Brits warned 'stay away' from Greece as locals plead for 'new rules'

Residents in Athens are calling for 'new rules' amid an influx of tourism they say is engulfing the Greek capital and pushing locals out. 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. Athens alone welcomed more than seven million tourists in 2023, and experts predict that it will jump by 20 percent this year.

While this surge boosts the Greek economy, it has also sparked a major housing crisis in the capital city and puts strain on local resources, the Express reports. READ MORE: Inside Coronation Street's rocking summer party - with a star performance Shutters over shop fronts in Athens have recently been covered with graffiti that says: "No more tourism." Katerina Kikilia, Professor of Tourism Management at the University of West Attica, told Euronews: "We need rules.

Athenians face daily social and environmental impacts. The housing crisis is huge." A view of Athens (Image: (Image: Getty)) Many families and students have been forced out of their hometowns as real estate companies turn their homes into co-working spaces and Airbnbs for tourists.

Short-term holiday rentals have surged by an eye-watering 500 percent in less than a decade. Kikilia mentions Koukaki, a southeast neighbourhood of Athens, that was "once a beautiful neighbourhood" but has become a "hub for short-term rentals, no families and no schoolchil.