Greece Beat the Coronavirus. Can Tourists Now Save Its Economy?

The country won praise for tackling the pandemic. Now it’s trying to monetize that success by opening back up to foreign vacationers.

Plexiglass barriers stand at Propylaia at the archaeological site of the Acropolis, in Athens, Greece, on May 26. — Plexiglass barriers stand at Propylaia at the archaeological site of the Acropolis, in Athens, Greece, on May 26.
Photographer: Yorgos Karahalis/Bloomberg

Paul Tugwell

and Sotiris Nikas

June 14, 2020, 4:00 AM UTC

In a crisp, white open-neck shirt with the deep yellows and oranges of the island sunset melting into the Aegean Sea behind him, Greece’s prime minister declared his country open for the summer.

“We’re ready to extend Greece’s legendary hospitality and welcome the world again,” Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Saturday evening during a day trip to Santorini, the picture-postcard jewel in the crown of his country’s vital tourism industry. “We feel we are taking an extremely calculated risk,” he said. “It’s not an option to do nothing.”