The world-famous Greek island of Santorini, long admired by visitors for its scenic sunsets and vulcanic landscapes, made international headlines for the wrong reasons this summer, as outlets shared photos of its narrow streets overcrowded with masses of tourists.
An increasing number of cruise ships has been docking at Santorini in recent years, contributing to the island’s chronic problem of overtourism.
A social media post written by a councillor in July, urging residents to stay indoors in order to facilitate a crowd of 17,000 cruise ship passengers expected on the island that day, went viral before it was eventually taken down—but only after it had already infuriated locals and triggered the Santorini overtourism debate even beyond national borders.
Following the outrage and negative publicity, rushed government statements spoke of—yet unvoted—bold plans for national measures to help intercept the galloping consequences of overtourism across Greece. Nonetheless, the municipality of Santorini was already taking decisive action to limit the congestion phenomena on its own tiny land.
In an interview with Greek Reporter, Santorini Mayor Nikos Zorzos was adamant that the reported tourist flow saturation—as he prefers to refer to overtourism—can be successfully dealt with by the municipality, thanks to the remobilization of a pre-existing innovative digital berth allocation system and other peripheral strategies.
Nonetheless, the three-time elected mayor would be open to the potential implementation of a special tourist access fee like the one imposed in Venice in recent months.
Visitor flows management is essential so that both permanent residents and tourists are at ease and able to enjoy their time on the island, Zorzos explains, and stresses that the real threat to Santorini’s tourism sustainability is the unregulated overbuilding that all Greek governments have so far failed to address.
Digital berth allocation system to tackle Santorini overcrowding
According to a study conducted by the University of the Aegean in 2018, headed by Professor Lekkakou, the island of Santorini can sustain a tourist flow of 8,000 visitors per day, spread over different timeslots, during peak season.
The study was utilized by the municipality to design and launch an innovative digital berth allocation system in 2018 during Zorzos’ previous term as mayor which spread cruise ship arrivals appropriately to avoid congestion.
This was the first time that similar technology was put to use in the whole of Greece. However, its use was halted by the next mayor who succeeded him in 2019, Zorzos says, and now it is being rebooted to help control the ever-increasing tourist flows arriving on Santorini. His current administration declares to be committed to tackle—on a local level—the issues linked with increased tourist flows in the summer.
“The Santorini digital berth allocation system takes qualitative criteria into consideration for granting berth and debarkation permissions—such as the size of the ship and whether it operates as a green ship or not. Also, the length of the stay is examined; we prioritize any [ships] that wish to stay longer hours on the island, as this means that their passengers won’t be rushing from one spot to the other,” the mayor describes.
“This summer, we had 63 scheduled difficult days for arrivals, on which days we were expecting huge numbers of visitors beyond the island’s capacity. However, upon continuous communication with the respective cruise ship companies, we managed to drop that number of days to half,” he comments.
“Those 8,000 visitor arrivals per day suggested by the University of the Aegean study are totally sustainable if we allow the designated time between cruise ship berths, thus preventing congestion at all spots on the island,” Zorzos believes.
Venice model for tourist access fee could be imposed on Santorini
Government officials last week proposed catapulting the existing debarkation fee on popular Greek cruise stops from 35 euro cents to over ten euros per passenger as a solution to tackle overtourism.
Santorini Mayor Nikos Zorzos would support the measure but only if the extra funds were to be allocated to the local administration.
In his opinion, Greek municipal authorities should have the liberty to establish local comprehensive tourist access fees like Venice did in Italy, applicable not only to cruise ship passengers but to any non-resident who wishes to enter a destination’s tourist hotspots.
Although at the moment there is no institutional provision in Greece for the establishment of such fee, he would support the measure if it were to be legislated.
“I would welcome a tourist access fee with joy,” he states.
Most importantly, however, Zorzos urges the Greek state to regulate another issue which he considers to be the true thorn in tourism sustainability on the island. That is overbuilding.
Since his first term as mayor, in 2012, Zorzos has pleaded with every Greek government to put an end to what he calls “irrational tourist development,” which “consumes the place and reduces its advantage as a destination.”
The island of 76 sq. km. can only sustain a certain number of building infrastructure, he insists.
In view of the new urban development plan that is currently in the works by the state, the mayor asks that no more buildings be approved outside the city plan and that “not one extra bed” is added to the island’s capacity—either in strategic investments or in short-term rentals.
“When the needs keep increasing, new consecutive problems will build up which we won’t be able to resolve; [this would be] the increasing need for water and electricity, for instance, which we have worked hard to get to their present level, and we keep working on,” Zorzos contemplates.
Santorini initiatives for efficient tourist flow management
For the time being, Santorini residents have not expressed any resentment against tourists as so happened recently in other top European destinations suffering from overtourism.
The mayor notes that any complaints raised by the Santorineans concern urban type problems stemming from inefficient management of tourist flows, such as traffic congestion and lack of parking space. Hence, the municipality is also working to address those issues, as the digital berth allocation system is not a panacea against every aspect of overtourism.
“We have already commissioned studies for small bypass roads that will not harm the landscape any further but will facilitate the decongestion of areas. We are also planning the creation of new parking spaces in order to alleviate the problem that exists today,” the mayor reveals.
In addition, the municipality is also working towards the extension of the tourist season through enhancing and differentiating the island’s offering, with a focus on culture and environment. The construction of a new theater and improvement of the ancient one are in the works, besides the creation of a cultural route on the island and the launch of new museums.
During Zorzos’ first term, in 2012, Santorini had highlighted its gastronomic tradition and achieved a deal for more flights during the winter months, while 150 tourist accommodation establishments remained open off peak.
“There are tried and tested solutions for extending the tourist season. Our past initiatives had managed to reduce the pressure of the summer months; show tourists unseen aspects of Santorini; and prove that this is an island worth visiting beyond the summer months,” he points out.
Bringing back such strategies requires lengthy preparations, and the collaboration of the entire community, including its productive industry.
“It is our duty to protect this land from getting its identity altered, and any measures need to be in the direction of ensuring that Santorini will continue to be a great Greek destination,” the mayor concludes.
