Tourism minister Vassilis Kikilias insisted that the country would stay open to holidaymakers throughout 2022, despite the continuing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“This year, we will not close at all with the right protocols and the digital passport of Covid,” said Kikilias. “We will be open non-stop for 2022 for tourists, travellers and people who want to get a glimpse of our magnificent scenery.

“We are strengthening the possibility of travellers to come together – not just in the narrow summer months of June, July and August – but around the clock, year-round.

“We will be starting [the season] earlier this year with hotels, beaches, bars and restaurants going to open from early March.”

Kikilias was speaking in Rhodes on Thursday (20 January) at an event to unveil plans by Tui and Greek authorities to open the Rhodes Co-Lab, which aims to develop a “fully sustainable” destination on the island.

He also pointed out how Greece had been able to reopen to tourists in summer 2020, despite there being no Covid vaccines available at that time.

Fritz Joussen, chief executive of Tui Group, said that Greece had outperformed other destinations for the tour operator during the pandemic – accounting for 1.5 million passengers in summer 2021, out of a total of 5.4 million.

He added that this larger market share for Greece was “rooted in the good central crisis management of the country”.

Joussen also predicted that Tui would surpass its pre-Covid passenger numbers to Greece during 2022.

“We had 2.8 million [customers] before the crisis and we expect 2022 to achieve above pre-crisis levels with three million customers going to Greece,” he added.

“There’s a strong indication that Greece will be a winner of the time after the crisis and will be gaining market share.”