Santorini, one of the Cyclades islands in the Aegean Sea, welcomes around two million tourists every year, attracted by its turquoise waters, beautiful sunsets, white houses with blue-domed roofs and volcanic beaches.
Its huge and ever-increasing popularity, however, has been a source of concern for locals and officials alike, with a study by the EU’s TRAN Committee on overtourism released in late 2018 using the island as one of its case studies.
The overcrowding on the island, which the report noted is focused mostly during the warm season between May and October, has negative impacts on the Greek paradise, the environment and the community.
In the years following this report, Santorini has remained hugely popular, as demonstrated by pictures showing massive crowds gathered to watch the sunset or busy beaches.
Yet, local hoteliers reject the “overtourism” label, arguing the island is instead suffering from overcrowding only during “very limited” periods.
Antonis Pagonis, president of the Santorini Hoteliers Association, told Express.co.uk: “This overcrowding that occurs in specific places, specific and limited periods of time on our island, we believe is due to the lack of infrastructure, something that the competent services should see and improve immediately.
“We also believe that the use of the word ‘overtourism’ in our case is completely wrong and mainly misleading and dangerous, because it creates a false impression that Santorini is constantly overwhelmed everywhere by crowds, which is not the case and is completely false and wrong.”
Mr Pagonis said his association agrees with regulating the number of cruise ships reaching Santorini among other islands.
Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said he intends to implement a plan, likely next year, capping cruise liners and reducing the footfall of thousands of passengers on the islands – which he said were “clearly suffering”.
Speaking to Bloomberg, Mr Mitsotakis said: “Santorini is the most sensitive, Mykonos is the second.”
Santorini, which counts around 15,000 residents, welcomed some 800 cruise ships carrying 1.3 million passengers in 2023 alone.
Mr Pagonis commented when asked about the cruise cap: “Our Prime Minister said what we have been saying for years, that Santorini needs new and modern infrastructure as well as organisation from the local authorities and implementation of the berth allocation system to avoid the simultaneous arrival of large cruise ships with thousands of passengers on the same time.
“We, as hoteliers of a welcoming island, say yes to any form of tourist activity, but obviously with limits.”
The head of the local hoteliers association went on to claim that a lack of infrastructure and organisation leads to massive crowds disembarking on a single day, “and the next day no one!”
He added: “We therefore request the organization of the cruise slots and the minimum stay of the cruise ships for 10 hours, so that the visitors will have time to explore Santorini.”
