Greece welcomes back tourists as COVID-19 restrictions ease

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

Many of visitors who arrived in Ans in June said y were pleased to be able to travel again after COVID-19 measures h eased.

"Remembering how pandemic was and seeing everything so empty and de, it's nice to see that everything is picking up again," said a tourist from Colombia as she visited Acropolis.

Anor tourist, a woman from Switzerland travelling with her friend from Portugal, said y were happy to be in Greece, only a few months after taking in sights in Dominican Republic.

But challenges and uncertainty cast shows over post-pandemic landscape.

And a full global recovery could take as long as catastrophe itself, according to projections and interviews by Associated Press in 10 countries this month.

Greece's minister for tourism himself recently expressed caution about impact of external factors on rising visitor numbers.

He told state-run television that war in Ukraine, inflation and energy crisis - coupled with an upsurge in Greek-Turkish tensions - could create multiple challenges for tourism sector.

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 Bank of Greece.

Before pandemic, tourism as a direct contribution accounted for 12.5% of national economy, according to research institute of Confederation of Greek Tourism.