Greek PM Confident About Tourism in Summer 2021

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis being interviewed by journalist Nikos Hatzinikolaou. Photo source: @PrimeministerGR

Hours after Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis proposed to the EU the introduction of an EU-wide vaccination certificate that will facilitate safe travel in the Covid-19 era, he expressed optimism that tourist activity will be much better this summer.

In an interview to ANT1 television, Mitsotakis cited the importance of vaccination, improved tracing tools and that the virus was seasonal.

“We know that from May onwards there will already be a significant seasonal decline,” he said, “which makes me confident enough that we will not only save the tourism season, but that it will be much better than last year”.

He went on to add that by June a considerable percentage of the population will have been vaccinated.

Photo © Greek Travel Pages (GTP)

Mitsotakis added that compared to rival markets, Greece performed much better last year.

“It has been proven beyond any doubt that there is no correlation, there was no correlation last summer, between the opening to tourism and the second wave, which I remind you hit in early November,” said Mitsotakis adding that Covid-19 outbreaks were not in the predominantly tourist areas: such as Crete, Rhodes, and Corfu. “So I’m optimistic about tourism this summer,” he said.

Referring to his letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and to his proposal for an EU-wide vaccination certificate, Mitsotakis said it was important because Europeans are among Greece’s top visitors. “It is they who will visit Greece first in the summer,” he said.

“At the same time, we have many more rapid tests at our disposal compared to last summer so it is now possible to welcome millions of tourists with even greater safety than we did last year,” he added.

Mitsotakis’ proposal is expected to be on the agenda of a teleconference of EU leaders on January 21.