Both the government and the private sector, including companies such as Aegean Airlines, aim to open the Indian market to Greek tourism in the new year.
This is a dynamically developing market, whose middle and income earners are expanding at a dynamic pace, creating opportunities for diversifying the markets to which Greek tourism is addressed, as well as boosting travel revenues.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis paved the way during his visit to New Delhi in early 2024, when he discussed the prospects for strengthening economic relations between the two countries in many sectors, including tourism, with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, following last year’s visit by the latter to Athens.
Now, Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni is preparing a mission to India early next year, probably in February, to promote this cooperation. In this context, issues such as air connectivity between the two countries, facilitating the visa process for Indians who want to visit Greece and, for this purpose, the possibility of opening one or two more consulates in major Indian cities, are expected to be discussed.
The prospects for Greek tourism are great. The country, whose population now exceeds 1.4 billion, according to the Indian think tank People Research on India’s Consumer Economy, is expected to have a middle income earning population of more than a billion people by 2047, while the highest income segment of its population will exceed 400 million.
Aegean, whose top executives participated in the business mission that accompanied the PM to New Delhi, is thoroughly evaluating the prospect of a direct air connection between Greece and India. Kathimerini understands its executives have made visits to India for this purpose.
Two months after the prime minister’s visit to India, the Greek airline made a partial modification to its order to Airbus for new aircraft: It will initially acquire four aircraft of a specially configured, upgraded, version of the A321neo, with the possibility of longer-range flights, lasting up to 7.5 hours, which will be able to reach and serve markets such as New Delhi and Mumbai. These new and specially configured aircraft are expected to be delivered in the coming years.