Cruise ship tourists face $36 tax to visit Santorini and Mykonos

Santorini Island. Photo / Getty

Greece plans to impose a levy of €20 ($36) on cruise ship passengers visiting the islands of Santorini and Mykonos during the peak summer season.

The tax has been introduced in a bid to avert over-tourism, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Sunday.

Greece relies heavily on tourism, the main driver of the country’s economy, which is still recovering from a decade-long crisis that wiped out a fourth of its output.

But some of its most popular destinations, including Santorini, an idyllic island of quaint villages and pristine beaches with 20,000 permanent residents, risk being ruined by mass tourism.

Mitsotakis clarified 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.

“Cruise shipping has burdened Santorini and Mykonos, and this is why we are proceeding with interventions,” he added, announcing the levy.

Mykonos' main town, Chora, is a mix of high-end boutiques and traditional Greek culture, with narrow, winding streets and picturesque squares. Photo / 123RF

Greek tourism revenues stood at about €20 billion ($35.95b) in 2023 on the back of nearly 31 million tourist arrivals.

In Santorini, protesters have called for curbs on tourism, as in other popular holiday destinations in Europe, including Venice and Barcelona.

Part of the revenues from the cruise shipping tax will be returned to local communities to be invested in infrastructure, Mitsotakis said.

The government also plans to regulate the number of cruise ships that arrive simultaneously at certain destinations, while rules to protect the environment and tackle water shortages must also be imposed on islands, he said.

Greece also wants to increase a tax on short-term rentals and ban new licences for such rentals in central Athens to increase the housing stock for permanent residents, Mitsotakis said on Saturday.