Scientists continue to insist that the virus is not easily transmitted through water, with Greek Health Ministry spokesperson and infectious diseases expert Professor Sotiris Tsiodras recently saying that \u201cswimming in an area that is not crowded has a very small risk.\u201d<\/p>\n
Others maintain that swimming in a hotel pool that is chlorinated is also considered safe.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s what we do outside the sea or the pool that really matters, and this is the greatest cause of concern for Greek authorities, who are considering measures to alleviate congestion on organized beaches throughout the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are waiting to see what the Greek authorities will finally recommend, so that we can adapt our approach,\u201d says Thanasis Christodoulou, co-founder of beachdibs.com, an award-winning web platform for reserving sunbeds on Greek beaches.<\/p>\n
Speaking to Greek Reporter, Christodoulou, a first generation Greek immigrant living in New York City, says that this summer the new beach landscape will include social distancing and disinfection.<\/p>\n
\u201cPerhaps our platform will help beach-goers through the coronavirus crisis,\u201d he says. \u201cPeople can reserve their sunbeds and umbrellas, and therefore crowding will be reduced.<\/p>\n
With beachdibs.com, travelers have the ability to research and reserve a spot on their favorite Greek beach. They can just go to the website, select an island and then choose from a variety of available packages at participating beaches. The reservation will then be guaranteed.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf people reserve sunbeds, congestion at the entrance of a beach will be eliminated, the movement of people in search of a sunbed on different beaches will be reduced, and contact at the cashiers will be minimized, since platforms like ours allow on-line payment,\u201d Christodoulou says.<\/p>\n
The beach industry in Greece, which employs thousands of people each summer, is certain that government regulations will force a larger distance between sunbeds on organized beaches.<\/p>\n
That will mean fewer sunbeds and umbrellas and therefore, of course, less revenue.<\/p>\n
But Christodoulou says that public health is more important than money at this difficult juncture. \u201cWe must give tourists the reassurance that Greece is safe\u2026 We must maintain the country\u2019s excellent record in tackling the coronavirus, and this will help tourism in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Greek beaches will definitely be less crowded this summer as authorities have repeatedly said that the tourist season will not begin until July \u2014 and that only tourists from selected countries will be allowed in the country.<\/p>\n
For those lucky enough to enjoy the Greek summer this year, it promises to be an unprecedented experience by any measure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Greece is about to start a gradual lifting of its draconian coronavirus restrictions, but locals and tourists alike know that \u2014 this summer at least \u2014 beach life will be radically different from what we are used to. Scientists continue to insist that the virus is not easily transmitted through water, with Greek Health Ministry […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7699,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":null,"jnews_primary_category":{"id":""},"jnews_override_counter":{"override_view_counter":"0","view_counter_number":"0","override_share_counter":"0","share_counter_number":"0","override_like_counter":"0","like_counter_number":"0","override_dislike_counter":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"jnews_post_split":{"enable_post_split":"0","post_split":[{"template":"1","tag":"h2","numbering":"asc","mode":"normal"}]},"footnotes":""},"categories":[130,137,7],"tags":[7874,7864],"class_list":["post-7698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-sectoral","category-tourism","tag-coronavirus","tag-greece"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turizmtatilseyahat.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7698","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turizmtatilseyahat.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turizmtatilseyahat.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turizmtatilseyahat.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turizmtatilseyahat.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7698"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.turizmtatilseyahat.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7698\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7700,"href":"https:\/\/www.turizmtatilseyahat.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7698\/revisions\/7700"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turizmtatilseyahat.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7699"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turizmtatilseyahat.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turizmtatilseyahat.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turizmtatilseyahat.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}