Grab Your Passport, Because Greece Is Re-opening To Aussie Tourists This Month
Pretty soon we could be living it up on a dream vacay when travel to Greece resumes on June 15.
Remember holidays? They’re back! Or they will be later this month, when Greece opens for visitors from 29 nations including Australia and New Zealand.
Flights to Athens and Thessaloniki will start on June 15 when travel to Greece resumes.
Greek Minister of Tourism Haris Theocharis announced that flights to Greece will resume for a carefully selected group of tourists.
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“We are opening up, but at the same time we are closely monitoring the situation. Strict health protocols will protect both staff and tourists,” Theocharis said. “Our aim is to be able to welcome every tourist who has overcome their fear and has the ability to travel to our country.”
The list of approved countries was formed “after a study of the epidemiological profile of the countries of origin of tourists.” Australia has an average of thirteen new cases reported each day, and as of 9am on May 31 there’s only one active case in New Zealand.
Greece has had a total of 175 deaths and just over 2900 confirmed cases so far. No cases have been detected on the majority of the Greek islands.
The announcement comes as Greece continues to lift its coronavirus restrictions. By June 15, restaurants, stores, hairdresser salons and malls will be open, as will all hotels and resorts.
Of course, being welcome to enter Greece is only part of the deal. Aussies will still be required to comply with our own travel restrictions, which means the ban on overseas travel from Australia is still in effect. At least when it lifts we’ll have some options, by which I absolutely mean living out our Mamma Mia! fantasies.
The news comes after Japan announced plans to help pay for visitors to travel there once that kind of thing is allowed again. Sicily is doing something similar, meaning we’ve got a lot to look forward to!
(Lead image: Dan Wechter / Unsplash)
