The Minister of Tourism Haris Theocharis, spoke on the BBC bulletin about what is going to happen with tourism in Greece this summer.
Initially talking about the economy, Theocharis said that a EU fiscal package is of prime importance.
"Of course, the Summit will focus on various issues. The budget package is very important because we are facing a crisis that is very acute. It is important to have adequate support tools. And the second thing I would personally like to hear is the recognition of the importance and the special case of the tourism sector. Europe is the most developed tourist destination in the world. We need to understand that, without restarting the tourism sector, we cannot see a steady economic restart. It is important to recognise this and see how we can help with this reboot," he said.
At the same time, he answered the burning question of when Greece will be able to welcome tourists again.
Theocharis noted that this is something that will be discussed with health scientists. "We are in the process of processing the protocols that will be submitted to the committee of experts and we hope that they will be able to give us their approval to open gradually. […] We aim to be able to open at some point in July. Of course, this cannot be done for all countries, for all destinations, I recognise that, but at least we should try to open bilateral communication and travel with some countries," he added.
Theocharis also expressed the belief that there will be too many people willing to visit Greece when it is safe.
As coronavirus is beginning to plateau in the majority of countries, it is expected that by July there will be many countries who will be able to travel to Greece.
