(CNN) – Greece has lifted quarantine requirements for vaccinated travelers and those tested negative for Covid-19 from key tourism markets, including Europe, the UK and the United States, in what officials call ‘baby steps’ on the road back to normalcy.
While visitors who qualify for this will be able to go to hotels to enjoy Greek sunshine and beaches, they are under the same restrictions as residents, meaning restaurants and bars stay out of bounds except for takeaways.
The move is the first time the country has been open to US visitors since March 2020 when Greece entered its first exclusion against the onset of the pandemic.
It also makes Greece one of the first major European destinations to reopen to tourists before the summer season – a development that could mean that it hides a significant amount of holiday traffic from competing hotspots.
Under the new rules, arrivals from the EU, the United Kingdom, the United States, Israel, Serbia and the UAE who have been vaccinated may enter or undergo a negative PCR test up to 72 hours before arrival.
Officials said targeted checks will be carried out at access points and that quarantine hotels are ready for those who test positive during this process. Safety protocols including wearing masks and social distance will remain.
Greece’s Tourism Minister Harry Theoharis told CNN that the country is “taking these baby steps”, the start of a gradual opening process that will lead to a full opening of tourism in Greece on May 14. In the coming weeks we will make adjustments. “
‘Slow start’
The party island of Mykonos, pictured here in May 2020, accounted for less than a third of its regular tourism revenue last year.
ARIS MESSINIS / AFP via Getty Images
In addition to Athens and the east coast city of Thessaloniki, direct international flights are now allowed in some of Greece’s most popular holiday destinations in Crete, Rhodes, Kos, Mykonos, Santorini and Corfu.
The tourism sector accounts for more than 20% of the country’s GDP and an estimated 25% of the Greek workforce – more than a million jobs.
With its economy so dependent on the sector, and only gradually recovering from a nearly decade-long financial crisis, Athens has campaigned for the introduction of vaccine passports to encourage travel across the EU. It was also in talks with countries outside the EU to try to establish travel routes.
Israeli visitors testing negative or vaccination certificates have been released from a one-week quarantine since early April, but officials say other ongoing restrictions plus a recent increase in Greek cases have discouraged all but a few.
Monday’s opening announcement was welcomed on the popular party island of Mykonos. Mayor Konstantinos Koukas said the revenue in the 2020 season of Covid was only 30% from the previous year.
Iraklis Zissimopoulos, CEO of the Semeli Hospitality Group, which includes hotels, bars and restaurants on the island, described the lifting of the quarantine restrictions as a symbolic step.
“It sends the message that Greece is fulfilling its promise to fully open in May and is therefore welcome,” he said. “We know it’s going to be a slow start.”
‘Protective shield’
Even as Greece’s vaccination program progresses at a modest pace – currently less than 10% of the population has received one dose – more restrictions are expected to be lifted in the weeks leading up to 14 May.
From next month, if the most vulnerable groups are vaccinated, those working in tourism will be next.
But dozens of Greece’s smaller islands, with less than 1,000 inhabitants, are now Covid-free, while the entire population has both received jabs. The vaccination program is now expanding to larger islands.
It is hoped that the security of the islands will enable Greece to offer specific Covid-free territories.
“If all the inhabitants of Mykonos are vaccinated, an island of about 10,000, we will have a protective shield,” said Zissimopoulos, who is also a cardiologist.
What is certain is that the appetite for travel is there.
Earlier this month, an experiment set up by experts in the travel industry saw nearly 200 Dutch participants fly to the island of Rhodes, where they are locking up a week of voluntary confinement in a beach resort.
They are not allowed to leave the resort during their stay and have agreed to their return home until ten days in quarantine.
According to Martine Langerak, spokesperson for the tour operator Sunweb, which arranged the trip under the auspices of the Dutch government, the application attracted ‘safe holidays’ of more than 25 000 people in less than 24 hours.
Special moments
Roxane Seagull: “We hope they can come and celebrate their special moment with their loved ones.”
Design Farm Productions
“We were surprised by the claim. It shows how many people want to go on holiday,” Langerak told CNN.
Despite Greece’s intention to open its borders, there are still restrictions in some countries such as the UK that prevent international travel, and Greece’s recent increase in infections means that quarantine rules may apply to holidaymakers when they return home.
Travel industry experts in Greece agree that it will be a slow start with bookings only starting to increase by July. That means hundreds of thousands working in tourism and related industries will have to wait to find out if and when they got jobs this summer.
Roxane Seaweed, a 25-year-old wedding planner at Golden Apple Weddings in Rhodes, a destination that normally receives more than two million tourists annually, says the majority of tourist weddings were canceled last year.
This summer, they are gradually being pushed back again.
“We work a lot with people from the United States and Australia,” she says. “It’s a long road to travel. People need months to plan. We hope they can come and celebrate their special moment with their loved ones and that we can all get on with our lives.”