Photos: Fear and impatience as Greek island of Santorini awaits return of mass tourism

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Photos: Fear and impatience as Greek island of Santorini awaits return of mass tourism

Spectacular sunsets over its ancient volcanic crater make Santorini a magnet for tourists

Published: June 15, 2020 16:57 AFP and compiled by Balaram Menon, Digital Content Editor

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Copy of 140405-01-02-1592225834558 — A woman sits with her dog as she looks at the sunset in the town of Oia in the island of Santorini on June 14, 2020 as the country prepares for the return of tourists to Greece from around 30 countries by air, sea and land. With its postcard landscape splashed with sunshine, the island of Santorini, one of the most touristic in Greece, awaits the return of tourists from June 15, divided between impatience to revive its effervescence and fear of seeing the coronavirus emerge from which it had so far been preserved. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 140413-01-02-1592225839563 — Spectacular sunsets over its ancient volcanic crater make the Greek island of Santorini a magnet for tourists. With the first post-lockdown groups of overseas visitors due to return on Monday, the island is torn between impatience to get back to business and fear of an upsurge in coronavirus cases. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 140343-01-02-1592225850951 — In the quiet alleys of Fira, the island's capital, time is passing by to the rhythm of church bells - a reminder of the vanishing hours that separate the town from a flood of tourists. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 140384-01-02-1592225862156 — "We're desperate for tourists, we need them and we want them. If we don't have the people, how will we survive?" says Michalis Drosos, who works in a souvenir shop in Fira. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 140300-01-08-1592225882639 — The tourist season officially reopened on Monday in Greece after three months of restrictions that have halted large-scale tourism, a sector that makes up a quarter of Greece's economic output. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of Virus_Outbreak_Greece_Tourism_42375.jpg-c2c70-1592225873055 — From the emblematic island of Santorini, Greek Prime Minister said that Greece is "ready to welcome tourists" in complete safety after the coronavirus lockdown, whose impact on tourism will be "significant". Image Credit: AP

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Copy of 362675170_0-3-1592225864652 — Santorini airport will not reopen to international flights until July 1, like all regional airports in Greece. But travellers from around 30 countries will once again be welcomed at the airports of Thessaloniki and Athens, and will be able to travel on to the islands. Hard-hit Britain is not among these countries, for now. Image Credit: Bloomberg

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Copy of 140383-01-02-1592225859333 — There are nearly 30 international flights landing at Athens International airport Monday, including five from Germany, the country where most of Greece's tourists traditionally originate from. Two more are landing at Thessaloniki airport. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 140302-01-08-1592225844845 — "It's better to be here, actually. On the plane there was no (distancing)," Elli, a voyager from Paris, said at Athens airport. "They tested us, I guess we have to go to a hotel now," she said. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 140304-01-08-1592225847968 — "People seemed to be wiping things down, we're just getting used to the new normal," said Christine Soprano, who flew in from Amsterdam. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 140379-01-02-1592225853818 — There were long queues early Monday at the Greek border with Bulgaria, the only neighbouring country approved by Athens for overland travel. State TV ERT said cars stretched some 15 kilometres from the border crossing of Promachonas. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 140412-01-02-1592225837002 — "We are restarting the country's most important production engine and we are putting an end to the anguish of 700,000 workers in the tourism sector," Tourism Minister Harry Theoharis said in Santorini. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 362675104_0-3~1-1592225885140 — However, some of those 700,000 are still concerned about the coronavirus pandemic - which has so far largely spared Greece with only 183 deaths. Image Credit: Bloomberg

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Copy of 140380-01-02-1592225856762 — "Everyone's scared, maybe we'll catch the coronavirus," says Orestis Papoulias, manager of a beach bar on the black sand beach of Perissa. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of Virus_Outbreak_Greece_Tourism_12578.jpg-65c7b~1-1592225876496 — "As soon as the tourists arrive, we'll get new cases," says Canadian Stephane Saat, who has spent 12 years as a tourist guide in Santorini. "If they tell us that there are too many cases, we'll have to close down again, but what do we do? We don't have any money left and we're on edge." Image Credit: AP

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Copy of 362675187_0-3-1592225867303 — The procedures for protection against the coronavirus put a heavy burden on hotels, says George Roussos. Each hotel must have a doctor per hotel, a room for possible quarantines and a local hospital capable of carrying out tests. Image Credit: Bloomberg

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Copy of 140391-01-02-1592225831794 — Restaurateur Evangelos Gidaropoulos is among those who believe Greece's record of handling the virus - with far fewer cases than other nations in southern Europe - will stand it in good stead. "I believe generally that people around the world will recognise that and prefer to come to Greece," he says. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 140290-01-08-1592225879437 — Bearing out his theory, Chinese tourist Max Han reflects that the government has "very good control" over the virus as he wanders the famous blue domes and spectacular cliffs of Oia. "I feel very, very safe here," he says. "That is why I chose to travel to Santorini and next week I am going to Crete. No problem for me to worry about the virus." Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 140301-01-08-1592225842551 — People enjoy the sea and the sun at a beach in the island of Santorini o. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 106971-01-08-1592225870365 — Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (1st-L) is guided through the archeological site of the island of Santorini . Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 362675108_0-3~1-1592225887560 — A sign stands in front of an empty beach at Perissa village on the island of Santorini. Image Credit: Bloomberg

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