Hotels in Greece will remain temporarily closed until April 30th 2020. One hotel per city/ capital will remain open and three hotels in Athens and Thessaloniki. Click here to find the list of all hotels that will remain open.
Greek authorities have partially banned access to Thessaloniki’s popular waterfront to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The area will remain closed from 2pm – 8am from Monday-Friday and during the weekends.
A new online platform has been developed by the Greek Tourism Ministry, the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO) and Marketing Greece to help people to keep in touch with Greece during the coronavirus crisis.
Greek authorities have announced the extension of the social distancing restrictions until April 27, when measures will be reviewed.
Greek authorities have announced stricter quarantine measures for Mykonos and Santorini, valid from 6/4/2020 for 2 weeks, when they will be reviewed. In Santorini, all construction activities are suspended for 30 days. In Mykonos, residents are banned from leaving their homes from 8pm-8am. Residents will also no longer be allowed to attend weddings, they will not be allowed to leave their homes to exercise and there are stricter crowd control measures on the operation of super markets.
Regarding coronavirus and travel to Greece, the Greek government, in collaboration with the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), has allowed the short-term berthing in Greeks ports for provision of food supplies, water and fuel, as well as the safe disposal of waste based on EU and international maritime regulations.
1572 is the special, new hotline in Greece providing information about corovarirus. Greek Tourism Ministry announced that the line will operate from Monday-Friday, 08.00-16.00 and will be providing support to the tourism market and to visiting tourists concerning matters that may arise during their stay in Greece.
According to Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE), 10 steps are necessary to be taken in order for Greek tourism to be able to recover.
Celestyal Cruises, offering cruises to the Greek Islands and the Mediterranean, has announced the suspension of its operations until June 29, 2020.
As announced by Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority, international arrivals at Greek airports fell by 60% in March (279.346 passengers) compared to March 2019 (701.712 passengers)
As published in the Government Gazette on 13/4/2020, an 18-month credit voucher may be provided by tourism enterprises in Greece (airlines, hotels etc.) to their customers who will have cancelled bookings (individual reservations or reservations made by Tour Operators) during the period from February 25 to September 20 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic, instead of giving them cash refunds. In case these vouchers are not finally used by customers, the companies are obliged to refund the same amount in cash.
As announced today, Greece extended its general coronavirus lockdown by a week to May 4.
Travel season in Greece will start on June 15 2020, when seasonal hotels will open their doors. International flights will start from Athens airport on June 15, while flight to all other Greek airports will start on July 1.
Travel to Greece after 1/7/2020, 12/6/2020
Arrivals by air
• All Greek airports will accept flights from abroad
• Restrictions of the European Commission will continue to apply
Arrivals by road
• Current restrictions of arrivals from Albania and Northern Macedonia will be lifted
• Arrivals from Turkey will be reviewed by 30th of June
Arrivals by sea
• All ships coming from abroad are allowed in Greek ports
A number of international media have praised the way Greece has handled the coronavirus pandemic:
The Guardian: How Greece is beating coronavirus despite a decade of debt
Bloomberg: Greece shows how to handle the crisis
Aljazeera: How Greece flattened the coronavirus curve
The Telegraph: The first country I’ll visit after coronavirus? There’s no contest
Bloomberg: Humbled Greeks Show the World How to Handle the Virus Outbreak
