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The pandemic has so far acted as an accelerator of developments on the front of the promotion and advertising of Greece abroad. EOT(the Greek Tourist Board), is in the foreground, responding for the first time with a lasting campaign, which will start as soon as conditions allow.
Speaking to APE-MPE( Athens and Makedonia Media) the general secretary of EOT, Dimitris Fraggakis, focuses on the three-year strategic plan for promotion and advertising of Greece, prepared by EOT. He gives the plan of the organization’s actions in the next period in the promotion part. At the same time, experts in the field of communication and advertising convey to APE-MPE how they respond to the challenges created by the pandemic in the business arena.
Adaptability and flexibility
What characterizes EOT at this time is the adaptability and flexibility in the conditions created by the pandemic, says Mr. Fraggakis to APE-MPE. “The fact that EOT has prepared a three-year strategic plan for the promotion and advertising of Greece in foreign markets. It will not only focus on a campaign for 2021, but will be a roadmap for how we move in the next years, Which is a very big change compared to the past “, says Mr. Fraggakis. In practice, the new advertising program of EOT, which will promote Greece abroad, is structured in such a way that it can be adapted to the current conditions, he adds.
Duration view
This year, Greece’s promotion campaign will not be two-month and three-month, as in the past.It will be six-month and eight-month, Mr. Fraggakis underlines and adds that its intensity will fluctuate. Whenever needed depending on demand and target countries. As for the content of the campaign, according to him, it will be ready by the end of March and will start when conditions allow. It is characteristic, however, that the advertising campaign in Israel, for example, will start earlier, since the news on the vaccination front is very encouraging, he explained.
Giving an example of the message that Greece will send this year to the world markets, Mr. Fraggakis pointed out that this is concentrated in the fact that Greece is a country that can offer everything to the visitor. All seasons. In fact, he revealed that in addition to the central promotion campaign, there will be 4 other smaller ones (Micro Campaigns), which will promote gastronomy, maritime tourism, rural tourism but also health and wellness tourism.
EOT is present at ITB 2021 with 250 companies
In the meantime, the promotion and advertising program of Greece abroad includes agreements for advertising programs with airlines and tour operators. Mr. Fraggakis said, since the goal is for Greece in 2021 to do better than 2020, in terms of its tourist sizes.
In this light, Greece through EOT will be present at the most important event of world tourism, ITB 2021, which this year will be held digitally and not with physical kiosks in Berlin. For ITB 2021, which takes place from 9th to 13th March. EOT will be present with 250 companies, while in collaboration with , a special theme for Greek boutique hotels will be presented. At the same time there will be a special presentation of 20 Greek Start Up companies, which export innovative tourist products.
Hotel companies ‘warm up the engines’
Remaining at the forefront of promotion and advertising, hotel companies are “warming up their engines” for the new year, hoping for a good year. In his intervention in ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ, Konstantinos Triantafyllis from the marketing department and head of communication of the hotel group Metaxa Hospitality Group. He notes that the group has already prepared its planning in the field of sales and marketing. In fact, in the following days, career days begin searching for the staff that will staff the hotels of the group, as unless anything unexpected happens, all the units of the group will open.
Mr. Triantafyllis, stating the changes that the pandemic has brought to the front of attracting visitors, emphasizes that now everything will be judged in last minute reservations, before the visitor arrives at the desired destination. That is, the prospective visitor can book his trip to Crete, even on Thursday, and travel on Saturday. According to Mr. Triantafyllis, this will be very common this year, especially for destinations that are 2 to 3 hours away by plane.
crete
From Dreaming to Planning ending with Booking….
“The consumer is in a prolonged period of dreaming (Dreaming) and we hope to go to their planning (Planning) and” suddenly “to make the reservation (Booking)” underlines Mr. Triantafyllis, wanting to describe how difficult it is for a tourist business to adapted to this model.
Under these circumstances, it is emphasized that it is very difficult for a company to follow a specific design and most people follow research, trends and go step by step, since it is difficult to “step” on a specific sales and marketing plan. For Mr. Triantafyllis, however, the role of large tour operators in these conditions is very important, as they offer security and confidence to the prospective tourist.
What matters is not only what you say to potential travelers, but also how you tell them
Makis Bitzios, general manager of Remake Marketing tourism consulting company, also focuses on the “customer”, in a statement to APE-MPE. “The pandemic started as a health crisis, it quickly turned into an economic one and now it has turned into a deep psychological crisis. “In light of this, it matters not only what you say to potential travelers, but also how you tell them.”
Having in its portfolio Remake municipalities in Cyclades, Dodecanese and Sporades, Mr. Bitzios presents the new management model of the post-covid period that he applies. He calls it “E.L.A.D.A.” derived from the initials of the words Honesty, Logic, Security, Creativity, and Optimism, as he explains. Honesty means communicating the truth to a wary traveler. Logic is about understanding the needs of the tourist. Safety is linked to health preparedness. Creativity focuses on new special tourism products and sustainability. Finally, Optimism implies positive energy, a key element in Tourism. Five words, five “pillars” that create a different “edifice” for the strategy of each destination, says Mr. Bizios.
Source: protothema.gr
Source HMERA
