NATTOUR and the Bike Friendly Hotels certification label for cyclist-friendly hotels received the Silver Award in the category “Strategy & Innovation: Initiatives for Extending the Tourism Season / Enrichment of the Greek Tourism Product.”
Significant distinction for the Bike Friendly Hotels label at this year’s Tourism Awards
NATTOUR and the Bike Friendly Hotels certification label for cyclist-friendly hotels received the Silver Award in the category “Strategy & Innovation: Initiatives for Extending the Tourism Season / Enrichment of the Greek Tourism Product.”
The award was presented during the 2019 Tourism Awards at a prestigious ceremony held on Tuesday, April 9, 2019, at the Hellenic Cosmos Cultural Center.
The award was received by Ms. Vicky Karantzavelou and Ms. Tatiana Rokou, Public Relations Officer and President of NATTOUR, respectively.
[From left: Ms. Vicky Karantzavelou, Public Relations Officer, and Ms. Tatiana Rokou, President of NATTOUR]
Moreover, the certification label “Bike Friendly Hotels” stood out not only for its achievements but also for the quality of its application, which will soon be included in the Greek Tourism Library. This dynamic platform for sharing best practices in Greek tourism was announced during the Tourism Awards ceremony. The Greek Tourism Library will allow anyone interested to study successful case studies of businesses and organizations in the sector. Initially, it will include 12 case studies of initiatives awarded at the 2019 Tourism Awards, including the “Bike Friendly Hotels” certification label, and will be updated weekly, with the aim of disseminating quality and innovation standards to the market.
[From left: Ms. Vicky Karantzavelou, Public Relations Officer of NATTOUR, and Ms. Titi Velopoulou, Ambassador of the Bike Friendly Hotel label]
The “Bike Friendly” label is an initiative of the non-profit organization NATTOUR, which aims to protect the environment. NATTOUR promotes the development of alternative forms of tourism, prioritizing cycling tourism.
In 2017, the effort began to develop a network of hotels and municipalities-tourist destinations that are friendly to tourist-cyclists. At the same time, a strategy was launched to attract tourists who would like to explore areas of Greece using a bicycle as their means of transportation or simply use the bicycle for short trips from their hotel during their vacation.
The “Bike Friendly” label is awarded to both hotels and municipalities-tourist destinations that meet a series of internationally recognized criteria (hotel criteria – tourist destination criteria).
The development of the “Bike Friendly” label is done in collaboration with the Hellenic Society for the Protection of Nature (HSPN).
The “Bike Friendly” project is supported by Travel Media Applications, which provides integrated communication solutions exclusively for the tourism industry, leveraging technology in online applications.
It is noted that currently, the number of hotels across Greece participating in the “Bike Friendly Hotels” network has reached 57, with an increasing trend.
The “Bike Friendly Hotels” network in Greece consists of a selection of hotels distinguished for their commitment to environmental protection, high service quality, and dedication to serving the cyclist-tourist. The member hotels of the network meet a minimum number of criteria based on international standards and make every effort to ensure the most comfortable stay for the cyclist-tourist.
