Iceland, Norway, Italy and New Zealand also qualified for the final five
Travel destination of the year worldwide, Greece emerged in Finland for 2023. Our country won the International Travel Destination of the Year 2023 Award for the first time, at the Finnish travel Gala 2023, which took place (03/11/23) at the Koskenranta Event Center of Helsinki.
The final five voted for the award also included – apart from Hellas – Iceland, Norway, Italy and New Zealand.
The Finnish Travel Gala http://www.finnishtravelgala.fi/) is an annual event organized by the Finnish Tourism Association (SMAL) for the 5th year. At SMAL (Association of Travel Industry, https://www.smal.fi/fi/topmenu/In-English) about 180 travel agencies and tour operators participate, representing 95% of all sales of travel services in Finland.
The event was attended by over 400 tourism professionals along with their guests to reward the tourism achievements of the year. The evening concluded with the awarding of several entities, ideas and innovations in the tourism industry. The voting was held last July-August, with the participation of tourism professionals and the public, in which a total of 17,000 people voted.
The award for Greece was received by the head of the EOT Service. of Scandinavia, Pavlos Mourmas and the chargé d’affaires of the Greek embassy in Finland, Dimitrios Karakonstantis (SPA’), who expressed warm thanks to the organizers of the event and to all those who voted in favor of our country.
Mr. Karakostantis referred to the large number of Finnish citizens who visit Greece over time and underlined the quality and variety of the Greek tourist product, which make it an attractive destination throughout the year.
The head of the EOT Service of Scandinavia, Pavlos Mourmas, thanked on behalf of the Hellenic Tourism Organization and the general secretary Mr. Dimitris Fragakis the organizers and professionals who voted in favor of Greece, as well as all the tour operators who include our country in their tourist programs. At the same time, he invited all those involved to cooperate in the promotion of Greece, as an ideal holiday destination throughout the year, while referring to the unique Greek hospitality and the contribution of tourism to maintaining peace and solidarity between peoples.
