Greece announces new ‘entrance fee’ for one type of UK tourist

Athens: Greece has announced a new 20 euro fee for UK tourists who visit on cruises. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Sunday announced that a fee of 20 euros will be imposed on cruise passengers visiting the popular islands of Mykonos and Santorini.

Asked about overtourism at the Thessaloniki International Fair, Mitsotakis said Greece has a “a problem in certain destinations some weeks or some months of the year” in terms of tourism in the European Union holiday hotspot. “The cruise industry has put a strain on Santorini and Mykonos, so the fee will be 20 euros,” he added on Sunday.

Last year some 800 cruise ships brought some 1.3 million passengers to the island of just 15,500 residents, according to the Hellenic Ports Association. A record 32.7 million people visited Greece last year, and of those around 3.4 million, or one in 10, went to the island.

Mitsotakis said that the government would also be “bold” on intervening on the number of ships arriving at a specific destination at the same time. “It is important to observe sustainability rules in everything that is built from now on,” he said.

“To put the brakes on islands where we believe that the situation has reached a point where the infrastructure limits are actually being tested.” Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni said: “It’s impossible for an island such as Santorini… to have five cruise ships arriving at the same time.”

The prime minister also cautioned on Sunday that it was “dangerous to present Greece as a country that is hostile to tourism.” In 2023, 13 per cent of Greece’s GDP came from tourism and last year, the highest number ever visited the Mediterranean country despite deadly fires and a long heatwave.

Kefalogianni said that 2024 was set to be “another record year”.