Greece will impose a 20 euro fee on cruise passengers stopping off at the popular islands of Mykonos and Santorini, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced on Sunday 8 September.
Santorini, a key stopover for cruise ships in Greece for its famous sunsets, is close to saturation and authorities are considering restricting access.
“The cruise industry has put pressure on Mykonos and Santorini, so the price will be 20 euros,” he added during a press conference held at an international fair, without specifying when this measure will come into force.
By 2023, some 800 cruise ships will carry 1.3 million passengers to the island of Santorini, home to just 15,500 people, according to the Greek port association. Of the record 32.7 million tourists who visited Greece last year, around 3.4 million – or one in ten visitors – went to the island of Santorini.
Limit the number of boats.
The Prime Minister intends to “intervene on the number of ships arriving at a destination at the same time”, considering it necessary to “put the brakes on islands where we believe the limits of infrastructure are being tested”.
In a recent summer interview with AFP, Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni said it was necessary to set “quotas” as local authorities have already set a limit of 8,000 cruise passengers per day in Santorini for next year.
Greece saw record influxes last year, despite deadly fires and a long heatwave. According to Olga Kefalogianni, 2024 should be “another record year.”
Source: BFM TV
