At ITB Berlin 2010, the World Center for Excellence (CED) signed an agreement with the island of Crete, with the goal of implementing its System of Measures for Excellence in Destinations (SMED) in the largest of the Greek islands.
This agreement was officially confirmed today by Ms. Brigitta Papastavrou of ELAGRO, Mr. Schinaraki, Head of Prefecture of Heraklion and President of the Cretan Quality Agreement, and the President of the CED, Mr. André Vallerand, in the presence of Mr. Taleb Rifai, Secretary General of the United Nations World Tourism Organization, Ms. Aggeliki Gerekou, Greek Minister of Tourism, Dr. César Castañeda Vázquez del Mercado, Director of Operations of the CED, and Mr. Manolis Psarros, Head of Sustainable Tourism Development/ELAGRO.
This agreement aims to establish a tourism profile of the Island of Crete and assist it in gauging itself to face international competition, while facilitating the attainment of its objectives in sustainable development. The SMED also aims to improve the quality of the experience offered to tourists and to strengthen the geographical character of a tourist destination (environment, culture, heritage, well-being of the residents, etc.) while strategically identifying major issues facing tourist destinations around the world.
“Greece is the first country to identify the SMED as a national tool in several destinations. Moreover the Island of Crete is the second SMED evaluation conducted in Greece as part of this partnership relationship with ELAGRO”, noted Mr. André Vallerand. To date, twelve destinations around the world have been evaluated by the SMED. Several others have expressed their interest in the SMED and new agreements will be announced shortly.
About the CED
With its headquarters located in Montréal, the CED began operations in February 2007. The CED is a non-profit organization dedicated to the research and creation of tools to support the development of sustainable tourism for destinations around the world. The CED was created with the support of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the National Geographic Society. For further information, please visit the CED website at: www.ced.travel
About ELAGRO
As the official Greek Sustainable Tourism Organization under the auspices of the Greek Ministry of Tourism, ELAGRO is responsible for the sustainable tourism development of rural Greece. The importance of a Sustainable Tourism Strategy for ELAGRO is to ensure that there is an appropriate and systematic approach to marketing, product development and visitor management involving all key stakeholders.
