Brits warned of new £8 'tourist tax' as Greek islands overrun by cruise ships
Cruise passengers will soon have to pay 10 euros each when arriving in Santorini, according to new plans tabled by local officials.
Cruise passengers will soon have to pay 10 euros each, the equivalent to £8, to step off the ship when visiting popular destinations in Greece.
The Greek government has announced plans to increase the 'disembarkation fee' charged to all cruise ship arrivals in holiday hotspots like Santorini.
Packed full of history, dotted with an endless supply of beautiful islands and its incredible weather it is no wonder that Greece is one of the most popular tourist destinations.
However, the beautiful country is struggling with the sheer number of visitors, and last month councillor Panos Kavalaris made an announcement on Facebook which stated that 17,000 visitors were expected to arrive by cruise ship in Santorini which would propose a “difficult day”.
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Authorities hope that raising the disembarkation fee will help to alleviate the impact cruise ships have on Greece's islands. Initially, the price hike will apply only to Santorini, with plans to extend it to Mykonos by the end of the year, reports Economou.
Deputy minister of maritime affairs and insular policy, Stefanos Gikas, recently told Skai TV: "We support both traditional tourism and cruise ship arrivals. We are looking to increase the disembarkation fee to 10 euros (around £8.50) per passenger at Santorini and other popular destinations."
Some 33 million people visited Greece in 2023, around five million more than in 2022, according to the Greek National Tourism Organisation (GNTO), which makes it the tenth most visited country in the world.
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Last year was also a landmark year for cruising in Greece, with seven million passengers visiting the country aboard 5,230 cruise ships, compared to 4.38 million passengers and 4,614 cruise ships in 2022.
In June 2024 the Greek ombudsman last month called for urgent reform warning that the country needs to manage tourism in a more sustainable way and it must not "exhaust its potential”.
Reacting to the statement, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Greece is considering imposing a cap on cruise ships in an attempt to mitigate the damage caused by crowds of tourists.
