ATHENS (Reuters) – Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Wednesday that he was cautiously optimistic that Greece would reach its tourist destination this year.

Greece, which depends on tourism for a fifth of its economy, recorded only seven million tourists and 4 billion euros in sales in 2020, compared with a record 33 million visitors and 18 billion euros in sales in 2019. year, by half the level to be achieved by 2019.

“I am cautiously optimistic that the second half of the year will be better than we expected and that we will ultimately reach the target of 50% of sales in 2019,” said Mitsotakis at the general assembly of the Greek tourism association SETE.

To save its tourism sector from a second summer lost to the coronavirus, Greece is ready to use a COVID-19 travel certificate to attract foreign travelers ahead of its EU-wide rollout on July 1st.

Much, however, will depend on when major tourism markets like the UK relax their travel restrictions and allow people to spend their summer holidays in Greece without the need to quarantine or be tested for COVID on their return.

Greece is pinning its hopes on tourism and domestic demand recovery after many months of lockdown to get its economy out of 8.2% recession last year and GDP growth of 3.6% this year.

Mitsotakis reiterated the 3.6% target on Wednesday but said his government could revise it up if it is certain first half-year data would support it.

(Reporting by Lefteris Papadimas and Angeliki Koutantou; editing by Toby Chopra and Angus MacSwan)

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