- Title: Greece aims to welcome tourists in July, but keep that beach towel at a distance
- Date: 29th April 2020
- Summary: ATHENS, GREECE (APRIL 24, 2020) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) GREEK TOURISM MINISTER HARRY THEOCHARIS SAYING: "There is a lot of interest for people to travel in Greece even within the difficult situation that we all have to face and we will of course have to consult the experts, the health experts, on the countries that they deem would be safe enough to accept here, of course it is understandable that we will aim to the European countries first and foremost."
- Embargoed: 13th May 2020 11:12
- Keywords: Greece Theocharis beaches distancing health expert hotels islands lockdown tourism virus
- Location: CORFU, SANTORINI, MYKONOS, AND ATHENS, GREECE
- City: CORFU, SANTORINI, MYKONOS, AND ATHENS, GREECE
- Country: Greece
- Topics: Health/Medicine
- Reuters ID: LVA00ACBJOJLZ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Long stretches of beach lie empty on Corfu Island, and hoteliers wonder whether they will open their doors this summer.
Tourism, a key income earner that brought 34 million tourists last year, has taken a hit from measures imposed to halt the impact of coronavirus, and Greece is now trying to save what is left of the season.
"Tourism is facing its biggest crisis of our generation," said president of the Corfu Hotel Association Charalambos Voulgaris, and owner of two sprawling hotel resorts on the island. "We are going to have very low occupancy rates as it shows. We don't know if our hotels will open, when will they open, so we are right now in the brink of very hard times," he added.
According to a study by the Research Institute for Tourism by the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels in a poll of almost 1,800 hotels, 65% operating year round believe it is likely or most likely they will go bankrupt, while for seasonal hotels it is at 51%. Losses to revenues overall for 2020 are estimated at almost four billion euros. The study also says that more than 45,000 jobs are at stake in the industry.
Plane and ferry passenger traffic plunged after the lockdown went into effect on March 23, as much as 90% for ferries, according to the Passenger Shipping Business Association, and 59% percent for domestic and international flights in March, according to the Civil Aviation Authority.
Greece is already recovering from a financial crisis. Last year tourism brought 18 billion euros in revenues.
Tourism Minister Harry Theocharis said the plan is to welcome back tourists in July.
"I guess this is the million dollar question. Of course this depends on all the countries and how they fare with this crisis but we are aiming to open up sometime in July," Theocharis told Reuters TV.
He admits however this season will be different, and the government will be supporting the sector.
"This season is not going to be a season like the other years, I would be a fool to believe that this could ever be the case, however there is a lot that we can do in order to re-open the touristic economy, the touristic flows, and that way we will able to support allot of those enterprises, - the hotels, the travel agents, and the people that work in the touristic sector," he said.
The lockdown has led to a wave of cancelled bookings. The government passed legislation to allow tourism businesses to offer 18 month open vouchers instead of refunds for bookings, said Theocharis, as part of support measures.
Tour operators have already been in contact, said Theocharis, but health experts will be consulted about which country's nationals are safe to arrive.
"There is a lot of interest for people to travel in Greece even within the difficult situation that we all have to face and we will of course have to consult the experts, the health experts, on the countries that they deem would be safe enough to accept here, of course it is understandable that we will aim to European countries first and foremost," he said.
So what could the measures look like for tourists?
"I see Greek beaches being sparsely populated, in other words there will be bathers, but they won't be close to each other. We will not see the phenomenon of organized beaches with towels right next to each other. Thank god in Greece we have thousands of kilometres of beaches so we can all be at the beaches keeping a distance from those around us," said University of Athens School of Medicine Professor of Infectious Diseases Nikolaos Sipsas.
"Tourists will have to adapt to the new rules that will exist for tourism...based on distancing, keeping hands clean, and the use of masks when necessary. It will apply both for tourists and businesses who will have to apply the rules without exception so we do not have a spread of the virus," he added.
Sipsas also suggests smaller groups of tourists at a time, and tourists from countries with lower coronavirus cases such as central and eastern Europe, which would cut out key tourism markets. He identified the biggest risk was in areas such as pools, hotel breakfast buffets, bars, and beaches, where people gather. Hotels will be given guidelines and regulations to follow.
"In any case if a tourist is at a hotel and shows symptoms that resemble those of coronavirus the hotel will be ready to assist the tourist to get immediately tested, with an immediate diagnosis of the case, and to isolate anyone who is infected," he said.
Greece has fared better than other EU countries in terms of coronavirus cases. As of May 4 it will begin to gradually ease the lockdown, the government said on Tuesday. Hotels that operate year round will be able to open on June 1 as part of the easing of measures. Flight bans are still in place for countries, including Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom.
Until the tourists come back, Greece has been mounting a vigorous online marketing campaign with the lockdown in mind, such as the platform "Greece From Home" - a blend of videos of Greek culture, lifestyle and landscapes inviting people to visit Greece from their homes, as well as the "Till Then, Stay Safe" campaign - photographic images of Greek tourist sites with the slogan, "Until Then, Stay Safe", written beneath.
(Production: Spiros Skordilis, Vassilis Triandafyllou, Deborah Kyvrikosaios) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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