Greek Tourism Minister Harry Theoharis meeting the Head of Russian Federal Agency for Tourism Zarina Dogusova

Greece is ready to safely welcome tourists from Russia and will gradually open its borders until it officially opens for international tourists on May 14,  a, Greek Tourism Minister Harry Theoharis told on Thursday to Russian news agency TASS. According to him, Greece has a comprehensive plan to open for tourism in 2021. The plan is based on so called 5 lines of defence and allows to lift  restrictions and at the same time to ensure the health safety of locals and tourists. 

During his meeting with Zarina Doguzova, the Head of the Russian Federal Agency for Tourism, Theoharis focused on a number of issues involving the opening of the Greek tourism and the prerequisites for Russian travellers to enter Greece once the time comes. “We are already gradually removing restrictions in order to test our plan on a pilot basis,” Theoharis said.

He informed that Russia is one of the countries from which travellers can visit Greece without restrictions (quarantine-free) as long as they either have been vaccinated, or have have antibodies, or have a negative PCR test, performed less than three days prior to arrival. “Greece will also accept travellers vaccinated with the Russian Sputnik V vaccine,” the minister said.

Moreover, Theoharis said that the epidemiological situation in Greece is improving day by day. “We have passed the peak of the third wave of the pandemic and expect further improvement, as a result of the very strict measures that our country has implemented throughout the previous period… Vaccinations are progressing at a very satisfactory pace and we now have enough rapid tests,” the minister said.