(ATHENS) - Greece expects a big drop in the number of tourists this year from Britain, its most frequent visitors, because of the strong euro, Tourist Minister Aris Spiliotopoulos warned Tuesday.

Like other Mediterranean economies with major tourism, Greece was set to suffer from a "financial crisis in Europe" and the euro's strength against the dollar, Spiliotopoulos told journalists.

Tourism is Greece's most important industry after merchant shipping.

A busy international sports timetable this year, with the Olympic Games in Beijing and the world soccer cup in Austria and Switzerland, also coincides with the tourist season to Greece's disadvantage.

The Greeks expect a particular drop in the numbers arriving from Britain where the pound has suffered heavily against the euro, the minister said. Greece is one of the 15 members of the eurozone.

Britain leads the number of foreign tourists to Greece every year, with some 16 percent of overall numbers.

But he said there were positive signs from Germany, also a member of the eurozone. Germans form the second largest number of tourists to Greece each year after Britain.

The minister also spoke of intensified growth in tourism from new tourist sources, including Russia with a 25 percent increase in the number of Russian visitors expected.

The minister also urged the need to consolidate tourist gains resulting from the Athens Olympics in 2004, and to revive Greece's image as a fashionable destination "as in the days of Zorba the Greek."

"Zorba The Greek" was the name of a popular 1964 film shot on the island of Crete.

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