Athens has been named the “World’s Leading Cultural City Destination” for 2024 at this year’s prestigious World Travel Awards (WTA).
The Greek capital triumphed over fourteen other dazzling international destinations, including London, Paris, New York, Venice, Beijing, and Rome. The award was announced during the Grand Final Gala Ceremony on November 24th in Madeira, Portugal.
Athens received the top prize for its rich cultural heritage and the unique experiences it offers to millions of visitors who spend time in the Greek capital each year.
“We are very proud of this award, which demonstrates that Athens is a powerful global brand in culture,” Athens Mayor Haris Doukas said, adding that the Municipality of Athens “continues to invest in strengthening culture through important actions and events that bring residents and visitors into contact with the rich cultural past and present of Athens.”
The award was accepted on behalf of the city by Ioannis Georgizas, CEO of the Athens Development and Destination Management Agency (ADDMA), which promotes Athens in international tourism markets. He said that “this global recognition of Athens comes as a result of the systematic work we do towards the city’s extroversion,” underlining that the goal is to attract high-level tourism in order to strengthen the local economy.
Winners of the WTA Awards are determined through voting by travel and tourism professionals and the public. WTA was established in 1993 and recognizes excellence in the tourism, travel, and hospitality sectors.
Last year, 33 million tourists came to Greece, a country of less than 11 million, marking a 120 percent increase between 2019 and 2023. In the same year, Athens achieved a new record in international arrivals, surpassing seven million visitors. In 2024, the number is expected to increase by 20 percent, with CNN Traveler already listing the Athens Riviera, a stretch of coastline just a short hop from Athens’ historical center, as one of the most exciting travel destinations for 2025.
AAA Travel includes Athens in the top ten travel destinations Americans chose to travel to in the fall of 2024. In March, the Greek capital received yet another prestigious WTA prize as Europe’s top city-break destination.
Despite the benefits from tourism, industry experts warn that Athens has already begun suffering from the consequences of overtourism in the post-pandemic era, as the city welcomes an ever-increasing number of tourists throughout the year.
In an interview with Greek Reporter in August, Katerina Kikilia, head of the Department of Tourism Management at the University of West Attica, warned that Greece must shift its universal tourism strategy in order to prevent the potential emergence of an anti-tourism movement such as that in Spain.
