German tourism official says ‘do not write off’ Greece for holidays

Germany’s federal commissioner for tourism, Thomas Bareiss, expressed optimism on Wednesday that Germans will be able to enjoy summer holidays in other European countries “where infection numbers are also developing favorably.”

“I hope that, given the good numbers, we will be able to relax the restrictions in the next four to eight weeks and that it will then be possible to gradually go on vacation again,” Bareiss said in an interview with Der Tagesspiegel.

“I think the long-distance trips will be canceled this summer, but … I would not yet write off other regions in Europe, such as the Balearic Islands or the Greek Islands,” he added, saying that Berlin is “already in talks with governments” in neighboring countries for allowing tourism to proceed to destinations that can be reached by car, such as Austria, France, Belgium, Poland or The Netherlands.