Israeli Tourism to Greece Flourishing as Bilateral Relations Warm
By Nick Kampouris -Feb 14, 2019
A large number of tourists from Israel are expected to visit Greece in 2019, as the two countries have formed a new, strategic relationship with cooperation in various fields.
The Greek Ministry of Tourism has already outlined its strategy to strengthen bilateral tourism relations between Greece and Israel and to hopefully increase the tourist flow from Israel to Greece.
For the past three years, Greece has enjoyed the distinction of being the number 1 holiday destination for Israelis.
A rise of more than thirteen percent was recorded in Israeli tourist arrivals to Greece in 2018 compared to levels seen in 2017.
The number of Israeli visitors to Greece surpassed 600,000 for the first time in history last year.
Airline reservations for 2019 from Israel to Greece already represent an increase of sixteen percent over last year. A total of more than 700,000 Israeli tourists are expected to visit Greek destinations this year.
These numbers represent approximately ten percent of the entire Israeli population, showing the massive popularity of Greek tourist destinations in the Israeli market.
Greek Tourism Minister Elena Kountoura met with Israeli Tourism Minister Yariv Levin during her visit to the Tel-Aviv International Tourism Fair earlier this week. The meetings were held within the framework of the excellent bilateral cooperation in tourism that now exists between the two countries.
Από τη συνέντευξή μου στο διεθνές τηλεοπτικό δίκτυο @i24NEWS που εκπέμπει από το Ισραήλ σε 4 γλώσσες (Αγγλικά, Γαλλικά, Εβραϊκά, Αραβικά) σε περισσότερες από 100 χώρες παγκοσμίως. #IMTM2019 pic.twitter.com/tm8DSEvI0J
— Elena Kountoura (@ElenaKountoura) February 13, 2019
The ministers discussed further actions to increase the tourist flow between the two countries, with emphasis on religious and educational tourism. They also discussed activities which could attract more tourists to both Israel and Greece from long-haul markets in Asia and America.
The two politicians also decided to promote activities in the Eastern Mediterranean cruise sector which strategically target the European market.
The ministers also held a series of meetings with leading tour operators and representatives of the Israeli travel market. It is expected that this will only improve the already-impressive increase in arrivals and flights between Israel and Greece in the coming years.
With information from A.M.N.A.