Tourexpi
In partnership with UN Tourism Affiliate Member
ICF, the United Nations Specialized Agency will engage with local tourism
stakeholders and residents from across the island on a series of Technical
Cooperation projects. The collaborative work will focus on several key areas,
all designed to accelerate recovery from the impacts of the pandemic on island
tourism and on building greater resilience against future shocks.
Promoting Tourism on Thassos
The project’s main scope is to support the tourism
recovery efforts of the island of Thassos after the pandemic, through firstly
assessing the marketing initiatives of the island of Thassos and its tourism
product offer during the pandemic, and then providing recommendations on
improvements. The project partners will:
Assess the effectiveness of marketing initiatives
implemented during the pandemic, with a focus on how compatible they are to
current tourism trends and demands.
Examine the Municipal authorities’ and local
stakeholders’ views and opinions on the current tourism products of
Thassos
Research and identify international best practices
regarding marketing activities for post-pandemic and identifying both short and
long-term models to be implemented for Thassos.
Identify the tourism markets that will be of
importance to Thasos and identify ways of better engaging with them.
Working with Local Stakeholders
UN Tourism will also work with Thassos Municipality
and ICF on the implementation of the Thassos Residents Study (TRS). The study
will collect information on how local residents view and engage with tourism on
the island, both in terms of the sector’s economic impact as well as its
socio-cultural impacts. The study will be built around focus groups, interviews
and questionnaires. The information obtained will be used for a report, to
include a series of recommendations and follow-on actions if necessary.
The project was officially launched at a kick-off
event, hosted by UN Tourism in partnership with Thassos Municipality and ICF (8
March) and attended by key stakeholders. The marketing activity will conclude
at the end of July, with the Residents Study to run until the end of November,
with results published by the end of the year.
Thassos stakeholders welcome UN Tourism
support
UN Tourism Executive Director Natalia Bayona says:
“Along with education and capacity building, this technical cooperation project
can help create a future for the sector aligned with the sustainable
development Goals. Now, when up to 25% of tourism workers in the European Union
have low qualifications, we need to give them tools to find innovative ways to
succeed in the tourism sector, even more taking into account that 882,000 jobs
in the sector will require vocational training by 2030”
The Mayor of Thassos Island, Eleftherios
Kyriakides, says: “This is a project that puts our local community at the
center of the direct policies of tourism development of the island of Thassos,
through synergies and collaborations, by strengthening the diversity and
resilience of tourism and therefore to lay the foundations for a balanced and
sustainable development of tourism sector, on our island.”
The Head of Tourism of the UN Tourism Affiliate
Member ICF, Nikolaos Gkolfinopoulos adds: “The management of tourism is
paramount to ensure coordination and identify and minimise potential negative
impacts. The inclusion acknowledgement of residents as a key stakeholder is the
right direction towards a better, more participatory governance that takes into
account the interests of local communities. ICF is proud to be joining forces
with UN Tourism, paving the way for a targeted tourism development that benefits
both the economic and social fabrics of Thassos.”
Image Credit: © UN Tourism
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