37th Philoxenia tourism exhibition was held in Greece from 18 to 20 November with Armenia represented as an honored country.
With 335 exhibitors from 18 countries, 115 hosted buyers from 35 countries, Philoxenia is the most important tourism exhibition in Greece. The national participation of Armenia was organized by the Tourism Committee of the Ministry of Economy of Armenia in cooperation with the Honorary Consulate of Armenia in Thessaloniki under the auspices of the Embassy of Armenia in Greece.
Addressing he opening ceremony, Armenia’s Honorary Consul to Thessaloniki Akis Dagazian conveyed warm greetings from Armenian Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan, Chair of the Tourism Committee Sisian Boghossian and Armenia’s Ambassador to Greece Tigran Mkrtchyan.
“As you all know, Greeks and Armenians have common historical origins. Our relations are truly fraternal and our cooperation is at a very high level, but there is a lot of room for improvement mainly in trade, and we are seeing an explosion of bilateral transactions , economic and tourism exchanges this year,” the said.
“Today marks a milestone for our bilateral relations as Armenia becomes an honored country at an exhibition in Greece for the first time, an initiative that falls within the framework of the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Greece and Armenia,” the Honorary Consul noted.
He said Armenia has registered huge success in the field of tourism in the last 10 years, achieving a doubling of incoming tourists from 678,000 in 2010 to 1.9 million in 2019, while the first 10 months of 2022 have already recorded 1.4 million tourists.
“Our numbers indicate that the prospects are great and that Greece’s know-how in developing the tourism product is important for Armenia,” Akis Dagazian said.
Armenia the Hidden Track gastronomy event took place within the framework of the exhibition. 115 guests from 35 countries tasted the unique flavors of Armenia.
Traditional Armenian dishes on offer included manti, lahmajun, tabbouleh, ishli kyufta, and Armenian halva, served with unique Armenian pomegranate wine.
