Tourism arrivals in Greece in September 2021 came to 75% of those reached in the same month in 2019, Tourism Minister Vassilis Kikilias told Skai Radio on Friday.

Some 8.6 million tourists arrived in Greece in January-August 2021, compared to 4.8 million in the same period in 2020, he added, which translates into a 79.2% increase.

In August 2021 alone 4 million tourists came to Greece, which is up 125.5% from the same month last year, while in September 2021 2,352,788 tourists visited the country, up 110% from September 2020.

“We hit our target for 2021,” noted Kikilias, “to reach 50% of 2019’s tourism turnover.”

He added that “this is the result of a gigantic effort by the government, and the successful rebranding of Greece in relation to new health protocols, and the way we managed the coronavirus pandemic, which inspired safety among visitors.”

This article was first published on ekathimerini.com.