Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni visited the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) on Wednesday to address the group, where she predicted that the number of tourist arrivals from the US will increase in 2015 due to a stronger dollar and cheaper transport costs.

She noted that political uncertainty and the national elections on January 25 have led to a freeze in travel bookings despite promising signs in the previous months that 2015 would be a good year for Greek tourism.

Ms. Kefalogianni referred to a decline in tourist arrivals from Russia and Ukraine as a result of developments in these two countries. She underlined that Greece is now focused on the tourism markets of Brazil and China.

Ms. Kefalogianni also outlined the ministry’s initiatives and actions, noting that tourism in Greece has been increasing since 2012. She said that Athens in particular was visited by more than 15 million tourists in 2014, an increase of more than 20%.