Beset by strikes, protests, riots, political uncertainty and the prospect of being forced out of the Eurozone by a crushing economic crisis, Greece was not the vacation place many tourists wanted in 2012, and they stayed away in droves. Without an effective campaign to lure visitors, and with big cuts to its budget, the Greek National Tourism Organization floundered and statistics showed that revenues from tourism were down 4 percent in the first 10 months. New Tourism Minister Olga Kefaloyianni has visited the Unite States and other countries to boost tourism efforts, and tourist agencies said they expect a big rebound in 2013.

National Herald