Tourism | Greeks of the diaspora as a catalyst for upgrading – Katerina Balilaki (BrainReGain) speaks to T.N.

• Interview by Christina Kousouni | Katerina Balilaki, General Manager of BrainReGain

Despite the dynamic maturation of tourism, Greece inactive faces important shortages successful highly specialized personnel, portion lone 3% of applications to the BrainReGain mentoring programme travel from professionals successful the sector. Katerina Balilaki, General Manager of BrainReGain, explains to Tornos News wherefore this fig reveals the request for a displacement successful mentality, however leveraging Greeks of the diaspora tin go a catalyst for upgrading, and wherefore the aboriginal of Greek tourism lies successful sustainability, innovation, and a caller strategical narrative.

The afloat interrogation is arsenic follows:

• One of the astir captious issues is the instrumentality of Greeks from overseas with planetary experience. What skills and expertise bash professionals of the diaspora bring that could alteration Greek tourism?

Greeks moving contiguous successful planetary tourism groups, edifice chains, oregon question tech companies bring much than experience. They bring with them a antithetic mindset. Revenue management, sustainability strategies, global-scale integer marketing, lawsuit travel plan — these are each skills that tin alteration the mode we comprehend Greek tourism. But much importantly, they bring a mentality of prime and outward-looking thinking, wherever short-term nett does not undermine the visitant acquisition oregon the well-being of section communities.

• What is needed for the tourism assemblage to instrumentality the adjacent step? Under what conditions tin it harvester sustainable improvement with integer innovation to conscionable the caller expectations of some visitors and section communities?

The adjacent measurement is clear: Greek tourism indispensable determination from the accepted hospitality exemplary to the caller epoch of sustainable and digitally enhanced experiences. Visitors present question authenticity, greenish infrastructure, and personalized services. On the different hand, section communities request maturation that doesn’t exhaust their resources. This tin lone beryllium achieved done the operation of exertion — specified arsenic large data, AI, astute hospitality — and sustainability, meaning ESG practices, liable assets use, and genuine transportation to section culture.

And present is wherever the publication of Greeks of the diaspora is crucial: they’ve worked successful environments wherever these elements are already embedded and cognize however to bring them to Greece.

• BrainReGain acts arsenic a “bridge” betwixt Greeks overseas and businesses successful Greece. To what grade tin specified initiatives assistance code the contented of workforce shortages and boost the competitiveness of Greek tourism?

BrainReGain is precisely that “bridge.” Through our programs, we link Greeks overseas with businesses successful Greece, creating occurrence stories of return. In tourism, this is hugely important, arsenic shortages are not conscionable successful numbers, but chiefly successful quality. Revenue managers, sustainability experts, selling executives with planetary acquisition — these are the profiles we lack.

And fto maine stock 1 insight: retired of the applications we person for the mentoring program, lone 3% subordinate to tourism professionals. This is telling. It shows that Greeks overseas who enactment successful the assemblage are hesitant. Why? Because they spot beyond the accepted dysfunctions. They privation a values-driven culture, sustainability, superior prospects — not short-sighted mindsets focused connected speedy nett astatine the disbursal of work quality.

• Despite continuous maturation successful tourism, businesses inactive study shortages successful cardinal positions specified arsenic gross managers, sustainability experts, and selling professionals with planetary experience. What needs to alteration for Greece to go much charismatic to highly specialized professionals?

Greece needs to alteration its narrative. Talking astir "sun and sea" isn’t capable erstwhile you’re trying to pull talented professionals. We request to connection competitory compensation packages, but besides an situation that supports innovation, allows for vocation growth, ensures work-life balance, and demonstrates a genuine committedness to ESG practices.

We besides request to code the systemic dysfunctions that discourage repatriation: bureaucracy, uncertainty, short-term thinking.

And we already person an example: connected our Board of Directors is Mr. Haris Siampanis, CDIO of Phaea Resorts, who, with his planetary experience, demonstrates however the assemblage tin leap guardant by leveraging diaspora talent. That’s the way — from basal absorption to strategical transformation.