Cruise passengers to pay up to €20 to visit Mykonos or Santorini
Passengers of cruises calling at Mykonos and Santorini will as of next year face an increased levy that will amount to 20 euros per person in the summer, while other islands will have a significantly lower charge, and off-season levies will be considerably smaller, the government announced on Monday.
Detailing the measures that Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis had referred to on September 7 at the Thessaloniki International Fair, Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni announced that the cruise fee will amount to €20 for those disembarking on Mykonos and Santorini and €5 for the rest of the ports from June 1 to September 30, 2025.
For April, May and October, the charge will drop to €12 for Santorini and Mykonos and to €4 for the other islands. For the period from November to March the charge will amount to €4 for Mykonos and Santorini and €1 for the other island destinations.
According to the calculations of the ministry, the total revenue is expected to reach €50 million. A third of the revenue will go to the municipalities, another third to the Shipping Ministry for the improvement of port infrastructures, and the rest to the Ministry of Tourism.
Regarding short-term rentals the government will be monitoring their standards: “The Ministry of Tourism is working on the operating framework for short-term rentals,” said Kefalogianni, pointing out that “operational and safety specifications will be established, as well as a control tool for compliance with this framework,” so that the activity in question develops for the benefit of the industry as a whole.
In addition, she referred to the increase in the climate crisis fee, pointing out that it is growing from €0.5 to €2 for the winter months and from €1.5 to €8 for the summer months.
Referring overall to the climate crisis reciprocity fee, she pointed out that it is expanding by one month, both for short-term rentals and for hotels and accommodation, and pointed out that part of the revenue from the fee will be entered into the ministry’s budget to cover prevention costs and restoration of natural disasters and infrastructure improvement costs of the tourism product.
The resilience fee increases for the months of April to October: By €0.5 in one- and two-star hotels and in rooms for rent, climbing to €2 per night; by €2 in three-star hotels and rises to €5; by €3 in four-star hotels to reach €10; and by €5 in five-star hotels and villas, rising to €15 per night.
Kefalogianni also noted that this year’s direct revenues from tourism are estimated to reach an unprecedented €22 billion.
