Greece specialists relieved after apparent Government rethink
Tourism ministers in Greece reportedly held urgent talks on Friday after the Transport Secretary indicated Greece would not be featured on the initial list of quarantine-free countries from July 10.
Grant Shapps told the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Friday morning: "Greece won’t be on the list in the first place because Greece have said that on July 15 that’s their next review of their own systems.
"Reciprocity can’t come before July 15 for Greece and that is a matter for Greece themselves."
Tour operators and agents were concerned that potential customers would misunderstand why it wasn’t included in the list, believing it would be due to a high Covid-19 rate. In fact, Greece has reported less than 200 Covid-related deaths and relatively few cases.
Noel Josephides, chairman of Greece specialist Sunvil, told TravelMole he hoped Government would properly explain its reasons for not including it and said politics should be kept out of the decisions.
But in the end the country was on the list anyway.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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