ATHENS – Tourism Minister Vassilis Kikilias referred to the dynamic performance of the cruise sector in an interview with Skai TV on Monday.

According to the minister, almost 450 cruise ship arrivals are expected in Rhodes, which is a twelve-month destination, while Mykonos has reached an all-time record and the number of cruise ships arriving in the port of Kavala so far is at 36, up from just three the previous year. In the port of Piraeus – where arrivals started in March, earlier than any other year – there is an increase of 130 pct.

Kikilias underlined the particularly impressive data for the port of Thessaloniki, with almost four times more arrivals, compared to last year.

“Greece is the 5th tourist brand in the world. And this has not happened by chance. We traveled around the world and made deals with major tour operators, major travel companies, cruise companies. Why; Because, as I have repeatedly stressed, tourism is the people’s economy in our country. The money from our tourist product comes directly and flow into the average Greek company, to the average Greek family, without any intermediary,” the tourism minister stressed.