The date is fixed.
If Greece manages to contain the number of daily cases of Covid-19, the government plans to launch the tourist season on May 14 with the summer vacation in its sights.
Some consider the date premature?
This is not the opinion of Haris Theocharis, Greek Minister of Tourism.
“
Professionals are already ready to receive visitors.
They are waiting for the lifting of confinement
”.
He took advantage of the Berlin International Tourism Fair in early March to unveil the slogan for this summer's advertising campaign:
“All you need is Greece
”, wink look at the Beatles song.
Read also: Summer holidays: should you book now or wait until the last minute?
Number of cases, confinement, openings ... Update on the situation in Greece
As astonishing as it may sound, the Hellenic bet could well be won.
While Greece is under wraps for the moment - schools, universities, bars, restaurants and non-food businesses are closed, the government believes it will be able to deconfin the country before the Orthodox Easter on May 4.
Until then, caution is the key word.
Over the last 14 days, 25,318 people have been infected, for a total of 227,000 cases since the start of the pandemic, including more than 7,200 deaths for 10 million inhabitants, according to Johns Hopkins.
Read the file: Where to go to Greece?
The
Figaro
travel guide
Vaccination, opening of hotels ... where is Greece?
The government is active.
The Cyclades like the Dodecanese, the Ionian Islands and all those with less than 15,000 inhabitants started this week to vaccinate the populations.
The more populated islands like Crete or Euboea will close the ban, at the same time as the Greeks working for the tourist sector, that is to say one in five working people.
Read also: Paros, a trip to the discreet charm of the Cyclades
Tour operators are smiling again, like Christos Panaretou from the Yalos Travel agency.
“
The goal is obvious: we have to save the season, it's vital, crucial.
Last year, the results were catastrophic with an overall drop in attendance of more than 70% and only 7.4 million visitors, the worst number in decades.
Even at the height of the economic crisis in 2013, visitors were more numerous.
Today, even though everything is still slowing down, we can finally hope.
»Tourism accounts for a fifth of the GDP.
The government's strategy is based in part on vaccination.
To date, more than 1.2 million Greeks have been vaccinated, of which nearly 400,000 have received the double dose.
If he remains cautious, Christos Panaretou seems relieved.
Because at the same time, most of the country's large hotel complexes announced their reopening on April 29, such as Porto Carras, in Calcidique or Sani, in the same region, as well as hotels in Cyclades and Crete.
They will apply the health charter established last year.
Read also: Greece hopes to reopen to tourists in mid-May, banking on the acceleration of vaccination
Vaccination passport, quarantine, test ... What will be the conditions of access this summer for tourists?
Greece, like the main tourist countries in southern Europe, is pushing for the European Union to introduce the principle of the passport or digital vaccination certificate (“Digital Green certificate”) to facilitate travel.
The project was presented this week by the European Commission.
The debate promises to be bitter on the rights it allows.
In the meantime, Athens has signed an agreement with Israel to allow unrestricted entry to the country for vaccinated tourists.
And is preparing to do the same with the most advanced European country on the subject, the United Kingdom, where the vaccine has already been injected to more than 11 million citizens.
A priority line has already been installed in several Greek airports to facilitate the arrival of those who hold the precious sesame.
"
But the unvaccinated will not be excluded for all that",
specifies the Greek Minister of Tourism in
Le Figaro
.
"
They will simply have, as is currently the case, to present a negative PCR test of less than 72 hours as well as a QR code, by filling out a form and observing a quarantine
".
The latter has been set at 7 days since November 2020, but its duration could be significantly reduced by mid-May.
Read also: Green passport, vaccination passport, health certificate ... A brief vocabulary for travelers in the time of Covid-19
“
I work a lot with seaside resorts and I can assure you that the sun loungers are already out.
The weather being good, some have installed them on the beaches - with respected distancing ", continues
the tour operator Christos Panaretou, who emphasizes that
" since the announcement of the date of May 14 by the Minister, my phone starts ringing again.
Before the pandemic, nearly 1.5 million French people visited the country, Crete included.
