Greece kicks off the formal start of its tourist season

Greece kicked off the formal start of its tourist season, announcing a multimillion euro promotional campaign on Thursday aimed at saving its most important economic sector from a second summer lost to the coronavirus.

“We are opening our tourist industry to the world,” Tourism Minister Haris Theoharis said at an outdoor news conference held in front of the spectacular backdrop of the Temple of Poseidon on Cape Sounion outside Athens.

A series of promotional videos telling stressed out British office workers and others in need of a break that “All you want is Greece” will be shown in key markets, vaunting the country’s beaches, historical sites and tavernas.

The summer will be vital for Greece’s chances of bringing its economy out of the coronavirus crisis in manageable shape following an 8 percent fall in GDP last year as coronavirus restrictions stifled the vital tourist sector.

Tourists from countries in the European Union as well as others including Britain, the United States and Israel, will be allowed to visit as long as they have been vaccinated or can show negative COVID-19 test results.

The sector, which accounts for about a fifth of Greek output and employs one in five workers, suffered the most severe plunge on record last year, seeing revenues drop to 4 billion euros, less than a quarter of the 18 billion achieved in 2019.