Hoteliers President Clarifies that Halkidiki is Not in Lockdown

POX President Grigoris Tasios.

Aiming to clear up any misconceptions regarding Halkidiki, Hellenic Hoteliers Federation (POX) President Grigoris Tasios on Friday told the media that the northern Greece destination is not in lockdown due to the coronavirus (Covid-19).

Speaking to Skai TV, Tasios, who is also the president of the Halkidiki Hotel Association, explained that only safety measures have been imposed on the destination.

“Halkidiki is not in lockdown and this must be made clear, because we are having a series of cancellations since yesterday, due to inaccurate information,” Tasios stressed.

Extra precautionary measures, aimed at curbing the spread of Covid-19, went into effect at Halkidiki on Friday and include mandatory mask-wearing indoors and outdoors and a midnight curfew on nightclubs and bars.

“We wear masks in outdoor public places and remove them at organized beaches that comply with all health measures,” he underlined.

Ammouliani, Halkidiki, northern Greece. Photo Source: @Halkidiki / @MarioAgapios

Moreover, the Hellenic Hoteliers Federation’s president called for immediate support measures for businesses and for payments of dues to the state to be made in several installments.

Underlining that the average occupancy for seasonal hotels in July and August was between 35-40 percent, Tasios said that year-round hotels would surely face bigger problems from September considering that exhibitions and conferences have been canceled.

“Hotel occupancy in big cities today does not even reach 10 percent”, he said.