The Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has forecast a strong recovery in tourism this summer.

According to ReutersHe said rapid vaccination campaigns in key markets like the UK and Israel will pave the way for tourists to return despite the current industry weakness.

Tourism, which accounts for about 20% of the Greek economy and employs one in five workers, collapsed last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I’m a realist, but I’m also cautiously optimistic that we will do a lot better than last year,” Mitsotakis told Reuters.

“Last year we were 20-25% of what we would have got in a regular year. If we got 50% of what a regular year would look like, it would still be 100% better than last year. “

It’s called back last month Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called for the creation of an EU-wide vaccination certificate for Covid-19, which should help restore safe travel destroyed by the pandemic. He also stressed that they would not be mandatory for visitors this summer.

“Essentially, we are dependent on the vaccination rate in our main markets,” he said.

“For example, Israel is a very important market for Greece. When 70% of the Israeli population is vaccinated by the end of March, it will be easier to gradually open up to Israelis who have a real interest in travel.”

* More about GCT: Greece proposes three measures to resume tourism

Keywords:
Coronavirus, Covid-19, Covid-19 vaccination certificate, ME, European Union, Greece news, Greek news, greek news today, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Greek Tourism Minister Harry Theoharis, Blocking, pandemic, social distancing

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