This year's tourism season will open on March 1, Tourism Minister Vassilis Kikilias said on Thursday.

In an interview to Mega TV, the minister said that this year's opening would be earlier than mid-April in 2020, and he noted that last year's handling of the coronavirus pandemic was key to opening at all while other countries remained shut to tourism at the time.

For this year, he said, "The first cruiseships have already arrived, at Thessaloniki and Volos ports. We expect 765 cruises, with 55% of these using Piraeus, Thessaloniki, Iraklio and the islands as home ports."