTok and YouTube through June and is aimed at users in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Sweden and Denmark. The organization said the effort could reach nearly 19 million users. (ekathimerini.com) The campaign is the first from the Greek National Tourism Organization built exclusively around creators on those two platforms. The agency said it chose creators whose audiences already show interest in Greece and whose content fits the Visit Greece ecosystem. (ekathimerini.com) The shift comes after another record year for Greek tourism. Bank of Greece data for 2024 showed 40.7 million international visitors and 21.6 billion euros in travel receipts, up 12.8 percent and 4.8 percent from 2023. (bankofgreece.gr) Greek officials have spent the past year arguing for a broader tourism calendar and a broader map. Andreas Fiorentinos, secretary general of the Greek National Tourism Organization, said in March that the strategy is aimed at “more visitors, throughout the year, in more Greek destinations,” with emphasis on mainland Greece and off-season travel. (grtraveller.gr) That helps explain the four themes. Visit Greece, the state tourism portal, already organizes its travel pitch around culture, gastronomy, nature and city-focused experiences, alongside event listings that stretch from museum exhibitions in Athens to the Rhodes International Marathon and the Thasos Wine Fair. (visitgreece.gr) The tourism board is also tying the message to a larger digital rebuild. Fiorentinos said the new Visit Greece platform and upgraded mobile application are backed by a 7.5 million euro investment and are meant to showcase 170 destinations with multilingual and personalized content. (grtraveller.gr) The official tourism organization describes its job as promoting Greece through tour operators, airlines, online travel agencies, fairs, press trips and roadshows, while working with the country’s 13 regions on local promotion plans. Its own materials say the pitch now spans historic sites, landscapes, cities, cuisine and hidden-gem destinations. (aite.gr) For 2026, that means Greece is selling the Acropolis and the islands alongside tavern tables, mountain trails and weekend breaks in Athens and other cities. The campaign’s opening move is not a new slogan so much as a new mix of what Greece wants travelers to notice first. (visitgreece.gr; ekathimerini.com)