Tourism minister upbeat about 2014 season, sees arrivals reaching 20 million
Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni was particularly upbeat in her assessment of the 2014 tourism season during statements made in the city of Iraklio, Crete on Friday, predicting that arrivals will reach 20 million visitors by the end of this year.
"After a good year in 2013, there is 2014 with even better results and arrivals that are expected to reach 20 million tourists by the end of the year and revenues reaching 13.5 billion euros," she said, noting that the country's tourism sector had reached record levels and all-time highs.
Messages for the tourism sector in 2015 were also positive, she reported, with the ministry's focus now aimed at further enriching the country's tourism product, improving its quality and attracting even more tourists throughout the entire year, thus raising average revenues.
"In order to succeed in this, we must exploit all of our country's comparative advantages," she noted, while also calling for the development of alternative forms of tourism, such as religious, agrotourism and wine tourism.
Regarding the wave of bankruptcies by Russian travel agents, she said efforts were being made to ensure this did not cut off the flow of tourism from Russia and announced that a delegation from the Russian tourism board will be arriving next week to discuss compensation for the Greek businesses affected.
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