At peak times parts of the island of Santorini are nearing saturation
At peak times parts of the island of Santorini are nearing saturation AFP

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.

The tourist island of Santorini with its volcanic caldera is a favourite stopover for cruises, with its sea-blue church domes and world-famous sunsets.

But at peak times parts of the island are nearing saturation, and officials have been considering various restrictions.

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.

"The cruise industry has put a strain on Santorini and Mykonos, so the fee will be 20 euros," he added.

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 told reporters.

"To put the brakes on islands where we believe that the situation has reached a point where the infrastructure limits are actually being tested."

In an AFP interview earlier this summer, Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni also said there was a need to set quotas, with local officials already setting an overall limit of 8,000 cruise passengers per day from next year for Santorini.

"It's impossible for an island such as Santorini... to have five cruise ships arriving at the same time," she said.

However, the prime minister also cautioned Sunday that it was "dangerous to present Greece as a country that is hostile to tourism."

In 2023, 13 percent of Greece's GDP came from tourism.

Greece and its crystal-clear waters are firmly back on the global travel map after a 10-year debt crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic.

Last year, the highest number ever visited the Mediterranean country despite deadly fires and a long heatwave.

Kefalogianni told AFP that 2024 was set to be "another record year".