Tourism Minister welcomes Germany’s rest of journey to Greece

Greek Tourism Minister Harry Theoharis on Friday welcomed Germany’s decision to relax travel restrictions to Greece during the coronavirus pandemic.

In statements too AMNASaid Theoharis, Germany’s move confirms the excellent handling of the health crisis in Greece, in which the number of infections and hospital admissions are steadily declining.

He said he expected other countries to follow Germany’s example, which would lead to a recovery in the tourism sector in Greece.

There are two major changes to the Greek health check for incoming tourists.

Specifically on the new measures coming into force, the Ministry of Tourism stated:

1. Recognition of rapid tests: From now on, travelers from abroad with a negative result of the rapid test (antigen test) are allowed to enter the country without further restrictive measures.
2. Raising the age limit for child checks: On the recommendation of the European Union, children from 12 years of age will be checked for the required certificates upon entry instead of the previous six years.

The specific changes concern controls for people coming from countries for which tourist travel to and from Greece has been liberalized.

The town of Nafplio on the Argolida peninsula has fortresses like Bourtzi, a small island in the harbor © Olga Kot Photo / Shutterstock.

In addition, the two changes for the rapid tests and the lower age limit for children only change the existing control regime, which is still in force and provides that every arriving tourist is entitled to free entry into Greece if he either:

• Vaccination certificate,
• or negative PCR test,
• or sickness certificate,
• or a positive diagnosis in the past two to nine months.

It should also be noted that travelers to Greece now have the option of presenting the European Union’s COVID-19 digital certificate in digital or printed form.

The countries from which entry is permitted under the above-mentioned conditions without the need for subsequent self-isolation are the countries of the EU and the Schengen area (including Germany), as well as the USA, Great Britain, Israel, Serbia, United Arab Emirates, New Zealand , Australia, South Korea, Thailand, Rwanda, Singapore, Russian Federation, North Macedonia, Canada, Belarus, Bahrain, Qatar, China, Kuwait, Ukraine, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Saudi Arabia.

CONTINUE READING: Greece: 469 new COVID-19 cases, 20 deaths.

Display.