Greece is taking decisive steps to handle the overwhelming inflow of vacationers by introducing a €20 (roughly $22) charge for cruise ship passengers arriving in Santorini and Mykonos.
The announcement comes because the Greek authorities seeks to deal with the pressure on native infrastructure and environmental sources brought on by a surge in customer numbers.
Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis introduced the measure in response to considerations about overtourism and its impression on native communities and the surroundings. The charge, anticipated to be carried out by 2025, might be reinvested into the island communities to enhance infrastructure and sustainability efforts.
“We have now been very involved [about] the picture that exists on a few of our islands relating to cruising throughout sure months of the yr,” Mitsotakis stated throughout his State of the Financial system tackle in Thessaloniki on September 7, 2024.
“That’s the reason a cruise charge is imposed per passenger disembarking at a Greek port, excessive in Santorini and Mykonos, decrease in the remaining, with escalation per interval,” he stated.
Along with the brand new cruise charge, the federal government plans to restrict the variety of cruise ships allowed to dock at the preferred islands, significantly throughout peak seasons.
Santorini, for instance, will cap the variety of cruise passengers allowed to go to at 8,000 per day beginning in 2025.
Learn Additionally: Majorca Advances Plans to Additional Restrict Cruise Ship Entries
Different island locations like Rhodes, Corfu, and Crete’s port of Heraklion might be included within the charge construction and passengers visiting a number of ports can anticipate to pay a charge per name.
Moreover, a digital berth allocation system might be reintroduced to handle the arrival of cruise ships. The system will unfold out ship arrivals all through the day, avoiding overcrowding at common instances.
The allocation will think about standards similar to ship measurement, whether or not the ship operates as a “inexperienced” (environmentally pleasant) ship, and the size of keep on the island. Ships staying longer might be prioritized to stop passengers from dashing between vacationer spots.
Greece to Introduce New Cruise Tourism Laws
The islands of Santorini and Mykonos, specifically, have seen an amazing variety of vacationers arriving by cruise ship lately. In 2023, 800 ships introduced 1.3 million guests to Santorini alone.
Santorini stays the preferred cruise vacation spot in Greece, with upwards of 17,000 cruise ship guests arriving on the island of 15,500 residents in a single day throughout peak summer time months.
The cruise trade in Greece is anticipated to see a rise in arrivals by 20 % in 2024, bringing greater than 8 million passengers to the nation that rests on the Ionian, Mediterranean, and Aegean Seas.
Santorini Mayor Nikos Zorzos helps the efforts to cap cruise guests at 8,000 per day, though he acknowledges cruise ships have deliberate itineraries years prematurely and that the cap would require adjustments with cruise strains.
The mayor additionally prompt introducing a day-tripper charge just like one trialed in Venice earlier this yr.
The Venice Entry Payment, carried out from April 24 via July 14, 2024, charged day guests €5 to entry the island of fifty,000. The trial introduced town greater than €2.4 million in lower than 3 months, ensuing within the Italian metropolis’s proposal to double the charge in 2025.
As is the case in Venice, earnings from a day-tripper charge would straight profit native authorities.
Along with the brand new charge and cruise limitations, Greece is elevating the lodging tax throughout peak vacationer months, from April to October. Whereas particular particulars concerning the actual charge haven’t been disclosed but, it can apply to inns, rental lodging, and short-term leases.
The prime minister stated particulars concerning the upcoming charges and limitations might be revealed within the coming months.
