Vaccines, tests and social restrictions have all been used in Greece's fight against COVID-19, in a bid to encourage people to travel to the country's summer holiday destinations.
And the efforts were rewarded.
Greek tourism has almost fully recovered to its pre-pandemic levels, with arrivals this year matching close to 75 percent of its 2019 levels and surpassing governments targets.
Tourism Minister Vassilis Kikilias attributed the success to the country's vaccination roll-out: "The virus knows no border, so the more we have weapons from science ... the better we can be protected, the safer we can travel, the more we can all enjoy the tourist experience.
"And we have proved that we have organized an exquisite vaccination program and that was the key of our success.”
Despite the increase in COVID-19 cases globally, the number of international air travelers to Greece rose further in October, according to data from the Civil Aviation Authority.
Arrivals more than doubled last month, from around 700,000 visitors in 2019 to 1.6 million, reflecting something of a recovery in air traffic, up 70 percent.
That amounts to 32 million passengers at a time when COVID-19 cases continue to rise across the country.
Despite this, Greek authorities are optimistic 2022 will prove an even better year for the crucial tourism sector.
"Our pre-bookings from October this year for the summer of 2022 are 30 percent increased from the bookings we had for the summer of 2019 prior to the pandemic," said Kikilias.
While efforts were made to save the important summer season in 2020 and 2021, those depending on winter visitors are now pinning all their hopes on a few weekends and upcoming holidays.
"What we see is that, I won't put it in terms of summer and winter, there are some parts of tourism that have not seen the rebound yet like leisure did during the summer," said President of the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels Alexandros Vassilikos.
"Business tourism, exhibitions, conferences are still on hold, for many reasons budget-wise. Let's not forget that 2021 budgets were decided in 2020 within the lockdown. We are expecting this to be rising from spring and on," he added.
The requirements for travelers to Greece remain the same as in the summer – proof of vaccination or a negative PCR test 72 hours before arrival.
But with only 61 percent of the population fully vaccinated, the country is considering more restrictive measures seen in other European countries.
With thousands of jobs on the line, Greece needs to make sure its winter tourism season isn't a wipe-out.
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