Greek Tourism Rebounds 60% To Pre-Pandemic Levels, 'Far' From Full Recovery - Minister

Tourist arrivals in Greece have picked up to about 60% of 2019 levels, a positive trend in the pandemic-struck sector, Tourism Minister Harry Theoharis told Sputnik in an interview, adding that full performance, however, was still far ahead

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 05th August, 2021) Tourist arrivals in Greece have picked up to about 60% of 2019 levels, a positive trend in the pandemic-struck sector, Tourism Minister Harry Theoharis told Sputnik in an interview, adding that full performance, however, was still far ahead.

"The 'picture' that we have so far is very positive and we are very optimistic, we see an increase in arrivals, which is significant, roughly at around 60% in terms of performance in comparison to 2019 ... We are not like we were in 2019, in terms of performance, I would say we are still 'far' from going back to normality but we really hope for ... a potential extension of the tourist season and with a 'good performing' September and October we will be able to recover some of the losses," Teoharis said.

The minister refrained from making any future predictions at this point as the COVID-19 situation remains "blurry.

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Speaking of this year's tourism in Greece, Manolis Markopoulos, the president of the Rhodes Hotel Association, echoed Teoharis' optimism.

"We are quite pleased with the performance so far, for this season. When comparing the same time period from 2019 with the current season, we are 75% of that year in terms of performance," Markopoulos told Sputnik.

The Balkan country welcomed its first tourists on May 14, when a number of restrictions imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic were lifted. Tourism contributes about 20% to Greece's total GDP. In 2019, its revenue was 18.2 billion Euros ($22.1 billion). However, in 2020 it dropped to 4.3 billion euros due to the pandemic.