Greece’s tourism minister on Thursday said the visitor season would officially start in March, earlier than previous years, and there were “positive signs” of a bumper summer ahead. In an interview with international news agency Reuters,Vassilis Kikiliaw said “there is great demand and great dynamic for Greek tourism in 2022.
He added that “big tour operators, big airline companies, want to prolong the period (from March through December).” “There are strong signs for Greek tourism,” he told Reuters.
An earlier start means hotels that close over the winter months can reopen earlier and tour operators begin bringing in parties, he added. Reuters notes that after COVID-19 brought global travel to a standstill in 2020, Greek tourism suffered its worst year on record with just 7 million visitors bringing in revenues of 4 billion euros ($4.55 billion).
The industry, which accounts for a fifth of the economy and one in five jobs, began to recover last year when a season that officially began in May delivered about 10.5 billion euros in revenues, far less than an all-time record in 2019.
Already Greece has eased travel restrictions imposed to combat the spread of COVID-19 and fully vaccinated visitors do not need a negative test to enter the country.
“Greece is open to everybody, from today. But the actual season, the summer season, is starting for us on March 1 this year,” Kikilias said.
“Yes, the pandemic is still here but we have weapons to fight it – vaccination, new drugs,” the minister underlined.
In a interview to Skai TV on Tuesday minister Kikilias said that the increase of pre-bookings in January rose by 30% when compared to 2019 especially from the UK and specifically for the islands of Crete, Rhodes and Kos.
The minister heralded that TUI will bring 3 million tourists, DER Touristik up to 1.2 million, while they ask for special deals for October, November and December 2022.
He stressed that “the strategy to extend the touristic period is realistic.”
Begining of the month the minister was optimistic that the first tourists will arrive on March 1 and it’s not coincidence that some restrictions especially in restaurants and entertainment are lifted on March 4, 2022.
Source: https://www.keeptalkinggreece.com/
