Greece Votes on Bill to Boost Sustainable Tourism

On Thursday, the Ministry of Tourism’s draft bill titled “Establishment of Standards for Short-Term Rental Properties, Environmental Classification of Accommodations, Simplification of the Process for Establishing Tourism Businesses, and Specific Provisions for Monitoring and Strengthening the Framework for Tourism Infrastructure” will be presented to the Plenary Session of the Greek Parliament for a vote. Although most of the attention around the bill has focused on proposed standards for short-term rental properties- aka Airbnb’s- Greece’s Minister of Tourism Olga Kefalogianni underlines that sustainable tourism and environmental responsiblity is a central theme of the bill.

During the review and examination of the bill in the Standing Committee on Production and Trade of Parliament yesterday, Kefalogianni said the country’s commitment to “offering reliable, safe, and high-quality hospitality services” and to environmental responsibility is evident in provisions such as the classification of tourism accommodations based on environmental performance and the use of seawater in swimming pools—a practice already widely adopted in the Mediterranean to conserve water resources.