Spain's Tourist Industry looks on and waits to see if Greece can pull the Holidaymakers back

Costa Blanca and Costa del Sol hoteliers in Spain are anxiously monitoring the situation in Greece as it hopes to welcome back tourists from July.

Like Spain, tourism is a major income earner, as for Greece, it drew 34 million visitors last year, bringing in €18 billion (£15.74 billion) in revenue, about 10-12 per cent of economic output, and provided employment for about one in five of the workforce.
“Tourism is facing its biggest crisis of our generation,” said the president of Corfu’s hotel association Charalambos Voulgaris, owner of two resorts on the Greek island on the Ionian Sea.

A lockdown from March 23 to curb the spread of the new coronavirus, which was effective in avoiding high rates of fatalities seen in other European countries, is expected to take a toll. Greece is now trying to save what is left of the season.
Passenger traffic plunged by as much as 90 per cent for ferries, according to the Passenger Shipping Business Association, and by 59 per cent for domestic and international flights in March, according to the Civil Aviation Authority.

Harry Theocharis, Greece’s tourism minister, says the plan is to welcome back tourists in July.
The government will begin to gradually ease the lockdown on May 4 and hotels operating year-round will be able to open on June 1.
“I guess this is the million-dollar question. We are aiming to open up sometime in July.
“This season is not going to be like the other years, I would be a fool to believe that this could ever be the case. However, there is a lot that we can do to reopen the tourist economy, the flows,” he said.
Spain’s tourist industry lies in tatters, millions of euros in losses and mass lay-offs mean it faces a difficult road to recovery, perhaps Greece will kick-start the package-holiday trade, we will have to wait and see. TW.