Measures, such as the wearing of masks and checking vaccination and illness certificates, have been abandoned for so long, one wonders how easy it will be to reinstate them if need be.
In the current quarter, despite an initial positive dynamic in the tourism sector, inflationary pressures and skyrocketing petrol prices already pose a great danger,
The most vulnerable social groups are being battered by price hikes and a looming recession, and inflation is sapping the income of citizens in lower income brackets.
The measures will be similar to those implemented in Mykonos two weeks ago as the National Committee on COVID-19 has determined that there is heightened danger and that intensive monitoring is required.
The government and public health authorities are focusing on five islands that are top tourist destinations – Mykonos, Ios, Paros, Santorini, and the areas of Iraklio and Rethymno on the island of Crete.
Why this brushing off and contemptuous isolation of the Greek traveler-tourist? It is simply because the formal adoration of things foreign and the predominant parochialism relegated the Greek traveler-tourist-consumer to the status of lesser citizens and to social disdain.
Before the summer season trips in Greece should be feasible and absolutely safe both for visitors and tourism workers and all other citizens.
'The virus does not forgive placidity and it is not lenient even toward countries that successful managed the first phase of the pandemic. It threatens everyone equally and without distinction.
Regarding non-EU countries, Greece will follow the list drawn by the EU, while until July 15 no direct flights will be allowed from the UK and Sweden. Passengers arriving in Greece will have had to fill out a special form providing basic information 48 hours before their arrival day and time.
A re-orienation of the economy and a shift in the productive model is needed now more than ever.
Net revenues from the state budget amounted to 14.1bn euros, a 1.34bn shortfall (8.7 percentage points as compared to the 2020 budget projection) and that is due to the impact of the lockdown and subsequent issues.
The tourism minister spoke straight after a nationally televised address by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in which he announced a 24bn euro pandemic recovery fund and the government’s plans to re-open the country to international flights.
The PM boasted that the Greek people through perseverance in weathering the crisis and religiously following public health guidelines in the lockdown turned Greece into a model country.
The European Commission essentially set the foundations of a restart of the tourism sector which is of crucial importance for the salvation of the Greek economy.
The resumption of flights, inter-country agreements to open borders, the support of employment, and the use of liquidity tools will shape the tourism season, said Yiannis Retsos, the president of the Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE).
Every percentage point in GDP is hugely valuable in the fight to fend off a devastating blow to the labour market and to the economy more generally.
Despite Greece’s ten-year economic crisis there were no changes in the qualitative characteristics of the economy and thus it is extremely vulnerable to external factors.
The seven to eight billion euros to which Greece will have access will derive from three funding tools: The SURE programme, the European Investment Bank, and the European Stability mechanism (ESM).
A series of measures announced by the government are designed to prevent the collapse of the economy and a steep rise in unemployment.
Those involved in the tourism industry should not forget that the “golden summers” of the last two years were intimately connected with the more general situation in the Southeastern Mediterranean.
Due to the tourism concentration in our country we are much more vulnerable to international turbulence.
At the peak of the tourist season employees in the hotel and food industries numbered 411,000 and accounted for 16.7 percent of employment.
It suffices to imagine the repercussions of a blackout in a country that depends heavily on summer tourism.
Διαχειριστής - Διευθυντής: Λευτέρης Θ. Χαραλαμπόπουλος
Διευθύντρια Σύνταξης: Αργυρώ Τσατσούλη
Ιδιοκτησία - Δικαιούχος domain name: ΑΛΤΕΡ ΕΓΚΟ ΜΜΕ Α.Ε.
Νόμιμος Εκπρόσωπος: Ιωάννης Βρέντζος
Έδρα - Γραφεία: Λεωφόρος Συγγρού αρ 340, Καλλιθέα, ΤΚ 17673
ΑΦΜ: 800745939, ΔΟΥ: ΦΑΕ ΠΕΙΡΑΙΑ
Ηλεκτρονική διεύθυνση Επικοινωνίας: in@alteregomedia.org, Τηλ. Επικοινωνίας: 2107547007
Αριθμός Πιστοποίησης Μ.Η.Τ.232442
