Downward angle icon Downward angle icon. In recent years, cruise ships have been calling at the popular Greek islands of Mykonos and Santorini, disappointing some tourists. Soeren Stache/picture alliance via Getty Images The Greek prime minister is reportedly aiming to limit cruise ship calls at Mykonos and Santorini. The islands have been inundated with cruise ship passengers for the past few years, and the wealthy tourists staying on the islands are not happy about it.
Tourists heading to luxury hotels in Mykonos and Santorini, rejoice!
Greece’s prime minister is reportedly moving to limit the number of unattractive cruise ships that are blocking ports on the country’s most popular islands, ruining sunset views and congesting picturesque narrow streets.
“There are people who spend a lot of money to come to Santorini, but they don’t want the island to be overcrowded,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told Bloomberg.
The European country has seen an influx of tourists since the pandemic began: Around 36 million people visited Greece last year, up 20.8% from 2022, according to data from the Bank of Greece.
According to the Bank of Greece, macroeconomic factors as well as increased demand are pushing up the cost of traveling to the country, with average accommodation costs in 2023 expected to be 8.6% higher than in 2022.
Some people looking to experience the islands without the high cost are turning to cruises, which have seen a disproportionate increase in cruise passenger numbers, up 61.1 percent from last year, according to a report from the Bank of Greece. The Greek Tourism Federation reported that the two most popular islands, Mykonos and Santorini, have seen a 74 percent and 57 percent increase in cruise arrivals, respectively.
This has caused headaches for locals, as well as those who pay big bucks to stay on the islands, which have become pricey destinations for the wealthy who want to visit luxury hotels and shop in designer stores: Mykonos has a Soho House (which can cost more than $1,000 a night in peak season) and several Louis Vuitton boutiques, plus pop-up stores; Santorini has Nobu.
But the influx of cruise ship passengers disembarking on the islands has made their iconic white streets nearly impassable, with huge passenger-carrying boats marring the famous views.
Tourists and locals took to social media to complain last summer.
“Yet another inconsiderate cruise ship blocking out the sunset,” said one X user from Mykonos.
“Even in the middle of the day, with the sun blazing down, the streets are packed with people,” Georgios Hatzimanolis, who often photographs ships coming in and out of Mykonos’ port in the summer, wrote last year. “I’m not sure if this is enjoyable for the sailors and other tourists, and it’s certainly not sustainable.”
“Santorini is much dirtier, more crowded and ugly developed than it was when I visited twice 10 years ago,” one Reddit user said of Santorini. “It was great in 2012. The local government has allowed tourists to ruin the island.”
“In Santorini, tourists themselves are dissatisfied with the high numbers of tourists,” the Greek ombudsman said in a report published on Thursday.
Reducing the number of vessels allowed would be a welcome change for people who want to enjoy an overpriced lemonade without having their meal ruined by hordes of (presumably less affluent) tourists.
One type of vessel that’s still welcome? Yachts. Tourists don’t seem to have any problem with them. In fact, Jeff Bezos’ superyacht, Koru, is already on its way to Greece for a summer getaway.
