Greek Santorini's tourism boom sparks concerns over infrastructure

Growing concerns over overtourism in Santorini, the renowned Greek island famous for its breathtaking views and charming villages, have been highlighted.

With its stunning sunsets and breathtaking views, Santorini is often hailed not only as the most beautiful Greek island but also as "the most beautiful place in the world." Known for its romantic allure, photogenic villages, iconic whitewashed houses on cliffs, blue-domed churches, and charming narrow streets overlooking the Aegean's sapphire waters, Santorini is one of the most popular destinations globally. It is especially favored by Asian tourists for honeymoons, proposals, and weddings, making it a top spot for romance worldwide, Caliber.Az reports, citing foreign media.

However, this popularity comes at a cost. With beauty comes the inevitable influx of tourists, leading to crowded streets, congested attractions, pollution, high prices, noise, and environmental degradation.

Reuters reports, "Tourists, armed with selfie sticks and phones, pour into Santorini from all directions—from dinghies off massive cruise ships, buses zigzagging up steep hills, to donkeys navigating narrow cobblestone paths." Each summer day, crowds throng the island's famous white-washed buildings and blue-domed churches, queuing for hours to capture the perfect sunset selfie. Santorini, much like Barcelona, Venice, and other European hotspots, is a striking example of the challenges posed by mass tourism.

For its 25,000 residents, what was once an idyllic haven of serene villages and pristine beaches has been transformed by overtourism. The island's mayor, Nikos Zorzos, one of the first officials to publicly address the overtourism crisis, has warned that without immediate action, Santorini risks losing its essence.

"Tourism has overtaken Santorini's wine production as agricultural land prices soar while visitor numbers keep rising," writes Fortune. National Geographic adds, "Santorini is now an expensive, overdeveloped, and overcrowded destination, partly due to its status as a prime stop for cruise ships and a haven for Instagrammers." Mayor Zorzos has been advocating for a limit on tourism for years, proposing a cap of 8,000 cruise ship passengers per day to alleviate pressure on the island's outdated infrastructure and keep housing affordable for locals. Currently, the daily number of cruise ship passengers is more than double that, at 17,000.

"Santorini welcomed 11,000 cruise passengers in a single day on July 23, despite a 2018 study by the University of the Aegean suggesting that the island can only sustainably accommodate up to 8,000 tourists per day," writes Rebecca Ann Hughes in a Forbes article discussing the regulations proposed by the mayor. "It is in the best interest of our land to set a limit," he said, advocating for a halt to the rampant construction—a visible consequence of overtourism.

Santorini currently has around 80,000 hotel beds, more per square meter than most other tourist destinations in Greece. "We are a community of just 25,000 people, and we don't need more hotels or rental rooms," Zorzos told The Guardian. "If you destroy the landscape, especially one as unique as ours, you destroy the very reason people come here." According to the mayor, the building boom had already reached its "saturation point" even before the Covid pandemic. "Approximately one-fifth of the southern Aegean island has already been paved over," reports The Guardian. 

"Yet, to the dismay of environmentalists, authorities in Athens approved even more building permits between 2018 and 2022, allowing construction on an additional 449,579 square meters of land—about 2 per cent of Santorini's 76 square kilometers," The Guardian adds. Santorini, located about 297 miles south of Athens, is actually a cluster of islands: Thira, Thirassia, Aspronissi, Palea, and Nea Kameni, in the southernmost part of the Cyclades, according to Visit Greece, the government tourism website. With more than 3.4 million tourists expected to visit this year, the surge in Santorini's tourism reflects the overall growth of the tourism sector in Greece, which is a major income source for the country.

Tourism revenues have already increased by 16 per cent in the first five months of this year. Officials anticipate that 2024 will exceed last year's record of 33 million arrivals. By 2028, Greece, now ranked among the world's top 10 tourist destinations, aims to attract nearly 40 million visitors annually—5.5 million more than this year. Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni envisions Greece becoming a "global tourism power." 

The pro-business, center-right government of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has been criticized for its lenient stance on development. However, Mayor Zorzos's calls for regulation seem to be having some impact, as Mitsotakis has indicated the possibility of restricting cruise ship arrivals, acknowledging that Santorini and Mykonos are "clearly suffering."