Mediterranean countries in scramble to lure tourists back as lockdowns ease
GREECE has launched its tourism season amid a competitive scramble around the Mediterranean to lure tourists emerging from lockdowns.
The European Union has yet to roll out its mobile phone-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, and they were joined yesterday by Greece, where residents were allowed to leave home without an electronic permit for the first time in six months.
Last year, the number of visitors to Greece plummeted by 78.2 per cent to 7.4 million – from a record 34 million in 2019.
Greece is hoping to claw back half the 2019 visitor level.
It has promised 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 vouchers to visitors 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 on Monday, travellers from the UK, China, Australia and 13 other countries will be allowed to enter without a negative Covid-19 test.
Portugal is the only southern European country so far to make Britain’s green list of quarantine-free destinations.
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 UK holidaymakers travelled to Spain in 2019.
Meanwhile, Japan has further expanded its state of emergency covering Tokyo and five other prefectures, as Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s government remains determined to hold the Olympics in just over two months.
The country has been struggling to slow the infections ahead of the Games.
The three additions include Japan’s northern island state of Hokkaido, where the Olympic marathon will be held, as well as Hiroshima and Okayama in western Japan.
The three areas will tomorrow join Tokyo, Osaka and four other prefectures already under the coronavirus restrictions, until May 31, Mr Suga announced at a government taskforce meeting.
Bars, karaoke parlours and most entertainment facilities are required to close. Business owners who comply will be compensated; those who do not could face fines.
“Infections are escalating extremely rapidly in populated areas,” Mr Suga said while explaining the decision.
His government is under heavy pressure from the public, who are increasingly frustrated by the slow vaccine rollout and repeated emergency declarations. Less than 2% of the public has been fully vaccinated.
Many now oppose hosting the Olympics from July 23 until August 8, and people appear to be less co-operative with stay-at-home and social distancing requests that are not compulsory.
The expansion of the state of emergency is a major shift from the government’s initial plan that relied on less stringent measures that were deemed insufficient.
The addition of Hiroshima to areas covered by emergency measures comes just days after Japanese organisers announced that International Olympic Committee chairman Thomas Bach’s trip originally scheduled for next week to mark the Hiroshima leg of the torch relay has been cancelled.
Organisers of a petition for the cancellation of the Olympics yesterday submitted to Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike more than 350,000 signatures. The petition says money spent on the Games should be better used for people in financial need due to the pandemic.
On Thursday, Japan reported 6,800 new confirmed cases, adding to its total of 665,547 with 11,255 deaths.