Greek National Tourism Organisation
Encyclopedia
The Greek National Tourism Organization , often appreviated as GNTO is the governmental department for the promotion tourism
in the country of Greece
. It functions under the supervision of the Hellenic Republic Ministry for Culture and Tourism
.
. For a time period after its establishment the organization was taken over by various ministries, until it was re-founded in the year 1950. The agency has been the driving force behind the rise in the number of tourists visiting Greece since the 1950s and continues to expand the country's reputation as a tourist destination though its advertising campaigns. Currently, the agency is the single largest tourism promotion agency in the country, and has 27 offices in 21 countries, on 4 continents.
Since 2005, the organization has been subdivided into Regional Departments of Tourism.
" and "You in Thessaloniki
" were also used to promote the country's two largest cities and centers of culture and entertainment. The latest advertising campaign has also published a variety of promotional TV spots in line with the "You in Greece" poster campaign that have been translated to various languages, including Chinese, Bulgarian and German.
Previous campaign slogans include:
Tourism in Greece
Greece attracts more than 17.5 million tourists each year, contributing 15% to the nation's Gross Domestic Product. Greece has been an attraction for international visitors since antiquity for its rich and long history, Mediterranean coastline and beaches...
in the country of Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
. It functions under the supervision of the Hellenic Republic Ministry for Culture and Tourism
Minister for Tourism (Greece)
The Minister for Touristic Development was a Greek government department in charge of Greek tourism. It was a re-establishment, in 2004, of the former Ministry for Tourism, which had been subsumed in the Ministry for Development in 1996...
.
History
The Greek National Tourism Organization was founded in 1927 with the aim of promoting tourism in GreeceTourism in Greece
Greece attracts more than 17.5 million tourists each year, contributing 15% to the nation's Gross Domestic Product. Greece has been an attraction for international visitors since antiquity for its rich and long history, Mediterranean coastline and beaches...
. For a time period after its establishment the organization was taken over by various ministries, until it was re-founded in the year 1950. The agency has been the driving force behind the rise in the number of tourists visiting Greece since the 1950s and continues to expand the country's reputation as a tourist destination though its advertising campaigns. Currently, the agency is the single largest tourism promotion agency in the country, and has 27 offices in 21 countries, on 4 continents.
Since 2005, the organization has been subdivided into Regional Departments of Tourism.
Promotion work
Every year the organization chooses a different theme and motto for its advertising campaigns. Over the years, various successful advertising campaigns have been funded by the organization, including the very successful "Live your myth in Greece" campaign. The 2010 campaign's motto was "You in Greece" and "xx in Greece", and mainly focused on the many opportunities the country provides for tourists, with a variety of different destinations and activities. "You in AthensAthens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
" and "You in Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...
" were also used to promote the country's two largest cities and centers of culture and entertainment. The latest advertising campaign has also published a variety of promotional TV spots in line with the "You in Greece" poster campaign that have been translated to various languages, including Chinese, Bulgarian and German.
Previous campaign slogans include:
- Live your Myth in Greece (2005)
- Greece 5000 years old: a masterpiece you can afford
- Greece: explore your senses
- My Greek experience (2008; TV commercials in the form of amateur home-made videos)
- Greece: Kalimera! (2009)
Offices abroad
Currently the GNTO operates offices in the following countries with the aim of promoting tourism in Greece:| : Sydney Sydney Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people... (also serves  New Zealand): ViennaVienna Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre... : Brussels Brussels Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union... : Sofia Sofia Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated... : Toronto Toronto Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from... : Beijing Beijing Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's... and Shanghai Shanghai Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010... : Prague Prague Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million... : Nicosia Nicosia Nicosia from , known locally as Lefkosia , is the capital and largest city in Cyprus, as well as its main business center. Nicosia is the only divided capital in the world, with the southern and the northern portions divided by a Green Line... : Copenhagen Copenhagen Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region... : Helsinki Helsinki Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is... : Berlin Berlin Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union... , Frankfurt Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010... , Hamburg Hamburg -History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808... and Munich Munich Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat... |
: Tel Aviv Tel Aviv Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with... : Milan Milan Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,... and Rome Rome Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half... : Tokyo Tokyo , ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family... : Amsterdam Amsterdam Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population... : Bucharest Bucharest Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River.... : Russia Russia Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects... : Madrid Madrid Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan... : Stockholm Stockholm Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area... : London London London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its... (also serves  Republic of Ireland): New York CityNew York City New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and... |