Greece opens to tourists and ends lockdown measures
Greece has launched its tourist season, lifting most remaining restrictions on movement and declaring “we are putting the lockdown behind us”.
Although an average of 2,000 daily Covid cases are still being reported, vaccinations are being rolled out.
German tourists have begun flying in. From 17 May it will not be illegal for Britons to travel to “amber list” Greece, but they are advised not to.
Only for “green list” countries such as Portugal will rules ease significantly.
Although the UK has a relatively low infection rate, Germany has said it will be classed as a Covid risk area from Sunday because of cases of the Indian variant in some areas. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday the Indian variant could pose “significant disruption” to lockdown easing on 21 June.
Greece still has several restrictions. However, the big changes are that residents no longer have to send text messages to a hotline whenever they leave their homes or go shopping, movement is allowed between regions, and a night-time curfew has now been limited to between 00:30 and 05:00.
A fifth of Greece’s economy is seen as dependent on the tourism sector and 20% of workers are employed by it.
“We are opening our tourist industry to the world,” Tourism Minister Haris Theoharis announced on Thursday evening in front of the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion outside Athens.
A fifth of Greece’s economy is seen as dependent on the tourism sector and 20% of workers are employed by it.
“We are opening our tourist industry to the world,” Tourism Minister Haris Theoharis announced on Thursday evening in front of the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion outside Athens.
Charter flights were also landing at Rhodes, mainly from Poland and Israel.
Greece had hoped that British tourists would be able to start flying in freely from 17 May, but Greece has been placed on the UK’s “amber list”.
Anyone travelling as a tourist would be going against government advice and would face issues. Anyone returning to England or Scotland would have to quarantine for 10 days.
The government in Athens has launched a glossy video showing a selection of prospective tourists dreaming of escaping to the sun for a natural tan and tasting “real food”, with the message “all you want is Greece”. The campaign is described as the national tourism organisation’s biggest in a decade. BBC.com