The Greek Tourism Ministry and the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO) will launch targeted marketing actions in order to extend the country’s tourism season until the end of the year and make the best of the last-minute holidays period.

Tourism revenue in Greece increased by 17.8 percent in the first half of the year compared with the same period last year, according to the Bank of Greece. Additionally, international arrivals increased by 12.3 percent.

The tourism ministry said it will also step up the promotional campaigns planned for 2014 and – for the first time – develop actions that will run from September to April, a time considered vital for tourism in regards to early bookings and sales of travel packages worldwide.

Currently in progress are online campaignspromoting Greek tourism via social media and highly respected international tourism platforms such as trip advisor, yahoo, expedia and lastminute.com.

Greece’s target markets for 2014 include the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Scandinavian countries, the Netherlands, the United States, Russia and China. Greece will also attempt to attract arrivals from Brazil next year.

The tourism ministry said it was also cooperating with major tour operators and airline companies for the early bookings period that is “so important for the distribution network of package tours for next year.

In the coming days, the list of international exhibitions that Greece will participate in for the first four months of 2014 will be approved.