If we talk about which industry has been affected the most by the recent crisis, it is without a doubt the tourism industry. It is not easy for the industry to recover as different factors play a role including travel restrictions and tourists’ faith.
The country has eased the inspections at ports and airports and is allowing international travelers to arrive. The decision was taken after the industry nearly collapsed the sector officials are hoping it would help the industry to get back on its feet. Although, the early numbers are not as expected, which means the tourists are not yet confident about touring Greece.
Restaurant owners near the border said that the number of tourists from Europe and Turkey is less than what we expected. They are hopeful once the borders with Turkey are opened, the numbers would increase effectively. The country’s economy is somehow dependant on tourism, so an early decision was taken to reopen the land borders with some countries. The country, which just recovered from a financial crisis, also resumed international flights earlier than many other countries.
The Greek government has imposed some strict regulations and restaurants have to follow specific health measures, which as we heard is affecting their businesses. Social distancing rules have forced the restaurants to reduce the number of customers and tables; as a result, many businesses are on the edge of bankruptcy.
The crisis has also affected the islands that have empty beaches and closed hotels. One of the restaurants stated that the current crisis has affected our business more than the previous crisis; we are unable to maintain even half as much turnaround as compared to last year. Most of the tourists that are visiting the city are local and the situation doesn’t seem to improve in the near future.
He further added that a huge number of our customers are from Turkey, but due to crisis and closed borders, they are unable to come here.
Another business owner expressed the same concerns, whose business is badly affected by the situation. The restrictions in place are one of the reasons why restaurants have a low number of customers.