Measures to tackle impact of cruises

Seeking to relieve popular island destinations such as Santorini, and possibly Mykonos, of the effects of overtourism, the government is planning new legislation that will increase the disembarkation fee for cruise ship passengers. According to a government official, the disembarkation fee cannot “cannot be lower than 10 euros for Santorini.”

The move comes as the government is prioritizing a series of interventions, specifically for Santorini, which is feeling the burden of a rapid increase in visitors in recent years.

The relevant proposals were laid out in a meeting a few days ago with the participation of the ministers of tourism, Olga Kefalogianni, shipping, Christos Stylianides, state, Akis Skertzos and the CEO of the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund, Dimitris Politis.

Views differ within the government, with some officials even contending that a total ban on cruises around the Greek islands needs to be taken into consideration.

Of course, the economic staff strongly opposes this idea, believing that Greece cannot afford to lose revenue from cruises. There are also more moderate voices which argue that Greece cannot ignore cruising, which is an important aspect of the tourism product as a whole. Others insist that in certain destinations – with Santorini a prime example – cruising may have caused problems that need to be addressed, but there are other destinations that benefit from this tourist product.

The construction of a new port on Santorini at Monolithos is expected to provide relief, but in the long term. In the transitional period, the increase in the disembarkation price will be the primary intervention, while a new study is expected to be requested on the daily number of visitors the island can handle. At the moment, the 8,000 passengers per day limit for the island does not reflect the realities on the ground. This is because, as explained by a government source, this number does not include the daily ferries, which also transport tourists to the island, so the number of daily visitors is skyrocketing.

Funds have already been secured for a master plan – an X-ray of the Aegean – that will give a full assessment of the available options, the boundaries that must be established, and the rules that will make the islands’ tourist development more operational. At the same time, projects for the optimization of ports and the use of digital fleet management tools are also being considered.

Finally, the idea of delegating responsibility for cruise ships to a specialized organization appears to be gaining momentum.