The Ambassador of Greece, Christodoulos J. Lazaris, has presented his credentials to the Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Taleb Rifai, accrediting him as Permanent Representative of his country to UNWTO. UNWTO is the United Nations specialized agency for tourism and is based in Madrid, Spain.

During the meeting, Rifai expressed to Ambassador Lazaris the Organization’s determination and commitment to continue strengthening its close relationship with Greece.

The prospects for tourism in Greece are positive as economic recovery continues and new air routes open from emerging source markets, particularly Russia and China, as well as from traditional source markets. Greece has shown sustained growth in international tourism in recent years with almost 24 million international tourist arrivals in 2015, a 7% increase compared to the previous year, generating nearly 16 billion US dollars in receipts.

Greece has been a Member State of the UNWTO since 1975.