Greek Tourism Minister To Visit Moscow

The deputy head of the Federal Agency for Tourism of the Russian Federation, Evgeny Pisarevsky, with Greek Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni (archive photo).

Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni will depart for Moscow on Tuesday 15 April to further strengthen tourism cooperation between Greece and Russia.

The Greek tourism minister will be accompanied by Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO) Secretary General Panos Livadas and members of the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE). She is scheduled to have a series of meetings with senior officials of the Russian government.

More specifically, on the morning of Wednesday 16 April, Mrs. Kefalogianni will meet with leading representatives of the Russian tourism market. Later in the day, she will attend a meeting with the Russian Deputy Minister for Culture, Alla Manilova. On the same day she will attend a working lunch with the Russian Federation’s head of the Federal Agency for Tourism, Alexander Radkov, and deputy head, Evgeny Pisarevsky.

Topics to be discussed include the issuing of tourist visas and the development of special programs for theme tourism.

The Greek tourism minister will also give interviews to Russian media outlets and return to Athens on Wednesday evening.

Russian tourists opt for Greece

According to data from the GNTO office in Russia, last year 1,352,900 Russians visited Greece, an increase of 54.7 percent compared to 2012.

Greece recorded 1,341,800 euros of tourism revenue from the Russian market in 2013, a 42.2 percent increase compared to the year before.

It is noted that most Russian tourists travel to Greece between the May-September period. However, in 2013 a very strong growth was recorded throughout the year and especially in March and October.

The vast majority of Russian tourists (98.3 percent) arrive to Greece by air. According to data on arrivals by the Civil Aviation Authority, the airports of Athens, Heraklion, Thessaloniki, Rhodes and Kos receive the most Russian visitors.

In addition, last year Greece was ranked third most popular destination for Russian tourists, up from the seventh place in 2012, according to data released by the Russian Statistics Service (Rosstat).