About the new project “Athens. Museum City” (“Athens. The city is the museum”), said its initiators – the Ministry of Tourism of Greece, the municipality of Athens and Google.
The main goal of the project is to develop a year-round tourist destination, for which the Greek capital has every opportunity. The initiators spoke about their efforts to create the Athens. City-Museum” – understandable and comfortable for everyone. It is designed to show the unexplored and special sides of the capital of Greece for tourists and Athenians, because the city is ideal for a year-round destination.
The main emphasis of the new initiative is to ensure that travelers and residents of the capital visiting Athens discover the city on foot, exploring its unique treasures – architecture, street art, a variety of restaurants and taverns, music and much more.
You can choose a trip to Athens on a special platform athens.withgoogle. It’s very simple, see for yourself – the first walk is already presented there. The user selects one of the routes offered by the application, and a map appears on the screen. It has a walk with marks that correspond to the proposed stops, and they, in turn, to the audio content. The dotted line, like on Google Maps, will guide the traveler from one point to another, while he will be able to select any stop along the route and will automatically be redirected to go to the selected point.
The presentation of the project was made by the participants of fruitful cooperation and collective efforts to create a new sustainable tourism development model: Athens Mayor Kostas Bakoyannis, Tourism Minister Vassilis Kikilias, Google Southeast Europe CEO Peggy Antonakou. Thanks to a carefully crafted program, Athens will be an attractive destination 365 days a year – a city with a rich historical and contemporary cultural identity, a museum in its own right. Vassilis Kikilias noted:
Today’s presentation follows the strategic partnership we have launched with Google on sustainable tourism since April 2022. This partnership was initiated by tourism professionals who are trained in environmental practices. More than 2,000 hoteliers have completed relevant Google and GSTC training, and more than 500 hotels are already displaying their sustainability certification on Google. Today we are also advancing in the field of travel with an innovative initiative that opens up Athens to visitors who want to immerse themselves in the rhythm of the city and discover less illuminated corners in a modern and innovative way that is at the same time about truly getting to know the city, its history and its inhabitants.
The mayor of the Greek capital, Kostas Bakoyannis, said:
“Athens is not only impressive antiquities and wonderful museums. The entire city is a unique, living, open, interactive, huge museum that offers hundreds of “stages”, “exhibits” and experiences to its visitors all year round. The official city guide brings together all the “tools” that help visitors and all of us to see, taste and experience the city through unique, real and meaningful experiences. Working together – and I thank them for their partnership – with Tourism Minister Vassilis Kikilia and Google Greece, we are helping visitors, in innovative new ways, to see Athens as the unique city that it is. We re-introduce Athens as an amazing urban destination with great history and a modern destination that shares a unique experience with residents and visitors. A city worth visiting all year round!
Google General Manager for Southeast Europe Peggy Antonakou said:
“Athens is a city that creates impressions, emotions and waits for people to discover it. Its aura, lively market, great food in every neighborhood are just some of the elements that make up a living museum that unfolds and coexists with its famous historical heritage. Thanks to today’s initiative, all visitors to the city, as well as its inhabitants, will be able to discover Athens from a different side every day, thanks to technology. Staying true to Google’s broader commitment to supporting sustainable development in Greece, we look forward to contributing to the joint efforts of the Ministry of Tourism and the Municipality of Athens to make the city a year-round destination.”
Steve Vranakis, CEO of Google Creative Lab Europe, Middle East and Africa, said:
“Athens Museum City” is the creative result of our joint endeavor to see Athens from a different perspective: a modern and ever-evolving city, with unique, unexplored sides and authentic stories of its inhabitants, revealed through this new online experience. Through the audio walks we developed, we invite visitors to get to know Athens better and have more reasons to visit it all year round, creating unique memories every time.”
At the presentation of the program, the official video of the campaign was shown and the first proposed route through the lively quarters of Metaxourgios, Kerameikos, Psiri and Omonia: a walking tour of the living city, accompanied by audio materials – interviews, unique stories, memories at each proposed stop, tells CNN Greece.
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