Greece plans to impose a special 20-euro tax on cruise ship visitors to the popular islands of Santorini and Mykonos during the peak summer season, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said, in a bid to curb the arrival of too many tourists.
Greece relies heavily on tourism, a key driver of the country’s economy as it recovers from a 10-year crisis that wiped out a quarter of its GDP.
But some of the most popular destinations, including Santorini, have been hit hard by an over-influx of tourists.
At a news conference on Sunday, a day after setting out his main economic policies for 2025, Mitsotakis said over-tourism was a problem only in a few destinations.
“Greece does not have a structural problem with over-tourism,” he added. “Some of its destinations have a big problem during certain weeks or months of the year, which we need to address.”
“Cruises have put a heavy burden on Santorini and Mykonos, which is why we are moving forward with our interventions,” he added, announcing the tax.
The tourist island of Santorini with its volcanic caldera is a favorite stop for cruises, with its blue church domes and world-famous sunsets.
Last year, about 800 cruise ships brought 1.3 million passengers to the island, which has a population of just 15,500, according to the Greek Ports Association.
Last year, a record 32.7 million people visited Greece. Of those, about 3.4 million, or one in 10 tourists, went to Santorini.
Greece expects to achieve a record number of 40 million tourists this year.
In an interview with AFP earlier this summer, Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni said quotas were needed, with local officials already setting a total limit of 8,000 cruise ship passengers per day from next year to Santorini.
“It is impossible for five cruise ships to arrive at an island like Santorini at the same time,” the minister said.
In 2023, 13% of Greece’s GDP came from tourism, with revenues from the sector amounting to about 20 billion euros.
