Greece emerge as the first to answer the scramble for holidays when borders reopen – potentially, as early as May 14th
It’s fair to say most Brits are absolutely gagging to jump back on a plane and go somewhere, virtually anywhere, abroad as soon as possible. That being said, many will be thrilled to hear that it seems one of the first names on the list of possibilities is as popular a holiday destination as any: Greece.
As per several sources, the Greek tourism minister has announced that the country plans to open its borders for holidaymakers by the 14th of May, should everything go off without a hitch. These plans were reported on by Travel Weekly late last month, including pushback from the EU, which desires a united policy on foreign travel.
In contrast, the UK government’s roadmap out of lockdown still states June 21st as the date when everything gets ‘back to normal’ and there are even calls to make it an official bank holiday. However, there is belief that the PM could push for holidays to resume on May 17th in hopes to help boost the economy.
The issue is that whilst the UK’s vaccine rollout is seemingly being carried out at a good pace, it is less swift in other countries, with nations around Europe competing for supplies of the sought-after shots.
Similar to the situation in the UK, travel is believed to be vital to sustaining the Greek economy – in fact, in their case, it always has been.
Much has been made of the financial situation in Greece; they suffered worst than most during the recession in 2007-8 and projections up until 2025 estimate they still owe the 2nd most debt of any country.
With that in mind, it is believed Greek officials are clamouring to assemble a vaccine passport scheme in order to welcome jabbed Brits and holidaymakers from other countries.
There is concern that the reality of a rushed reopening would more likely involve long queues at airport testing stations and cheaper, rapid testing kits. One thing is for sure, it’s not worth taking any unnecessary risks when we’re already in the home stretch and so close to putting Covid behind us.
