Nikos Zorzos mayor of Santorini, one of Greece’s popular islands, is advocating for local tourist access fees similar to Venice’s model to regulate tourist flows, which he says will safeguard the island’s identity and ensuring sustainable tourism practices.
He plans for small bypass roads and additional parking spaces to alleviate congestion and address issues of overtourism due to a significant increase in tourist numbers, surpassing the daily population during peak seasons, with challenges such as overcrowding, traffic congestion, and inadequate parking spaces.
Recent social media conflict arose when a councillor urged residents to stay indoors to accommodate 17,000 cruise ship passengers, prompting government officials to propose raising the disembarkation fee for cruise passengers visiting the Greek port to over €10 to manage the influx.
Efforts to control tourist saturation include a University of the Aegean study establishing a sustainable daily visitor capacity of 8,000, with measures like a digital berth allocation system to evenly distribute cruise ship arrivals being considered to manage tourist flows effectively and promote off-peak travel to reduce summer pressure on the island.
