Greece is Number 1 Destination for Romanian Travelers this Year, Say Tourism Professionals

Greek Tourism Minister Vassilis Kikilias with Romania travel and tourism professionals.

Greece is the first tourist destination of choice for Romanian travelers this year, according to tourism professionals in Romania.

Last week, representatives of the National Association of Travel Agencies in Romania (ANAT), leading Romanian tour operators and executives of the country’s airlines attended meetings in Bucharest with Greece’s tourism minister, Vassilis Kikilias, and the head of the GNTO office in Romania, Yiorgos Stafylakis.

Citing booking data, the Romanian tourism professionals said Greece once again will be the number one choice for Romanians to travel to for their summer holidays.

Referring to feedback from his contacts in Romania while speaking to SKAI TV, Minister Kikilias informed that not only will Romanian visitors come to Greece this year for a vacation, but they will travel to destinations that are lesser known and thus strengthen the economy in other parts of Greece that until now did not benefit significantly from tourism.

“Many of these destinations have traditionally attracted tourists from Russia, from where we are not expecting this year to see strong tourist flows and this is not only the case for Greece but also for other countries,” Kikilias said.

The minister explained that in order to cover the absence of Russian tourists this year, the ministry has selected to promote Greece to other markets, including Romania, Serbia, Poland and Scandinavian countries.

Favorite destinations for Romanians this year are Thassos, Samothrace, Halkidiki, Corfu, Evia, Parga, and Lefkada. In pre-pandemic 2019, Greece welcomed 1.4 million Romanian travelers.

On the occasion of the minister’s visit to Bucharest, the GNTO office in Romania held a two-day promotional event for Greek tourism that included a press conference to local media. The Greek tourism minister also gave a series of interviews to the Romanian press including TV channels, online and print media, news agencies (Ager Press, Mediafax, News.ro, DC News) and many radio stations.