Let’s add it up: As Crystal Symphony with 600 aboard sailed into Mykonos harbor, she’s joined by Odyssey of the Seas carrying about 4,100 and Celestyal Journey, with another 1,260. Several tourist ferries are also unloading throngs eager to squeeze shoulder-to-shoulder along the narrow laneways of white-stucco Mykonos Town.
The result was gridlock and this was not even a particularly busy day for the popular Greek island– whose entire population is only 10,000. Later this week, four ships–including three carrying nearly 4,000 guests each–are due to anchor at the island on the same morning.
It’s turned this once-quaint fishing village into an over-crowded theme park of shops selling cheap souvenirs and restaurants serving outrageously overpriced souvlaki and burgers. Mykonos recorded 749 cruise ship visits last year, an increase of more than 23 per cent from 2022.
And the overtourism has reached even worse extremes on nearby Santorini, which can see as many as seven big ships bobbing off the island’s coast in a single day. It can require more than two hours of waiting in the scorching sun to finally get a seat on the cable car to the picturesque clifftop village of Oia, the island’s prime attraction. Once there, the throngs are shoulder to shoulder along narrow lanes and traffic backs up whenever anyone tries to take a selfie.
It’s like this every day in the summer. At least 800 ships called on Santorini last year carrying a total of 1.3-million people, a 17 per cent increase over 2022, according to the Hellenic Ports Association. The daily wave of tourists overwhelms Oia’s official population of 1,080 and even outnumbers Santorini’s population of 15,000.
As momentum builds around the globe to restrict cruise traffic in popular destinations, Greece appears to finally be ready to at least rsise caution flags.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the government may restrict the number of berths or create a bidding process for ships to call at Greece’s most popular islands in 2025, Bloomberg reported in early June.
It’s a tough call because tourism makes up about a quarter of Greece’s economic activity. Nearly 33-million people visited Greece in 2023, a nearly 25 per cent from 2022.
Santorini is a priority for tourism limits, Mitsotakis told Bloomberg. “There are people spending a lot of money (to vacation in luxury villas and hotels) on Santorini, and they don’t want the island to be swamped, Plus, the island can’t afford it, even in terms of security.”
While Santorini is the most sensitive; Mykonos is not far behind on the priorities, Mitsotakis said.
Cruise industry group CLIA introduced a five-year action plan for Greece in 2023 that included extending the cruise season and developing a berth allocation system and destination management plans.
CLIA said it supports developing a berth management system in Mykonos to better distribute cruise ship arrivals, but it didn’t comment specifically on Mitsotakis’ plan to restrict the number of cruise calls or create a bidding process for ships.
Greek-based Celstyal Cruises is supporting greater co-ordination of cruise visits in Greece.
“Last year Celestyal made representations to the Greek government, alongside cruise industry colleagues and CLIA for sustainable local growth. We are delighted that the points we made at the Posidonia Sea Tourism Forum have been heard by the authorities, so that measures already in place in Santorini will be upheld and may now be extended to Mykonos,” the company told The Cruisington Times.
“As a local cruise line that operates smaller ships, we have a particular interest in responsible tourism for our homeland and the enjoyment of our guests. Increasing measures such as enhanced berth request systems and scheduled visit times to popular landmarks, such as The Acropolis, will ensure tourists can enjoy marquee destinations responsibly, with fewer crowds and fewer pressures on the local communities.
We must all bring responsible economic benefits to each of the regions we visit. The Greek authorities’ stance is to be applauded and we are ready to support their efforts.”
Of course, Greece isn’t alone in wanting to restrict cruise traffic. Other cities in Europe including Amsterdam, Barcelona and Venice are restricting or setting entry fees to deter cruise visits. And in the U.S, Juneau, Bar Harbor and Key West are at least trying to lasso the cruise herds–with limited success so far.
As cruising gains in popularity, the pressure is mounting and less-visited destinations are suddenly seeing surges in cruise visits as well. It’s an ongoing conundrum. Stay tuned.
Story by Wallace Immen, Executive Editor, The Cruisington Times
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