While coronavirus cases remain high across the globe, Greece already eased international travel to the country. And most recently restaurants and bars are reopened.
The opening of restaurants and bars in popular travel destinations in Eastern Europe is another step ahead of the planned start of the tourist season on May 15.
Six months after the government reimposed lockdown measures in the face of a second wave of the pandemic, Greeks enjoy sitting at restaurants and cafes again.
Greece has weathered the Covid waves better than many countries in Europe thanks to the six months lockdown. Greece has seen more than 346,422 Covid cases and a total of 10,453 deaths as of May 3. Some three million people, out of a population of 11 million have received at least one dose of vaccine. Greek health authorities aim to vaccinate all adults against Covid-19 with at least one dose by early July, Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias said on Wednesday.
On the heels of starting the travel and tourism season on May 15, Germany’s leading tour operator TUI announced start of summer 2021 holiday packages to Greece as of May 14. The announcement came from Berlin following the meeting of Greece’s Tourism Minister Harry Theoharis and representatives of TUI.
TUIfly will start flights to Heraklion, Crete, on May 14, with departures from six airports (Hannover, Munich, Stuttgart, Dusseldorf, Cologne and Frankfurt). Flights from Germany to Greece will continue the next day, on May 15, to the islands of Kos, Rhodes and Corfu.
The latest research from ForwardKeys, which has the most up to date and comprehensive fight booking data available, reveals that Greece tops the list of most popular destinations for British travellers this summer; so much so that confirmed tickets for travel between July and September are currently 12% ahead of where they were at the equivalent moment in 2019.
Furthermore, analysis of the most resilient destinations in Europe this summer reveals that seven of the top ten cities are Greek, with the island of Mykonos leading the list, with summer bookings currently standing at 54.9% of what they were at the equivalent point, pre-pandemic.
It is followed by the Spanish island, Ibiza, where bookings are at 49.2%. The next eight destinations in order of resilience are Chania (GR) 48.9%, Thira (GR) 48.1%, Kerkyra (GR) 47.5%, Thessaloniki (GR) 43.7%, Palma de Mallorca (ES) 41.2%, Heraklion (GR) 36.6%, Athens (GR) 33.2% and Faro (PT) 32.8%.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Aegean Sea, in Turkey, one of Greece’s rivals in travel and tourism, there is an ongoing 17-day lockdown. As part of the new measures, during the lockdown, all businesses will be closed with certain exceptions. Cafes and restaurants will only offer delivery services.
