MILLENNIAL TRAVEL THINK THANK
Description
Insider’s discussion: How can
Athens tap the full potential of
the Millennial market?
Athens, like every other destination around the world must work hard to attract visitors and when they arrive, give them an
experience that exceeds their expectations and puts them in the mood to return (hopefully sharing their opinion with plenty of others
in the process). Recently, the Athens Development and Destination Management Agency (ADDMA) has turned its attention towards
younger travellers, with the aim of building a product portfolio that will put the city on the map for this increasingly influential and
affluent demographic.
To build a strategy that is informed, inclusive and most of all, effective requires good dialogue between the city’s tourism
stakeholders. Learning from the experience of others who have worked for many years in the sector and understand the
characteristics of the youth market adds real value. This is why ADDMA, has invited representatives from the City of Athens, youth
travel industry specialists from across Europe and, crucially, young local entrepreneurs to join this discussion. We hope that it will be
first step towards bringing the youth market closer to Athens, making a genuine contribution to the city’s future economic and social
development.
Who will participate?
What are the objectives for this discussion? How will the discussion be organised?
Bring all parties up to date with the current state of the
youth market and marketing initiatives to date.
Make a thorough and honest evaluation of the city’s
current position, drawing on the perspectives of youth
travel industry specialists (outsider’s point of view).
Discuss the current climate for entrepreneurialism in the
city and seek opportunities for the city’s young tourism
entrepreneurs to have a greater stake in the city’s tourism
development.
The facilitators, Marti Grimminck and Jonathon Bates from
International Connector, will organise a series of activities
during the two hour session designed with a range of
activities to maximise the input of each participant.
Each group will receive a list of questions in advance
designed to stimulate discussion.
Areas for consideration: product development, urban
planning, marketing, associations, local and national
government policy, culture considerations, recent trends.

MILLENNIAL TRAVEL THINK THANK
Briefing notes
Briefing notes for all participants from the Athens
Development and Destination Management Agency
For the City of Athens, the dedication to the systematic improvement and promotion
of the capital city of Greece as an attractive tourism destination is currently a matter of
great importance in the light of recent trends:
In 2012, there were approximately 2.2 million arrivals and around 4.5 million
overnights in hotels in Athens that gave impetus to tourism demand despite the media
coverage of the crisis in Eurozone.
In terms of International arrivals at the Athens International Airport, the top markets
included the US, the UK, France, Germany, the long-haul market of Australia, and the
familiar market of Cyprus.
More recently, Athens seems to be following a path of modest growth. Arrivals at the
Athens International Airport increased by 2.5 per cent in 2013 while visits to archaeo-
logical sites and museums in the wider area increased respectively by almost 20 and 7
per cent.
Equally interesting is the fact that growth in 2013 has appeared along with a more
balanced distribution of international arrivals and cultural visits per month.
Expectations for 2014 are also high as a consequence of positive expectations for
the whole country. In fact, there have been 263 thousand arrivals at the Athens Inter-
national Airport in the first two months of 2014 in comparison to 202 thousand arrivals
during the same period in 2013 (growth equal to 30.5 per cent).

MILLENNIAL TRAVEL THINK THANK
Briefing notes
On these grounds, the City of Athens Development & Destination Management Agency along with the Athens Convention &
Visitors Bureau have planned to undertake until the end of 2015 a series of Online and B2B marketing initiatives with the aim
of strengthening the competitive position of Athens in the international tourism market. Key priorities for the city are to continue
attracting tourists from traditional markets and penetrate into emerging ones such as Russia and China, while there is particular
emphasis in meeting the needs of specific segments such as the MICE market, cruise passengers, and youth travelers.
Online projects are focused on the renewal of digital content used by these authorities along with their more active presence
in social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Youtube. Moreover, B2B projects reflect the intention of the City of Athens to
upgrade communication channels with tourism professionals worldwide. Apart from the staging of the current Travel Trade Athens,
forthcoming projects until the end of 2015 include:
The participation of the City of Athens in international fairs and conferences
Familiarization trips for tourism professionals and journalists
The launch of the Athens Destination Specialist Program as a means of strengthening the city’s destination brand.
The staging of TBEX in Athens in October 2014.

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INTRODUCING THE PARTICIPANTS:
City of Athens Development and Destination Management Agency
Alexis is CEO of ADDMA since 2011. He has been an advisor to the
Municipality of Athens in economic development matters since 2003 and
has led the establishment of a municipal agency whose objective is the
management and implementation of tourism and economic development
in Athens, serving as the organization’s first Director-General. He has
also served as Special Secretary and Advisor to the Hellenic Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, prior to which he worked as an external consultant at the
World Bank and for NGOs in several countries.
Alex Galinos
ADDMA
Manolis Psarros
Founder & CEO, ABOUTOURISM
Manolis is the founder and Managing Director of abouTourism destination
consultants. He also acts as the senior advisor to ACVB on destination
marketing and sales. He is a tourism destination management and
marketing expert whose experience focuses on tourism boards and
DMOs strategic planning & operations support. He is a regular speaker
at top international industry events and provides strategic counsel on
tourism development and marketing to various destinations around the
world.
v
CEO
Senior Consultant Destination Marketing &
Sales, ACVB
George Vareloglou
Mindworks Interactive
George is Co-Founder and Business Development Director at Mindworks,
one of the first Search Marketing Agencies in Greece. Since 2005, he
has introduced and established Search Marketing in Greek through
corporate blogging, seminars, case study publications and conference
speeches. Today, Mindworks is an important Business Unit of Atcom,
offering online communication services to some of the biggest clients in
the Greek market
Business Development Director
Athens young entrepreneurs / startup leaders

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Alex Trimis
Dopios
Alex is the founder and CEO of dopios. He is an entrepreneur at heart
who loves product that challenge the way we experience the world. He is
an Engineering Graduate from Stanford University and has worked in the
past with consumer web companies like Survey Monkey and oDesk.
Founder & CEO
Antonios Fiorakis
Incrediblue
Antonios is the Co-Founder & CEO of incrediblue.com, the boat rental
marketplace. An innovative travel startup that is integrating 3 industries
at the same time - nautical tourism, travel & the internet. He is also an
alumni of IE Business School and the American College of Greece.
Co-Founder & CEO
Akis Laopodis
Offerial
Akis is the Founder & CEO of Offerial, a hotel tech startup founded in
2012 in Athens, that allows hotels to personalize what they sell to each
traveler. His work is focused on analyzing the behaviors of travelers, and
creating technology that can curate the experience every traveler can
book in a destination, having the hotel as the core pivot point.
Co-Founder & CEO

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Nikos Kakavoulis
Daily Secret
Nikos is the Founder and CEO of Daily Secret. Most recently he was
the Head of Digital for the Condé Nast publisher in Greece, where he
managed the digital relaunch of Vogue and Glamour. Nikos is an active
mentor through the “The Good Karma Project” which he co-founded;
a support network to high potential early-stage entrepreneurs. He lives
between New York and Athens.
CEO/Founder
Laurent Steiner, Owner (Geneva, Switzerland)
Bamba Experience
Laurent is owner of Bamba Experience, a major tour operator offering
flexible, adventure or tailor-made tours by bus in North & South America
and South East Asia. He also owns Milhouse Backpacker & Hotel in
Cuzco, Peru.
Owner
Travel Thought-Leaders
Christopher Bates (Barcelona, Spain)
Hall St
Christopher is an experienced Hotel Revenue and Distribution profession-
al, with over 20 years Hospitality experience, 15 years especially dedi-
cated to Hotel Revenue and Distribution disciplines. Christopher is COO
of Hall St, the world’s first online social market place for hotel rooms. The
service allows users to buy and sell all or part of hotel reservations.
.
Chief Operating Officer

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Steve Lowy (London, UK)
Umi Digital and Umi Hotels
Steve is passionate about marketing and training within the industry and
inspiring young people to join the trade. He created the umi hotels brand
in May 2007, and growing it to three sites, launched Umi Digital in the
winter of 2010. A specialist in youth travel, he sits on the Board of BETA
and STAY WYSE, both associations with a concentration on the youth
travel sector.
Co-Founder & CEO
Dan Baker (London, UK)
StudentUniverse
A digital Marketing professional with extensive experience in Social Media
and Email Marketing, Dan is UK Marketing Manager of StudentUniverse
Ltd, the largest student deal site in the US. The site provides exclusive
travel discounts, rewards and experiences for students, faculty and youth
around the globe.
UK Marketing Manager
Kerry Tate (London, UK)
Topdeck Travel
Kerry has gained considerable experience in the youth travel industry
in both Australia and the UK. Since 2010 he has worked for Topdeck
Travel, an independent family-run company that has operated for over 40
years creating relaxed, informative adventures for ‘18-30 somethings’ in
destinations worldwide.
Sales Manager, UK & Europe

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Katrin Schmidt
Airbnb
Kati Schmidt studied Media Management (MBA) at Hamburg Media
School and San Francisco State University. She cofounded glutenfreiheit.
org - an Internet portal for gluten free living as a side project. In 2010,
she started working for the German startup incubator Hanse Ventures.
In 2011, she joined Airbnb as one the first international employees to
help the growth of Airbnb’s international business. She is now in charge
of Public Policy of Germany and Eastern Europe and enjoys staying on
Airbnb during leisure and business trips.
DACH and CIEE
Kim Willis (London, UK)
Kim is a travel and global affairs journalist for British Airways’ High Life
and Business Life. She also writes about new global trends in entrepre-
neurship and culture for The Guardian and the Urban Times.
Kim is also the Strategy Director on the BA account with Cedar, the
leading global content marketing agency. With twelve years of experience
in marketing and communications, her role is to set the direction for travel
content that inspires existing and new audiences to explore the world
with BA, using video and social media as well as traditional print media
channels.
Global Affairs Journalist and Content Strategy
Director, Cedar for British Airways
Media
Judith Baker (London, UK)
Judith is a leading freelance travel writer and Editor. Judith has written
articles for The Sunday Telegraph, The Mail, Square Mile magazine, The
Express, City AM, CNN Traveller, The Jewish Chronicle, Guardian Online,
Epoch Times, Portunus magazine and in-flight and travel trade publica-
tions including ABTA magazine, Selling Long Haul and Travel Weekly.
Judith has also contributed to the British Airways Executive Club newslet-
ter and is a member of The British Guild of Travel Writers and The British
Society of Magazine Editors.
.
Freelance travel writer and Editor

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Marti Grimminck (San Francisco, USA)
International Connector
Marti is a veteran traveler, social entrepreneur and experienced creative
marketer. She is an expert in creating events and multi-channel media
campaigns. With her sought after knowledge and experience working on
youth products and youth trends, she bridges the gap between corpora-
tions and millennials.
Jonathan Bates (London, UK)
Ellidore PR
Jonathon is a strategy and planning expert who ensures every campaign
is built upon strong insight and analysis to ensure success. Specialising in
using audience insight, zeitgeist trends and good old fashioned experi-
ence, Jonathon has spent over a decade creating strategies for some of
the world’s largest brands.
Facilitators
Chief Connector
Strategy and PR