According to a recent story in Reuters, Greece’s tourism sector will grow moderately this year, a top United Nations official said on Thursday, in a rare optimistic forecast for the crisis-hit Mediterranean country whose image has been dented by strikes and protests.

Taleb Rifai, the Secretary General of the United Nations World Tourism Organization said,  “Greece will have a positive growth although not in the same range as 2011,” Rifai told reporters during a visit to Athens, characterizing the growth as “modest.” He went on to say that the impact of the Arab Spring uprisings will not be as strong as they were last year, and efforts by the Greek government to make it easier for tourists from growing markets such as Russia and China to get visas and visit Greece should give the Greek Islands a boost as well.

Greece has launched campaigns to lure German tourists, back to the Greek Islands after the debt crisis deterred many from choosing the Mediterranean nation for vacations last year.

There has been much excitement over a recent campaign launched in New York City by Up Greek Tourism promoting the Greek Islands via a Times Square electronic billboard.  It is critical at this time that the Greek tourist board give Greece and the Greek Islands as much of a boost as possible to get business flowing to its recent historic highs.