Greece holidays: Britons welcomed to ‘book flights’ in positive sign from tourism minster

Holidays: Expert advises on waiting for 'last minute deals'

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Greece’s tourism minister Harry Theoharis has shown positivity British holidaymakers will be welcomed back in time for the summer. In fact, he is so confident the minister encouraged Britons to “book holidays” now.

His confidence comes as a result of the ongoing vaccination effort, both in the UK and Greece.

Currently, the Greek government is prioritising vaccinating inhabitants of islands that have a population of less than 1,000.

This includes Halki, Kastellorizo, Meganisi and Kythira according to The Telegraph.

Following this, larger islands such as Corfu and Santorini will then see the vaccine rolled out.

Meanwhile, the UK is already steaming ahead with its vaccination effort.

In the week ending February 28 an additional 2,249,002 people were reported to have received an NHS vaccination for COVID-19 in England.

This took the total number of people vaccinated with at least one dose to 17,179,491.

Of those vaccinated, 598,345 people have received a second dose, taking the total number of vaccinations given to 17,777,836.

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Speaking to The Telegraph, Mr Theoharis said Britons can “book flights and start choosing the places where they want to go.”

However, at the time of writing, the UK Government has given no confirmation as to when international holidays will resume.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned it will not be before May 17, with the Global Travel Taskforce due to reconvene in April to discuss the possibility of international travel.

When the time comes, though, the Greek tourism minister said the nation wanted to make travel to the country “as smooth and hassle-free as possible.”

However, Britons will have to follow some strict rules if they do hope to visit Greece on holiday.

Mr Theoharis explained UK tourists will need to either show a certificate proving they have been vaccinated, proof they have antibodies against the virus or a test to show they are negative.

It comes following news the EU has outlined plans for a “digital green pass”.

This travel pass would sow detailed of whether or not a person has been vaccinated, as well as any Covid test results obtained recently.

It may also share details on whether a person has previously been diagnosed with the virus.

As Greece is an EU member state, should the “digital green pass” be agreed upon, tourists hoping to visit would likely need to provide this information.

For now, though, travel is off the cards for Britons under lockdown rules which see leisure travel been classed as illegal.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is also advising against all but essential travel to Greece.

However, it adds: “The FCDO is not advising against travel to the islands of Rhodes, Kos, Zakynthos, Corfu and Crete.”

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