Greece is set to reopen to overseas holidaymakers

updated 4 june

This is an update to the original release shown below.

Greek Tourism Minister  Harry Theoharis said anyone entering Greece from a UK airport on the EU Aviation Safety Agency’s list of airports that are considered to be a risk would be tested and face seven days’ quarantine, regardless of result.

The restriction will apply from 15-30 June and then be reviewed.

EASA’s list details airports where enhanced aircraft disinfection is required. It lists 13 UK airports including all the major London airports plus Manchester, Glasgow, Birmingham, East Midlands and Newcastle.

Those not on the list include Edinburgh, Southampton, Southend and Exeter.

Thoeharis said Covid-19 tests were mandatory and would take a day before results were known. Even if the result is negative, Greece would still require a “self-imposed” quarantine of seven days, although this can be in holiday accommodation, he explained.

He acknowledged this would not be practical for those staying for a week or two.

“That’s why this is not going to be for the masses. It has to mean you have more time.”

Travellers will also face UK quarantine restrictions on their return if current proposals are not lifted.

Prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Greece’s tourism season would get under way on 15 June in an address to the nation, which is heavily dependent on tourism, on Wednesday 20thMay.

"Let’s make this summer the epilogue of the crisis," said Mitsotakis. Greece has confirmed hotels will reopen next month, while international tourism flights will resume on 1 July.

Greece has confirmed various tax breaks to encourage package deals; transport duties will be cut by more than 10%, reducing the price of air, boat and bus tickets; taxes on coffee, soft drinks and open-air cinemas will also be cut.  However, the country’s tourism minister Haris Theoharis sounded a note of caution, telling ITV News the country was waiting to see an improvement in the UK’s coronavirus figures before Britons would be allowed to return to Greece.

Asked whether the UK would make Greece’s whitelist, expected to be announced by the end of the month, Theoharis said: "I think the UK has a big difference in terms of the current medical status of the country with Greece so I don’t think it’s likely it will be there."  Mitsotakis said Greece’s response to the crisis had been safe and credible, with the country recording less than 3,000 coronavirus cases and 166 deaths. He also confirmed holidaymakers would not be quarantined on arrival, but stressed the country would carry out "sample tests" on visitors.

Anyone travelling to the UK, including returning British travellers, will be subject to a 14-day mandatory self-isolation, or quarantine, requirement from the start of June. The UK government is expected to announce further details of its quarantine proposals this week.

Theoharis told the BBC’s Coronavirus Newscast that with Greece not proposing to quarantine arrivals, it would "welcome" a reciprocal relationship with the UK if it is to allow UK holidaymakers to return to Greece.

Only members of the Common Travel Area, the UK, Ireland, Isle of Man and Channel Islands, will be excluded from the quarantine requirement. Plans for a reciprocal non-quarantine arrangement with France, announced by the government earlier this month, were quietly dropped shortly afterwards.

Greece’s progress towards restoring inbound tourism comes after EU tourism ministers vowed to do "whatever it takes" to help countries rebuild their tourism economies.

The country attracted record tourism numbers last summer as it continues to rebuild its economy following the debt crisis, including nearly four million arriving from the UK.