FedHATTA Prompts Greece, Israel, Cyprus Tourism Pact

In its ongoing efforts to promote Greece’s tourism potential to newer markets, the Federation of Hellenic Associations of Tourist & Travel Agencies (FEDHATTA) announced this week the establishment of a three-country entity that will work together in this direction.

The agreement among Greece, Israel and Cyprus signed last week at the International Mediterranean Tourism Market (IMTM) 2017 held in Tel Aviv, marked the first phase of the East Mediterranean Travel and Tourist Agents Associations Synergies (EMTTAAS), which will work towards the creation of a network that will focus on the promotion of tourism in the Eastern Mediterranean “uniting” the regions under a single tourism umbrella and including the participation in the future of relevant tourism bodies.

Priorities of the initiative, which comes under FedHATTA’s Dodeka program, include boosting cruise travel, passenger shipping, year-round tourism as well as expanding into new markets including the US, Canada, Australia and Africa.

”Our commitment with partners in Israel is to intensify joint actions for the development of tourism for the benefit of all sides. Let us not forget… the three countries are inextricably linked culturally, geographically, socially and economically,” said FedHATTA President Lysandros Tsilidis.

Moreover, FedHATTA expects arrivals from Israel to Greece to increase by at least 15 percent. Some 470,000 Israelis travel to Greece annually for vacation. Last year, Greece saw around a six percent increase in Israeli visitors.