Over 50 Russian tourists unable to depart to Greece

Approximately 50 to 70 Russian tourists from the Russian city of Samara were unable to fly to Greece over the weekend, because their visas were not released on time, said spokesperson for Russia’s Tourism Industry Union (RTIU) Irina Turina in an interview with Interfax.

Amongst the tourists were those who applied through the “Pegasus Touristic” tour agency, whose general manager Anna Podgornaya confirmed that the tourists in question were all insured and that their cases would be dealt with on Monday.

According to RTIU, the Greek Consulate in Moscow has recently hired over 50 employees, but that training new personnel to process visa applications requires time, as a result of which the number of visa applications from Russian tourists continues to exceed the number of visas that are issued significantly, said Turina.

By the eve of Russia’s official May holidays, the Greek consulate had accumulated thousands of passports and is now operating in “urgent mode.” The Foreign Ministry is taking the necessary steps to rectify the visa situation and meet Russian demand in full, said Greek Minister of Economy, Infrastructure, Shipping, and Tourism Giorgos Stathakis at the Russian-Greek tourism forum in Athens on May 11.