Acropolis of Athens, Greece
Photo: Reuters
Israeli visits to Greece hit new record
Some 400,000 Israeli tourists travel to southeast European country in 2012; further growth expected this year, Greek tourism minister says
Some 400,000 Israelis visited Greece last year, and a further growth in the number of tourists is expected this year, Greek Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni told Yedioth Ahronoth last week.
According to the minister, 2012 was a record year in tourism from Israel
to Greece for several reasons – apart from the boycott on Turkey.
Kefalogianni arrived in Israel with a large delegation to participate in the International Mediterranean Tourism Market (IMTM) held in Tel Aviv.
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"Many Israelis have roots in Greece, and the wide audience receives value for money in our country with competitive prices compared to the region's countries. In the past year we have had 16 million tourists.
"We have developed sports tourism and religious tourism, and we're now developing medical tourism as well," she added.
Kefalogianni noted that Greece was a safe country for tourists. "Even when there were fiery demonstrations in the country, not a single tourist was hurt, because the Greek understand how important tourism is for the economy."
