Greek tourism is clearly facing the possibility of a major blow this year, due to the ongoing seismic activity between Santorini and Amorgos.
Hotel bookings in Santorini have already frozen, while Amorgos and other Cycladic islands are reporting smaller losses in bookings, with the hotel industry entering this year’s tourist season amid worries about the evolution of the natural phenomenon.
Given that Santorini alone contributes, according to official statistics, 2.5% of the country’s GDP, when in total the direct contribution of Greek tourism stands at 28.5 billion euros, corresponding to 13% of GDP (with 2023 data from INSETE), and Mykonos even larger, it is easy to understand the “tsunami” that the recorded decrease in reservations in Santorini but also more broadly in all the Cyclades, at least in the islands closest to the earthquake epicenters, can bring to the entire national economy.
Santorini
The president of the Santorini Hoteliers Association, Antonis Pagonis, told “N” that there is currently a freeze in reservations of around 15% for tour operators and over 50% for individual visitors and tourists who book holidays via the internet. It is worth noting in this regard that a very large part of tourists from Asia, the USA and Australia travel individually and/or via the internet, which reasonably raises strong concerns about this year’s tourist traffic.
According to Pagonis, there are not many cancellations from those who had already booked their summer vacations, because there is the possibility of canceling them without clauses 20 days before their arrival and in essence they are keeping a wait-and-see stance, while also, especially with regard to the USA, visitors to Santorini usually also visit Athens and Mykonos, so the potential loss will reasonably affect the other two areas as well.
However, Santorini is already estimated to be hit hard by the exclusion from cruise ship itineraries, which have begun and will intensify in the coming months, while cancellations of reservations in short-term rentals (Airbnb) also exceed 50%.
