The arrival of Turkish visitors to Mytilene peaked today with more than 1,700 people arriving today alone on five ships of the line from the opposite port of Ayvalık city.
In total and in order to celebrate in Lesvos the Muslim festival of Seker Bayram, which is celebrated this year from 6 to 14 April, more than 6,000 visitors are expected to come to the island.
Most of them from Istanbul and Izmir but also from other major Turkish coastal cities.
It should be noted that it is particularly significant that the increased arrivals of Turkish visitors to the eastern Aegean islands coincide with the implementation of the visa express procedure for visitors from Turkey.
During the celebration of Seker Bayram it is estimated that nearly 1,000 visitors will make use of the visa express.
However, the tourism stakeholders of Lesvos are satisfied with the implementation of the measure, as there is a large increase in tourism from Turkey and the visa issuance process is now being handled very quickly.
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As it is known, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis immediately after his last meeting with Tayyip Erdogan, had announced the launch of the pilot procedure of issuing visa express of seven days for Turkish citizens – visitors to 10 islands of the eastern Aegean.
Specifically, the islands of Lesvos, Chios, Samos, Kos, Rhodes, Symi, Kastelorizo, Lemnos, Kalymnos and Leros.
It is estimated that more than 100,000 Turkish citizens will visit Lesvos this year, an increase of about 20% compared to last year.
