POV: Tourism advertising in Greece

Greece: Just the name of the country itself brings forth ideas of mysticism, adventure, and beauty. However, the with all the negative media surrounding the recent economic crash Greece experienced, tourism rates are at an all-time low. The recession-hit economy has experienced everything from fuel shortages to horrendous riots in the main city square in Athens. Nevertheless, Greece is standing strong in the face of negativity is now gearing up for the summer in preparation for a new wave of tourism. Typically, Greece brings in about 16 million tourists each year, contributing around 15% of the country’s total Gross Domestic Product. Suffice to say, the Greek economy is excited and ready for the onslaught of new tourists.

However, one question is burning in the minds of the executive members at Ο Ελληνικός Οργανισμός Τουρισμού or the Greek National Tourism Organization, the GNTO; should the board focus on business tourism or travel tourism this fiscal year? This question was brought on by the cuts to the advertising budget, and now the GNTO must decide whether they should focus all of their resources on business or travel tourism for the 2011 fiscal year.

In order to fully understand how Greece has acted regarding its tourism campaigns, we must first take a look into the past. In 2004, Greece utilized the tagline “Live your myth in Greece. Wonderful Greece.” This campaign featured beautiful spots featuring various places in and around Greece, yet never made any specific references to how its different locations could be utilized. However, one must note that the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics were going on at this time, and Greece was already expecting a gargantuan influx of tourism and revenue at this time (regardless of how prepared it was to host the game). Nevertheless, for this reason, the 2004 campaign was strictly a tourism campaign.

:45 second spot

:45 second spot [Greek]

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In 2005, Greece was the proud champion of the annual Eurovision Song Contest, with popular singer Elena Paparizou at the forefront. With her hit single “My Number One” sweeping the European nations at that moment, all dance clubs alike were playing the song non-stop. This was the very first time that Greece had won the Eurivision song contest, bringing the country an even greater sense of pride, still abuzz from it being the host nation for the Olympics 108 years after first being held there.

Nevertheless, the 2005 Greek tourism campaign reflected the nations pride and joy in many ways, and it utilized Elena Paparizou as its ambassador for the TV spots. The campaign again, focused on tourism and travel, as the spots highlighted on the places, history and food of Greece.

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Destinations

Food

History

For the 2006-2007 years, the GNTO completely rebranded its Greek tourism campaigns and debuted the new slogan “Explore your senses in Greece.” While giving the campaign an overall more modern look, this was again a primarily travel/tourism campaign. However, the campaign was overall more aesthetically pleasing, relying on bold copy, beautiful scenic shots, and did not use a spokesperson (or audio commentary) in any of its commercials.

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In 2008, a new campaign debuted but this time, the GNTO rebranded itself as well, coming up with a new logo and a new slogan for itself and its new campaign: “Greece: The True Experience.” However, this time, the ad took a more media-centric approach, as it highlighted the used of media and the internet as a means of supplementing tourism. The TV spots had a “amateur-like” feel to them and even showed a mini-player bar (pause, play, stop, rewind) at the beginning of the ads.

General ad

In 2009, the campaign reflected a more budget-friendly feel for travelers as its tagline was “Greece: A masterpiece  you can afford.” Regardless of how affordable it made itself out to be, plane tickets and the Euro were at an all-time high, and many felt this campaign tried to make Greece something it wasn’t: affordable.

The current campaign is entitled “You in Greece” and is a new take on tourism encouragement. Instead of trying to entice people via the sites, sounds and tastes of Greece, this campaign is asking tourists why they love Greece and why they keep coming back. This is a perfect example of how brands and businesses are encouraging users to speak up and talk about their brands to one another and share their thoughts and opinions with them.

Regarding the current problem in the POV, I believe that the GNTO should turn its attention from travel tourism and focus more on business tourism. For the past six years, the GNTO has focused all of its attention on building up Greece as the perfect holiday or summer vacation spot, and it has greatly succeeded in that area. Now its time to focus on something new and highlight all of the opportunities and amenities Greece has to offer in terms of business tourism. Greece needs to focus on rebuilding its economy by emphasizing that it capable of business tourism, where people can both work and relax. With many state-of-the-art facilities still gleaming with newness from the 2004 Summer Olympics, Greece can become the perfect destination for business conferences and tourism alike. Seminars can take place near ancient ruins, meetings can be held off the coast of the Mediterranean sea, and lunch breaks will be filled with the wonderful smells and tastes Greece has to offer.