ATHENS, Greece, 1 September (UPI) – Greece has been one of COVID-19’s successes in Europe, keeping infections and deaths at a much slower rate than its neighbors maximum, but the country’s tourism industry has had problems since reopening in July as infections increase and foreign travelers remain cautious about visitors.
“My business is 10 to 15% of what it was a year ago,” said Mikhail Koshevyy, an artist who sells watercolors near the Acropolis.”There may be more tourists arriving on the islands, but not many come to Athens.I’m glad they’re back, but now I only run 3 days a week because I still do.empty here.”
The reaction was so successful that in mid-June, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was able to claim that “Greek tourism is back.”
“As other people come and we gradually open up in July, and if the news is still positive, I’m sure towards the end of summer in August, September, why not October, other people will feel more comfortable booking even overdue vacations and starting over,” he added.
The first results of the reopening were modest. The Greek Civil Aviation Authority recorded 1.1 million foreign passenger arrivals in July, 72.5% less than last year.
In an August report, the International Monetary Fund ranked Greece at the time only for Thailand among the countries hardest hit by a decline in tourism due to COVID-19, forecasting a 6% decline in GDP through 2020. Hotels saw their revenue for the fall quarter by 94.3% up to last year, according to the Hellenic Statistical Authority.
Greece plans to rebuild its tourism industry with much of the more than 70 billion euros of the COVID-19 recovery budget it will get from the European Union, while those living off tourism stand firm and expect the best.
Nowadays, however, he says business is slower than he even saw them, and points to a nearly empty pedestrian boulevard, Dionysiou Areopagitou, which is packed with tourists.
“I used to take as many as 500 pictures a day with tourists,” he said. “Now, it is around 10 or 20.”
For foreign travelers who have to come to Greece, there are advantages: the hotel costs are low and the availability is high, while the popular destinations once invaded by the crowds are almost empty.
On a recent Friday afternoon, only a small number of tourists were covered to buy tickets to access the Acropolis, a complex of ancient sites that includes the Parton and the Odeon of Herod Atticus, an old theater where performances are still performed.
Once inside, tourists had enough space to stand in front of the ancient wonders, taking photos and selfies among the empty landscape.
Traveling after months of isolation has also provided some visitors with an attractive insight into how to return to life in general.
“Travelling back is wonderful,” said Maddie Hopen, 24, who lives in London.”I’ve been trapped at home for four or five months.”
He said he felt in Greece but was still wearing a face mask, even though many other visitors to the Acropolis did not.
“I’m not too worried about the coronavirus, but I’m being cautious,” he said.”There may be a wave of time when other people start to relax.”
However, Greek officials were quick to point out that the increase in the number of cases is not due to travel abroad.
“Is tourism guilty of the upward trend in instances in our country?It is absolutely no,” greek Deputy Civil Protection Deputy Minister Nikos Hardalias said on 18 August.
Hardalias said 615 cases of arrivals arrived in Greece between 1 July and 16 August, representing 17% of the total.
He added that Greece “a long way” from some other lockdown.
Instead, the government has adopted a specific technique in express locations, such as the popular islands of Mykonos and Paros, where bars and restaurants will have to close early, giant meetings are prohibited and masks are mandatory indoors and outdoors.
For experts, this measure makes the most sense at this stage.
“She no longer communicates about the lockdown,” said Stella Ladi, assistant professor of public control at Queen Mary University in London and Panteion University in Athens.The epidemic “must be treated locally and with express measures. You can’t ban everything, you have it.”to decide what you do.”
Ladi agreed that tourism is the most important thing in the recent accumulation of cases in Greece.
“The biggest challenge right now is other young people who relax and seek to return to their general lives and summer,” he said.”It is not so much that the spread comes from the opening of borders.”
“They can control wildfires before they occur and cause an epidemic in Greece, but they will have to deal with this very carefully,” he said.”The positive is that Greece has shown that it knows how to cause infection.”and take it back to almost zero. How to do this will involve difficult decisions.”