Greece spreads its wings on 1 July

All border posts and airports will open, allowing for more relaxed travel to the country

After months of lockdown and after embarking on a steady journey of relaxation of measures, Greece is finally ready to fully spread its wings come July. The country’s Health and Tourism authorities have outlined a plan for the final lifting of restrictions that had previously been put in place in order to ensure the containment of COVID-19 within its territory, scheduled to come into effect on 1 July.

Saving the summer season

Greece’s economy is hugely dependent on tourism. Many businesses – including hotels and restaurants, depend on the summer season to secure their profits and to keep themselves afloat. But the coronavirus pandemic jeopardized everything for them, as the disease hit just a couple of months before the usual influxes of visitors tend to arrive for their summer trips.

That is why central authorities in Greece were eager to quickly take back control of the situation and to gradually begin a reopening that would allow the tourism sector to salvage as much of the summer season as possible.

After a tenuous and slow-paced border reopening, only allowing visitors from a select few countries, Greece will be removing most of its restriction on travel on 1 July. That includes air travel to all airports across the country, land travel to all border posts, 7 of which have so far been subject to restrictions and maritime travel of all vessels with the exception of cruise ships.

Authorities are certain that they are prepared for all possible scenarios and are ready for what’s to come. Some of the protective measures that will be introduced come July include random COVID-19 testing at airports, with tested arrivals being forced into 1-day quarantine while the results of the tests are being processed and the setting up of necessary infrastructure should a spike in cases be registered on the country’s islands.

By making the safety and security of all visitors and citizens of Greece a priority, authorities are certain that more people will choose the Mediterranean country as their preferred summer holiday destination – in no small part precisely thanks to its exemplary handling of COVID-19.