The Challenge: Athens is a city with an ancient past and a pressing need to look to the future.  To ensure that the city can continue to excite and enchant a new generation of visitors while giving local young Athenians a stake in the city’s future, a bold new approach was needed. 

The Background: The Athens Development and Destination Management Agency (ADDMA) and Aboutourism came to International Connector with the aim of building a product portfolio that will put the city on the map for Millennials, an increasingly influential and affluent demographic.

The Solution: Our youth were convened virtually in a think tank to ideate, strategize and problem-solve.  The responses came from youth in 40 different countries.

The insights framed a strategic think tank in Athens with 50 stakeholders (government, media, youth travel specialists, local Millennial entrepreneurs) developing a framework for building new products to support young travelers vital to the economic development of Athens.

The Results: New private/public partnerships were established opening the door to build new solutions. New products and companies were created to support Millennial travelers. Articles on Athens appeared in the media in London to attract attention in primary market.