in-cyprus 29 May 2020 -Bouli Hadjioannou
Cyprus is one of 29 countries on a list published by the Greek Tourism Ministry that can send travellers to Greece from June 15 on flights to Athens and Thessaloniki.
The ministry said the list was drawn up based on the epidemiological profile of the country of the visitors.
Sample tests will be carried out, CNA reports.
The countries are: Albania, Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Japan, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Montenegro, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea and Switzerland.
Tourism accounts for about 20% of the Greek economy and the government sees the sector as a major engine of its recovery from a lockdown that has brought business to a virtual standstill.
Some 33 million tourists visited Greece last year, generating revenues of 19 billion euros.
Greece currently allows citizens from all EU countries except Italy, Spain and the Netherlands to fly into Athens but they are then subject to a 14-day confinement. Visitors from Britain and other non-EU countries are also currently barred from entering Greece.
The government has said it plans to restore international flights to Greece’s islands from July 1 but will refuse entry to citizens from countries with high infection rates until July 15.
