GREECE has announced plans to crack down on visitors flocking to its sandy beaches in a bid to tackle overtourism. Authorities are set to impose a €20 tourist tax on cruise ship passengers visiting the islands of Santorini and Mykonos during the peak summer season. The government also plans to regulate the number of cruise ships that arrive on its islands, while new rules to protect the environment and tackle water shortages are also being plotted.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said: "Cruise shipping has burdened Santorini and Mykonos and this is why we are proceeding with interventions. " Greece does not have a structural overtourism problem. Some of its destinations have a significant issue during certain weeks or months of the year, which we need to deal with.
" Part of the revenues from the cruise shipping tax will be returned to local communities to be invested in infrastructure, Mitsotakis said. more anti-tourists campaigns Greece relies heavily on tourism, the main driver of the country's economy which is still recovering from a decade-long crisis that wiped out a fourth of its output. Last year, a record 32.
7million people visited Greece breaking previous records. However, some of its most popular destinations, including Santorini, risk being ruined by mass tourism. Some 800 cruise ships brought 1.
3 million passengers to the island in 2023, severely impacting the few thousand local residents. Most read in Travel Greek authorities also plan to suspend all constru.