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The European Union is not planning to change the visa regime with Russia and Ukraine

10 March 2014 / 23:03:21  GRReporter
2413 reads

Anastasia Balezdrova

This is the decision of the European Commission for the time being, as stressed by European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Maria Damanaki. Greek Minister of Tourism Olga Kefalogianni said in turn that Greece does not intend to change its policy regarding the issuance of visas to the citizens of Russia.

They made their statements at the press conference after the informal meeting of Ministers of Tourism of the European Union in Athens. During the meeting at the Acropolis Museum, the Ministers discussed the new policy framework for tourism in Europe and adopted the European Commission's proposals for the development and improvement of marine tourism and the creation of new jobs in the sector.

Maria Damanaki presented the 14 measures of the Blue Growth Strategies that the European Commission is going to take to tackle the following key issues in tourism: its seasonal character, the instability caused by major political developments, training of staff of tourism companies and greater access to financing. "90 percent of them are small- and medium-sized companies. The sector has to become competitive and overcome the problems and challenges it is facing," she said, adding that the European Commission's measures are combined with funding.

Damanaki described the Blue Growth Strategies as "an attempt to create opportunities for new jobs and new employment, using the potential of coastal resources."
 
At the meeting, the Ministers discussed the recommendation of the European Union for the quality of tourist services. "Its implementation depends on the policy of each country separately. Unfortunately, despite the fact that 20 million Europeans work in the field of tourism, which produces 10% of the GDP of the European Union, we do not have a common tourism policy. In Greece, however, quality is the axis of our policy in the field of tourism," said Minister of Tourism Olga Kefalogianni.

The recommendation defines four key principles of quality of tourism, namely training of employees, implementing a policy to satisfy customer demands, preparation of, and compliance with, a documented plan for the cleaning and maintenance of facilities and equipment, and the provision of information to consumers.

"The solution to increasing the flow of tourists to each country is the supply of different types of tourism," said Olga Kefalogianni. "In Greece, we are working for the promotion of various forms of tourism such as cultural, religious, cruise, medical and others."

She said 2013 was a record year for Greek tourism since the country was visited by 17.5 million tourists and the revenues amounted to 12 million euro. "This was an 18.7% increase compared to 2012. The recovery of Greek tourism is already a fact but the question is how it can bring recovery to the overall Greek economy." According to Olga Kefalogianni, it is expected that 2014 will be even better for the Greek tourism sector.

Tags: PoliticsMinisters of TourismEuropean Union
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