The government seeks to increase revenue from cruise tourism, in order to use it for basic island infrastructure, especially in popular destinations such as Santorini and Mykonos.
“The goal is not arrivals but revenues. We would like more tourists who spend more money,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said during the Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF).
Referring to the issue of cruises, he announced the imposition of a 20-euro fee per passenger on overcrowded islands, such as Santorini and Mykonos, while he indicated that there would also be significant intervention in terms of the number of ships arriving at a destination at the same time.
“Santorini and Mykonos are rather burdened by cruises. That is why we are proceeding with interventions, such as the cruise fee. It will be 20 euros for the difficult months, the high season. A part of this money will be returned to the local communities for important infrastructure projects,” the Prime Minister emphasized, while underlining that it is important to respect the rules of sustainability in what is built from now on.
According to information of “Naftemporiki”, any interventions on the subject of the cruise will be announced in the next few days, while there will be a joint ministerial decision of the Ministries of Shipping, Tourism and Environment that will define in detail the increase and distribution of fees per cruise passenger, which for popular destinations will be 20 euros, while for the rest it will be around 5 euros.
However, the Cruise Line International Association (CLIA) has already informed the Greek government to improve cruise tourism practices and develop sustainable strategies, including a commitment to maintain the daily limit of 8,000 passengers for the island of Santorini.
CLIA representative in Greece, Maria Deligianni, has noted that the berth management system that governs this daily maximum should also take into account the carrying capacity of the cable car, in order to contribute to the better organization and diffusion of passenger flows during the day and to avoid delays.
Priority
Likewise, the creation of a berth allocation system, which is a priority for ports with high traffic, should be supported.
The mayor of Santorini, Nikolaos Zorzos, speaking recently to “Naftemporiki” argued that the island is currently in need of renewal of its infrastructure, considering that if there is an increase in a special fee, it should be taken by the local government that will absorb it immediately. He also mentioned that the municipality already has specific studies for port infrastructure.
It is pointed out that cruise passengers are only a part of the tourism sector in Greece, representing about 21% of the total tourism sector in 2023.
Also, 57% of the annual cruise traffic (in number of passengers) is concentrated in Piraeus, Santorini and Mykonos.
