Travel NewsThe World Centre of Excellence for Destinations (CED) announced the signing of an important agreement with the island of Crete, in Greece, 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. Andre 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. Cesar Castaneda Vazquez 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. Andre 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.
Based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the CED has signed partnership agreements with Canada Economic Development for the Quebec regions, the Ministere du Tourisme du Quebec and the Ministere des Affaires Municipales et des Regions du Quebec.