ITB 2013: Tourism Minister Expresses Optimism For Greek Tourism

Following her talks held during the ITB Berlin trade show in Germany, Greek Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni said she was optimistic on the course of this year’s tourism season.

“There is great optimism for Greek tourism this year… The ITB Berlin exhibition showed us a positive image that confirms our predictions that 2013 will be a good year for Greek tourism,” Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni said yesterday, Friday, 8 March, after her recent visit to Germany.

Last Thursday, 7 March, Mrs. Kefalogianni held a meeting with Friedrich Joussen, CEO of tourism giant TUI and other international tour operator representatives.

According to the Greek Tourism Ministry, the traditional “tourism interest” of the Germans to Greece has greatly improved this year and an arrival increase is expected to be recorded.

Last year, German arrivals declined by 5.9 percent compared to 2011 to 2.1 million, according to data released recently by the Bank of Greece.

Mrs. Kefalogianni informed the international tour operators that Greek tourism is developing according to a strategic plan that aims to restructure the national tourism product through the upgrade of services that also includes a new communication approach to international markets.

Within the framework of her visit to ITB Berlin 2013, the tourism minister also spoke at an event entitled “Greece on the path of development. Extraversion-tourism-investment” held on the sidelines of the trade show and organized by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and the Greek National Tourism Organization.