This archive report was first published on 1 July 2020.
Published on July 1, 2020, Greece has taken a crucial step to revive its tourism industry by reopening its islands to international flights.
According to Fraport, the manager of 14 regional airports, including popular islands like Corfu, Santorini, Mykonos, Rhodes, and Crete, over 100 flights are expected at these airports.
With the reopening of international flights, all airports in the country are now receiving international flights, and the ports of Patras and Igoumenista will again receive ferries from Italy.
Travellers arriving in Greece are required to fill out a questionnaire with personal details, including their country of origin and the countries they have travelled through in the last 15 days.
Those who are tested for COVID-19 will be instructed to isolate at the address provided on the questionnaire while waiting for the results.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has expressed concerns about the upcoming tourism season, stating, "It will be a very difficult tourism season. We will do the best we can," during a cabinet meeting this week.
Greece has launched a promotional campaign to revive tourism, which accounts for a significant portion of its economy, and hopes to reassure potential travellers as well as Greeks who fear a resurgence of the pandemic with the return of tourists.
Tourism Minister Harry Theoharis has signed an agreement with German tour giant TUI, aiming to bring 50 percent of the nearly three million tourists the agent brought to Greece in 2019.
Local business owners, such as Amelia Vlachou, a jewellery shop owner on Corfu, are trying to make the most of the situation, saying, "We're trying to save the season."
