“The flow of tourists from Russia to Thessaloniki fell by 11.12% for the first six months of this year”, - RES-MPA reports with reference to official sources. In general, there is an increase of foreign tourist traffic to this popular resort. So, from January to June 2018, according to the Association of Thessaloniki hotels, the total number of visitors was 1,115,097 against 1,085,595 in 2017.

The number of tourists from Russia to Thessaloniki declined by 11% - from 26,519 in January-June 2017 to 23,569 for the same period in 2018. It was reported by Greek media with reference to the statistics of the Association of hoteliers of the city. However, according to experts the trend towards a decrease of the interest of Russian tourists concerns all the resorts of the country.

“The Russians began to choose more expensive hotels in Greece, this season in the priority are the hotels 4-5-stars” – reported Anex Tour operator. "As in the past and this year from April to July Greece enjoys a stable demand on the Russian tourist market. The most popular resorts are Crete and Rhodes.

Tour operators have begun to adjust flight programs from Moscow to the Greek island of Crete. So, ANEX Tour since July 25 more than half reduces its volume in the direction: instead of five weekly flights Azur Air to Heraklion will be only two. "Analyzing the demand, we came to the conclusion that it would be right to optimize the program to reduce the risks of unloading flights", - said the Deputy director-general of the operator Jan Muromov.

By the end of May, 3% less passengers from Russia arrived at Heraklion airport in Crete in comparison with the same month of the last year. This follows from the latest statistics of the main air harbor of the Greek island. Germany, the main supplier of tourists to Crete, has positive dynamics + 32%.

The tour operators note this year's growth in demand for the resorts of mainland Greece from 10 to 25%. Greece remains one of the most popular vacation destinations for Russians. According to the forecasts of the Greek National Tourism Organization, in 2018 about one million Russians will visit Greece.

“The European Commission agreed to extend for 2018 a simplified visa regime for tourists arriving from Turkey and planning to visit Greek islands of the Aegean Sea”, - the press service of the Greek Foreign Ministry reported. This system was launched in 2012. It allows tourists who stay on the Aegean coast of Turkey and who want to visit the islands of Dodecanese archipelago - Kos, Rhodes, and others - to arrive there by ferry from the Turkish ports of Bodrum and Marmaris and get a visa upon arrival.

A number of Greek tourist players have increased the volume of air transportation to Greece for this summer. Thus, the tour operator "Muzenidis Travel" this year will increase the volume of transportation on the Greek destinations by 35%. The basis of the flight program is the flights of Ellinair airline, which is part of the holding Mouzenidis Group. Ellinair plans to fly this year from 15 Russian cities (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Volgograd, Voronezh, Ekaterinburg, Kazan, Krasnodar, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Pyatigorsk, Rostov-on-Don, Samara, Saratov, Ufa) to 10 airports of Greece and Cyprus (Athens, Thessaloniki, Heraklion, Chania, Corfu, Kavala, Rhodes, Araxos, Zakynthos, Larnaca).

In the summer season of 2018, the tour operator Mouzenidis Travel planned a 30% growth of volumes. The greatest increase will be on Greek islands: there will be a two-fold increase only for Crete due to an exclusive flight to Chania. The tour operator also opens other new directions.

“As a result of the last year Greece expects to host a million Russian tourists”, - said the Minister of Tourism of the country Elena Kundura at MITT-2018 exhibition. According to her, last year Greece managed to increase the volume of tourist traffic by 9%, increasing it up to 30 million foreign visitors.

“The Greek National Tourist Organization (GNTO) will allocate almost 845,000 Euros to 10 Russian tour operators for the promotion of the direction”, - reported the Association of Russian Tour Operators (ATOR).

The airline Ellinair changes seasonal flight program to all year-round one on the route Moscow - Athens. The frequency of flights will be 5 times a week. This was announced at a press conference by Alexander Tsandekidi, the CEO of Muzenides Travel Company which is the customer of the carrier's flights.

“Tour operators TUI Russia and Mouzenidis Travel have created a strategic alliance in order to expand the range of offered programs in Greece”, - representatives of both companies said at a press conference on February 5. "TUI Russia up to now was focused on Crete and Corfu, Mouzenidis Travel has traditionally very strong positions in Northern Greece.

“Over 910,000 Russians will visit Greece in 2017, which is 10-12% more than in 2016”, - reported the Director of Greek National Tourism Organization in Russia and the CIS Polikarpos Efstatiou. P. Efstatiou added that at present time the number of Russian tourists, who come after the summer period, is growing. "Many Russian tourists come on weekends for shopping, pilgrimage, historical tourism. Every year the number of such tourists increases.

“Greece expects to host 850-880 thousand Russian tourists by the end of 2017”, - said the Director of the representative office of the national Greece tourist organization in Russia and CIS countries Polikarpos Efstatieu. "The current year will end with a significant plus and we are very happy with it. We believe that it will be possible to reach the number of 850-880 thousand Russian tourists and possibly, taking into account the visitors of cruises, even surpass these figures", - he said in an interview.

Greece, with proper promotion on the Russian market, can host a million Russian tourists a year”, - said Deputy Minister of Culture of Russia Alla Manilova. Minister of Tourism of Greece Elena Kundura reported that in 2017 many Russian tourists who wanted to visit Greece tried to book rooms at the last moment but there were no free rooms yet.

The tourist flow from Russia to Crete Greek Island increased by 7% in August in comparison with the same month of 2016. Positive dynamics (+ 3%) also is noted in Northern Greece and at Peloponnese Peninsula. But the number of Russian tourists visited Rhodes and Corfu in August is lower than a year earlier: by 20 and 6% respectively. This follows from statistics published by Greek airports. As for the growth leader - Crete, the fact that the August tourist flow from Russia to the island - 64 thousand people - is lower than in July (69 thousand) and June (70 thousand).

“Airlines of Russia and Greece will be able to increase the frequency of flights between Moscow and Athens from 21 to 35 times a week”, - according the decision of air authorities of the two countries, published on the website of the Federal Air Transport Agency. Changes are acting on a temporary basis until the next round of consultations between the air authorities.

“The Urals experts of tourism industry note the growth of out coming tourism. This summer the most popular directions among local tourists are Turkey, Cyprus and Greece”, - said the Executive Director of Urals Tourism Association Mikhail Maltsev. "According to our estimates, after extremely difficult years we felt an increase of about 65%. And the growth concerns all directions and, first of all – out coming tourism", - added M. Maltsev.

“Greek airline Ellinair has launched regular flights from Volgograd airport to Heraklion (Crete)”, - said the press secretary of Volgograd airport Yaroslav Zimin. Flights from Volgograd to Heraklion are performed every 10 days by Boeing 737-300. The flight time is 3 hours. According to Zimin, the first flight to Heraklion took off on June 6. The transportation will be carried out until September 10. The airline Ellinair was established in 2013. It’s based at the international airport Macedonia (Thessaloniki), performs regular flights to Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Georgia, Germany, Italy, Serbia, Hungary, Romania, Poland.

“Greece this summer is among the TOP 3 of bookings”, - reported in the press-service of Anex Tour operator, in particular, the country is popular as a budget direction. The charter program of Anex Tour to Crete island started since the end of April. And since the end of May AZUR Air is flying from Moscow to Crete five times a week. In the Greek direction, the tour operator has been operating since 2013, expanding the range of offers annually.

“Ellinair airline will start regular flights from Tyumen to Thessaloniki since June 10”, - informed the press service of Tyumen airport Roshchino. Flights will be carried out on Saturdays once every two weeks. As reported, in 2017 the updated airport Roshchino plans to open new international and interregional routes. In particular, it is planned to open regular flights to Istanbul, Antalya, Thessaloniki.

The Greek carrier continues to expand its map of flights between Russia and Greece. This year, Ellinair (a subsidiary of Mouzenidis Group) plans to fly on five new routes from Russian regions, increasing the flight program by 40% against the last year. In the coming summer season, five new routes have appeared in the flight map of Ellinair.

“The new Greece visa center has opened in Moscow near the metro station "Tulskaya", - said the correspondent of the portal "Interfax-Tourism”. The visa center is located at Mytnaya Street 66.

“Flights to Greece in the summer of 2017 will be performed from 18 Russian cities”, - said Polikarpos Evstafiu the Head of the Greek National Tourist Organization in Moscow. "Flights to Greece will be carried out from 18 cities, including all major cities. We try to organize - where we have visa centers - direct flights