ATHENS — Tourism Μinister Haris Theoharis had a series of important meetings in the Netherlands which aimed at an increase of tourist arrivals to Greece. The minister presented Greece's new epidemiological map to Anita van den Ende, senior official of the foreign ministry of the Netherlands, stressing the need to relax the travel directive to the Greek islands, and she in turn pledged to review the tourist directives in relation to Greece.

Theoharis also met with the managing director of the tour operator "SUNWEB", Mattijs ten Brink, one of the most important online Tour Operators in the Dutch market for Greece, and briefed him on the reduction of cases in Greece. The minister also pointed out that the intention of the Greek government is to accept travelers with a 72-hour PCR test or with a 24-hour rapid test.

The Greek minister then met with the President of the Association of Tour Operators of the Netherlands (ANVR), Frank Oostdam, and the General Manager of TUI Nederland, Arjan Kers. They discussed the possibility of extending the tourist season, with additional flights from the Netherlands to Greece until the beginning of November, to include the autumn holidays for Dutch students, at the end of October. Theoharis also informed them that the Greek government undertakes to cover the hospital costs for visitors who may fall ill with Covid-19 in Greece.

In talks with the owner of the tour operator "Corendon", Atilay Uslu, and its CEO Steven van der Heijden, the Minister of Tourism stressed the importance of supporting Greek destinations in the near future and until the Dutch market is normalised. The representatives of "Corendon" expressed their optimism for a good season, with high "last minute" demand.

Finally, Theoharis met with the director for Greece and head of the advertising programme on behalf of the tour operator, "Silverjet Vakanties", Lydia Kortekaas.

The representative of "Silverjet Vakanties" conveyed to the minister the interest of the Dutch market for the new tourist infrastructure in our country and the satisfaction from the cooperation with GNTO in the advertising programme that is implemented jointly in the context of the resumption of Greek Tourism.

Before leaving for Copenhagen and Denmark, the next stop of his tour in Northern Europe, the Minister of Tourism gave interviews to SBS 6, Trav Magazine and the daily Volkskrant. He presented the measures taken by the Greek government for health safety in detail, the steadily decline in case numbers and the rapid pace of the vaccination campaign, along with the success so far recorded in the opening of Greek tourism.