Greece has said that sun-starved Brits wouldn't want to come on holiday to their country because of the UK quarantine rule.
Millions of disappointed Brits were told today that they aren't welcome on holiday to Greece due to the UK's poor coronavirus record.
But Greece Deputy Foreign Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis said that the decision to impose a 14 day quarantine for all travellers returning to the UK would put off Brits from coming to Greece anyway.
"Because of this measure I think that there isn’t going to be any great interest on behalf of British coming to Greece for at least next month,” he said.
Under the new rules millions of Brits will have to go into quarantine when they return to the UK from abroad from June 8.
All passengers arriving in the UK must provide their contact and travel details.
During their 14-day isolation they “could be contacted regularly to ensure compliance”, the Home Office said. The rules state: “People should not leave their accommodation for 14 days.
Those who break the rules could get a £1,000 fixed-penalty notice in England. Repeat offenders risk prosecution and an unlimited fine.
Mr Varvitsiotis made his comments just days before his country announced they were banning Brits when they reopen their borders next month.
Greece says our coronavirus record at the moment is just too poor for them to allow Brits into the country.
Despite this, Mr Varvitsiotis said that Britons coming to Greece was an important part of his country's tourism market.
He told the BBC: “It is an important market and we also have more than 50,000 British living in Greece.
"This is the decision of the British government. The British government said they are going to contain their borders.
"You’re not going to welcome your citizens coming back from potential visits to Greece because of the 14 days quarantine, so because of this measure I think that there isn’t going to be any great interest on behalf of British coming to Greece for at least next month.”
Greece announced today that 29 countries had made the list to be allowed to visit the country.
They are; Albania, Australia, Austria, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, Estonia, Japan, Israel, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Malta, Montenegro, New Zealand, Norway, South Korea, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Czech Republic and Finland.
The list was put together after studying the epidemiological profile of the countries of origin of the tourists.
Tourists from the list of countries will be randomly tested at the airports.
On July 1 the list is expected to be expanded with tourists from more countries allowed to vist.
