Greece - Spain sign tourism cooperation memorandum

Greece and Spain signed the first Memorandum of Tourism Cooperation in the history of the two countries on Friday 18 September 2026 in Madrid. The document was signed by Greece’s Tourism Minister, Olga Kefalogianni, and Spanish Minister of Industry and Tourism, Jordi Hereu. The signature took place during an official visit by the Greek minister to the Spanish capital and marks the first time the two countries have established an official framework for bilateral cooperation in tourism, a sector critical to both Mediterranean economies, with a long tradition of welcoming visitors, strong international recognition and significant share in the tourism flow of the wider Mediterranean.

According to an announcement from the Tourism Ministry, the memorandum covers six main axes of cooperation: sustainability, innovation, digital transformation, data use, tourism promotion, as well as investments, education and professional training in the sector. The aim is for the two sides to exchange expertise and best practices in these areas, jointly developing tools and policies for modern tourism. The document does not include, according to what has been disclosed, a binding timeline for implementation or specific investment amounts, but establishes the institutional framework on which future cooperation between the two ministries will operate.

Greece and Spain are two of the most recognized tourism destinations in the Mediterranean, with overlapping visitor demographics and similar challenges around managing seasonality, destination sustainability and digitalization of hospitality services. The two countries are often presented as competitors in attracting visitors from the same international markets, a fact that makes the establishment of an official bilateral cooperation particularly significant. This move suggests that Greek tourism policy now seeks alliances rather than purely competitive positioning, with potential economic implications for investments, expertise, data exchange and joint initiatives promoting the two destinations in third markets.

The same day, Olga Kefalogianni also met with Lebanon’s Tourism Minister, Laura El-Khazen Lahoud, with the two sides agreeing to sign a Joint Action Program for the period 2027-2029, strengthening the bilateral Greece-Lebanon relationship in tourism. In parallel, Deputy Tourism Minister Anna Karamanloglou attended the inaugural ceremony of the Athens Riviera Luxury Awards, where she delivered remarks and presented one of the distinctions. These three moves, all within the same day, compose a picture of intensive diplomatic activity for the Greek Tourism Ministry, with Madrid, Beirut and Athens simultaneously at the center of attention for Greek tourism diplomacy.