Greece eyes 15-20 pc growth in footfalls from India in 2020

Greece is targeting around 15-20 per cent growth in Indian travellers visiting the country and is focusing on cruises, weddings and MICE segment for it.

"Last year we hosted 1,00,000 Indian travellers, which is 43 per cent more since 2016. We are witnessing steady growth in footfalls from India and are eyeing around 15-20 per cent growth this year compared to 2019," Greece Tourism Minister Harris Theocharis told PTI here on Monday.

The minister was part of the inaugural ceremony of three-day event OTM Mumbai, one of India's best-known travel trade shows.

He said that with 6,000 islands, Greece is focusing on cruises, weddings, and meetings, incentives, conferences and events (MICE), offering Indian travellers an interesting mix of luxurious and sustainable experiences.

"India has huge potential as a source market which is growing and there is a lot that needs to be done for visa processing and direct flights to make it a major contender with other source markets," he added.

The Consul General of Indonesia Pak Agus P Saptono, who was also present at the event, said India is the fifth largest source market for the country with 60 per cent of the share going to Bali.

Indonesia is curating 10 other destinations as the next Bali to drive greater numbers to the country.

He said film tourism is a huge focus for coming years to promote Indonesia for Indian tourists.

Many international tourism boards, including Greece, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Egypt, Fiji, Korea, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Nepal, Palestine, Romania, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand are participating in OTM 2020.

On the domestic front, almost 30 state tourism boards and union territories are participating, including Andaman and Nicobar, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.