Warm Welcome To Our First Official IEF Villa Alliance Partner – Scott Williams Villas

We are very excited to announce that Scott Williams Villas is the first company to establish a formal partnership agreement with the Ionian Environment Foundation. 

Thank you, Scott Williams, for leading the way in the creation of this important alliance. We look forward to fuelling impactful local initiatives with national repercussions with your support, whilst also taking action to promote a gentler, more sustainable tourism in the precious Ionian region.

IEF Villa Alliance Rationale: 

The tourist trade is Greece’s second largest industry, drawing in over 30 million visitors annually, seeing the population of Greece triple, fuelling up to 900,000 jobs and contributing to 1/5 of Greece’s GDP. It is a crucial industry for the Greek economy, but also one that must address the pressures it places on the country’s natural resources and infrastructure – particularly on the small islands. It is critical that both tour operators and visitors are aware of their responsibility to safeguard nature and to foster an understanding and appreciation of the  biosphere they have come to profit from and enjoy. 

We are confident that a strong collaboration between villa companies and the Ionian Environment Foundation can be a powerful way to maximise our positive environmental impacts as well as offering mutual benefits to the villa companies.  Clients are likely to return inspired by nature, and the experience can also result in long-term support for the local projects they are engaged with. In this way villa companies can generate further channels of support for local organisations, whilst also offering customers unique and personally fulfilling experiences.

Our hope is that, in leading by example, villa companies can become key influencers in the tourist industry, the service sector, local municipalities and even within national policy. Villa owners and their actions will visibly display and model the kind of sustainable behaviour and environmental awareness that should be becoming prevalent across the tourist industry in Greece. Over time, their example will filter down into the community and similar actions and changes will be seen in local businesses too – from plastic free homes to waste efficient shops, cafes and tavernas.

They are therefore playing a key role in changing mindsets, attitudes, and behaviours,  and even informing policy change in relation to the conservation of their islands. We look forward to seeing more villa companies in the region joining us to really fuel this change.