Rich tourists rejoice! Greece is finally doing something about the cruise ship problem.
Soeren Stache/picture alliance via Getty Images
- Greece's prime minister reportedly aims to limit cruise ships at Mykonos and Santorini.
- The islands have become overrun by cruise passengers over the last few years.
- And the rich tourists staying on the island aren't happy about it.
Tourists headed to the expensive hotels of Mykonos and Santorini: rejoice!
Greece's prime minister is reportedly moving to limit the number of unattractive cruise ships clogging the harbors of the country's most popular islands — ruining views of sunsets and leading to overcrowding on the picturesque narrow streets.
"There are people spending a lot of money to be on Santorini and they don't want the island to be swamped," Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told Bloomberg.
Since the pandemic, the European nation has seen an influx of tourists. About 36 million people visited Greece last year, up 20.8% from 2022, according to data from the Bank of Greece.
The increased demand, in addition to macroeconomic factors, has made the country more expensive to visit, with the average overnight stay costing 8.6% more in 2023 than in 2022, also according to the Bank of Greece.
Some who want to experience the islands without the high costs have turned to cruises, whose passengers have grown disproportionately — a 61.1% increase, year over year — the Bank of Greece reported. On Mykonos and Santorini, two of the most popular islands, the number of passengers arriving by cruise increased by 74% and 57%, respectively, according to a report by the Greek Tourism Confederation.
That's led to headaches for the local population, as well as those paying a lot of money to stay on the islands, which have become expensive travel destinations for the well-heeled looking to visit luxury hotels and shop at designer stores. Mykonos has a Soho House (it costs over $1,000 per night in peak season) and several Louis Vuitton boutiques, plus a pop-up. Santorini has a Nobu.
But the influx of cruise passengers who descend on the islands has made their iconic white alleyways almost impossible to navigate, and the enormous vessels they arrive on have marred the famous views.
Last summer, visitors and locals took to social media to complain.
"Another inconsiderate cruise ship blocking the sunset," one X user in Mykonos said.
"Streets are full even in the middle of the day with sun beating down," Georgios Hatzimanolis, who often documents the ships going in and out of the port during his summers in Mykonos, wrote last year. "Not sure this is enjoyable for them or for the rest of visitors, certainly not sustainable."
"It was much dirtier, more crowded and overdeveloped in ugly ways than when I visited it twice ten years ago," a Reddit user said of Santorini. "Used to be stunning back in 2012. The local government has let tourism ruin the island.
"In Santorini, even tourists complain about the great number of tourists," Greece's ombudsman said in a report released on Thursday.
Reducing the number of ships allowed will be a welcome change for those who want to enjoy their expensive lemonade without a throng of (likely less rich) tourists ruining their meal.
The boats that will still be received with open arms? Yachts, which tourists seemingly have no problem with. In fact, Koru, the superyacht owned by Jeff Bezos, has already made its way to Greece for the summer.