Athens welcomes back tourists as restrictions ease

Greek government and tourism industry officials say they are confident the number of visiting tourists will continue to rise this year now that pandemic-related restrictions have effectively lifted.

Many of the visitors who arrived in Athens in June said they were pleased to be able to travel.

Jenny, tourist from Colombia said "Remembering how the pandemic was and seeing everything so empty and dead, it's nice to see that everything is picking up again and that people are able to travel again, to interact, to be outside."

Greece received a record 34 million visitors in 2019, followed by 7.4 million visitors in 2020 and 14.7 million last year, according to data from the Bank of Greece.