Greece will open to tourists from May 14, providing they have received a Covid-19 vaccine, have antibodies or supply a negative test result.
Tourism Minister Harry Theocharis confirmed the plan at the ITB Berlin trade show and said all tourists would also be subject to random testing.
International travel from the UK is banned until May 17 at the earliest, with the government’s reconvened Global Travel Taskforce due to present its recommendations to the prime minister on April 12.
Greece joins a list of other countries that have declared they are ready to welcome UK tourists as soon as restrictions are lifted.
Others to have already appealed to the UK market include Cyprus and the Canary Islands.
The Sun quoted a senior tourism official in Athens as saying: “We’re in a race to get them, in fact everyone in Europe is in a race to get them.
“If 3.5 million come as they did in 2019, it will be fantastic for us.”
In February, Theocharis confirmed plans to reopen based on vaccine progress, telling ITV News: “We feel that the vaccination programmes is a game-changer, together with rapid tests and alongside PCR tests.
“We feel that vaccination means someone with the required certificates which will be issued by the government will mean you don’t need to have a negative test before the flight.
“But it doesn’t mean that only vaccinated people can travel. We still have the option of a negative test for those who haven’t had a vaccine.”
He also told The Guardian that Greece hoped to “dovetail” with Boris Johnson’s roadmap for allowing Britons to travel.