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Βy Kostas Bakoyiannis,

Mayor of Athens

Dear friends,
We are at the start of a new I am especially proud that we hosted the second
Athens City Festival in May 2023 that welcomed more
and exciting journey. Athens than 270,000 people from around the world. The pro-
continues to rise in the global gram featured 200+ events that introduced residents
and visitors to our city’s less-explored “corners”. The
rankings and has become one festival supports both promotion and management, en-
riches our city’s tourism product, and helps to distrib-
of the most attractive destina- ute visitor flows throughout the year and across the

tions in the world for leisure city’s 129 neighborhoods.
travel. I will also note that the City of Athens Climate Ac-
tion Plan plays a crucial role in all our planning, includ-
At the same time, Athens has been recognized as one ing destination management, and we have signed the
of the top 10 most competitive global destinations for Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism to
meetings and events. empower all stakeholders in the local tourism industry
to adopt sustainable practices.
The remarkable success of Athens during the last
few years should be enjoyed – but only for a moment. It is a pleasure to welcome you to Athens. I wish
We have incredible opportunities within our reach you success during this year’s meeting, and I look for-
that demand collaborative effort, and together we face ward to continuing these important conversations.
many challenges as we continue our journey towards
becoming a sustainable destination.
Sincerely,
Our biggest challenge is to secure a high quality of
life for Athenians. To this end, our strategy will be co- Not only do we have optimism, we have momen-
shaped through conversations with major stakeholders tum, we have a direction and a vision. While Athens
such as fedHATTA. looks toward the past with great respect and wonder,
today we are confident that Athens belongs to the future.
This is a call for partnerships, investment, and new Thank you for being here, and most of all, thank you
achievements. Together, we will advance our holistic for your support as we continue on this journey toward
approach to destination management, that will help the
City of Athens exercise leverage over visitor traffic and
short-term rentals, cultural heritage management, and Kostas Bakoyannis
the development of new products. Mayor of Athens

i GR E E C E TR A V E L