Greek PM Sees Positive Tourism Year Ahead

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis expressed confidence that tourism this year will show positive signs of post-Covid-19 recovery citing growing demand for Easter and for the summer ahead.

Speaking during a meeting on Wednesday with Tourism Minister Vassilis Kikilias, the prime minister also said social tourism programs that will “enable people who face the greatest difficulties due to the crisis to go on holiday with the support of the state” would be announced in the coming days.

Mitsotakis visited the tourism ministry this week to be briefed on the developments ahead of the season.

“2022 will be the first summer in three years that we will virtually have no pandemic restrictions,” he said, adding that the goal is to capitalize on Greece’s good reputation in order to achieve “as much as possible a better and longer tourism season”.

The PM went on to stress that there will be very strict inspections this summer with regard to labor law adherence: “We will not accept any phenomena of abuse of power by employers to the detriment of employees in tourism”, he said.

Meanwhile, Mitsotakis welcomed the positive news of strong demand for Greek Easter.

“We are expecting a good year ahead. All indicators are encouraging. The first 20 days of April went very well. We are looking forward to a long summer in 2022 that will be rewarding for entrepreneurs and employees,” he said.

On his part, Kikilias said the ministry’s hard work had paid off and Greece’s successful management of the Covid-19 crisis over the last few years had strengthened its brand name, bringing stronger tourist flows and boosting the economy.

Earlier today, Kikilias backed his forecasts with news of more flights and air seats to more destinations in Greece this year compared to record 2019.

“Greece’s reputation abroad is constantly being upgraded, our country is winning the bet in terms of security and confidence and this has resulted in increasing numbers of tourists,” he said.