Prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Greece’s tourism season would get under way on 15 June in an address to the nation, which is heavily dependent on tourism, on Wednesday (20 May).
"Let’s make this summer the epilogue of the crisis," said Mitsotakis. Greece has confirmed hotels will reopen next month, while international tourism flights will resume on 1 July.
Greece has confirmed various tax breaks to encourage package deals; transport duties will be cut by more than 10%, reducing the price of air, boat and bus tickets; taxes on coffee, soft drinks and open-air cinemas will also be cut.
However, the country’s tourism minister Haris Theoharis sounded a note of caution, telling ITV News the country was waiting to see an improvement in the UK’s coronavirus figures before Britons would be allowed to return to Greece.
Asked whether the UK would make Greece’s whitelist, expected to be announced by the end of the month, Theoharis said: "I think the UK has a big difference in terms of the current medical status of the country with Greece so I don’t think it’s likely it will be there."
Mitsotakis said Greece’s response to the crisis had been safe and credible, with the country recording less than 3,000 coronavirus cases and 166 deaths. He also confirmed holidaymakers would not be quarantined on arrival, but stressed the country would carry out "sample tests" on visitors.
Anyone travelling to the UK, including returning British travellers, will be subject to a 14-day mandatory self-isolation, or quarantine, requirement from the start of June. The UK government is expected to announce further details of its quarantine proposals this week.
Theoharis told the BBC’s Coronavirus Newscast that with Greece not proposing to quarantine arrivals, it would "welcome" a reciprocal relationship with the UK if it is to allow UK holidaymakers to return to Greece.
Only members of the Common Travel Area, the UK, Ireland, Isle of Man and Channel Islands, will be excluded from the quarantine requirement. Plans for a reciprocal non-quarantine arrangement with France, announced by the government earlier this month, were quietly dropped shortly afterwards.
Greece’s progress towards restoring inbound tourism comes after EU tourism ministers vowed to do "whatever it takes" to help countries rebuild their tourism economies.
The country attracted record tourism numbers last summer as it continues to rebuild its economy following the debt crisis, including nearly four million arriving from the UK.
