Filenews 17 May 2021 - by Theano Thiopoulou
A business of vaccinated tourists has been set up by Mediterranean tourist countries to avoid a repeat of last summer that proved tragic for the tourism industry that counts the biggest losses.
This year is expected to be a tough battle with the competing countries. Cyprus, Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Portugal, Italy, Malta and Croatia are entering the race to attract tourists to attract their piece in this year's tourist pie which will be less than 2019 anyway.
Cyprus has already opened up tourism and since 14 May Greece has entered the game in the midst of a hard competitive environment. Countries are betting on Covid free for a carefree summer vacation. With this comparative advantage hotels, restaurants, politicians from many southern European countries are hoping for a successful tourist season this year. The race between the countries and islands in the Mediterranean has already begun. Everyone is watching closely the reactions of the two markets from which a large part of their visitors come, Britain and Germany. Portugal is the only country in southern Europe included in the so-called 'green list' of quarantined destinations in Great Britain. This has boosted British interest in holidaying in Portugal. In Spain, Trade and Tourism Minister Reyes Maroto said her government was in "constant" consultations with Britain to be able to join the famous green list. Around 18 million British tourists travelled to Spain in 2019.
British and German
The Boris Johnson government has presented a list of countries it has painted according to the degree of risk and recommends that Britons visit the 12 it has painted green. Germany, on the other hand, officially continues to recommend that its citizens avoid travelling abroad for leisure purposes. Greece, Spain and Turkey are therefore expected to be the countries chosen primarily by the Germans on the basis of the data provided by the major travel agencies. Germany currently maintains a 10-day quarantine obligation for those returning from dangerous countries where almost all of the EU has been registered. Travellers from Britain will have to take a Covid PCR test within two days of arriving in the UK - but this is a much simpler process compared to the rules applied to other destinations.
Israel
Israel has fully vaccinated 60% of its population, i.e. 85% of adults, and now has a completely negligible rate of cases with only 0.2% of the population tested positive for the crown. Given its good health image, it has been very concerned about whether it is prudent to allow travel to its citizens and open up tourism, which represents 5.9% of its GDP with 2019 figures. Under bilateral agreements concluded with Greece, Cyprus and Georgia, Israelis with a vaccination certificate can travel without having to be quarantined either when they enter or when they leave the country.
Green passport
The European Union has not yet started implementing the 'green passport' for easier travel to the Member States and is expected to be ready for use from 1 June. It is said to include three certificates, i.e. for vaccination, for the diagnostic test (PCR or rapid antigen test) or for recovery (at the earliest 20 days after the first positive PCR test). The digital document will be issued free of charge, valid for the duration of the pandemic and will have a high level of data protection, as it will contain only the most important and covid-related personal data (e.g. identification of the individual, vaccine used, batch number, date and place of vaccination/test).
Other Mediterranean countries are also trying to lure travellers. Malta promises them diving vouchers and significant discounts at its luxury resorts. In Turkey, the quarantine does not apply to tourists, From Monday, travellers from China, Britain, Australia and 13 other countries will be allowed entry, without even having to present a negative COVID-19 test.
Italy is expected to reduce quarantine time to five days for travellers from the EU, Britain and Israel. The prime minister, Mario Draghi, plans to introduce a "green passport" that will allow tourists to enter and move freely in the neighbouring country. This passport may indicate three cases concerning the holder, that he has been vaccinated, that he has been sick with a coronavirus and is de-cured, or that he has taken a test and tested negative.
