Greece is preparing to reopen its beaches to eager locals tomorrow ahead of the country’s hugely-popular tourist season this summer.
Greece – a destination favoured British holidaymakers – was put on a six-week lockdown in March in a bid to slow the spread of deadly coronavirus.
Businesses were shut as soon as the country recorded its first Covid-19 death and travel to the islands, such as Mykonos and Santorini, was restricted.
But organised beaches – those with ticketed entrances and organised sunbeds – are set to reopen tomorrow following official advice.
Greece is preparing to reopen its beaches to eager locals tomorrow ahead of the country’s hugely-popular tourist season this summer. Pictured: Workers prepare a beach near Athens
Greece (a beach being raked near Athens, pictured) – a destination favoured British holidaymakers – was put on a six-week lockdown in March in a bid to slow the spread of deadly coronavirus
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the ‘best-case scenario’ is for Greece to ‘open for business’ from foreign travellers on July 1.
Government spokesman Stelios Petsas said Greece is ‘at a better starting point than other countries to receive a large number of tourists’ but stressed this summer would not be like the last.
It follows the announcement that normally year-round hotels and restaurants are to resume operation in Greece on June 1 with strict distancing rules.
Businesses were shut as soon as the country recorded its first Covid-19 death and travel to the islands, such as Mykonos (pictured) and Santorini, was restricted
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the ‘best-case scenario’ is for Greece to ‘open for business’ from foreign travellers on July 1. Pictured: Workers install wooden paths on a beach near Athens
Other tourist resorts are expected to open on June 8, Greek Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias said Thursday.
The government’s fast-acting regulations to slow the spread of the virus likely account for Greece having one of the lowest death rates in Europe.
A total of 156 have died from coronavirus in Greece, which has a population of 11 million.
Out of over 2,700 cases, just two were on the island of Mykonos.
Government spokesman Stelios Petsas said Greece (Mykonos, pictured) is at ‘at a better starting point than other countries to receive a large number of tourists’
Souvineer shop owner Nikos Degaitis (pictured) wonders whether it is worth resuming business at all under such strict rules
Mr Mitsotakis said on Thursday: ‘We will find a way to bring people over safely.
‘I estimate it will be a totally different story from late July.’
The EU this week revealed its plan to kick-start the continent’s ailing tourism industry in time for the summer holidays.
Transport including plane journeys should be restarted ‘as a matter of priority’, the European Commission said on Wednesday in advice to the bloc’s 27 member states.
The government’s fast-acting regulations to slow the spread of the virus likely account for Greece (a cafe in Mykonos, pictured) having one of the lowest death rates in Europe
The Greek government has announced a support package of around 24 billion euros, including EU funds, to help shore up the economy. Pictured: A closed shop in Mykonos
Measures should be brought in to keep passengers safe, including requiring masks, limiting passenger numbers, and reorganising airports and stations to maintain social distancing.
The Greek government has announced a support package of around 24 billion euros, including EU funds, to help shore up the economy.
With tourism accounting for 12 per cent of national output, Greece is expected to sink into a 10 per cent recession this year, according to the International Monetary Fund.
The Greek finance ministry says the downturn can be limited to 4.7 per cent, but the jobless rate will approach 20 per cent.
Souvineer shop owner Nikos Degaitis wonders whether it is worth resuming business at all under such strict rules.
Last year, some 700,000 people were employed in the Greek tourism sector overall between June and September. Pictured: A municipal worker in Mykonos
An elderly woman wearing a protective facemask buys fresh fish at a fisherman stand in the old port of the Greek Cycladic island of Mykonos
‘Even if I open up, I will be scared to serve and help customers,’ says Degaitis, who has run his souvenir shop for 65 years.
‘I can’t stand this sort of thing, wear a mask, keep two metres (apart), it’s better that the shop is closed and for me to go to bed,’ he adds.
‘The rules are too tough, all the routines will change, how does one respect the rules in such a tiny street?’ wonders his grandson George Dasouras.
In April, the Hellenic chamber of hotels said the sector calculated a 4.46-billion-euro ($4.9-billion) loss of revenue because of the virus this year, with over 45,000 jobs at risk.
Last year, some 700,000 people were employed in the Greek tourism sector overall between June and September.
Ministers are attempting to save what is left of Europe’s lucrative summer tourist season. Pictured: The usually-bustling Paradise beach in Mykonos
On Paradise, one of Mykonos’ world-renowned beaches, turtledoves have replaced the dusk-to-dawn scrum of tanning bodies.
‘Last year, we had 600 to 700 sunbeds. As far as things stand today, we don’t even have one,’ says Damianos Daktilidis, owner of the Tropicana beach club.
‘I have not calculated the percentage of losses, we don’t want to calculate, we hope that the year will be salvaged from July (onward),’ he adds.
Ministers are attempting to save what is left of Europe’s lucrative summer tourist season – worth an estimated £130billion – with the continent almost certainly heading into a deep recession.
The EU this week revealed its plan to kick-start the continent’s ailing tourism industry in time for the summer holidays. Pictured: Workers prepare a beach in Mykonos
But commissioners are only able to issue guidance to member states, and it will not be up to individual countries which measures to adopt.
The commission’s over-arching advice is that EU countries with similar rates of coronavirus infections and comparably strong health care systems should begin lifting border measures between each other.
Even with restrictions easing, social distancing rules would apply, and the EC is recommending that robust disease monitoring measures are put in place.
That would include good testing capacity and contact tracing – so that people have the confidence to return to hotels and camping sites abroad.