Against the backdrop of the beautiful sunset of Santorini, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis gave a press conference, marking the beginning of the tourist season, inviting visitors to come to Greece.
When the Greek Prime Minister was asked by foreign media correspondents what he is still afraid of, he answered:
“We are dealing with a dangerous virus. It’s still here, it hasn’t disappeared. And of course one can imagine what our worst-case scenario will look like but we feel that we are taking an extremely calculated risk, but there is no risk-free approach. One needs to be very, very clear. One risk-free approach is that we lock ourselves in and we do nothing. That is not sustainable, that is not an option. So, we are doing the best that we possibly can. If, for example, you look at our medical infrastructure, I would encourage you if you have some time, to go visit the hospital in Santorini, to look at the quality of the medical infrastructure on the islands. Even small islands have received small PCR test kits and we can do small numbers of tests on the islands. We have a very elaborate system through which when we identify positive Covid-19 cases, we can move them very quickly to our main hospitals, on the mainland. We have done the best possible that we can to ensure that people are as safe as possible. I feel very comfortable after having to spend many-many hours with our team from the Ministries of Health, Tourism, and Civil Protection that we have a plan in place that will make opening up Greece to tourists as safe as it can possibly be. But, it is not only up to us. Even people who come to Greece need to be aware that there basic rules that they have to accrue to. As I told you, you may get 99% or 95% of what the actual typical Greek experience is. Actually, you may be getting a better experience because you will not be getting all the crowds. For example, if you walk across Santorini today, you will never see Santorini on June 13th look like this. Hopefully, you will not be able to experience something similar in the future, but we feel very comfortable with our approach.
I can also give the Greeks the maximum possible guarantees, but this is not up just to me. It is up to everyone. The reason we were successful was that Greeks listened to the experts and did the right thing. And we need to continue to do the right thing even now as we open up. We are very much focused on health and safety procedures within our hospitality sector. We will be very-very strict when it comes to the basic parameters and guidelines that we have put in place for our hospitality sector because we need to protect ourselves, protect our guests, and protect the people who actually work in the sector. I can guarantee that we will continue to work extremely hard, always listen to the experts, always follow a policy based on evidence and I think we have demonstrated that the State can actually operate at a very high level. What I can consider being very important is that the Greeks trust the State. After a very long time, there is trust in the institutions, trust in the State, trust in the government, trust in the experts, trust in our National Health System, trust in Civil Protection, trust in our Fire Brigade. This is a very important legacy that we need to build upon. So, again, no one can predict the future, I do not have a crystal ball, but what I can tell you is that the best possible job in preparing ourselves for the opening up our tourist sector as of this coming Monday.”
RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations, Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report
