Ecotourism News & Releases
Greek
Minister calls for new Tourism model, plays up Ecotourism
Thu
May 22, 2008, 14:00 UTC
By Antonis
B. Petropoulos
Athens,
Greece (ECOCLUB.com) - Opening the 16th annual convention of the Greek
Association of Tourism Enterprises (SETE) in Athens, Tourism Minister Aris
Spiliotopoulos spoke about the need for a new, more ecological tourism
model, and low-impact forms of tourism that would highlight the special
attributes of the Greek environment and culture and guarantee economic and
environmental sustainability. The minister emphasized that in democratic
countries governmental tourism decisions on issues such as infrastructure
are slow, as local opposition and objections from agencies such as the
archaeological service and the constitutional court have to be respected.
Minister Spiliotopoulos spoke about ecocampings, eco-marinas and low-key
‘wellness’ tourism, but also about the need for more golf, in destinations
such as Halkidiki, luxury tourism, boutique hotels, and nautical tourism
(yachting).
The
Minister avoided all references to heavily criticised government plans for
massive tourism villa developments and mega-resorts, and instead
indirectly criticised SETE and the media, for their objections to the new
National Land use plan, the first one of its kind, currently discussed in
parliament, arguing that even a weak plan is better than no plan at all.
He made an effort to stress the important of proper waste management,
saying that he had just visited a Blue-Flag Beach in touristy Argolis,
with an illegal rubbish dump right next to it. Spiliotopoulos also
complained about the practice of taverna owners and some hoteliers who
cover tables with plastic sheets. It was refreshing to hear from
ministerial lips that numbers of visitors ‘do not matter’, whether 16 or
17 million’ and that what mattered is what they leave behind in terms of
revenue. One could see smirks in the audience when Minister Spiliotopoulos
criticised an unnamed Minister (probably the Economics one) for delaying
for 6 months the signing of an important legislation revision, which would
allow the Greek National Tourism Organisation to increase the number of
Inspectors in the heavily-visited Cyclades Islands, from the current
“one”. ‘Commoners and ministers, we all have our problems’, commented
afterwards a SETE representative to the amusement of the audience.
Spiliotopoulos also promised that the state would come down heavily on
accommodation and other tourism providers that insisted on operating
without permits, as safety and quality were paramount. Finally, a crisis
management centre is mulled, to tackle the PR handling of major disasters
like the mega-fires of the summer of 2007.
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