Greece and Turkey signed a tourism cooperation protocol in Vouliagmeni, Athens, with visions of a greater exchange of information on issues of infrastructure, especially maritime tourism.
The protocol was signed on the sidelines of the 3rd joint Greek-Turkish tourism committee meeting and the 8th Greek-Turkish tourism forum by the Greek Minister of Culture and Tourism, Pavlos Geroulanos and his Turkish counterpart, Ertugrul Gunay.
The committee agreed to make travel of third country tourists between the two countries easier and to create new ferry boat links.
The Greek minister noted that through mutual cooperation in the tourism sector Greece and Turkey can better prepare for the future and achieve better results vis-a-vis.
Ertugrul Gunay said Turkey and Greece should facilitate travel and simplify visa procedures, while he later spoke in the opening session of the forum and said improvement of Turkish-Greek cooperation would not only be for the best interests of the two countries but also bring the two nations closer to each other.
The Turkish tourism minister emphasized that two countries should hold such meetings more often, recalling that the last meeting was in 2006 in the Southern province of Antalya.
Also present at the meeting, Greek Minister of Culture and Tourism Pavlos Geroulanos welcomed Gunay’s proposal to meet more often and improve cooperation in tourism in the hopes of creating positive effects on Turkish and Greek economies.
Geroulanos stated that the two countries could achieve many things together, and Greece would work to facilitate Schengen visa procedures for Turkey.
The coordination of the forum was held by Greek State Secretary for Culture and Tourism, Yiorgos Nikitiadis.
Ministers from Greece and Turkey set the date for the next Greek-Turkish Forum for October, 2012 in Smyrna.
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