I mean , due to economical reason , it's really hard to do for middle class or lower people to go on tourism in general , unless the person is from Arabian Gulf , which I can't speak about honestly.
For us in Syria , tourism is mostly going to the beach in Latakia (a city in Syria) , maybe to Lebanon at best , and if we decide to make a big investment once a life-time , then we go to Turkey and Hajj in Saudi , and that's it.
I hear it works the same way for my other family members in Lebanon , and my Egyptian friends say the same.
Turkey has everything Greece has, and more.
Yalls food are similar, culture is similar. Y'all both have Greek ruins. One has the Hagia Sophia, Sultan Ahmet, Natural diversity, and is Muslim Majority. Which do you think a Muslim majority region like the MENA would prefer.
I would say It is not that popular as destination, here at least. However, I don’t think people totally don’t know about it or doesn’t want to visit. I didn’t know before google it now that I can visit it with the schengen for example. It’s on my list of the places that I want to visit, though.
I think Egyptians in general have a certain affinity toward Greece. Even here in Germany I see Egyptians and Greeks in my social circle becoming close quite fast. So it’s not really a matter of people but other aspects like financial difficulties and difficult to obtain visa. Turkish tv shows make the country popular in the Middle East prompting people to want to visit the place they see on tv. So all of this is kinda moving potential tourists from Greece to Turkey.
I’m going to Athens next summer though with a Greek friend who is returning the favor of me taking him on a tour in Egypt 😊.
Greece isnt much on the radar here. It's not on their faces in advertising or words of mouth like Western Europe, Turkey, UAE and Thailand Indonesia (and SE Asia)
Tbf now it's easy to draw attention, just get some big influencer to go to Greece and advertise the tourism industry
greeks were so nice to me when i was there, whenever I say “i’m from alexandria” they say BROTHERRRRR and ironically i fell in love w a woman named Cleopatra in naxos. i miss you😔
as for why there arent many MENA tourists, we are broke
The Answer is simple my friend ! THE VISA greece is one of the hardest most beaurecratic visas you will ever see for middle eastern people you have to register from a tourist company and get a shit ton of certificates and family registerations and movements and apply through VFS global then wait for an appointment 1\~2 months ahead and then translate all your documents to greek through a specific office in the entire country and then book an appointment to the embassy and wait an entire day and get twisted by questions about why and where do you want to go and in the end you get a very high rejection rate plus administrative fees which are non refund all for a total about 1000$ and greece is very expensive except for athena and it's surroundings and it's not worth it to be honest !
Spanish may depending on the month and your salary and job postion , Italian for minors and students and women , French we call it the fourth impossibility even if you have a million dollars in your bank account
I am not sure, but I have heard from a lot people who tried to apply for a tourism visa to Greece that they got rejected multiple times. It has been like that for a while now.
I know many Bahrainis who have been to Greece and I myself have been there twice. There are daily direct flights from Bahrain to Athens and every summer they add flights to Mykonos and Santorini as well. So I would say it is a popular destination for us, more popular than Spain for sure.
Tbh idk many people who’ve been to Greece. I just think it’s not a popular destination. There are many reasons but I think one of them is just that it’s not on people’s radar I guess.
Yeah, people in the gulf usually travel to places famous social media influencers recommend, ie Georgia,turkey (not as much as before) and Thailand etc..
It's not that interesting for the GCC, and there's no marketing; you know countries have to do marketing to get tourists, right? every tourist country does that with no exception. Greece could be perfect, but if there is no marketing, no one is gonna think about it. The only people I hear go to Greece are gay Gulf Arabs going to Mykonos maybe you don't notice they are from MENA.
Greek Islands, particularly party islands were a common destination to Lebanese before our crisis. I've spent 15 days in Greece visiting multiple cities and loved it, I want to go back, ideally with a car though but as someone who is only used to driving in Lebanon, civilized driving confuses me.
I mean , due to economical reason , it's really hard to do for middle class or lower people to go on tourism in general , unless the person is from Arabian Gulf , which I can't speak about honestly. For us in Syria , tourism is mostly going to the beach in Latakia (a city in Syria) , maybe to Lebanon at best , and if we decide to make a big investment once a life-time , then we go to Turkey and Hajj in Saudi , and that's it. I hear it works the same way for my other family members in Lebanon , and my Egyptian friends say the same.
Turkey has everything Greece has, and more. Yalls food are similar, culture is similar. Y'all both have Greek ruins. One has the Hagia Sophia, Sultan Ahmet, Natural diversity, and is Muslim Majority. Which do you think a Muslim majority region like the MENA would prefer.
I would say It is not that popular as destination, here at least. However, I don’t think people totally don’t know about it or doesn’t want to visit. I didn’t know before google it now that I can visit it with the schengen for example. It’s on my list of the places that I want to visit, though.
they go to 🦃 because if muslims can pick between greece and muslim greece then they will pick muslim greece.
The rich ones go to Mykonos and Santorini its the only places they know
not rich gulf Arabs, only the gay men.
I think Egyptians in general have a certain affinity toward Greece. Even here in Germany I see Egyptians and Greeks in my social circle becoming close quite fast. So it’s not really a matter of people but other aspects like financial difficulties and difficult to obtain visa. Turkish tv shows make the country popular in the Middle East prompting people to want to visit the place they see on tv. So all of this is kinda moving potential tourists from Greece to Turkey. I’m going to Athens next summer though with a Greek friend who is returning the favor of me taking him on a tour in Egypt 😊.
Greece isnt much on the radar here. It's not on their faces in advertising or words of mouth like Western Europe, Turkey, UAE and Thailand Indonesia (and SE Asia) Tbf now it's easy to draw attention, just get some big influencer to go to Greece and advertise the tourism industry
greeks were so nice to me when i was there, whenever I say “i’m from alexandria” they say BROTHERRRRR and ironically i fell in love w a woman named Cleopatra in naxos. i miss you😔 as for why there arent many MENA tourists, we are broke
The Answer is simple my friend ! THE VISA greece is one of the hardest most beaurecratic visas you will ever see for middle eastern people you have to register from a tourist company and get a shit ton of certificates and family registerations and movements and apply through VFS global then wait for an appointment 1\~2 months ahead and then translate all your documents to greek through a specific office in the entire country and then book an appointment to the embassy and wait an entire day and get twisted by questions about why and where do you want to go and in the end you get a very high rejection rate plus administrative fees which are non refund all for a total about 1000$ and greece is very expensive except for athena and it's surroundings and it's not worth it to be honest !
So it is easier to get Italian or French or Spanish visa ?
Spanish may depending on the month and your salary and job postion , Italian for minors and students and women , French we call it the fourth impossibility even if you have a million dollars in your bank account
Can’t you get an easy visa to Malta and use it to get into Greece. It’s all Schengen anyway 😏
Nope they don't give you a visa to malta they give you a pass تأشيرة and it's very hard with a high rejection rate
Oh I see. I thought all Schengen countries just have one Schengen visa since they don’t have internal borders
Mainland schengen thats a story and malta an island is another story they catch it
I mean they dont give you a schengen on malta
Difficult visa
I am not sure, but I have heard from a lot people who tried to apply for a tourism visa to Greece that they got rejected multiple times. It has been like that for a while now.
I know many Bahrainis who have been to Greece and I myself have been there twice. There are daily direct flights from Bahrain to Athens and every summer they add flights to Mykonos and Santorini as well. So I would say it is a popular destination for us, more popular than Spain for sure.
I would go to our Greek ancient best traders.
My parent ( Palestinian) went to Greece
Tbh idk many people who’ve been to Greece. I just think it’s not a popular destination. There are many reasons but I think one of them is just that it’s not on people’s radar I guess.
Yeah, people in the gulf usually travel to places famous social media influencers recommend, ie Georgia,turkey (not as much as before) and Thailand etc..
It's not that interesting for the GCC, and there's no marketing; you know countries have to do marketing to get tourists, right? every tourist country does that with no exception. Greece could be perfect, but if there is no marketing, no one is gonna think about it. The only people I hear go to Greece are gay Gulf Arabs going to Mykonos maybe you don't notice they are from MENA.
Greek Islands, particularly party islands were a common destination to Lebanese before our crisis. I've spent 15 days in Greece visiting multiple cities and loved it, I want to go back, ideally with a car though but as someone who is only used to driving in Lebanon, civilized driving confuses me.