Extraordinary Lecture, Elena Kountoura, Greek Minister of Tourism

Elena Kountoura, the Greek Minister of Tourism, will be giving an Extraordinary Lecture on Wednesday 4 November promptly at 5pm in the Dr William Barry Theatre.

The lecture will be followed by a reception in Pillars, our on-site restaurant at 6pm, which you are also cordially invited to attend.

Elena Kountoura is a Greek politician, currently Alternate Minister of Tourism in the Cabinet of Alexis Tsipras, and Member of Parliament for the Independent Greeks. She was a top athlete on the Greek National Track and Field Team, followed by an international modelling career, and in 1990 she was chosen by CNN as one of the ten most beautiful models in the world. 

In 1997 she returned to Greece, and from 2004 she was director of a women's magazine. In the 2004 elections, she was elected as Member of Parliament for New Democracy. In the dual elections of May and June 2012, she was elected as Member of Parliament with Independent Greeks. In 2015 she assumed the office of Alternate Minister of Tourism. 

Elena Kountoura is a noted philanthropist, having served as a goodwill ambassador for UNESCO and UNICEF. She founded her own philanthropic organisation, Europa Donna Hellas, in cooperation with her husband, capitalising on her fame as a model and her publishing connections, as well as her husband’s ongoing editorial positions. Ms Kountoura has two children and speaks English, French and Spanish in addition to her native Greek.

The Minister will be discussing the importance of tourism in Greece in a period of economic crisis within the global marketplace.