Greece Expects Tourism Revenues to Reach €5bn in 2020

Greece’s government spokesman, Stelios Petsas. Photo source: Media.Gov.gr

Greece’s tourism revenues will reach 5 billion euros this year, Government Spokesperson Stelios Petsas said on Tuesday.

Speaking on Greek public broadcaster ERT, Petsas said that restarting tourism in Greece was a positive move that will generate 5 billion euros in revenues for 2020.

“This is a significant amount, which – of course – is far less compared to last year, when tourism revenues reached 18.2 billion euros. But, it is better than nothing,” Petsas said.

The government spokesperson also underlined that during the upcoming Thessaloniki Helexpo Forum in September, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, will announce the extension of the existing relief measures for tourism businesses, as well as the launch of new measures that will cover the period from autumn until March-April 2021 – when the summer tourism season starts, with the aim to support employment and offset lost income.

Meanwhile, Greece is also looking into ways to benefit from the European Union’s SURE program. The country was recently granted 2.7 million euros in financial support from the program that was created by the Commission with the aim to support jobs at risk in EU member states.

“We will be ready to submit our final proposals to the Commission by October 15,” Petsas added.