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Despite Risks, Greek Islands Keen to Reopen to Tourists

Associated Press

   MYKONOS, GREECE - The Greek island of Mykonos' newest bar-restaurant,
   Pelican, seemed to appear from nowhere.

   Tables, light fixtures and staff members with matching black face masks
   were still being slotted into place as Greeks visiting the island for a
   long holiday weekend trickled in to check out the place. The owner
   expects a slow summer but said he's in a hurry to get back to business.

   Greece is, too.

   Heavily reliant on tourism, the country is officially reopening to
   foreigners on Monday after closing its borders to most during the
   coronavirus pandemic. Its hopes are pinned on popular tourist
   destinations such as Mykonos and the islands of Rhodes, Corfu, Crete
   and Santorini, where regular ferry service already resumed and direct
   international flights are set to restart on July 1.

   The Greek government has taken a gamble in deciding to relax
   coronavirus health inspections at ports and airports in order to avoid
   another crippling recession, having only recently emerged from an
   economically painful period sparked by the international financial
   crisis.

   Pelican's owner, Vasilis Theodorou, has a view of the situation that is
   more steadfast than starry-eyed. Mykonos would normally be packed in
   early June, but its beaches were empty. Tourism might be down by as
   much as 80 percent this year, "so we're waiting for the 20 percent, and
   we're happy," Theodorou said.

   "No matter how much we wish for it and want it, it won't be more than
   that," he said. "We expect that tourists from central Europe will come
   first, and hopefully Americans at a later stage. They are our best
   customers."

   Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis acknowledged Saturday that Greece is
   prepared for a huge drop from the 33 million visitors who came to
   Greece last year. Addressing foreign journalists Saturday during a
   visit to Santorini, Mitsotakis went on a full sales pitch, touting
   everything from local products to the possibilities of year-round
   tourism in Greece.

   "We don't know the real impact of (a truncated tourist season) on GDP,"
   he said, "A lot will depend on whether people feel comfortable to
   travel and whether we can project Greece as a safe destination."

   Timely and strictly enforced lockdown measures have so far kept the
   infection rate in Greece low and the death toll below 200. But
   reopening means islands -- many with only basic health facilities and
   previously sheltered from the outbreak on the Greek mainland -- will
   again be receiving visitors from around the world far in excess of the
   local population.

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