Serbian tourists can go on vacation to Greece only according to a special protocol. THE DECISION FALLS IN MARCH

In March it should be known whether Greece will allow Serbian tourists to spend their summers in the Aegean.

More than 50 million euros of our tourists who paid in advance for their holidays last year were blocked in Greece. The agencies paid the money to hotel owners and other partners. What will happen to the money if Greece does not also open for Serbian tourists this year?

For a year now, Serbian tourists cannot travel to Greece, and this country has again extended the ban on our people from traveling to their country, which does not apply to others in the area.

Serbian tourists are rightly afraid that the ban will also be valid for next summer.

– The problem must be solved and the situation must be “clean” by the beginning of March at the latest, and that is why we have started negotiations – says the director of the Association of Serbian Tourism Agencies, Aleksandar Senicic.

The money of our citizens is blocked in Greece, and since this tourist country had practically no season in 2020, JUTA is asking the Government of Serbia to help solve the problem.

– We are in constant contact with the Ministry of Tourism and the Tourist Organization of Greece, but this problem must be solved at a higher level, because it is about the money of Serbian citizens – Senicic points out.

The Greek government has allowed its agencies and hoteliers to block other people’s funds until January 2022, but if our agencies don’t work this summer and bring tourists to the Aegean, it is unrealistic to expect the money to be returned to the people.

– The problem must be solved by means of a bilateral agreement between our two countries, and we are offering a “Cypriot protocol” – explains Senicic.

What is the “Cyprus Protocol”?

Cyprus divided the countries into four categories according to the epidemiological situation. Tourists coming from the “red zone” must have a PCR test and travel insurance, and can retest at the border. If they are positive, Cyprus provides them with a homecoming.

Tourists in the “yellow zone” must have insurance and a PCR test. “Gray area” means only random edge tests. Tourists in the “green zone” only need to have kovid insurance.

Quick edge test

Juta’s proposal is to do a quick test at the border, which costs 30 euros in Greece, which is cheaper than in Serbia. There will be crowds at the border, but that is also a solution.

Vaccination is not mentioned for now, but when mass vaccination begins, the certificate will be the main condition for travel.

Tourism Minister Tatjana Matić has already spoken with the Greeks and has demanded that the conditions under which Serbian citizens can travel to Greece be determined in advance before the season. Otherwise, citizens of Greece can come to Serbia without restrictions all the time.

– The Cyprus protocol is the best, but it can only be reached by plane, and now we are making a modality for tourists who will go to Greece by car or bus – Senicic points out.

The same protocol will be signed bilaterally with Bulgaria and Montenegro so that we do not wait for the opening of borders until September 1, as happened in 2020.

In Greece 50 million euros were blocked from our citizens, but the money that remained in Italy and Spain is not negligible either.

(Kurir.rs/Magazin Novosti)

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