Tourism Minister Olga Kefaloyianni had talks with her Israeli counterpart Stas Misezhnikov on Tuesday, the first day of her visit to the eastern Mediterranean country, where the two discussed options for attracting Israeli investment to Greece, among other issues.

The meeting between the two ministers took place in the context of the IMTM 2013 international travel fair in Israel, and led to the strengthening of cooperation between the two countries’ tourism authorities. “For Greece, Israel constitutes a significant market that we want to develop further, as 400,000 of its citizens come to Greece and we want this number to grow in the coming years,” Kefaloyianni said after meeting Misezhnikov.

Speaking at the travel fair, Kefaloyianni dubbed the Israelis “friends and allies” and stressed that visitors to Greece have nothing to fear. She also mentioned the growth potential for special forms of tourism, such as cruising, maritime, medical and diving tourism.

On Wednesday she is scheduled to meet with Israeli President Shimon Peres.