Greece ranks among the safest countries for American tourists, according to a new ranking system issued for the country’s travellers by the U.S. State Department on Wednesday, ANA reports.
The country was placed in Level 1 by the travel advisory program, a level which urges travellers to “exercise normal precautions”. The State Department’s new Travel Advisory Program assigns every country a level of advice ranging from 1 to 4. “This is the lowest advisory level for safety and security risk. There is some risk in any international travel. Conditions in other countries may differ from those in the United States and may change at any time,” the State Department’s webpage notes in its fact sheet. Commenting on the news, U.S. Ambassador to Athens Geoffrey Pyatt stressed he looks forward to seeing more tourists in Greece in 2018: “Greece at the best level of the State Department’s new Travel Advisory Program. I’m looking forward to seeing even more American tourists here in Greece in the year ahead,” he said in a tweet. He also pointed out that “Greece is a pillar of stability in a volatile region, and the stronger Greece is, the stronger and more secure its neighborhood will be,” in a comment to Greek daily newspaper Kathimerini entitled the “Road Ahead for Greece”. Pyatt argued that obstacles must be overcome including those related to privatizations and economic reforms such as the frequent changes in the tax and regulatory regime which risk scaring away foreign capital at the moment when Greece is poised to move forward. The US ambassador underlined that 2018 will be a critical year for Greece as it is on the verge of leaving the crisis and that the Greek economy is showing renewed signs of life.
Finally, he lauded the resilience and spirit of the Greek people against an unprecedented economic crisis and clarified that Greece’s challenge now is to pursue a path that will bring renewed prosperity to its citizens, hope to its young people, and security to the region.
Source: Tornos News