Greece Says Safety of Visitors and Hosts a Top Priority

Learning from other countries’ response to travel in the current coronavirus (Covid-19) reality is of utmost importance for Greece, which is looking to re-open to tourism.

Speaking on BBC World News, Greek Tourism Minister Harry Theoharis underlined the importance of enabling travel and tourism without however endangering the lives of holidaymakers and hosts. To achieve this, Theoharis said Greek officials have sought the guidance of health experts and epidemiologists while at the same time is collecting feedback from the experience of other countries in an attempt to re-ignite one of the country’s key economic drivers while making sure Greece’s top track record for containing the deadly virus remains unscathed.

Besides considering the implementation of special health protocols and pre-travel diagnostic tests, Greece will also seek to enforce additional measures in cooperation with other partner countries in the EU.

With regard to the European Commission’s recommendations announced on Wednesday, Theoharis said Greece welcomed the guidelines reiterating the country’s stance that there should be a clear framework that will enable travel and at the same time coordination among member states in order to emerge stronger from the unprecedented coronavirus crisis.

Theoharis underlined that Greek health experts issued this week specific guidelines with regard to summer activities, public transport, and travel and were currently looking into special protocols for specific activities.