GREECE JOINS MEDITERRANEAN RACE TO WIN BACK TOURISTS

 Associated Press 14 May 2021 - by Derek Gatopoulos and Thanassis Stavrakis

© Provided by Associated Press Workers arrange sunbeds as others install umbrellas at Plaka beach on the Aegean island of Naxos, Greece, Wednesday, May 12, 2021. With debts piling up, southern European countries are racing to reopen their tourism services despite delays in rolling out a planned EU-wide travel pass. Greece Friday became the latest country to open up its vacation season as it dismantles lockdown restrictions and focuses its vaccination program on the islands. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

NAXOS, Greece (AP) — In her kitchen, Kyriaki Kapri has enough food to feed an army. Piles of squid for frying, lemons to be quartered, thumb-thick potato wedges to make oregano-sprinkled French fries, and seafood for the dishes famous on the Greek island of Naxos.

© Provided by Associated Press A tourist enjoys the sun as tavern chairs are stored at Plaka beach on the Aegean island of Naxos, Greece, Wednesday, May 12, 2021. With debts piling up, southern European countries are racing to reopen their tourism services despite delays in rolling out a planned EU-wide travel pass. Greece Friday became the latest country to open up its vacation season as it dismantles lockdown restrictions and focuses its vaccination program on the islands. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

She’s done everything she can think of to prepare for tourists at her Naxos beachside restaurant Gorgona — Greek for Mermaid — but customers are still a rare sight.

Greece launched its tourism season Friday amid a competitive scramble across the Mediterranean to lure vacationers emerging from lockdowns.

“We’re all vaccinated, the tables are outside and spread out, with hand sanitizers on each one. We’re ready. Now we wait,” Kapri said, standing beside large display cabinets with fresh fish on beds of crushed ice. During a six-month lockdown, Gorgona closed for the first time in its 50-year history.

© Provided by Associated Press Workers install a bamboo screen at a bar restaurant in Chora, on the Aegean island of Naxos, Greece, Tuesday, May 11, 2021. Greece Friday became the latest country to open up its vacation season as it dismantles lockdown restrictions and focuses its vaccination program on the islands. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

The European Union has yet to roll out its corona-friendly travel pass system. But southern member-states, driven deeper into debt by the pandemic and highly dependent on tourism revenues, are not waiting.

Croatia has already reopened, as has Cyprus, joined Friday by Greece where residents were allowed to leave home without an electronic permit for the first time in six months.

© Provided by Associated Press A tractor cleans Agios Georgios beach, on the Aegean island of Naxos, Greece, Wednesday, May 12, 2021. With debts piling up, southern European countries are racing to reopen their tourism services despite delays in rolling out a planned EU-wide travel pass. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Last year, the number of visitors to Greece plummeted by 78.2% to 7.4 million — from a record 34 million in 2019 — according to official data, with a corresponding drop in tourism revenues.

© Provided by Associated Press A ferry approaches the port as Portara, a marble gate which is part of an unfinished temple of Apollo of 530 B.C, stands atop of a hill on Aegean island of Naxos, Greece, Tuesday, May 11, 2021. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Greece is hoping to claw back half the 2019 visitor level. It’s vowed to finish vaccinating its entire island population over the next six weeks and will even waive test requirements for tourists who have received vaccines made in Russia and China that are not approved for use domestically.

Other Mediterranean countries are also looking for an edge.

Malta is promising visitors vouchers to go diving and cash rebates to high-end hotel customers.

In Turkey, visitors from abroad have been exempt from stay-at-home orders applying to Turks, thus enjoying an empty Istanbul, and little-populated beach resorts. Starting Monday, travellers from China, Britain, Australia, and 13 other countries will be allowed in without even having to present a negative COVID-19 test.

Portugal is the only southern European country to so far make Britain’s so-called Green List of quarantine-free destinations. Travellers in the UK pounced on the news, according to Emma Coulthurst from holiday price comparison site TravelSupermarket.

“Week-on-week, if you compare all package holiday price comparison searches via TravelSupermarket, the site has seen an 865% increase in searches for package holidays to Portugal,” Coulthurst said.

In neighbouring Spain, Trade and Tourism Minister Reyes Maroto said her government was in “constant” consultations with Britain to try to have its travel status upgraded. Some 18 million U.K. holidaymakers travelled to Spain in 2019.

© Provided by Associated Press Workers clean a hotel in Agios Prokopios village, on the Aegean island of Naxos, Greece, Wednesday, May 12, 2021. With debts piling up, southern European countries are racing to reopen their tourism services despite delays in rolling out a planned EU-wide travel pass. Greece Friday became the latest country to open up its vacation season as it dismantles lockdown restrictions and focuses its vaccination program on the islands. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Italy is expected to drop a five-day quarantine requirement for travellers from the EU, Britain and Israel this weekend, but many in the hospitality industry are still bracing for another tough year.

© Provided by Associated Press A man cleans the garden of a hotel in Agios Prokopios village, on the Aegean island of Naxos, Greece, Wednesday, May 12, 2021. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

“I think (tourism) is going to increase but very slowly. For this year we have to accept whatever comes,” said Elisabetta Menardi, manager of the Ca’ Foscolo apartment hotel in Venice.

Just a short walk from the famed Rialto bridge, the hotel is usually fully booked year-round but is currently running at 20% occupancy.

© Provided by Associated Press Workers clean a hotel room in Agios Prokopios village, on the Aegean island of Naxos, Greece, Wednesday, May 12, 2021. Greece Friday became the latest country to open up its vacation season as it dismantles lockdown restrictions and focuses its vaccination program on the islands. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

“Normally in January we already get a lot of reservations for the summer. That has stopped. So we don’t know what’s coming now,” Menardi said. “People make reservations, then they cancel. It’s kind of a dance.” ___ Gatopoulos reported from Athens, Greece. AP staff from across southern Europe contributed.