Corfu tourism plan for 2018

‘Odysseus Hospitality’ is the name of the strategic tourism plan being presented tonight by the Deputy Mayor for Tourism, Vassilis Kavvadias, at the town council meeting. Mr. Kavvadias told Enimerosi that there are five basic axes around which the plan revolves, in an effort to get away from out-dated methods of promotion (tourism exhibitions, brochures, bloggers etc.).
 

Despite the scepticism with which the Region and the other Ionian Islands have greeted the idea, the use of the term ‘Odysseus Hospitality’ indicates clearly that the 2018 tourism promotion plan is a continuation of the plan that the deputy mayor previously presented with the Odyssey, one of the world’s most translated written works. It focusses on hospitality, the characteristic of the people of Corfu in the 8^th Rhapsody of the Homeric Epic.

The five axes around which the tourism promotion plan revolves:

1. Hospitality (cultural and sports activities on an annual basis)

2. Narration (conference organization)

3. Alternative Tourism (winter, sport, agro tourism)

4. Administrative System (destination management operation, Homeric activities administration)

5. Support Activities (brochure printing, promotion through bloggers etc.)
 

“We studied examples from other tourist destinations, such as Thessaloniki, Rhodes, Chania and Heraklion. We have also included several of the proposals we submitted in our application for European Cultural Capital 2021,” said the deputy mayor for tourism. “The tourism plan will operate within the Integrated Territorial Investment (OHE) programme, which was approved by the council recently and which can generate funding from European programmes for cultural and tourism investments. In this way, along with the Odyssey, we will have a complete and cohesive whole. The 248,000 Euros comes from municipality funds for tourism activities. However, combined with other key factors such as sport, culture, European programmes etc., we are expecting much more funding,” concluded Mr. Kavvadias.