But Covid changed everything. We remember that famous European map with its color codes that gave information on the circulation of viruses. On the islands, no matter the country, traffic was always less and tourists rushed to the Canaries, the Balearics and the Greek islands, especially since destinations like Morocco, Turkey or Egypt were closed for a long time.
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A boon for the Greek tourism sector, but it also has negative effects. We now learn that the country is considering limiting the number of tourists on certain islands from next summer. How? By first limiting cruise ship stopovers, as Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis explained.The approach would primarily concern Mykonos and Santorini. The latter is close to saturation with last year the docking of 800 ships (+17% in 2022) having generated 1.3 million visitors. Mykonos welcomed slightly fewer cruise ships last year (750 stopovers, +27% in 2022)“, indicates the specialist site PagTour.
On site, the situation is even tense, between the local population and the tourists.The reactions of the local populations are increasingly hostile. The giants of the seas are, it is true, pouring thousands of tourists into the narrow streets of villages transformed into shopping malls and subway corridors at peak times. Cruise companies are aware of the risk of saturation. Some have already taken initiatives, such as Princess Cruises, which has modified certain itineraries this year in order to avoid stops in Santorini.“, lit-on.
It also comes back that the economic benefits of these visits are limited, because the passengers of these boats stay only a few hours, for minimal expenses in local shops.
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