Another Greek tourist high season, another award for film director Antonios Theoharis Kioukas whose three minute and 38 second “Greece- A-365-day destination” video (see below) picked up another tourism award on Monday.
Greek Tourism Minister Elena Kountoura presented the filmmaker with a Greek National Tourism Organisation (GNTO) award for Greece’s promotion abroad following six international distinctions at industry awards over the past ten months in Croatia, Berlin, Latvia and the US International Film and Video Festival in California.
“GNTO has surpassed itself in recent years and is very successful,” Kountoura said at a press conference.
Greek tourism is on a roll as it records the largest rise in overseas visitor numbers for a European destination for the last decade. This year, Greece is expected to see a record 32 million international visitors arrive, up from 30 million last year and a steady surge since the dark days of the GFC of 2008 when only 6.2 million international visitors arrived.
While summer is the busiest tourist season, Kioukas’ video strategically extols the joys of all four seasons as it emphasises how Greece’s natural beauty and its wine, food and celebratory approach to life is good for the soul.
Gentle music tinkles as spectacular aerial shots swoop over water, mountains and fields while a subdued English voice reminds viewers that Greece is a “revelation (that) lifts you up in peace and joy”.
The success of the video – it is also shown on incoming flights to Greece – is in its approach that can be suitably called ‘classical’. There is nothing you haven’t seen before (though the shots of snow covered villages and mountains are not often featured in tourist brochures), but its warmth and restraint stirs holiday envy.
It’s a restraint not often seen in tourism promotions. You can click on the Greek campaign and recent tourism promotions for Australia, Canada and New Zealand below.