Covid-19

The European Union now accepts Covid-19 certificates issued by Georgia, Moldova, New Zealand and Serbia, recognizing them as equivalent to the EU Digital COVID Certificate.

The European Council has added Indonesia to its updated list of countries for which travel restrictions should be lifted.

Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced that unvaccinated adults will be banned from entering cinemas, theaters, museums and gyms as of November 22

The authenticity of the tourism experiences that visitors can live in Greece will be highlighted in the upcoming promotional actions of the GNTO.

Greece will not follow the example of Austria and order the unvaccinated to go into lockdown, PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis told the Good Morning Britain show.

The GNTO has announced plans to form a digital hub and also launch campaigns to promote Greek destinations for winter tourism and city breaks.

Air passengers want to use biometric identification to speed up travel processes, says a survey by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) recently announced a moderate rebound in air travel in September 2021 compared to August’s performance.

Greece is counting on seeing more tourists in winter as part of a long-term strategy to extend its tourism season past the summer months.

Greek tourism may have performed better than expected this season, but the country’s hotels still have ‘a long way to go’, says HHF’s Grigoris Tasios.

The European Commission has revised its outlook for growth in Greece to 7.1 percent from its previous estimate of 4.1 percent.

All Covid-19 aviation directives that concern flights and arrivals to Greece from abroad have been extended, the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority (HCAA) has announced.

Greece led the way in tourism recovery this summer but overall the ETC does not expect travel in Europe to recover pre-pandemic 2019 levels until 2024.

The European Travel Agents’ and Tour Operators’ Association (ECTAA) is urging the EU to strengthen travellers rights in areas not addressed by the existing Package Travel Directive.

The Greek government will revise a bill to simplify procedures for people who have been vaccinated abroad but wish to get the Covid-19 booster shot in Greece.

The UNWTO has launched the Centre Stage project, placing women’s empowerment and gender equality at the heart of recovery plans in tourism.

Greece’s year-round city hotels are preparing for a ‘heavy winter’ as the various segments of business travel, mainly conferences, have yet to recover due to Covid-19.

More than 13 million people visited Greece by air and road through to September generating until August 6.5 billion euros, according to data by INSETE.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis ruled out a new countrywide lockdown despite a surge in Covid-19 cases in the last few weeks.

Greece may have exceeded tourism forecasts for 2021, but hotels are still up against limited liquidity, says SETE President Yiannis Retsos.