China and Greece draw up roadmap for tourism cooperation

China and Greece have recently signed the "Joint Action Plan for Tourism between the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People's Republic of China and the Ministry of Tourism of the Hellenic Republic for 2022-2024". The "Joint Action Plan" is a roadmap for China and Greece to comprehensively expand cooperation and enhance exchanges in the field of cultural tourism in the next stage. The two sides will carry out all-round exchanges and cooperation in the fields of tourism promotion, characteristic tourism, education and training, investment, international and multilateral, etc., to promote tourism exchanges between the two countries, and give full play to the important role of tourism in promoting economic development and deepening friendly cooperation between the two countries. .

Xiao Jun, Chinese Ambassador to Greece, emphasized at the signing ceremony that President Xi Jinping's state visit to Greece in 2019 will lead China-Greece relations into a new era. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Greece, and it is also the second year of the China-Greece Year of Culture and Tourism. The signing of the "Joint Action Plan" is not only a powerful measure for the two sides to implement the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, but also an important step for the two countries to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations and enrich the connotation of the cultural and tourism year.

Xiao Junzheng said that China and Greece are both important tourist destination countries in the world, and each has comparative advantages in the field of tourism. Both have high-quality tourism products with a high degree of internationalization, obvious national characteristics, and suitable for each other's mainstream markets. There is huge potential for cooperation. Greece has a mature market, rich experience, standardized management, high-quality employees and a superior geographical environment, while China has a huge market potential, sufficient financial guarantees and future-oriented development plans. The attractiveness and influence of China's tourism brands are constantly increasing, and it will become the world's largest tourist destination country and tourist source exporter in the next few years.

Xiao Junzheng said that the deepening of cooperation between China and Greece, two major tourism countries, will promote bilateral cooperation in various fields such as investment, trade, technology, finance, and services, and enhance the well-being of the two peoples. The signing of the "Joint Action Plan" also shows the firm belief of the two countries to jointly overcome challenges and face the future hand in hand, and will certainly add new connotations and inject new impetus to the China-Greece comprehensive strategic partnership.

Greek Minister of Tourism Kikilias said that both Greece and China are countries with ancient civilizations, as well as major countries in culture and tourism. Cooperation in the field of tourism between the two countries is an important part of bilateral practical cooperation and bilateral relations. The "Joint Action Plan" signed this time will not only promote the cooperation between the two countries in tourism and related fields to achieve more results, but also play an important role in further consolidating the traditional friendly relationship between Greece and China.