The first good signs for Greek tourism are coming from the increase in traditional markets this year, and the continuing growth of new markets such as Russia, Turkey, Israel and Ukraine, noted Minister of Culture and Tourism Paul Geroulanos. He is visiting Moscow arriving from Tel Aviv. Today, July 15th he will arrive in Kiev.
“Greek businessmen no longer rely on traditional markets. Last year, we had a low tourist traffic from England and Germany, a fact that highlighted the importance of new markets,” said Geroulanos.
“Both the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister have taken initiatives to make clear that Greece will take the lead in this effort, promoted by Russia, as part of negotiations with the EU on the elimination or simplification of visa issuing procedures for Russian tourists”, said Geroulanos.
The Israeli side expressed particular interest in issuing multiple visas for Russian citizens, as “the Israelis would like the Russians, who visit Greece to be able to visit Israel for 2-3 days, too and return to Greece again”, a perspective which will be supported by the Greek side, as “any cooperation between the three countries will certainly help us too.”
“Our priority is “the responsible tourism “, which respects the tourist, and the Synod of the United Nations will work on its development in Spain, in September,” said Geroulanos shortly after his meeting with Vitaly Moutko, Minister of Sport, Tourism and Young Policy. On that occasion, Geroulanos has been invited as a speaker at the meeting. The two ministers agreed to promote cooperation between the two countries in this direction, in order to build a common agenda.
The Russian minister expressed the concern of the Russian side for the protests in Greece, but was generally reassuring referring to the growing number of Russian tourists who choose Greece as their holiday destination, a fact which affirms “the historic and cultural connection of the two countries. “
Much of the conversation between Geroulanou and Moutko was about the Winter Olympic Games of 2014, as the Russian side expressed interest in cooperation between the two countries. 2014 has been declared the cross year ”Greece – Russia” and gives the opportunity to work both on culture and sport issues.
Mr. Moutko expressed great interest of the Russian side by Greek businessmen to invest in the tourism industry in this emerging field of Russian economy, while Mr.Geroulanos from Greece’s’ side expressed the Greek interest in the field of infrastructure, particularly airports, marinas and ports, thus they both decided that Greek businessmen of the field will make successive visits to Russia, “As the Russian government intends to invest a lot in this area,” as Russian businessmen will do in Greece, too.
Mr. Geroulanos dined with the Russian Culture Minister Alexander Avdeev, where he discussed issues on development and protection of cultural heritage in both countries, with emphasis on the cross year ”Greece – Russia” to be conducted in 2014. This will dedicate a series of events to Thessaloniki and the cooperation in the field of film production with the upcoming John Smaragdis movie “God Loves Caviar.”
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