What Did People Say About The Travel Massive Crete Road Trip?

In May 2016 Crete Travel Massive hosted a 10-day road trip for two reasons: to spread the word about their new chapter and to promote Crete as a 4-season destination.

Now, chapter leader Rebecca Skevaki is sharing a little bit more information about who they are and what the Crete road trip was all about.

If you haven’t heard of Crete before here are a few facts.

Crete is the largest and most heavily populated island of Greece
The Region of Crete covers 6.3% of the total area of the country
The city of Heraklion is the Capital of the Region
The Cretan Sea borders the island on the north and the Libyan Sea on its south
A number of small islands: Gavdos, Ntia, Koufonisi, Gaidouronisi or Chrysi, Dionysades, Spinalonga and Paksimadi, most of them uninhabited, also belong to Crete
The island has three major airports, Nikos Kazantzakis in Heraklion, the Daskalogiannis airport in Chania and a smaller one in Sitia
Crete is also connected to mainland Greece by its 6 ports

So, what did everyone think about our Crete road trip?

The whole road trip was sponsored by local businesses in the tourism sector. At the end of the tour, we sent to all the participants an email with sponsor links to their review sites accompanied by a questionnaire to review the following:

Atmosphere
Beach
Culture
Dimensions
History
Landscape
Nightlife
Quality of Life
Sightseeing
Exploration
Variety of Activities
Other interests

Overall, our 18 guests emphasized that what distinguishes Crete among other destinations was its unique culture. As a drawback everyone mentioned the slow internet or not at all existing even at 4-star hotels.

The second part of our survey included the following questions and answers:

How can we raise awareness about Crete as a four seasons destination?

More is needed to be done in formulating the destination as a four seasons product. Crete has adopted a mass tourism orientation, however, it is increasingly evident that new-sophisticated consumers seek authentic and unique experiences even in “low Season”. Hence, the destination will need to re-assess the entire range of their resources and identify suitable tourism products for each particular target market segment.

Here are some suggestions from our participants:

The local DMC’s (private & government) should emphasize more on themed or alternative tourism during low season
Focus on the development of innovative new products such as festivals and cultural events
Use different distribution or marketing channels to attract potential visitors that don’t prefer “high season” for many reasons such as “overcrowded historical sites”, etc
By positioning the island as an experience-focused destination
Provide better access to high-speed Wi-Fi so that visitors can upload more “real-time” photos of the destination as research has shown that people are more eager to share content while they are still at a destination

Do you believe that trips like the one you participated in, could be beneficial?

The international participants all learned a great deal about the destination and will forever talk and share this wonderful experience. In addition, the local businesses were able to communicate with international travelers and professionals from the tourism sector, who provided insight on the travel trends of tourists, strategy suggestions which they have found to be effective in their regions, and feedback to improve Crete attractions.

What are the three leading sources of information influencing your perceptions of an international destination?

Among our guests, friends recommendations ranked higher, followed by photographs of the location viewed online, review sites such as Tripadvisor and blog articles showcasing the destination.

Which social media outlet do you use most frequently for making decisions on where to go for a holiday?

Almost 70% of all respondents said content posted online by friends made them want to visit a destination. The influence of photos on facebook was highest followed closely by Instagram.

Have you ever heard that Crete is a four seasons tourist destination?

Unfortunately, only a 10% had heard that Crete is worth visiting outside of the current high season period which expands from May to September and that 10% were participants living in Greece.

Is this your first visit to Crete?

Thirteen (13) out of the eighteen (18) guests had never visited Crete before.

What would be your the main reasons to visit Crete off-season?

All participants agreed that Crete is a world-class destination and an ideal place to visit all year round. They would visit off-season again for the following reasons:

Landscape: Crete’s interior alternates between rugged mountains and fertile plateaus, while it’s southern coast offers some of the most isolated spots in Europe. As an island, it has a highly advantageous geographical location, whilst Crete blends a rare composition of geographical as well as climatic conditions. The natural beauty of the island is quite impressive
Cretan diet culture: Local cuisine was ranked second among the reasons to visit Crete. Cretan cuisine has long been endorsed as one of the healthiest and influential diets in the world: its firm foundations is none other than the unique extra virgin olive oil
Culture: The Cretans have a proud and rebellious soul and preserve countless customs. Local celebrations such as “Panigiria” were a good reason to visit the island off-season. Everyone commented on how hospitable the Cretans are.

A huge thank you goes out to all those who participated, Love Always Summer and The Cheerful Wanderer for all our wonderful photographs and of course the sponsors, we couldn’t have done this without you.

Please take a moment to acknowledge all of our amazing sponsors:

Chania: Proimos Hotel, Renieris Hotel, Platanias Ariston, Jays Jays steak house, Crete Urban Adventures, Strata Tours, Biolea Astrikas Estate, Simantirakis traditional products, Pneumatikakis Winery, Manousakis Winery, Kissamia Hospitality, Λαογραφικός Όμιλος Χανίων, Γιώργος Σκευάκης ΜΑΝΩΛΗΣ ΑΓΓΕΛΑΚΗΣ, ΦΡΑΡΟΣ ΜΙΧΑΗΛ, Creta Luxury Cruises, Botanical Park of Crete, Ktel.ChanionRethymnou, Byraki.gr, The Cellar Kissamos restaurant, Municipality of Platanias

Rethymno: Rimondi Boutique Hotel, Veneto Boutique Hotel, Palazzino Di Corina, Ideon Hotel, Pepi Studios, Fortezza Hotel, Jason Hotel Rethymno, Rethymno Military Museum, Ancient Eleutherna Crete, Museum of Eleutherna, Poliou House Restaurant in Rethymno, Museum of Contemporary Art rethymno, Raki BaRaki Restaurant, Municipality of Rethymno, Arina Sands Hotel, Molo Cafe Heraklion, Barolo Cafe Heraklion, Millennium Travel Center, AVIS rent a car Heraklion, Wines of Crete, Kernel Computer services Heraklion, Five Star Catering Heraklion,Minoiki Avli, Gavalas Winery Heraklion, Municipality of Heraklion, Heraklion Info Point, Cretan guides association

Ierapetra: Koutsounari traditional cottages, Elena Yacht, Vassilakis Estate, Fun Train Agios Nikolaos, Taverna Spinalonga, Taverna Psaropoula Koutsounari, Crete Experience, Municipality of Ierapetra

Official guide: Evi Petsaggouraki

Rebecca Skevaki is Crete’s Travel Massive chapter leader, founder of Go Local Tours PTY LTD, and the manager of Athens Urban Adventures. Rebecca got the travel bug during her first taste of traveling at the age of 4, sailing from Greece on a 42-day voyage to Australia. Since then she has visited 41 countries in more than 230 cities.