“These images do not honor the country and I would not like them to be repeated,” said the Minister of Tourism.
Appeal to all the agencies involved to help so that the Greek tourism product remains at a very high level, addressed the Minister of Tourism Vassilis Kikilias on the occasion of the photo by Navagio Beachin an interview he gave to the television station ANT1.
“First of all I want to tell you that the images today from the Shipwreck are those of a clean beach, which honors the second most visited tourist attraction in the country. I don’t like blame balls being thrown around. It is obvious that the part of cleanliness belongs constitutionally and legislatively to the Local Government. My role is unifying and my plea to everyone is to be able to deal with whatever problems there are – I also understand the municipal authorities, the difficulties that exist with regard to waste collection on the islands – let’s all together, collectively, nationally see this effort. These images do not honor the country and I would not like them to be repeated,” said the Minister of Tourism, emphasizing the importance of modernizing the way solid waste is managed in Greece.
Regarding this year’s course of tourism, Mr. Kikilias stated that the goal of extending the tourist season in Greece has been achieved, as the season started in March and will end at the end of the year, while the strategy for attracting tourists has also paid off high spenders of travelers who spend large sums of money on their holidays, supporting small businesses and the average Greek family.
“In the first week of August we had more than 1,000,000 passengers from international flights. In addition, Greece managed in 2022 to have 40% more arrivals from high-level private flights compared to 2019. In July, in the islands of the S. Aegean Region, arrivals increased by 20% compared to the corresponding period of ’19, this is a record. Halkidiki and Pieria, despite the loss of tourists from Russia, have recovered and have 90%-95% occupancy in their accommodation mainly from Romanian and Serbian travelers. So the trips we made to the Balkans to attract travelers paid off. We are number 1 destination from France this year. Our French friends have put a lot of faith in us and have embraced the country. Number 1 also from Israel, Serbia and Romania. And from America the arrivals have increased and as you can see in the health stores in Athens American tourists no longer even ask how much something does before they buy it. The hotels – 4 stars, 5 stars, 6 stars – are full all over Attica” he said.
The Minister of Tourism also referred to the impressive turnout of tourists observed this year at the Acropolis, thanking the Minister of Culture L. Mendoni for the cooperation, and pointing out that the creation of two lines in the ticket queues to facilitate tourists coming from cruise ships, has made a decisive contribution to avoid the inconvenience of the 16,000 travelers who visit the sacred rock every day.
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