Coronavirus

General
41

You are right but it seems that the virus does not like heat anyhow. Of course, social distancing is the best way to keep it away.

42

Hi Gregory and Augie,
Just a quick note to say how excellent and informative your posts are.
Do you know when the ferries to Thassos are going to allow non-Greeks to travel to Thassos? I have a Greek wife and we live in Palio near Kavala and enjoy trips to the beautiful Thassos.

43

Everybody is expecting that to happen during May. Last Monday the island opened to lorries that transport all variety of materials, and the island is supposed to open on the 18th of May. We will know for sure on Monday if that is so or there are some restrictions.

44

Thank you for the kind words, Martyn! :slightly_smiling_face:

The latest Iā€™ve heard is that people with a business on Thassos will be allowed to come to the island starting on the 18th of May so they can prepare to open their business.

Workers/staff will be allowed to come starting on the 25th of May. They will need to have documentation proving that they have employment on Thassos.

If coronavirus cases remain low then all restrictions will be lifted on June 1. From that point onwards there will be free movement to Thassos for everybody!

These plans are subject to change depending on the covid-19 cases in Greece. So far things are going extremely well but if that changes in the next couple of weeks as the restrictions are gradually lifted then the government may postpone opening up the islands to a later date in June.

45

Restrictions on travel to Thassos will be totally lifted on 25 May (instead of June 1)

The government made this announcement today because new coronavirus cases have been very low until now, so they decided to open the islands ahead of schedule.

They cautiously warned that they may push the date further into the future if Greece sees a significant increase in coronavirus cases until then.

46

Hi everybody :slightly_smiling_face:

Greece just released its proposals for re-opening tourism within the EU.

Here are some of the major points:

  • Greece wants to open for tourism to all EU countries by land, air, and sea on June 15
  • Greece proposes that travellers should be required to test for covid-19 in their country of origin within 72 hours of their flight, instead of at the airport
  • Testing shouldnā€™t be mandatory for citizens travelling from a country that has covid-19 under control
  • Wearing a mask should be mandatory on airplanes but keeping a seat empty between passengers should not be required

See the PDF for all of the proposals (in English):

Tourism Greeceā€™s position on a common approach and principles.pdf (93.0 KB)

3 Likes
47

sorry to be the bearer of bad news guys if this link is correct. TUI Belgium seems to be used but not sure whether they are a different group to the UK TUI. Perhaps somebody can say but does not look good

https://www-aviation24-be.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.aviation24.be/airlines/tui-aviation/tui-fly-belgium/tui-belgium-and-its-airline-tuifly-belgium-scrap-miami-and-5-european-destinations-until-end-october/amp/?_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQFKAGwASA=&amp_js_v=0.1#referrer=https://www.google.com&_tf=From %1$s&ampshare=https://www.aviation24.be/airlines/tui-aviation/tui-fly-belgium/tui-belgium-and-its-airline-tuifly-belgium-scrap-miami-and-5-european-destinations-until-end-october/

48

Hey Delboy :slightly_smiling_face:

I asked a local guide who is familiar with this topic (she works with tour operators and agencies) and she said the flights that were canceled are those from Belgium. 2020 would have been the first year for TUI Belgium flights to Kavala. Sad news indeed but maybe thereā€™s still hope for TUI flights from the UK and Germany.

In other news, Greece has officially put in a request to the UK government for the free movement of people who enter the UK from Greece this summer (no automatic 14-day quarantine). I have my fingers crossed for a positive response!

49

Thanks Augie,
When I saw that I thought TUI had given up on Kavala. So they are a separate TUI operation that would have started up this year and are no longer doing so.

1 Like
50

Hopefully we will be able to travel abroad this year but it doesnā€™t look likely as on the FCO site all none essential travel abroad is banned until further notice I canā€™t see anyone from UK travelling anywhere this year so Iā€™ve just resigned myself that weā€™re staying home this year and looking forward to next year

51

Hi Scarey, welcome to the forum! :slightly_smiling_face:

We still have our fingers crossed!

52

Hi everybody :slightly_smiling_face:

Greece Released a List of the First 20 Nations that Can Send Tourists to the Country

There are 3 categories:

Low Risk - Residents from these countries will be able to visit Greece starting June 15

  1. Cyprus
  2. Israel
  3. Germany
  4. Austria
  5. Romania
  6. Bulgaria
  7. Serbia
  8. Albania
  9. North Macedonia
  10. Bosnia and Herzegovina
  11. Croatia
  12. Hungary
  13. Poland
  14. Czech Republic
  15. Slovakia
  16. Denmark
  17. Norway
  18. China
  19. Australia
  20. Japan

Medium Risk. Residents from these countries may be able to visit Greece starting July 1

High Risk. Residents from these countries may be able to visit Greece starting July 15

The U.K. is in the High-Risk category at the moment but weā€™re very hopeful for good progress in containing covid-19 so that UK residents be able to visit us in Thassos this Summer!

53

Hi Augie,
A big risk on some of those countries, Romania is certainly not free of it. I just hope you can keep it off the island.

54

Thatā€™s good news. of course those countries are not corona free, but there are smaller figures of new infections. in our area we havenā€™t had a new case in 10 days now. weā€™ll have to see what the Airlines will come up with and if that seems safe, weā€™ll have a Summer holiday in thassos, we would not have thought that at the beginning of march. hopefully the situation in the UK will get better soon, so there might be hope for a holiday later in the year.

55

Hi to all of you, hats off for the administrator/moderators of the page as one can get all required info for the island!
I am new to the community and it is my plan to visit Thassos for summer holidays this year. As I saw updated information on who will be allowed to enter the country, I would like to ask a question, maybe someone could help me or guide me on where to find this info:

I saw that starting June 15th tourists from NMKD will be allowed to enter Greece. My question is: I hold NMKD passport but my family (wife and kids) have US passports only. Do you think that entering Greece would be a problem even though we are not currently living in US and neither travelling from USA. Our point of entrance will be by car from NMKD to GRā€¦

I would like to thank you on your support with info and wish you a successful touristic year, considering circumstances that we are facing with COVID19.

Sincerely,

Burim

56

Hi Burim! :slightly_smiling_face:

Welcome to our forum and thank you for your kind words! Will this be your first time to Thassos?

Greece has announced that residents traveling from NMKD will be able to travel to Greece starting June 15th. Therefore if your family are U.S. passport holders residing in NMKD then they have equal rights for entering Greece. I believe if you carry proof of their residency with you then theyā€™ll be allowed through at the border.

HOWEVER, even though Greece already decided to open its borders to ā€œlow-riskā€ countries on June 15th (including NMKD), those countries must also decide to open their borders for their residents to exit and re-enter.

Iā€™m not aware of any decisions made by NMKD till now but hopefully they will make an announcement soon. Have you heard anything from your side of the border that you could share with us?

57

Hi Augie,

Thank you for your feedback!

Yes, it will be first time in Thassos but not first time in Greeceā€¦ Been visiting Greece in several occasions so far.

I am quite confident that by confirming residence they entrance should not be a problem but I think I should find contacts and try to have a written confirmation before travelling so I donā€™t run into any surprises at the border. I will try border police department if I find any number of theirs. Regarding the other side of the border I have checked and so far nothing is official yet, but possibly the borders will be open as of June 1st so lets seeā€¦

Looking forward to visit Thassos this summer, I wish you all the best.

Sincerely,

58

Hey Burim :slightly_smiling_face:

We, too, are still waiting for the official announcements of the precise protocols for visiting Greece this summer. Today I spoke with the Greek Tourism Ministry as well as with the Health Ministry and they both informed me that those announcements will be made ā€œin the coming daysā€, which they later clarified can be as early as tomorrow or next week at the latest.

When the information is available we will post it on here so stay tuned!

An important point: Greece is planning to open its borders with Bulgaria and Serbia on June the 1st but I havenā€™t heard if NMKD will be included in this corridor. This date is not for tourism, however. Itā€™s for commercial activities. So if someone tries to travel to Greece for tourism on June 1st they will be turned back. Greece will begin welcoming people into the country for tourism as of June 15.

59

Hi everybody :slightly_smiling_face:

Today Greece announced a revised and expanded list of 29 countries from which tourists can visit starting June 15

  1. Cyprus
  2. Germany
  3. Austria
  4. Denmark
  5. Switzerland
  6. Bulgaria
  7. Romania
  8. Serbia
  9. North Macedonia
  10. Slovakia
  11. Slovenia
  12. Czech Republic
  13. Albania
  14. Estonia
  15. Israel
  16. Croatia
  17. Latvia
  18. Lebanon
  19. Lithuania
  20. Malta
  21. Montenegro
  22. Norway
  23. Hungary
  24. Finland
  25. Australia
  26. New Zealand
  27. Japan
  28. China
  29. South Korea
60

Hi Augie,

Great news about opening borders.
Are you aware about any measures while on the ferry?
Loading only at half capacity or any other idea?

@delboy
Your comment is just rude.