Greece's tourism season may end early due to the epidemic, tourism revenue will be hit hard in 2020

The income from international tourism to Greece in 2020 is expected to not exceed 3 billion euros.

According to Euronet, citing Greek news agency Europa, with the surge in the number of new coronavirus patients, coupled with factors such as people’s hesitation or even resistance to travel abroad, the Greek authorities had previously hoped to extend the tourist season to compensate for the loss of income. It may be difficult to achieve.

The report pointed out that although Greece has contained the new crown epidemic before, since the summer, as the number of new patients has continued to reach new highs, more and more popular tourist destinations have adopted restrictive measures, and many local and international tourists have been in succession. The cancellation of the original itinerary has also affected Athens, which is a stopover for tourists.

Therefore, the Greek tourism season in 2020 may not only not be extended, but will end early.

For the Greek tourism industry, EU countries, the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, and Australia are the most important sources of tourists. But at present, neither American nor Russian citizens are allowed to enter Greece for tourism.

According to estimates by the Greek government and industry figures, the income from international tourism to Greece in 2020 is not expected to exceed 3 billion euros. In 2019, Greece's tourism revenue reached 18.15 billion euros. This means that Greece's GDP in 2020 may suffer a major blow.

The Greek Tourism Federation (SETE) stated that the new crown epidemic has hit the Greek tourism industry more severely than expected, and therefore requested the Greek government to extend assistance measures for tourism companies, such as subsidizing employers to pay social security funds for employees; allowing tourism companies to suspend employee contracts, etc. , To help the tourism industry tide over the difficulties.