Greek Minister of Tourism Charis Theocharis revealed the health protocols for hotels and airport flights from abroad which are about to restart.

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Since Greece is being promoted and suggested as one of the most suitable destinations for this year’s summer, the health protocols followed by our country have been an item in question.

According to the Minister’s announcements, a few of the potential regulations are the following:

• For the boarding of a foreign passenger on a flight with Greece as destination, he shall bear a health certificate that he is not a coronavirus case, the latest within 72 hours. Without this document, boarding is not possible.
• Respectively, Greek tourists with the intention to travel abroad should be checked 72 hours prior to their trip, based on transnational agreements.
• On flights from and towards Greece, there will be no empty seats, viz. their occupancy will be full in order for the air transports to be financially viable.
• It is also suggested that on flights with a duration of maximum of four hours, only pre-packaged snacks will be served and no meals.
• Tourists shall depart from the country without any check, in order not to risk the entrapment and quarantine in Greece, which would constitute an anti-motive for the selection of our country as a holiday destination.
• In every tourist region of the country, the Ministry of Tourism will lease a tourist accommodation facility which will function as a “quarantine hotel”, where tourists will be transferred if they are transmitters of coronavirus.
• Each hotel- tourist accommodation shall be obliged to contract with a doctor, which either in person either via telemedicine shall ascertain whether a tourist shall be submitted to a test for coronavirus. These tests shall bear an outcome at the latest within 6 hours, in order for anyone found positive to be transferred in “quarantine hotels”.
• A special personnel training will be completed for each hotel, regarding special health protection rules.
• No buffet will be served in hotels, only serving option (with an exception for very small hotel units).
• Sunbeds will be very sparsely placed and shall be covered with an expendable cover for each beach visitor.

The minister of Tourism also mentioned that the prediction for transnational agreements with countries such as Bulgaria, Israel, Cyprus. The target of the said agreements is the free transfer and return of Greek tourists in these countries. Finally, the minister predicts that while last year’s income from tourism reached 18 billion euros, this year’s income will be, in the best case scenario, approximately 8 billion euros.