Travel

Greece reopens doors to tourists after coronavirus but Britons still asked to stay away


Greece announced on Monday the country will reopen to international tourists from June 15 after allowing the Greek public to head back to holiday hotspots this week. Obligations to undergo a 14-day quarantine upon arrival will be lifted on June 1, and ferry services have resumed in a bid to rescue Greece’s ailing tourism industry. But British tourists may be asked to hold on booking the Greek getaways for a bit longer alongside other potential visitors travelling from “highly contagious” countries. 

BBC correspondent Quentin Sommerville reported tourists from the UK, US and Russia may either have to undergo the 14-day quarantine when arriving in the country, or could be asked not to travel to Greece at all.

According to data from 2015, tourists from the UK make up for the third-largest group of visitors to the southern European nation after Macedonia and Germany.

Despite potential limitations being imposed on certain travellers, Greek Tourism minister Haris Theoharis insisted “everybody” should seek to get themselves a bit of a break to recover from the taxing pressure of the coronavirus pandemic.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Mr Theoharis said: “I think everyone deserves a break.

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“Irrespective of whether they come to Greece or not, they should try to find the way to refill those batteries.

“Everybody has been under stress.”

Many countries across Europe have started reopening commercial activities, and countries relying heavily on tourism have set out their plans to restart the sector after the COVID-19 outbreak brought it to a standstill.

Spain also announced tourism will resume from July 1 without the need to quarantine as the country continues to slowly ease restrictions to the local public.

But as Boris Johnson announced last week all travellers coming to the UK will have to self-isolate for two weeks upon their arrival, British tourists could see the same limitations imposed on their holidays unless the British Government agreed to lift quarantine requirements for specific countries.

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