Please tell us about the Sympossio Greek Gourmet Touring
initiative. How did it come about and what is its ultimate goal?Counting 10 years already, the Sympossio Greek Gourmet
Touring is the greatest and longest-running program
for the international promotion of Greek gastronomy. Its
collaborators are leading Greek producers, businessmen of
the tourism industry and manufacturing, the primary sector,
as well as the local authorities, national bodies and ministries.
The Sympossio is our answer to the introversion we
experienced in Greece as a consequence of a forever growing
crisis that has trapped Greek people, depriving them of
resources and the passion for creation and innovation. Its
main goal was and still is to promote Greece to Europe
through its gastronomy and culture, by means of a series
of interactive cooking events hosted across Europe over a
3-month period. Through our interactive events we managed
to arouse people’s emotions and senses and connect with our
audience like never before.
Sympossio is living proof that the economy of hospitality has
no limits and lives through models of synergy. Besides, Greek
hospitality is the work of hundreds of professionals and the
country’s actual competitive advantage.
For instance, as part of the 10th anniversary of Sympossio,
we cooperated with Panas Group, Aegean Airlines, Domotel
Hotels & Resorts, the Prefectures of Crete, Western Greece
and the Peloponnese. The event was also under the
auspices of GNTO and the Hellenic Hoteliers Federation and
enjoyed the support of UNWRAP and WIN2WIN companies.
Hoteliers, such as Saint George Lycabettus and Petra & Fos
Boutique Hotels as well as Greek producers like UNILEVER,
myCretangoods.com, Vorizanaki Winery, LOUX, Creta Oil
Botzakis, Olive Grove were also on our side.Aldemar Resorts Group boasts a series of significant
environmental initiatives. What is the Group’s greatest
breakthrough?
Our activities in Aldemar Resorts Group have a significant
social and environmental impact. Respect for the
environment as well as health and safety issues are our
main priorities, not only because they are in line with
the long-standing values of the Aldemar Resorts Group,
but also because we think they are directly linked to
our wellbeing, which, far from making distinctions and
promoting petty political interests, remains the actual goal.
We constantly work to improve the environmental
footprint of our resorts by focusing on areas such as
energy efficiency, the use of renewable energy, water
management, waste minimization and waste treatment
and the use of organic materials. Realising the wealth of
natural resources in Greece – first and foremost, the Greek
sun - in 1999 we made the largest and most pioneering
(in its time) green investment in the industry; we installed
solar panels covering a total of 7,000 square meters. The
total cost reached 1,320,000 € and, until today, it remains
the largest, most innovative and most state-of-the-art
installation for the heating of water in Greece and one of
the largest in Europe.
Having completed 20 years of active contributions, good
business practices and awareness-building inititatives, we
continue to invest in green technologies that aspire to make
Greece an environmentally friendly destination that can
be a top quality tourist magnet despite the environmental
crisis that has beset the world. At the epicentre of our
actions lies the management of water and waste since they
are the greatest challenge of our times.
What CSR practices do you follow?
As a business, we are conscious of our responsibility
towards people, society and the environment. All of
the practices we have applied in Aldemar Group focus
on that idea. Of course, the idea of Corporate Social
Responsibility has long been replaced with the terms
viability, sustainability and responsibility. These terms
are considered more accurate, involving the element of
personal responsibility as far as our choices and actions
are concerned.
In 1997 we created the CARE program; not as a response
to a trend but because what we now understand as urgent
priorities for the planet and humanity were highly sensitive
and important concerns even back then. People, society
and the environment are non-negotiable parameters in a
world that tends to forget its own priorities. With CARE we
have placed these three pillars at the heart of our business
activity, whereas we also commit ourselves to channelling
energy and resources to the wellbeing of all those involved
in our business activity. Through investments in renewable
energy, the management of natural resources, training,
charity, and our public discourse, we have completed
20 years of hands-on support to the weak, stressing the
importance of using good business practices and raising
awareness.
IN CONVERSATION