Travelers queue as they wait to take a photo from among the verandas – Copyright AFP Pablo PORCIUNCULA
Yannick PASQUET
Among the most long-lasting pictures of Greece's summer season travel brand name is the world-famous sundown on Santorini Island, framed by sea-blue church domes on a rugged cliff high above a volcanic caldera.
This scene has actually motivated countless refrigerator magnets, posters, and keepsakes– and now the line to reach the seeing area in the clifftop town of Oia can take more than 20 minutes.
Santorini is a crucial stopover of the Greek cruise experience. With parts of the island nearing saturation, authorities are thinking about limitations.
Of the record 32.7 million individuals who went to Greece in 2015, around 3.4 million, or one in 10, went to the island of simply 15,500 locals.
“We require to set limitations if we do not wish to sink under overtourism,” Santorini mayor Nikos Zorzos informed AFP.
“There need to not be a single additional bed … whether in the big hotels or Airbnb leasings.”
As the sun set behind the horizon in Oia, thousands raised their phones to the sky to catch the minute, followed by spread applause.
For canny business owners, the Cycladic island's popular sundown can be a golden goose.
One business marketed more than 50 “flying gowns”, which have long streaming trains, for as much as 370 euros ($401), on posters around Oia for anybody who wants to “seem like a Greek goddess” or fix up selfies.
— ‘Respect Oia'–
Somewhere else in Oia's narrow streets, locals have actually put up indications advising visitors to appreciate their home.
“RESPECT … It's your vacation … however it's our home,” checked out a purple indication from the Save Oia group.
Formed by a volcanic eruption 3,600 years earlier, Santorini's landscape is “distinct”, the mayor stated, and “ought to not be damaged by brand-new facilities”.
Around a fifth of the island is presently inhabited by structures.
At the edge of the cliff, a myriad of pool and jacuzzis highlight Santorini is likewise a costly location.
In 2023, 800 cruise liner brought some 1.3 million guests, according to the Hellenic Ports Association.
Cruise liner “do a great deal of damage to the island”, stated Chantal Metakides, a Belgian citizen of Santorini for 26 years.
“When there are 8 or 9 ships draining smoke, you can see the layer of contamination in the caldera,” she stated.
— Cruise ship limitations–
In June, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis drifted the possibility of topping cruise liner arrivals to Greece's most popular islands.
“I believe we'll do it next year,” he informed Bloomberg, keeping in mind that Santorini and traveler magnet Mykonos “are plainly suffering”.
“There are individuals investing a great deal of cash to be on Santorini and they do not desire the island to be overloaded,” stated the pro-business conservative leader, who was re-elected to a 2nd four-year term in 2015.
In an AFP interview, Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni echoed this belief and stated: “We should set quotas since it's difficult for an island such as Santorini … to have 5 cruise liner getting to the exact same time.”
Regional authorities have actually set a limitation of 8,000 cruise boat guests daily from next year.
Not all regional operators concur.
Antonis Pagonis, head of Santorini's hoteliers association, thinks much better visitor circulation management belongs to the service.
“It is not possible to have (on) a Monday, for instance, 20 to 25,000 visitors from the cruise liner, and the next day no,” he stated.
Pagonis likewise argued that the majority of the blockage just impacts parts of the island like the capital, Fira.
In the south of the island, the volcanic sand beaches are less crowded, although it is high season in July.
— ‘I'm in Turkey'–
The modern-day tourist market has actually likewise altered visitor behaviour.
“I listened (to) individuals making a FaceTime call with the household, stating ‘I'm in Turkey',” smiled tour guide Kostas Sakavaras.
“They believe that the church over there is a mosque since the other day they remained in Turkey.”
The veteran guide stated the typical traveler pertaining to the island has actually altered.
“Instagram has actually specified the method individuals pick the locations to go to,” he stated, discussing everyone desires the ideal Instagram picture to validate their expectations.
