The express visa program has brought a total of 54,373 additional Turkish tourists to the islands of the North-East Aegean since its implementation.
Based on the program, tourists from Turkey are granted entry visas upon their arrival at the ports of the islands.
Of these, 21,987 visas were issued for arrivals to Lesvos, 19,623 for arrival to Chios and 12,763 for arrivals to Samos.
According to an announcement by the General Police Directorate of the North Aegean, the islands were visited by a total of 372,495 tourists from Turkey, of whom 254,213 were Turkish nationals. Of these, 92,018 visited Lesvos, 89,456 visited Chios and 72,739 visited Samos. The figures apply from the start of the measure until August 31, ,
The arrival of 254,213 Turkish tourists – a record number in the history of tourism in the northern Aegean – of which 54,373 obtained entry visas at the ports, proves the additional impetus that the Mitsotakis-Erdogan agreement has given to tourist traffic to the islands.
The number of European citizens who visited the islands via Turkey was also high (about 80,000), many of whom were immigrants of Turkish origin to European countries, who have acquired the citizenship of the country where they live.
