UK 2021 Holiday Bookings for Greece Rise By Astonishing 96%

According to travel agency Skyscanner, British nationals’ holiday bookings to Greece for 2021 have risen recently by an astonishing 96 percent.

The sharp increase in bookings came earlier this week when British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that London plans to lift all Coronavirus restrictions completely by June 21.

Greece 2nd-Most-Favorite Destination for Britons

Greece has been second only to Spain in terms of numbers of British nationals who wish to escape the UK’s traditionally miserable weather over the summer and visit a south European nation.

The destinations that the British holidaymakers prefer this year are Spain, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Cyprus, and Turkey.

British Welcome to Greece

British nationals will be allowed into Greece during the summer period regardless of whether they have been vaccinated, Greek Tourism Minister Harry Theoharis told British ITV News on Thursday.

“We feel that vaccination means someone with the required certificates, which the government will issue will mean you don’t need to have a negative test before the flight. But it doesn’t mean that only vaccinated people can travel. We still have the option of a negative test for those who haven’t had a vaccine,” ITV News quoted Theocharis.

The Tourism minister effectively said that even unvaccinated people would not have to self-isolate after they arrive in Greece.

The Greek minister also added that vaccination programs and rapid testing for the coronavirus would make a great difference this year in reopening the country during its high tourist season.

EU Leaders Discuss Coronavirus Vaccine Certificates

EU leaders discussed the possibility of the issuance of coronavirus vaccine certificates on Thursday.

In a press conference after the decision, German Chancellor Angela Merkel stated, “Everyone agreed that we need a digital vaccination certificate.”

She added that the vaccine passports could be available by the summer but that the bloc needs three months to create the needed technical infrastructure to issue such documentation.

Southern European countries that are heavily tourism-dependent, including Greece, are banking on some version of a certificate or “vaccine passport” to allow people to move freely this summer without fears of quarantines or other border restrictions.

Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis was one of the most vocal proponents of the concept, saying that Europe needed such a system for tourism to begin approaching normal levels in the summer of 2021 after a devastating 2020.