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Greece is Open to Visitors from the US, UK, Israel, UAE and Serbia as of Today, April 19, 2021, and France plans to open to Americans and some other non-EU travelers in May 2021.
This beats the earlier prognosis by the Greek Tourism Minister that Greece would open to non-EU visitors starting in mid-May (see Greece Opening to Americans for Summer 2021?)
Alex Pateleis, Chief Economic Advisor to Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, tweeted the news last Friday, noting that travelers from the EU, US, UK, Israel, UAE and Serbia can either provide proof of vaccination or a negative Covid test taken within the 72 hours prior to arrival in Greece to be exempt from the country's current 7-day compulsory quarantine.
Greece is in the process of its vaccine rollout, which, as with the EU, is proceeding more slowly than in the UK and the US. Given the importance of tourism to the Greek economy, the country is focused on fully vaccinating the residents of at least 69 of the smaller islands, to protect them from potential virus transmission when visitors return this summer 2021.
France is also planning to lift Covid entry restrictions for Americans who have been fully vaccinated. In a Sunday interview with Face the Nation, French President Emmanuel Macron noted “”We will progressively lift the restrictions at the beginning of May…we are working hard to propose a very concrete solution, especially for U.S. citizens who are vaccinated.”
France derives just under 10% of its GDP from tourism, while Greece earns a little under 20% of GDP from tourism.
Do you plan to visit Greece or France as covid restrictions ease?
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