Two Greek islands introducing strict new entry rules for 'all' UK tourists

Overwhelmed Greece is trying to make tourism more expensive. European Union holiday destination and hotspot Greece plans to impose a levy of 20 euros on cruise ship visitors to the islands of Santorini and Mykonos during the peak summer season.

During a press conference Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said: “Greece does not have a structural overtourism problem but some of its destinations have a significant issue during certain weeks or months of the year, which we need to deal with.

“Cruise shipping has burdened Santorini and Mykonos, and this is why we are proceeding with interventions,” he added. A select amount of the passenger tax will help fund infrastructure improvements on the islands. The tax would be 20 euros ($22) for visitors cruising to Santorini or Mykonos.

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From January to June, more than 11 million travelers visited Greece, in the European Union holiday hotspot, bringing in about $7 million in travel receipts, according to the Bank of Greece. The prime minister stressed the importance of observing “sustainability rules in everything that is built from now on” and the need “to put the brakes on islands where we believe that the situation has reached a point where the infrastructure limits are actually being tested”.

Santorini officials suggested a daily limit of 8,000 cruise passengers per day starting next year. Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni said: “It’s impossible for an island such as Santorini to have five cruise ships arriving at the same time.”

At the same time, Mitsotakis said it was “dangerous to present Greece as a country that is hostile to tourism”. Mr Mitsotakis clarified that excessive tourism was only a problem in a few destinations.

“Greece does not have a structural over-tourism problem ... Some of its destinations have a significant issue during certain weeks or months of the year, which we need to deal with,” he said during a press conference after outlining his main economic policies for 2025." he said.

“Cruise shipping has burdened Santorini and Mykonos and this is why we are proceeding with interventions,” he added. Greek tourism revenues stood at about 20 billion euros in 2023 on the back of nearly 31 million tourist arrivals.