There is an old joke that Greeks tell among themselves. A Northern Greek gets to swim in the sea of paradise, but once he comes out of the water and is asked whether he enjoyed it, his reply is "It was nice, but not as good as Halkidiki." People in Halkidiki do not brag for nothing. Home of Aristotle and Mt. Athos’ monastic community, founded in the 9th century, the region’s three peninsulas stand out for their natural beauty, history and spirituality.

Local agents boast an industrious campaign to boost tourism in the area. During the last East Med Tourism Exhibition, in Istanbul (22-25.01), local authorities had forty B2B meetings with Turkish business people, in an effort to raise arrivals above 3,000, which was recorded in 2014. A charter flight from Ankara is expected to accommodate this target. Direct flights seem to have worked well also in the case of the Netherlands. Halkidiki was visited by 3,500 Dutch in 2014 but the figure is expected to double in the current year. A direct flight from Amsterdam to Thessaloniki made it easier for tourists to reach the peninsulas.

The region’s tourism organisation has a busy schedule for 2015. First will be the Salon des Vacances in Brussels, where Halkidiki will be the honoured region and next in line are BIT Milan, Grekland Panorama in Stockholm, Holiday & Spa in Sofia and IFT in Belgrade.

Visit Halkidiki: www.visit-halkidiki.gr