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In need of some vitamin-sea? Greece could be the answer.

Photo by Jonathan Gallegos on Unsplash

A European summer might still be on the cards for UK travellers.

As most European countries begin to announce an ease in restrictions for international tourists, the UK’s struggle to contain the Covid-19 outbreak has meant we’ve been left off the ‘permitted list’ for arrival into many countries.

Whilst each regions advice regarding international tourism and permitted visitors changes almost daily, one European country which is looking to accept UK travellers without a mandatory quarantine period is Greece.

Greece has been hit hard by the ‘cancellation of summer’ and lack of tourists.  This week, General Secretary of Greece’s EOT, Mr. Dimitris Fraggakis, spoke at the Delphi Economic Forum of 2020 (Delphi Economic Forum) and said:

Until a few weeks ago, it was not evident that we would have a tourist season, but now we are starting the project of opening Greece to its visitors, something that is extremely promising but will also have difficulties. We have already started to implement a roadmap for the restart of tourism which will be done gradually, carefully and with priority the protection of the health of professionals, employees and visitors.

This roadmap to re-open Greece to the world was released in three phases, with phase one already having been completed.

From tomorrow, June 15,  phase two of the plans will commence.

Phase two will see flights to Athens International Airport (ATH) and Thessaloniki International Airport (SKG) allowed from countries with “good epidemiological characteristics.”  This list is created by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and includes a “black list” of airports located in areas of high risk of transmission of COVID-19. The list is updated continuously and is available here.

All guests arriving from tomorrow will be subject to mandatory virus testing.  Even if visitors test negative at the airport, they will be required to stay overnight in Athens, and then self-isolate in their accommodation for one week. If they test positive, they will be quarantined under supervision for two weeks, in a hotel paid for by the government.

Phase three of the reopening plan is due to commence from July 1. 

From this date, international flights will be allowed into all airports in Greece.  Testing will still be required for those arriving from countries listed as having ‘negative epidemiological characteristics’ but will become ‘randomised’ for all other guests.

At this stage, it is believed that mandatory quarantine measures will be lifted from 1 July, apart from any guests who test positive on arrival.

“Additional restrictions regarding certain countries will be announced at a later date”, the Foreign Ministry says.

Gi Media will update further details as they come to hand.

Photo by Jonathan Gallegos on Unsplash

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