Tourism to Greece holding up well

Greece Tourism Development Minister Aris Spiliotopoulos expressed his satisfaction over the course of tourism figures this year and said that the Greek tourism sector maintained its dynamism by showing a rising trend in new markets despite an unfavorable international economic conjuncture.

Spiliotopoulos said that according to figures published by the National Statistics Service, tourist arrivals at the country's major airports were up 3.0 pct this year and noted that July figures were unchanged at last year's levels.

He said Greece was among the winners of this year's global tourism market, with tourism foreign exchange inflows rising 8.5 pct in the period from January to June 2008.

The minister said tourist arrivals from Russia, Romania, Poland and Bulgaria surpassed one million visitors so far this year, with tourist arrivals from Russia up more than 40 pct compared with 2007. Cruise vessels arriving to Greek destinations were also more than 10 pct higher this year.
ftnnews.com