A typical morning at work for a CTO—a senior technology executive at a multinational corporation—begins with a briefing on the status of a digital application’s pilot phase. This is followed by meetings with developers, engineers, and IT specialists to make critical decisions regarding the company’s new technological tools. The difference from other days is that all of this takes place for an entire month under the spring sunshine on Elafonisos, with the gentle breeze from the sea and right next to the turquoise, crystal-clear waters at Simos Beach.
After 5, the computer shuts down, and the CTO leaves his professional role behind to don his diving gear and explore the world’s oldest sunken city, Pavlopetri, up close. For the rest of the afternoons and late into the night, he has already planned to work as a shipwright in the workshop where traditional wooden ship models are crafted, to gather wild fennel and dandelions with the locals, and to follow in their footsteps in the Kalamatian and Tsakonian dances. After all, the options for an authentic experience of life in the region are endless and range from learning about beehives and harvesting honey to fishing, olive harvesting, and rolling out the dough for the traditional spinach pie.
Easter on Halki or ozone therapy at the Aidipsos thermal baths
Digital nomads, after all, and not just them, can tailor not only the activities they want but also the itinerary they choose—which might include spending Easter on Chalki with the family and participating in the «Burning of Judas» on Good Friday, or ozone therapy and barrel-tasting at the Aidipsos thermal baths—exclusively for women— senior business executives who want to get away, relax, and talk business.
A new startup in the industry, named Upiria—a combination of «Unique» and the Greek word for «experience»—is passionately “crafting” these experiential vacations. As Upiria CEO Pavlos Vassiliadis explains to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA-MPA), the company reaches out to tourism activity providers and travel agencies and helps them digitize their tourism products so that, through an app, anyone can find out which tourism experiences are available and in which region, and plan everything, without intermediaries and without the burden of high commissions charged by foreign companies, which currently amount to as much as 35% of a package’s cost.
Particular importance is placed, moreover, on the factor of personal experience, as Mr. Vassiliadis believes that «the best advertising comes from the customer himself, based on his own experience.» Thus, one can find activities such as a two-hour horseback ride near Lake Kerkini, truffle hunting with a trained dog in Meteora, or a week-long “Survivor”-style survival experience on Mount Olympus in the winter.
How Are All Tourism Activities Connected?
Every tourism activity organized by an entity is digitized and linked to hotels, travel agencies, travel bloggers, or influencers; it is available to everyone, regardless of where in the world they are located, and is even offered to major agencies abroad, without requiring them to come to the country and enter into agreements for the resale of travel packages.
«Today, people can find the packages featured on Upiria when a hotel is closing down or when a travel agency picks up a Greek product and tries to resell it. Soon, our mobile app will be available to the general public so that people can find our tourism products more easily, whether they’re in Thessaloniki, Nuremberg, Berlin, or London,» adds Mr. Vassiliadis.
Strong interest in digital nomads, sports tourism, and motor tourism
As for the tourism products in highest demand, he notes that those catering to digital nomads are sports tourism and motor tourism. «When I was in London for eight years, working at the world’s largest consulting firms, I would have “killed” if someone had told me that I could spend a month on Elafonisos and, on afternoons when I wasn’t working, I’d knead dough and bake bread, go scuba diving, bike around the island, and take boat trips,» she says. She also notes that today, in the wake of the pandemic—when so many people are leaving their jobs in search of a better life— companies are offering many incentives for their employees to travel and work from somewhere else in the world.
Furthermore, Upiria is developing partnerships with sports tourism companies from Germany, England, and the Nordic countries to bring athletes from around the world for training and friendly matches in soccer, basketball, or other sports—both in the winter, when the weather in Greece is better than in Northern Europe, and in the summer, when the climate is ideal in mountainous regions such as Pelion. «What could be more ideal than a training session at the Litochoro stadium, with Mount Olympus right next door and the chance, ten minutes after the end of the match, to take a dip in the sea, at the nearby beach?» he asks.
Another sector with great promise is the motor tourism sector, in which a company from Serres—home to some of the best racetracks—offers exciting opportunities to the members of a large community of people who are passionate about this field.
Enormous tourism potential with incredible activities
Pavlos Vassiliadis believes that Greece has enormous tourism potential as a country with incredible tourist attractions. He believes, however, that so far we have not properly promoted what we have to offer. «If we don’t take advantage of the technological capabilities available today, it’s like fighting with bows and arrows in an age of modern weapons,» he comments. He «sees» great opportunities in attracting groups of digital nomads to Greece, in coordination with the companies they work for; he focuses his attention on the United States and Canada and is pleased to announce that there is collaboration with Greeks in the diaspora from Sweden, Japan, Korea, and elsewhere who wish to bring people to Greece.
Finally, he states that he is optimistic about the entire venture and feels vindicated in his decision to return from London to Komotini, his hometown, and to Thessaloniki, where he works with his partner, Pavlos Paschalidis, CTO and co-founder of Upiria.
P. Yultsi
Photo: Upiria
