Greece has become the first country in the European Union to reopen its gates to tourists on May 19th.
The BBC reported, at an outdoor press conference in front of the Temple of Poseidon outside of Athens, Tourism Minister Haris Theoharis declared that the country was ready to welcome back tourists.
Greece had started taking “baby steps” with opening their borders to the US, the UK, Serbia, the United Arab Emirates and Israel on April 19.
With that experiment being successful, tourists from a list of 53 countries are allowed to visit Greece if they have been vaccinated or can show negative COVID-19 test results.
The nine most popular airports – Athens, Thessaloniki, Heraklion, Chania, Rhodes, Kos, Mykonos, Santorini and Corfu, are to be open at the same time.
Although operating with strict capacity limits, museums, restaurants and retail have all been permitted to reopen.
What this means for India:
Ever since the news of Greece opening up its gates for tourists had been announced, Thrillophilia saw a pretty good jump in the interest towards traveling to Greece.
Our pages related to Greece have seen a jump of new sessions of about 67%. Even Google trends has seen a rise in the number of searches for Greece
As you can see, interest in Greece has been consistently rising over the days since Greece started taking its baby steps. Since our maximum number of users are from India, it is safe to say that the interest towards Greece travel has already been generated.
While India is currently not in the list of countries Greece has opened up to, there is a very high probability of India getting on the list. The reason being India’s high numbers of vaccination administrations.
India has taken valiant steps to get its people vaccinated which is proved by the current numbers of already administered vaccinations we have to show.
Our suggestions to our travel partners:
According to the audience of our page, we have seen that a good number of people are looking out for honeymoon packages for Greece.
Pages like Best places to visit in Greece for Honeymoon, Greece Honeymoon tour packages and Things to do in Greece on honeymoon have seen the best number of views after the generic tour packages. Considering that, here are a few things that our partners can gear up for:
- Good deals on Honeymoon packages: Having a good honeymoon deal ready for new/ existing customers for when this second wave subsides could be the best way to go about preparing for tourism for Greece.
- Creating an itinerary following the Covid restrictions: The country currently has a set of Covid restrictions in place so it would be best if each package makes mandates pertaining to the restrictions.
Current requirements for tourists arriving in Greece:
1. Tourists must fill in the Passenger Locator Form (PLF) no later than 23:59 (11.59 PM) of the day before arriving in Greece.
2. Prior to departure, all travelers must carry an acceptable health certification form Acceptable documents include:
- A negative PCR molecular test result from a laboratory; the test must have been taken at least 72 hours before arrival.
- A vaccination certificate issued by a certified authority.
- A recovery certificate from the SARS-CoV-2 virus infection that has been issued by a certified laboratory or a public authority.
- A positive PCR molecular test result certificate, that confirms the holder’s recovery from the SARS-CoV-2 virus infection, and has been performed at least 2 months before arrival, or maximum 9 months before entry.
3. Upon arrival in Greece, travelers are subject to sampling RAPID antigen tests at the entrance gates for selected individuals drawn from a targeted sampling system.
In case of a positive test, mandatory isolation following a sampling test is necessary. These travelers and their companions are accommodated in designated quarantine hotels, where they will undergo further PCR testing to confirm the initial diagnosis.
Guests will be required to stay in seclusion hotels for a minimum of 10 days, the expenses of which will be covered by the Greek state.
