UN Tourism prioritises the Municipality of Thassos and the creation of resilience for the island’s tourism sector. At the same time, it focuses on its residents and the support they can offer themselves.
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.
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.
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 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 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.”
