ST76

28 Feb 2020

THE DEVELOPMENT OF TECHNOLOGY IN SPORTS AND SPORTS TOURISM

· Commercial / People ·

SportsTraveler76 Ltd and Frederick Research Center, co-organized on February 28, 2020, an educational conference under the title "Sports, Technology and Tourism". The Conference was part of the SportsTraveler76 research project, which is partnered with the Mobile Devices Laboratory (MDL) of the Frederick Research Center and Sports Traveler 76 Ltd and it was a great success.

The aim of the program was to design and develop the SportsTraveler76 platform that allows travelers / users to book (eg flights, hotels, event tickets) and to actively participate in sports tourism events. At the same time, the project aimed to demonstrate the impact that these sporting events can have on the tourism and economy of Cyprus.

The primary goal of the event was to inform / educate students, academics and other participants about the activities and results of the program, in relation to the importance of technology, its influence and impact on sports and tourism in Cyprus and in general.

The meeting was addressed by the President of the Council of Frederick University, Mrs. Natassa Frederick, who stressed the importance of technology development in all areas of life and in the field of sports, while adding that Frederick University attaches great importance to sports, but also in sports tourism in particular, stating that the innovative curriculum "Science of Physical Education and Sports" provides students with the opportunity to deepen, inter alia, in sports tourism and leisure sports. In addition, she referred to the general involvement of the Mobile Devices Laboratory in projects aimed at using technology for the benefit of society.

Then Dr. Achilleas Achilleas, Lecturer in the Department of Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering and Informatics and scientific manager of the project on behalf of the Frederick Research Center, presented to the public the activities and results of the project. He also mentioned the collaboration between Frederick University and the Frederick Research Center with companies in research and innovation for the benefit of student education and industry.

In her own speech, Ms. Effie Zikouli, CEO of SportsTraveler76 Ltd., presented the future vision of the company in relation to the combination of technology and sports for the benefit of tourism and the economy of Cyprus, while also referring to the principles she represents The company.

As part of the event, the Taekwondo Gold Olympian Michalis Mouroutsos spoke about the change that technology has brought to his own sport and more specifically about the electronic chest scoring system.

Mr. Leontios Tselepos, Chairman of the Sports Tourism Committee & Member of the Board of the Cyprus Sports Organization (KOA), referred to the development of technology in modern sports. He stressed that one of the priorities of the COM is to increase the use of all sports facilities and to host international games and events.

Mr. Stratis Telloglou, who has worked as a digital transformation expert in major sporting events, spoke about the importance of technology in organizing and managing sporting events. He placed special emphasis on modern technology trends in sports, such as the VAR system in football. In addition, he talked about how technology strengthens the relationship between fans and sports, through interactive tools.

In the end, Michalis Mouroutsos and Stratis Telloglou answered questions from the public related to technology and how it affects sports in general and Olympic sports in particular.

27 Mar 2019

"MAKE PLACE FOR ONE MORE WOMAN" AWARDED EFFIE ZIKOULI

· Commercial / People ·

The Executive Committee of the “Make Place for One More Woman” program in Greece organized the 1st Awarding Ceremony, in which the Program Director Voula Kozompoli honored the top sports figures in the country for their contribution towards the promotion of women in sports.
Make Place for One More Woman” is an institution that honors and highlights the actions of those who contribute to creating an ideal environment for more women in sports,” said water polo champion Voula Kozompoli and added: “I cordially would like to thank my associates for the event, the Deputy Minister for honoring the event with his presence, the Mayor of Nea Smyrni for the co-organization, and congratulate once again all the awarded ones.”

Among the people who were awarded for their contribution was also the World Taekwondo Media Committee Vice-Chairwoman, Mrs. Effie Zikouli, receiving her award by the former Minister of Sports, Fani Palli-Petralia. 
In detail, Mrs. Zikouli was awarded for her contribution to sports and especially Taekwondo, in national as well as international level. “It is a great honor for me to receive this award through an IOC-promoted project, aiming to empower and promote the role of women in sports.” said Zikouli, adding: “Among the World Taekwondo Europe 51 member national federations, there only one female President; the one of British Taekwondo, representing the UK”, and she evidently pinpointed the need to increase the presence of women in leading positions for the sport.
Taekwondo Europe as an active supporter of actions that promote social inclusion, gender equality and fortify the rights of social and civil minorities, congratulates Mrs. Zikouli for her award and aspires to find many more women as ‘champions’ in taekwondo administrative positions, both continentally and internationally.
Representatives of various sports were also awarded, as Tatiana Kavvadia, Basketball Olympic Champion and founder ‘We Love Basketball for Girls’, where young girls are motivated to develop and be developed through basketball.
Mum and daughter Karate Champions and coaches Georgina Xenou and Mariza Soubasaki, who show the power of women through their personal adventures.
Dimitra Korokida as a Paralympic sphere athlete, active in coaching and entrepreneurship·
Stella Lazarou, President of the Nautical Club of Vouliagmeni, with many years of sports administrative experience.
Vasilis Menoudis, former Volleyball professional athlete, actively promoting participation of women in sports and gender equality.
Xenia Argiataki, former athletics athlete, Ph.D. holder, the first elected woman in the Hellenic Olympic Committee, Vice-President of Hellenic Athletics Federation and Chair of the Sports and Women Committee.
Ioanna Moraitis, Ping Pong medalist in Mediterranean and Balkan championships, Ph.D. holder and Director of the General Secretariat of Sports in Greece.
Georgia Fyrigou, water polo and swimming champion, diving coach, with a managerial role in the FINA World Federation and the LEN Pan-European Federation.
Christina Galanopoulou, track n field athlete with extensive volunteer experience, founder of ‘Girls Team Galanopoulou’, aiming to inspire young girls with the values of Olympism and volunteering.
Erasmia Laskaris, regent of the Women’s National Teams in Greece, who contributed in the successful collaboration of the Hellenic Handball Federation with the ‘Make Place for one more Woman’ foundation.
The Hellenic Beach Handball team’s players, Magda Keepsidou, Nikolina Keepsidou, Pimenidou Eleni, Kerlidi Elena, and Dimitriou Apostolina were awarded a special prize after winning the Beach Handball World Championship in Kazan 2018, bringing the biggest distinction for both women’s and men’s sport nationally.
About “Make a Place for One More Woman” program  Make Place for One More Woman is a program that unites the Olympic champions, distinguished athletes, members of the Olympic Movement, sports executives and prestigious personalities, with the ultimate goal of “creating a place for one more woman”! The program was inspired by the President of the Greek Olympic Champions Club Voula Kozompoli, following her awarding by the International Olympic Committee with the “Woman & Sport of 2015” Prize for the European Continent.

MasTKD Team

14 Feb 2019

Sports Tourism in Epirus

· Commercial / People ·

A Two-day conference on "Sports Tourism in Epirus", was co-organized by the Panhellenic Sports Press Association with the Region of Epirus, on February 14 and 15 in Ioannina, in the context of our Association's actions concerning Sports and Society in general.

At the event, which took place in the "Archbishop Spyridon" hall of the Zosimaia Pedagogical Academy of Ioannina, notable speakers from the PSAT and the Epirus Region developed topics such as, among others, "The role of the media in the development of its sports The map of sports events in Epirus ”“ The promotion of sports tourism events in the age of social media ”,“ Innovation and Technology in Sports Tourism ”,“ Sports Tourism and Local Communities ”,“ University Sports and its contribution to tourism in Epirus ”,“ Organization of sporting events and tourism ”,“ Epirus as a destination of sports tourism 365 days a year ”etc.

The CEO of ST76, Effie Zikouli, presented the opportunities for the organizers on technology level and the European programs that are available in Greece to upscale their business.

19 Jun 2018

ST76 was interviewed by "Marketing Week" in Greece

· Commercial / People ·

Effie Zikouli and Maria Spararaki, co-founders of Sports Traveler 76, talked about the World Taekwondo Beach Championships, which premiered in Rhodes and was broadcast internationally by EBU's television network to Isabella Zampetaki, from the prestigious Marketing Week, the weekly magazine edition of Boussias Communications. 

THE INTERVIEW

What are the main conclusions of the organization of the World Taekwondo Beach Championship in Rhodes during the month of April?

The Taekwondo Beach World Championship is an event that made its international debut last year in Greece. The World Taekwondo federation wanted to create a more extroverted version of the sport that would escape the limitations of its competition part and have a more freestyle, urban and festive form. With 20 years of experience in the Operations & Media Broadcasting field, we proposed to organize the Beach Taekwondo in Greece.

Our country has the ideal climate to host outdoor sports events - especially in autumn and spring. We therefore selected an excellent location, the Nautical Club of Rhodes, which is at the entrance of the old harbor, with an impressive view of the old town and the beach. Infrastructure was, of course, abandoned and we had to take to the task to improve them. In order to make use of the space and create a setting suitable for both sport and television broadcasting, we needed, inter alia, to turn the pool of the Club into a taekwondo court. For the Taekwondo Beach World Championship we fully committed ourselves to design and implementation, constantly supported by the European Federation. Out of a total of 209 member countries of WT, our first two events have already attracted 50, totaling 900 athletes.

What is your overall planning and what is the emphasis placed on the organization's communication level?

We attended to all organizational needs, from infrastructure, accommodation, board, training and medical treatment of the athletes to the hat and sunscreen given as gifts to the participants. We hired and trained staff. At the same time, we took the opportunity to test the www.sportstraveler76.com platform, which has been created to meet the wide range of needs of those who want to participate in a sports event, as well as the organizers themselves. Those belonging to the first category can single handedly register and organize their participation, trip and make the most of what is offered, while organizers benefit form saving staff and costs by taking advantage of important application provided automatically to them. We basically held our test event on a global organization and passed with flying colors. At the communication level, the most important for a new sport that breaks ground is its television broadcast. Last year's event was relayed by the Olympic Channel, the official Internet channel of the International Olympic Committee. This year, we broadcast live through EBU with sports commentary directly from the facility. In addition to this, we also created a television product specifically for the Greek audience with an eight-camera production, a technical staff of 30 people, an OB van, and Laura Narjes with Stephanos Avramidis presenting. For the broadcast, we chose SKAI and the first screening, which took place on the evening of May 13, had an average audience rating of 21%. At a technical level, and in cooperation with LG Europe, we tested a new image-making technology, HDR-HFR. It is a technology that is used for the first time in Greece and has striking clarity. Apart from television, we also communicated the event on social media. The publicity we have received so far includes publications in 20 different languages.

What dynamic do you see in sports tourism in Greece?

Greece has a major drawback: it has no state funding to attract global events any more. Beach Taekwondo is the only world championship that has come to Greece since 2000 and is based almost exclusively on private initiative. As a country, however, we have very attractive features to attract smaller competitions, which local government can support. There are important opportunities to exploit there. The challenge is to create and promote products that attract sponsors and manage the cost of the event properly.

#MarketingWeek 

Issue 1540/ 04-17 June 2018

For more information visit: www.marketingweek.gr

photo credits: Nicos Karanikolas

13 Jun 2018

WTBC2018 in SKAI TV reached 23,7 in 18-54 audience!

· Commercial / People ·

The Rhodes 2018 World Taekwondo Beach Championships was held on the Greek island between April 25 and 28 and were organized by Sports Traveler 76 (ST76), promoted by World Taekwondo and the World Taekwondo Europe.

According to the world governing body's President, Dr. Chungwon Choue, the beach variant of the sport reflects "values of inclusivity and accessibility".

"Rhodes 2018 World Taekwondo Beach Championships have opened a new chapter for taekwondo that goes outside of usual venues," stated Dr. Choue to insidethegames.biz and added:

"The live broadcasting of the event has been displaying the majesty of poomsae in an outdoor space and the technical skills of taekwondo athletes. 

"The images that have been travelling around the world exhibit the atmosphere and how the World Taekwondo Beach Championships brings all athletes together."

With live broadcasting via EBU, live on Olympic Channel and with a one-hour TV show for the Greek national TV network, SKAI, the event delivered a message that taekwondo has all the potentials to promote a new style to the people and an event for athletes to enjoy.

In Greece, the audience report by Nielsen Audience Measurement, said it clearly: 21% average, 23,7 the highest and 18,3 the lowest for 18-54 of age audience! And this is huge success since the program aired on May 13, two weeks after the live broadcasting!

The V-Production company undertaken the event with Dimitris Tsigkos and Nicos Tsimouris delivering an amazing content in HD while a unique filming took place with LG Europe collaborating with EBU on HDR-HFR format filming, for the first time ever in Greece!

The English commentary was delivered by Mike McKenzie, while Stavroula Katsoula Kavali by WTE and Lisa Lents, delivered the presentation during the live broadcasting.

The TV show in SKAI TV was presented by Laura Narjes and Stefanos Avramidis, while the production was handled by ST76.

The World Taekwondo TV family also was there, represented by the TV Director of WT, KyungHee Park, the WT Media Committee Chair, Michel Madar and the WT Media Committee Vice-Chair, Effie Zikouli.   

For more information: http://www.worldtaekwondo.org/

https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1065117/world-taekwondo-hail-beach-championships-as-new-chapter-for-the-sport

http://www.skai.gr/tv/show/?showid=66952

21 Mar 2018

#ST76 won the SILVER Award at Tourism Awards 2018!

· Commercial / People ·

Sports Traveler 76 Ltd. was featured at the category Sports Tourism.

The ceremony took place on March 21 st, at the Hellenic World Cultural Center in Athens attended by more than 700 representatives from the tourism industry. With "innovation" being the general show case, Sports Traveler 76 Ltd presented their breaking of fresh ground with the inaugural event of World Taekwondo Beach Championships held in the island of Rhodes on May 2017.  

"It is of great importance that our company from its onset receives such recognition", stated company CEO Ms Effie Zikouli and added: "It is our great responsibility to honor the trust of the World Taekwondo and the World Taekwondo Europe by organizing an event of international magnitude and impact, and at the same time our pleasure to do so, under the amazing sun of Rhodes".

The top-notch of sport events and initiatives were also awarded during the ceremony, such as the "Athens Marathon. The Authentic", that won the Gold award in the Strategy & Innovation category, as the most beneficiary event for the local economy. Thus, it is momentous for Sports Traveler 76 Ltd. to be among the domestic "diamonds" of sports tourism.

We are preparing for the next World Taekwondo Beach Championships on April 25 to 28 in Rhodes, promising more excitement and challenges for both athletes and fans!
For more information please check out our Sports section.

See you in Rhodes!

main photo: Anastasia Zikouli (business Analyst), Effie Zikouli (CEO), Stavroula Katsoula-Kavali (Head of Marketing & Communications) 

23 Feb 2018

April6 Initiative of the Year Award for 2017!

· Commercial / People ·

In an unprecedented show of unity, the 10th edition of the prestigious Peace and Sport Award was hosted on Thursday, December 7, 2017, in the presence of H.S.H Prince Albert II of Monaco.

The 400m2 #WhiteCard, which was opened during the spectacular ceremony of the inaugural World Taekwondo Beach Championships, held on May 4, 2017, at the medieval city  of Rhodes, a UNESCO World Heritage Centre, was among the more than 600 occurring in over 100 countries worldwide, finishing in second place under “April6 Initiative of the Year” category.

“April6 Initiative of the Year” rewards individuals and organizations, who have contributed to the celebration of April 6, the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace,  through a #WhiteCard initiative or an event raising awareness on the use of sport as a tool for development and peace.

The 2017 #WhiteCard campaign reached more than 43 million people across social media and encouraged more than 630 community peace projects to be set up across 150 nations.