Tourism Minister Vassilis Kikilias has sent a personal letter to the managers of the three biggest US airlines (American, Delta and United), which this year have scheduled seven daily flights to Athens between them, assuring them that Greece will not change its policy regarding the acceptance of vaccinated visitors from the US, against Brussels’ recommendations.

So far, the signs have been excellent this season: By end-August, flights from the US to Athens amounted to over 1,200, also including services by Emirates and Norwegian; this amounts to 55% of flights from the US throughout 2019, Kathimerini understands.

The number of US visitors to Greece exceeded 50% of the record year 2019, while demand remains strong both for September and October.

Trips from the US to Greece have been allowed since April 19, which has given Greek tourism a considerable boost, and especially Athens. This is because Americans are among the visitors with the highest per capita spending ratio, while in 2019 they comprised one of the markets fetching the highest receipts, amounting to 1.18 billion euros, per the Bank of Greece. The average per capita expenditure of US tourists stood at €1,008, which was 78.8% above the average of €564 per tourist.

This article was previously published at ekathimerini.com.