People eat at a restaurant in Athens, Greece on May 30, 2020. (Photo: THX/VNA) Greece officially began reopening to tourists on May 15, aiming to kick off summer tourism in the hope of revitalizing the “smokeless” industry after being severely damaged by the COVID-19 pandemic. 19 in the last year. After months of lockdown, Greece this week will also reopen its museums, including the Acropolis museum, which displays famous sculptures from Greek antiquity. After officially reopening, foreign tourists will be allowed to visit Greece if they have received the COVID-19 vaccine or tested negative for COVID-19. Travel between regions, including islands, will also be allowed for those who test negative or have been vaccinated. COVID-19 . Greece deploys vaccination against COVID-19 and hopes to vaccinate vaccines for most of the people here by the end of June. With the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccinations and rapid testing, as well as warmer weather for outdoor activities, tourists can travel and relax safely in the country, the Greek government said. this country. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic causing international tourism to slow down in 2020, the Greek tourism industry experienced its worst year ever, receiving only 7 million visitors compared to a record number. record 33 million visitors in 2019. Tourism revenue fell to 4 billion euros ($4.9 billion) in 2020, from 18 billion euros in 2019. Greece aims to recover this year’s tourism industry and reach 40% of 2019. .

Tourists sunbathe along Glyfada beach, on the southern outskirts of Athens, Greece, on May 20 (Photo: THX). These days, a drone flies around Glyfada beach, a southern suburb of Athens, to monitor the distance between sunbeds and umbrellas, while hand sanitizer is placed right away. next to the shower and the lifeguard’s watchtower. Drawing lessons from last year’s Covid-19 outbreak, Greek authorities have reopened the country’s beaches since the beginning of the month using tried-and-tested safety procedures, new initiatives. and the newly obtained prestigious international certification for sea water cleanliness and top quality operational management. “We are pinning our hopes on tourism,” said Nikos Venieris, who runs a beach on the seaside suburb of Alimos, just outside Athens. Beach workers check the distance and sanitizer at the beach on the outskirts of Athens (Image: Reuters) Under current measures, beach managers like Venieris will have to keep a distance of at least 4 meters between two sun umbrellas, perform regular disinfection and Covid-19 testing for staff working at the beach. . According to an announcement by the Hellenic Society for the Protection of Nature (Greece’s oldest environmental NGO) this week, a total of 545 beaches, 16 marinas and six cruise ships in the The country has won the prestigious Blue Flag award for 2021, placing Greece in second place out of 49 candidates for the award. The Green Flag Award is presented annually by Copenhagen-based Environmental Education (Denmark) to sites that meet more than 30 stringent environmental, educational, safety and accessibility criteria. close. The prestigious Blue Flag certification gives Greece more confidence to welcome international tourists back (Photo: THX) Greek Tourism Minister Harry Theohiris said proudly: “Every Blue Flag that flies over our shores, marinas and cruise ships is a testament to our integrated and high-quality services, while also contributes to the desire to bring tourism back to normal in every way. This year, once again, Greece has emerged as a destination for clean, healthy and safe beaches in the midst of this pandemic.” According to Angela Gerekou, President of the National Tourism Organization of Greece, the country is entering a new era of sustainable tourism, a new period of tourism development that adopts global principles of sustainable development. do the focus. Greece reopened to international tourism on May 14, with the expectation that the number of tourists and revenue will double from last year. Tourists began to return to Greece (Image: DW) The tourism industry has been a solid pillar of the Greek economy for decades, accounting for about a fifth of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) and employing a fifth of the country’s workforce. The Greek tourism industry has gone through a dark period. The pandemic leaves Greece with just over six million visitors in 2020, generating modest revenue of more than four billion euros ($4.9 billion). While a year ago, according to the Central Bank of Greece, the Mediterranean country welcomed more than 33 million visitors, generating revenue of 18.2 billion euros. In an effort to reassure visitors that Greece is indeed a safe destination, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis recently launched Operation Green Freedom, a campaign to vaccinate all people against the Covid-19 vaccine. residents in the country’s islands – including the popular resorts of Crete, Rhode, Corfu and Santorini – from the beginning of June. “I want to send a clear message: Greece is open again,” Prime Minister Greek general said. The widespread vaccination in Europe, the new ways of the Greek tourism industry have yielded some positive early signs. Judging Greece will be the top destination for Germans this summer, German travel agency TUI, says there will be at least 120 flights to Greek destinations in May. TUI, Mr. Marek Andryszak, said: “Once the border opens, the popular hotels will quickly fill up with bookings.”

Tourists visit the Parthenon at the Acropolis archaeological site in Athens, Greece. (Source: Reuters) In order to attract tourists back to the beautiful islands, Greece has sent the country’s Tourism Minister Harry Theoharis 3 days to the UK to convince one of the biggest tourist markets of “ The land of myths .” According to the announcement of Greece, Minister Theoharis will meet with British Foreign Secretary Nigel Adams to discuss the tourism market in the context that Greece is gradually easing travel restrictions. It is expected that Mr. Theoharis will also work with British Airways, EasyJet and Jet2 – airlines that have regular flights to Greece. In 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic occurred, there were about 3.5 million British tourists on vacation in Greece and now the country wants to attract visitors from “The Land of the Mist”. blind” returns to the beautiful Greek islands in the coming months after gradually easing restrictions and blockade measures that have been imposed for months to combat the COVID-19 epidemic. Tourism contributes a quarter of the Greek government’s annual revenue, and Athens wants to convince tour operators that the country is safe to visit. Earlier, on May 10, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, after talks with his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez, emphasized that Athens is one of the first capitals of the EU, along with Madrid, to support the idea of ​​a “vaccination certificate” to allow the resumption of tourism. Despite imposing a partial blockade since November 7 last year, Greece is still recording more than 1,500 cases COVID-19 /day, mainly in Athens, in which there are dozens of deaths and hospitals are always overloaded. In order to restart tourism, which has fallen into stagnation, since the beginning of April, the country has gradually reopened non-essential shops and cafes. On May 10, all schools were allowed to reopen after 6 months of closure. Under the new rules, students and teachers will have to self-test for the virus twice a week. Nearly a month ago, the 7-day quarantine rule was lifted for all visitors from the EU, the US, UK , Israel, Serbia, United Arab Emirates and some other countries. However, the UK has so far ranked Greece on the “amber travel list,” meaning Britons returning home from Greece must undergo at least five days of quarantine. At the highest level, the “travel red list” requires returnees to be isolated for 10 days.

After months of closure, Greece also opened museums and popular archaeological sites, including the Acropolis, this week. The streets of Athens’ tourist area of ​​Plaka are once again crowded with visitors to see the stalls and souvenirs. Walking in the city center of Athens, Victoria Sanchez – a 22-year-old tourist from the Czech Republic shared, she felt “like being revived, after having spent a long and difficult year because of Covid– 19”. A tourist from Mexico said it is very beneficial to come to Greece at this time, because the destinations are not flooded with tourists. And Rebecca – a tourist from Florida (USA), said: “Finally, I’m here. I had to wait two years, two years with Covid. It’s good now!”. Tourists visit the Roman Agora ruins, Athens, Greece on May 15. Source: Reuters Greece is rolling out vaccinations on the islands, with most expected to be completed by the end of June. The government says tourists can travel safely thanks to vaccinations and rapid testing, as well as warmer weather that facilitates outdoor activities. Greece has also lifted restrictions on the islands, allowing more people to travel from the mainland to these destinations. A flight carrying German and French tourists to the island of Corfu recently received a very warm welcome. “We are very happy. I am very happy to be here,” said a French tourist, shortly after arriving on the island. 2020 was a bad year for the Greek tourism industry, with only 7 million international arrivals compared to 33 million in 2019. Tourism revenue fell from EUR 18 billion to EUR 4 billion. This year, Greece aims to recover the tourism industry by 40% of 2019.