“In 2022 we will have a record of cruise ship arrivals of all times for Greece. We are talking about luxury cruises with travelers and tourists, who leave a very high income.” This was said by the Minister of Tourism Vassilis Kikilias, speaking to SKAI channel, who noted at the same time, that cruises start on February 5 in Thessaloniki. He added that the increase recorded in Northern Greece reaches 300% while the increase in Piraeus with dozens of more cruise ships is significant.

This year’s image for cruise tourism centers on home ports in Piraeus and Thessaloniki, with an increase in Crete, Corfu, Santorini, Mykonos and all Greek destinations and with huge demand, many times more than other years.

Greece will remain open

The Minister of Tourism also spoke about a sharp increase in bookings observed since the first days of 2022, according to data provided by tourism professionals.

“With a lot of effort, battle and toil, the Ministry of Tourism, the government, the regions, the municipalities, EOT, Marketing Greece, our embassies, EOT offices abroad and all individuals, are undertaking this joint effort.” He added: “We made sure – and at the time I was honored to have been appointed by the Prime Minister as Minister of Health – to have the country open for tourism in 2020 and with the excellent effort we had then in the pandemic, we managed to rebrand the country and that Greece should be considered a safe country reaching 10.5-11 billion euros in tourism revenues in 2021, instead of 5-6 billion euros.”

“There is no doubt that whatever problems there are, in an unstable global context of the pandemic, we will overcome them and succeed. We are sending a message from now throughout the world: Greece will remain open, Greece will welcome tourists early, I have said the summer destinations from March 1st must be ready. That is why we are meeting with all the Regional Governors at the Regional Tourism Council next week “, he stressed.

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