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Ferries taking tourists to Greece's islands have restarted and businesses have been allowed to open after a two-month COVID-19 lockdown. /Aris Messinis/AFP
Greece may soon have sun-seeking tourists return to its islands after the government accelerated efforts to salvage the industry on Monday by restarting regular ferry services and reopening restaurants and cafes for business.
The tourist hotspot had a 99 percent drop in passenger traffic to all Greek airports in April this year compared with 2019, due to COVID-19, according to newly published sobering statistics from the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority (HCAA).
During this time of year, Greece is usually bustling with tourists descending on its picturesque islands to catch some sun on the beach or enjoy the cafes and restaurants serving fresh seafood.
Instead, the hotels have been empty as businesses were forced to close and travel to the islands banned, with only goods suppliers and permanent residents allowed access, since a lockdown was imposed in late March to stop the spread of COVID-19.
After two months of strict lockdown measures and a relatively low infection rate in the country compared with neighboring Mediterranean countries, the government decided to start the holiday season three weeks earlier than the previously announced 15 June start date.
"We normally sit 100 in the inside area, now it'll be just 30. There won't be any bouzouki music or dancing until we get the all-clear from the doctors," restaurant owner, Spiros Bairaktaris, told AP.
"But I think people from all over Europe will come here because we have a low death toll, thank God," he said optimistically.
Businesses like the Bairaktaris restaurant on central Monastiraki Square in Athens, welcomed the easing of restrictions and opened up shop. Waiters and staff wearing face masks or plastic visors, sliced meat from the revolving gyros grill, arranged flowers on widely spaced tables and waited for customers, who remained cautious Monday.
Greece has had nearly 2,900 infections and 172 deaths from the virus to date. While neighboring Turkey has had 4,369 deaths, and Italy nearly 33,000, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.
Restaurant owners remain optimistic about the tourism industry reopening. /Aris Messinis/AFP
A ravaged industry
While tourism has been one of the worst-affected industries by coronavirus lockdown measures across Europe and the world, Greece seems to have been particularly harshly hit.
"As shown in the statistics, all airports record an unprecedented reduction in traffic due to travel restrictions imposed on Europe, Greece and the rest of the world for the protection of citizens and passengers from the spread of COVID-19," the HCAA said in a recent press release.
But the figures from the government's aviation authority show a particularly dire situation.
Last month, the country's airports handled only 37,273 passengers (domestic and foreign), compared with a huge 3.75 million passengers in April 2019 – a 99 percent reduction. Foreign passenger arrivals alone showed a larger 99.6 percent drop, from 1.38 million last April to a mere 6,045 last month.
The total number of flights in April 2020 amounted to 5,032 – a decrease of 85.1 percent compared with April 2019 when 33,727 flights took place.
Figures for the first four months from January to April 2020, also show a significant drop of 47.8 percent in the total number of passengers to 5.45 million compared with the corresponding period of 2019 when 10.43 million passengers were handled.
Last year had been a particularly good year for Greek tourism, according to figures from INSETE, the Greek Tourism Confederation's (SETE) research body.
More than 31.3 million visitors traveled to Greece in 2019, spending 18.2 billion euros ($19.5 billion), an increase of 12.8 percent compared with the previous year.
Tourism is a vital part of the Greek economy, directly contributing more than 10 percent of the country's GDP as Greece struggles to emerge from years of financial crisis. Therefore it is no surprise that the government is rushing to jump-start it once more.
Greece's tourism minister, Harry Theoharis, last week announced the country's "Restart Tourism" plan "to restore Greek tourism to function safely and efficiently for the national economy."
The plan outlined that tourists would be allowed to enter Greece without taking a coronavirus test or remain in quarantine when international flights restart on 1 July, among other safety measures.
"Citizens' safety is the first concern that guides our actions. Τhe reception of tourists in our country will be realized in a balanced way, based on the epidemiological data, the hygiene protocols and developments regarding rapid testing," Theoharis told the Cyprus News Agency.
While a confirmed list of the first countries from which tourists will initially be allowed has not yet been released, Theoharis previously mentioned talks about travel cooperation with both Cyprus and Israel.
Source(s): AP
