Greece announced it plans to impose a 20-euro tax 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.
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 ships “have burdened Santorini and Mykonos”
“Cruise shipping has burdened Santorini and Mykonos and this is why we are proceeding with interventions,” he added, announcing the levy.
Part of the revenues from the cruise shipping tax will be returned to local communities to be invested in infrastructure, Mitsotakis said.
New tax for Santorini, Mykonos to deal with overtourism
The world-famous Greek island of Santorini, long admired by visitors for its scenic sunsets and vulcanic landscapes, made international headlines for the wrong reasons this summer, as outlets shared photos of its narrow streets overcrowded with masses of tourists.
An increasing number of cruise ships has been docking at Santorini in recent years, contributing to the island’s chronic problem of overtourism.
A social media post written by a councilor in July, urging residents to stay indoors to facilitate a crowd of 17,000 cruise ship passengers expected on the island that day, went viral before it was eventually taken down—but only after it had already infuriated locals and triggered the Santorini overtourism debate even beyond national borders.
In an interview with Greek Reporter, Santorini Mayor Nikos Zorzos was adamant that the reported tourist flow saturation —as he prefers to refer to overtourism— can be successfully dealt with by the municipality, thanks to the remobilization of a pre-existing innovative digital berth allocation system and other peripheral strategies.
In addition, the three-time elected mayor would be open to the potential implementation of a special tourist access fee like the one imposed in Venice in recent months.
According to a study conducted by the University of the Aegean in 2018, headed by Professor Lekkakou, the island of Santorini can sustain a tourist flow of 8,000 visitors per day, spread over different timeslots, during peak season.
The study was utilized by the municipality to design and launch an innovative digital berth allocation system in 2018 during Zorzos’ previous term as mayor which spread cruise ship arrivals appropriately to avoid congestion.
Related: Santorini Mayor Sets Out Strategy to Tackle Overtourism