Event report
“The event of the Rural Tourism Cluster was held with great success”
The event “Rural Tourism Cluster – Rural Greece: the example of Crete” organized by the Rural Tourism Cluster “epaithros” of ETAM S.A. was held with great success on Friday, April 11, 2025. The event took place at the Cultural Conference Center of Heraklion with the participation of a large number of organizations, educational, cultural and research institutions, municipalities, development companies, businesses active in the countryside or in technological innovation, as well as a large number of people.
The participants are the members of the innovative ecosystem of the epaithros Cluster, the first rural tourism network in Greece, who, through their participation, aim to support, strengthen, enrich and improve the tourism product in combination with the environmental, social, cultural and economic sustainability of the countryside.
The event was attended by the Mayor of Sitia and President of the Sitia Development Organization, Mr. George Zervakis, the Mayor of Lassithi Plateau, Mr. George Athanasakis, the Deputy Mayor for Civil Protection and Municipal Police of the Municipality of Heraklion, Mr. Manolis Cheretis and officials of the Region of Crete and other municipalities on the island.
The event began with the greetings of the Deputy Governor of Rural Economy, Mr. Stavros Tzedakis, the Special Advisor for Innovation of the Region of Crete and former Deputy Governor of Entrepreneurship, Trade, Innovation and Social Economy, Mr. Antonis Papaderakis, the Head of the Administrative Authority of the Region of Crete, Ms. Maria Kassotaki and the former Minister and Mayor of Kalamata and President of the Diazoma Association, Mr. Stavros Benos.
Mr. Tzedakis focused on the need to connect the primary sector with tourism through a low-intensity business proposal, such as that advocated by the epaithros Cluster. Mr. Papaderakis focused on the principle of sustainability in the broad sense and warmly welcomed the innovative and collaborative nature of the Rural Tourism Cluster. On the other hand, Ms. Kassotaki highlighted the contribution of the epaithros Cluster to the development of a new tourism identity and a new tourism product for Crete that will be sustainable, qualitative and participatory. Finally, Mr. Benos, who sent his greetings through his partner, highlighted the timeless and strong ties that connect him with ETAM S.A. based on the common goal of connecting monuments of nature and culture with agri-food, tourism and entrepreneurship which results in a comprehensive experience of experiential contact with the countryside.
Moving on to the main part of the event, Mr. Nikos Drakonakis, President and CEO of ETAM S.A., developed his vision for the epaithros Cluster, how he was inspired by it several years ago, what is its philosophy and what are its basic principles. Dr. Chrysa Pagalou, General Manager of ETAM S.A. and Coordinator of the Rural Tourism Cluster, took the baton. In her presentation, she presented in detail the entire development process of the epaithros Cluster, from its first pilot steps to the full maturity of the project today, while emphasizing the future of the Network and the day after tomorrow, through the two dimensions of the project: the operational and the commercial. Mr. Christos Chiotis, visual communication consultant of the Cluster’s digital applications (www.epaithros.eu and www.ruralgreece.gr) presented the digital platforms live to the network members and the other participants of the event, highlighting their innovative character. The main part of the event concluded with the presentation of Dr. Dimitris Koutoulas, Professor at the University of Patras and Tourism Development and Marketing Consultant. Dr. Koutoulas presented in detail the business plan he prepared specifically for the epaithros Cluster, highlighted the development prospects of the Network, but also of rural tourism in Crete and Greece in general, while engaging in an interactive, lively and direct dialogue with the audience, answering questions, queries and providing clarifications.
A light meal followed, accompanied by a winetasting experience of Cretan wines, a rich offering from the Crete Winemakers Network.
The epilogue of the event was a special musical experience. The unique Psarogiorgis took to the stage and performed, among other things, the piece “Akrotiri” that he wrote exclusively for the needs of the Rural Tourism Cluster and will accompany the Cluster’s journey from now on. The evening closed atmospherically with the melodies of the instruments of Stelios Petrakis, Michalis Kontaxakis and Giorgos Psarakis who performed orchestral pieces of Cretan traditional music. The musicians participated in the event on a voluntary basis, wanting in their own way to support the initiatives of the epaithros Cluster and to contribute to the effort to flourish rural tourism.
