Israel, Greece, Cyprus can create a post-coronavirus tourist zone

The tourism ministers of Israel, Greece and Cyprus are discussing the creation of a “safe zone” for tourism between the three countries.

Israel is closely studying the Greek initiative, which could take effect from mid-June.

A spokesman for Greece’s tourism ministry declined to comment on the report, but told a Greek reporter that “the Israeli tourism market is of great interest to us.” We are in talks with our Israeli counterparts on a number of initiatives.”

Greece’s tourism minister, Harry Theoharis, said: Israel is one of our strategic goals for the resumption of tourism in Greece. “As a result, we have already begun discussions and preliminary stages of harmonization of our hygiene standards and protocols, which will allow for the resumption of travel between the two countries. This is just the beginning, but we very much hope that we can reach mutual agreement.”

The logic behind creating an Israeli-Greek-Cypriot tourist zone is that people will be less likely to travel long distances in the coming months, but may be willing to travel to neighboring states.

One of the main obstacles to creating a safe zone for tourism between the three countries is the existing mandatory quarantine for those arriving from abroad; Israel now requires two weeks of isolation after foreign trips.

Another problem is that Greece and Cyprus are EU member states that under normal circumstances have open borders with the rest of the Schengen area and this can cause infection from continental Europe.

Source: tourprom