“Australia lifting travel restrictions on vaccinated citizens from 21 February, is expected to significantly increase Australian tourist flows to Greece in 2022,” Greek Tourism Minister, Vassilis Kikilias said on Twitter during a meeting with the Australian Ambassador in Greece, Arthur Spyrou.
Following a similar path to Australia’s easing of restrictions, the Greek authorities also abolished the requirement to present a COVID-19 test for all Australians that are fully vaccinated.
Mr Spyrou, also shared his insight for the country’s tourism season, which is expected to reach pre-pandemic levels. “The tourism season of 2022 will be an extremely successful tourist year,” he said and pointed out that bookings’ figures show a significant increase of Australian travellers planning to visit Greece after almost two years of travel bans.
According to the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the number of Australian tourists had surged significantly in the last two years before the pandemic, reaching approximately 320,000 tourists in 2017, almost 70 per cent more than in 2016.
Besides Australians, Greece is a favourite destination for European travellers, as the European Travel Commission (ETC) has revealed in its latest reports.
Although Greece has ranked lower compared to last year, falling right behind Italy, Spain, France and Germany, it remains one of the top five destinations for German and Polish nationals, Italians, Belgians and Austrians.
Greece was praised for being the leader in tourism last year when other countries were imposing stringent lockdowns in a bid to protect public health from the surge of COVID-19. According to several travel organisations, including the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), Greece managed to welcome one of the highest numbers of tourists compared to other European countries, even during the pandemic.
Data from the bank of Greece shows that the number of international arrivals increased by 96.8 per cent in January-November 2021, compared to the corresponding time in 2020.
The majority of this increase is attributed to German visitors, at 95.2 per cent, accounting for 2.9 million tourists. French followed, with 148.6 per cent more arrivals compared to the previous year at 1.2 million arrivals.
Mr Kikilias also noted that “there are thousands of job openings in professions revolving around tourism. Currency coming from international travellers flows back into the Greek economy”.
“One country after the other remove COVID-19 protocols in order to re-open travel. We built our success and Greece tourism as a brand on health safety. This was the first success during the first stage of the pandemic that Greece’s tourism industry is accredited for. There is collaboration between ministries and we ensure we only do what safeguards our country and our citizens’ health. We have already started and gradually greenlight moves that allow more visitors to come to Greece. For example with the digital EU Covid-pass fully vaccinated people do not have to test to enter the country. Similarly, with 32 more collaborating countries compatible with the digital Covid-pass system in Europe… Now we can accept rourists from the US, Canada and Australia. Having the first direct flight arrive from the US on 7 March and the first direct from Canada on 2 April is a huge vote of confidence for our country,” the minister concluded.
