The Federation of Hellenic Associations of Travel & Tourism Agencies (FedHATTA) reiterated the urgent need to settle the visa issuance process for Indian citizens wishing to visit our country to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, particularly in view of the significant travel demand that is expected to be expressed in the coming period by Indians to Greece with the start of the first direct flights announced for 2026 by the air carriers AEGEAN and IndiGo.
India, a market with a population of 1.4 billion inhabitants and a rapidly growing middle class, has been a target market for Greek travel agencies operating in inbound tourism for many years, and its potential is confirmed, as in recent years there has been a great interest in traveling to Greece.
Despite the new impetus expected to be provided by the new direct Greece-India air connections, the goal of boosting Greek tourism from the dynamic Indian market remains elusive, as the complex visa issuance process and the high rejection rate deter potential visitors.
In particular, the waiting period for the final notification on whether a visa is approved or not reaches 2 months, although proof of flight and hotel reservations is required for the application to be verified. This means that Indians wishing to visit Greece must first bear the cost of the reservations, for which they do not know whether they will be compensated if the visa is not issued.
The President of FedHATTA, Mr. Lysandros Tsilidis, stated: “Greek businesses continue to make efforts to open up the Indian market, which demonstrates the potential that exists in it, culminating in the announcement of the start of direct flights by AEGEAN.
In this context, strengthening the visa issuance services is more important than ever, in order to ensure that each application is thoroughly checked before being rejected. In this way, the negative climate that has been created among travelers will be reversed and the enormous potential of this market will be exploited to further strengthen Greek tourism.”
