Greece has traditionally been one of the most popular tourist destinations on a global basis and each year, particularly in the summer months, the nation's numerous cosmopolitan islands get crammed by millions of international visitors. Unparalleled natural beauties, golden beaches, idyllic sunsets, a legendary nightlife and the world famous Greek cuisine combined with a unique hospitality and an impressively developing tourism infrastracture make Greece an irresistible hotspot for many. The spectacular success of the 2004 Olympic Games boosted the country's international prestige even further and reaffirmed its status as one of the safest places to be. In 2004, Greece ranked 12th in terms of international tourist arrivals when more than 14.2 million visitors came to the country, many of which combining both vacations and attendance of Olympic athletic events. In 2005, however, those numbers increased by 14%, surpassing 16.1 million arrivals. In 2006, those figures are only expected to grow bigger.

The New Democracy government, that took power in March 2004, established a brand new Ministry of Tourism headed by Mr. Dimitris Avramopoulos. Mr. Avramopoulos proved to be a particularly competent man, determined to massively promote the nation to new, emerging markets in addition to the traditional ones, through various means of communication. For instance and among other initiatives, Helena Paparizou, the winner of the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest was designated as the official ambassador of the Hellenic Tourism Organization. An interesting fact that is attributed to all those efforts is that according to a survey conducted in China in 2005, Greece was voted as Chinese' people number one choice. On February 14, 2006, Ms Fani Palli- Petralia was appointed as the new minister of Tourism as a result of an extensive cabinet reshufle. Mr. Avramopoulos was appointed as the new Health Minister.

Overall, this year the Greek Ministry of Tourism plans to invest more than 30 billion euros in the tourism industry, one of the most essential sectors of the Greek economy. That is 4 times more than the amount spent in 2002 by the previous government. What is more, the government intends to promote winter tourism in Greece, something that could potentially double international arrivals.

Apart from Athens, other top ranking tourist destinations include the islands of Mykonos, Santorini, Rhodes, Crete, Corfu, Paros, Ios, Kos, Kefallonia, Zakynthos and Hydra as well as the northern Halkidiki peninsula.