ATHENS, Greece – The summer tourist season has finally started, however tour operators reported a significant decline in tourists arriving from Russia. The tourist flow from Russia to Greece could drop by 35-40% this year, according to estimates provided by Tez Tour agency director Dimitris Charitidis.

The Russian Civil Aviation Authority announced there are 50% fewer charter flights planned for this summer, compared to last year. According to estimates regarding tourist arrivals in Greek airports, 1.4 million Russian tourists visited the country in 2013, while that number dropped to 1.15 million in 2014.

However, Greece and Cyprus still remain stable in comparison to other countries. The situation in Cyprus is even more stable, since Russian citizens do not need to issue a Schengen visa, which is known to be a difficult and time consuming process, but a local Cyprus visa that requires less hassle.

“I can confirm that I have heard many of my colleagues and other agencies complain about significant delays and problems in the visa issuing process this year, but our agency is not facing such problems,” said Charitidis.

“Unfortunately, I am also aware that Russians used to issue visas for one year or longer. However, this year they are mostly issuing 3 or 6 month visas,” he noted.