EyeWide Digital Marketing, a leading European hospitality marketing company, has announced the Summer 2020 opening of the majority of its portfolio of Greece hotels.
Despite the challenges the COVID-19 pandemic, the management and staff of the various properties have met or exceeded the health protocols established by Greek authorities to ensure the safety, and comfort of guests traveling to Greece for work and for leisure activities.
In these challenging times, the prime directive of every hotel is to ensure the safety and health of guests, staff, and associates. With this as a mission, EyeWide Digital Marketing’s hotel partners have spared no expense in order to offer the highest standards of cleanliness, safety, and proactive measures to counter the effects of COVID-19.
EyeWide and all the hospitality partners have done everything in their power to meet or exceed the health protocols released by Greek authorities, as well as additional steps to ensure the safety and comfort of its guests and staff.
EyeWide’s Greece partner hotels indicatively open so far include:
The Resorts
Anemos Luxury Grand Resort, Mythos Palace Resort & Spa, Pepper Sea Club Hotel, Akrotiri Beach Corfu, Bella Venezia, Portes Beach, Fodele Beach, The Syntopia Hotel, Aegean Melathron Thalasso Spa Hotel, Creta Maris Beach Resort, Creta Star, Creta Royal, Alexander Beach Hotel & Village, Elounda Beach Hotel & Villas, The Royal Blue Resort, Knossos Beach, Porto Greco Village Beach Hotel, Lyttos Beach Hersonissos, Asterias Village Resort, Secret Paradise, and Star Beach Village Hersonissos.
Self Catering Stays
Seascape Luxury Residences, Irida Hotel Apartments, and Serenity Suites offer guests the ultimate option of choice and freedom. Each is located ideally in the center of Crete experiences, with the added benefit of self-sufficiency while enjoying stunning hospitality.
Agrotourism Retreats
Enagron Ecotourism Village in Crete, Thalori Retreat, and Koutsounari Traditional Cottages are all set in the middle of Crete’s pristine natural landscape. For those who want to truly experience what it means to be Cretan, these ecotourism retreats are a wonderful indoctrination.
All the hotels have gone through rigorous training and revamping of procedures in order to ensure guests have a safe and memorable stay on Crete. From careful and more frequent cleaning and sanitization efforts to logical improvements like better online check-in, hotels have gone the extra mile so that guests will feel confident and secure.
Greece’s National Health Organisation has recommended that large gatherings are avoided, particularly indoors and that every surface and object in public areas are sanitized regularly. In addition, rooms must also be thoroughly cleaned and ventilated, whether or not they are accessible to the public. We contacted Minas Liapakis, the founder of EyeWide Digital, to get his take on how the abbreviated Crete vacation season is going so far. Here’s what Liapakis had to say:
“Obviously, 2020 will be the most challenging year in recent history for hoteliers, not only in Greece but everywhere in the world. Bookings for our hotel partners in July are fairly dismal, at about 25 percent of what’s normal. The pandemic has caused everyone to have to rethink travel and hospitality. Our first mission was always the safety and confidence of our guests, so readjusting is not foreign to us.”
Liapakis went on to discuss the importance of the effectiveness of government safeguards at border crossings and points of entry. He also pointed out how EyeWide partners have turned over every stone in order to make things like social distancing feel more normal. Resorts have restructured the way activities and meals are served, and so on. He also held said August bookings look a lot better, but that the “COVID record” of July will play a huge role in whether or not more travelers come to Crete. Liapakis continued:
“The situation for August looks brighter, but a lot depends on the effectiveness of government safeguards put in place, especially at Greece’s borders. The good news is that the resorts and hotels we partner with are not in the business of giving up.”
Crete is the fifth-largest island in the Mediterranean and has been named several times as one of the five best destinations in the world for travelers. The island welcomes in excess of 5 million visitors each year, but of course, there will be far fewer visiting this year on account of the pandemic. However, if ever there were a time to really “get away from it all”, 2020 is that time. Greece, and especially Crete, are fortunate to have more “getaways” than anyplace on Earth.
Once the center of the mysterious Minoan Civilization which was the cornerstone of western civilization, Crete is unique for its culture and traditions, its privileged geography, and the special character of the Cretan people. EyeWide’s partners are not only world-class hospitality businesses, they’re part of the Greece experience visitors enjoy time, and time again. This year the whole island is focused on safety first, with legendary filoxenia as Greece’s eternal gift to travelers.
