Greece simply introduced a brand new tax it is going to add for cruise ship passengers to go to Mykonos and Santorini, Greece.
The nation’s Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, introduced the brand new tax on Sunday.
In the course of the busy, peak summer time months, cruise ship passengers will likely be taxed a $22 (20 euro) levy.
Mitsotakis defined that the levy seeks to fight over-tourism on these well-liked islands, and just for the height season.
“Greece doesn’t have a structural over-tourism downside … A few of its locations have a big difficulty throughout sure weeks or months of the yr, which we have to take care of,” he defined.
“Cruise delivery has burdened Santorini and Mykonos and for this reason we’re continuing with interventions.”
In accordance with Mitsotakis, the cruise payment will likely be highest in Santorini and Mykonos, being raised each interval.
Moreover, the federal government will start to restrict the variety of cruise ships allowed to dock at these islands throughout peak season.
The brand new tax will likely be applied by the summer time of 2025.
Santorini and Mykonos host tens of millions of cruise ship passengers a yr
Santorini and Mykonos are the nation’s hottest vacationer islands, particularly for cruise ships.
The volcanic island of Santorini is dwelling to a few of the most stunning seashores on the earth, whereas Mykonos is well-known for its elegant structure and views.
Santorini noticed 800 cruise ships in 2023, with a mixed statistic of 1.3 million guests onboard.
It’s the preferred cruise vacation spot in Greece, and through the summer time months, hosts over 17,000 cruise ship guests arrive a day.
For the small island with a inhabitants of simply 15,500, that variety of vacationers threatens the native infrastructure.
Starting in 2025, Santorini can even cap the variety of cruise ship passengers allowed to go to at 8,000 per day.
Prime Minister Mitsotakis stated that a part of the income from the cruise ship levy will likely be returned to native communities to put money into and assist native infrastructure.
The Greek authorities is imposing rules to fight over-tourism
To control the arrival of cruise ships, the Greek authorities can even impose a digital berth allocation system at ports. The system will unfold out ship arrivals to forestall overcrowding from a number of vessels arriving concurrently.
The allocation will deal with well-liked locations at peak occasions, contemplating standards reminiscent of ship measurement, environmentally pleasant vessels, and the size of the keep on the island.
To stop cruisers from speeding between the port and excursions, ships staying longer will likely be prioritized within the system.
Mitsotakis additionally introduced that Greece should shield the setting and deal with water shortages on its well-liked vacationer islands.
New taxes and costs do not simply apply to cruisers on the ocean—Greece can be elevating the lodging tax.
In the course of the peak vacationer months between April and October, motels and short-term leases will see a rise in charges and limitations.
Greece’s economic system depends on tourism, with a income of about 20 billion euros in 2023 supported by 31 million vacationer arrivals that yr.
Regardless of the financial affect tourism has on the economic system, Greece has begun to comply with within the footsteps of different cruise ports evaluating the affect of cruise ships on their area.
Particularly as cruising good points recognition, and passenger numbers surpass these pre-pandemic, many well-liked vacationer spots are wanting on the results of overtourism.
Protests in Santorini, Venice, and Barcelona have made the information just lately, as locals name for limits on tourism.
Royal Caribbean responds to tourism issues
Michael Bayley, Royal Caribbean President and CEO, just lately responded to issues about overtourism from cruise ships.
Throughout a Q&A session onboard the Final World Cruise, he defined that cruise ships are sometimes the targets of anti-tourism campaigns due to misinformation.
“Typically, cruise ships have a goal primarily based upon little or no info or misinformation…I feel it is incumbent on us to enhance as an trade, and as an organization, our communication over the affect, each optimistic and unfavourable, on communities,” Bayley stated.
Whereas he acknowledged sure issues vacationer areas have, he sought to focus on a few of the underestimated advantages cruise ships convey to the tourism trade.
“There’s all the time two sides to a coin,” he argued. “And… there are some extremely optimistic attributes that come from our enterprise.”
Port charges and different further prices
Whereas a Royal Caribbean cruise fare typically consists of the fundamentals of eating, lodging, port stops, and actions, further prices may increase your closing invoice.
Port charges and different taxes, as an example, could be a stunning addition to the ultimate value of a cruise.
Royal Caribbean just lately selected so as to add charges and taxes to its cruise costs.
Cruisers cannot keep away from charges like this new Greece tax, as they’re imposed by the international locations and ports ships go to.
The cruise traces should merely cross these on to the passenger.