Joint Press Release of the Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Digital Governance and the Ministry of National Economy and Finance
The application submission process for the “Tourism for All 2024” program was completed on Monday, 8 April, on the online platform vouchers.gov.gr with high interest and great participation.
The “Tourism for All” program was implemented by Information Society (IS SMSA), under the Ministry of Digital Governance, within the framework of the Public Investment Program (PIP), in cooperation with the Minister for Tourism Olga Kefalogianni, the Minister for Digital Governance Dimitris Papastergiou and the Deputy Minister for National Economy and Finance Athanasios Petralias. The aim is to directly boost domestic tourism and to strengthen, inter alia, the mountainous regions of the country to achieve balanced distribution of visitors throughout the year.
According to the platform, the number of applications was 972,893. Of these, 78.2% concern beneficiaries who will participate in the draw of lots for a subsidy of €200, 3% refers to people with at least 67% disability who will participate in the draw of lots to receive twice the amount, namely €400 covering their need for an accompanying person, and 18,8% concerns vulnerable groups: married persons or civil partners with three or more dependent children, pensioners under all Social Security Funds, to whom a final decision has been issued on their pension award, and unmarried citizens or widowed persons with dependent children who will participate in the draw of lots to receive an intangible digital card worth €300.
Potential beneficiaries of the program are adult natural persons who meet specific income criteria and have submitted a definitive income tax return for the year 2022.
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Those beneficiaries selected after a draw will be able to issue an intangible digital debit card, which they will use for their stay in any hotel or accommodation facility of their choice in the country without further paperwork and bureaucratic formalities involved. The date of the draw and the final lists of beneficiaries are expected within the second half of April and before Easter. Therefore, those who have submitted an application will be informed of the results of the draw via SMS and e-mail according to the contact details they provided in their application.
The Minister for Tourism, Ms. Olga Kefalogianni, stressed that the program aims at expanding domestic tourism and extending the tourist season,with an expected clear footprint on local communities and economies. In addition, she highlighted the powerful social impact of the new program which will provide significant aid to the beneficiaries, the new criterion which extends also to persons with higher income, and the new categories of special social groups to be included.
Dimitris Papastergiou, Minister for Digital Governance, stated: “The Ministry of Digital Governance uses all modern technological tools to make the daily life of citizens simpler and friendlier in all areas. We have an excellent cooperation with the Ministry of Tourism to ensure smooth implementation of the “Tourism for All” program, so that citizens can perform the necessary activities easily and without problems ans unnecessary bureaucratic formalities”.
