Greek Hoteliers Fear 'Disaster' if Virus Lockdown Persists

Greek hoteliers on Friday warned that the tourism sector, which makes up around a third of the economy, faced a "general disaster" if lockdowns linked to the coronavirus pandemic stretched beyond May.

"None of us want to consider that we will not be working after May," Grigoris Tassios, head of the Hellenic hoteliers federation told state TV ERT.

"If this happens we are heading towards general disaster, not only for the (tourism) sector but for the national economy," he said.

Greece's tourism ministry on Thursday ordered a temporary shutdown until the end of April of full-time hotels to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

The merchant marine ministry on Friday barred travel to the Greek islands to all but permanent residents.

"It's going to be a difficult summer," Tourism Minister Harry Theoharis told ERT on Friday.

Seasonal hotels were shuttered days earlier.

"To protect hotel staff, the government has decided to suspend the operation of all-year hotels to the end of April," the ministry said.

The measure will take effect on Sunday.

The ministry said three hotels apiece would be allowed to operate in Athens and Thessaloniki, and one per regional capital. 

Officials have not specified what will happen with hotels hosting migrants -- although the government had already announced earlier this month plans to end subsidized accommodation for them.

There are six confirmed deaths from COVID-19 in Greece. A seventh death was reported on Friday.

Greece had already progressively tightened restrictions on trade and public gatherings.

The Hellenic chamber of hotels this week said it calculated a 522-million-euro ($572-million) blow to the tourism season because of the virus.

It added that over 92 percent of its members had already seen a drop of more than 70 percent in room bookings

At peak season in the summer, Greek hotels alone employ over 200,000 people.

The Greek government has announced a support package of around 10 billion euros, including EU funds, to help shore up the economy.

Tassios said much would depend on how the outbreak of the virus unfolds in the rest of Europe.

Britain and Germany in particular are among Greece's top markets.

"We'll have to see if we'll even want to be bringing people in after April," he told ERT.

According to the Bank of Greece, the country's tourism sector in 2019 saw a 12.8-percent increase in earnings to 18.15 billion euros, and a 4.1 percent increase to 31.3 million visitors.