ATHENS – Tourism Minister Vassilis Kikilias had a meeting on Tuesday with a delegation of Serbia-Greece friendship group of the parliament of Serbia and with Serbian Ambassador Dusan Spasojevic, according to an announcement.

The Greek parliament was represented by the chair of the relevant Greek group, New Democracy MP Christos Boukoros.

The discussion was constructive and focused on further promoting bilateral collaboration in tourism.

The Serbian side announced that the airline AirSerbia will from April 2023 carry out flights to four new Greek destinations: three flights a week to Heraklion (with a fourth to be added in June), three flights a week to Chania, two flights a week to Corfu and two flights a week to Rhodes.

Both sides agreed on the importance of accelerating the procedures for the resolution of matters relating to the operation of the Greek National Tourism Organisation (GNTO) in Belgrade, with an equivalent measure for the operation of the Tourism Office of Serbia in Athens.

The Serbian side pointed out the extra economic cost of roaming charges for Serb travellers visiting Greece, saying that this leads to the annual loss of 300,000 to 400,000 tourists from Serbia every year.

Finally, they both underlined the significance of the systematic promotion of winter tourism for both countries.

The Serbian delegation and the Serbian Ambassador conveyed to Kikilias an invitation from the Serbian Tourism Minister to visit Belgrade in order to have meetings with government officials and to participate in the International Tourism Fair that will be held from 23 to 26 February.