Mitsotakis issues invitation to German tourists to prefer Greece this summer

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis issued a warm invitation to German tourists to prefer Greece this year, forecasting that July and August – the annual “high season” – will be reminiscent of a very normal summer.

In an interview with a pair of Bild magazine reporters in Athens, conducted with the Acropolis in the background, Mitsotakis said he’s certain that people now want to travel, “to relax”.

He also set the goal for the 2021 tourism season in Greece, predicting half of arrivals that were recorded in 2019, the year before the pandemic. Only a quarter of the arrivals of 2019 were recorded in 2020.

Asked about the situation in the country after nearly a decade of economic and political crisis, the center-right Mitsotakis said Greece today bears no relation to the conditions in 2015 or 2010. He said no “head masters” exist today to supervise the Greek state, only an enhanced supervision after the end of the last bailout, when asked if the country was the “teacher’s pet” vis-à-vis European institutions.

He emphasized that his pro-reform government made changes “we wanted, for the good of the country”.

He also referred to very good relations with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, regardless of the fact that “we haven’t agreed on everything, we had some intense discussions”.

The first part of the Greek prime minister’s interview to Bild is here: https://primeminister.gr/en/2020/05/26/24052