Greek Gov’t Mulls Cruise Ship Limit in Bid to Tackle Overtourism

The Greek government is examining measures including putting a cap on the number of cruise ships making port calls at popular islands in a bid to tackle overtourism.

The news was announced by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in an interview last week to Bloomberg.

Among others, the Greek PM said that relevant restrictions are being explored and once approved set to go into effect next year. The goal, he said, is to improve the standard of living and the quality of tourism services on some very popular islands such as Santorini and Mykonos, which are inundated by thousands of tourists each summer arriving on cruise ships.

Mitsotakis said immediate action was necessary, adding that both Mykonos and Santorini were “clearly suffering“.

Indicatively, in 2023, some 750 cruise ships stopped at Mykonos up by 23 percent over 2022 and 800 at Santorini, transporting approximately 1.3 million visitors to the island.

“Santorini is the most sensitive, Mykonos will be second,” the Greek PM said, adding that measures will include slashing the number of available berths or launching a bidding process for slots.

Among others, Mitsotakis said the influx of tourists was impacting island infrastructure, security, and local economies.

Last year, Amsterdam’s city council approved a proposal to shut down the city’s cruise ship terminal as part of efforts to address overtourism and environmental reasons. Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) said the reports were “inaccurate” and that the port has publicly stated that “cruise ships have not been banned from Amsterdam”.