Greece becomes latest country to announce measures to tackle overtourism

A cruise ship in Santorini, Greece (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Another European country has announced measures to tackle overtourism.

Greece has said it plans to impose a 20-euro levy on cruise ship visitors to the islands of Santorini and Mykonos during the peak summer season, in a bid to avert overtourism, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Sunday.

Greece relies heavily on tourism, the main driver of the country’s economy which is still recovering from a decade-long crisis that wiped out a fourth of its output.

But some of its most popular destinations, including Santorini, an idyllic island of quaint villages and pristine beaches with 20,000 permanent residents, risk being ruined by mass tourism.

Speaking at a press conference a day after outlining his main economic policies for 2025, Mitsotakis clarified that excessive tourism was only a problem in a few destinations.

“Greece does not have a structural overtourism problem... Some of its destinations have a significant issue during certain weeks or months of the year, which we need to deal with,” he said.

“Cruise shipping has burdened Santorini and Mykonos and this is why we are proceeding with interventions,” he added, announcing the levy.

Aerial view of the popular Ornos beach on the island of Mykonos, Cyclades, Greece (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Greek tourism revenues stood at about 20 billion euros in 2023 on the back of nearly 31 million tourist arrivals.

In Santorini, protesters have called for curbs on tourism, as in other popular holiday destinations in Europe, including Venice and Barcelona.

Part of the revenues from the cruise shipping tax will be returned to local communities to be invested in infrastructure, Mitsotakis said.

The government also plans to regulate the number of cruise ships that arrive simultaneously at certain destinations, while rules to protect the environment and tackle water shortages must also be imposed on islands, he said.

Greece also wants to increase a tax on short-term rentals and ban new licenses for such rentals in central Athens to increase the housing stock for permanent residents, Mitsotakis said on Saturday.

Atop the Acropolis ancient hill, tourists visit the Parthenon temple, background, in Athens (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

The government will detail some of the measures on Monday.

Meanwhile, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis promised on Saturday to increase pensions, cut taxes and social security contributions, and increase the minimum wage in 2025, as thousands rallied to protest a high cost of living.

In his annual economic policy speech at the Thessaloniki trade fair in northern Greece, he said Greece will create more jobs, increase pensions by up to 2.5% in 2025 and will raise the monthly minimum wage from 830 euros ($920) to 950 euros gradually by 2027. He added that social security contributions would be cut by 1 point.

Greece is still recovering from a debt crisis that wiped out nearly a fourth of its economic output in 2009-2018, due to austerity measures that included repeated wage and pension cuts.

But over recent years it has been achieving strong economic growth, which is seen at 2.5% this year.