At a joint press conference yesterday Greece’s Alternate Tourism Minister Elena Kountoura along with her Russian counterpart, Deputy Culture Minister of the Russian Federation, Alla Manilova announced initiatives to encourage increased tourism from Russia.
Given the recent conflicts between Turkey and Russia, tourists are being told to refocus from Turkey to Greece. In March, Russian tourist flow to Greece increased by 524% in comparison with the same period in 2015. For a month, the country was visited by over 10 thousand travellers, according to the Association of tour operators of Russia.
During the first quarter of 2016, Greece was visited by 20 thousand Russians, which is up by 135% more than last year.
At the same time, in April the number of Russian tourists in Turkey decreased by 79.28% in comparison with the figures in 2015. The total number of foreign tourists who visited Turkey in April of 2016 decreased by 28% during the same period last year.
According to the Ministry of Tourism, it is the biggest drop in tourist flow in the country over the last 17 years.
The two Ministers highlighted the excellent cooperation and strong common will to further promote tourism relations between the two countries.
Kountoura referred to the concerted action of the Greek government to strengthen tourism, referring to initiatives such as the three-year and five-year multiple-entry visas for Russian visitors. She also spoke of a joint proposal for the establishment of the Year of Tourism Cooperation in Greece and Russia between June 2017 and June 2018, in order to maintain the momentum in tourism in the coming years.
Deputy Culture Minister Alla Manilova reaffirmed her country’s support for Greece and her belief that in 2016 it will be the tourism destination for most Russian tourists.
