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Will Greece Reopen to American Visitors for Summer 2021? The country's Tourism Minister Harry Theocharis says that the country will be ready to welcome visitors starting in mid-May:
“Greece is ready with a complete protocol for summer 2021,” Theocharis said when addressing the ITB Berlin trade show on March 9. “Tourists will be welcome if before travel they are either vaccinated, or have antibodies, or test [COVID-19] negative. All tourists will be subject to random testing.”
Greece's tourism industry employs roughly 20% of workers and accounts for about 18% of GDP, and with the loss of much of 2020, there's enormous pressure on the government to find a way to safely open the country for summer 2021.
The problem is that the EU has been moving slowly, both with vaccination procurement and reopening borders: currently, only citizens from a few countries outside the EU, such as Australia, New Zealand, Rwanda, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand are recommended to be permitted, and while individual countries may go against the EU's recommendations, it would be a significant step for Greece.
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Greece's COVID-19 cases have recently been increasing, with cases per million people climbing above not only Germany and the UK, but also the U.S.:
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Greece is working to vaccinate its most elderly and vulnerable population, and will prioritize hospitality workers next. Currently Greece has edged ahead of Germany and the EU average in terms of vaccine doses administered, at around 11 per 100 people, but is well behind the U.S. and the UK, let alone countries such as the UAE and Israel.
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The Upshot
We'd love to see Greece open to at least vaccinated travelers as of mid-May 2021, but suspect it will take a bit longer, until at least June 2021. As we've seen in the U.S., even once vaccine stocks increase, it can take time to get them into people's arms, and that's especially likely to be true on the Greek islands, given the ultra-cold temperatures the Pfizer vaccine must be kept at.
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