ATHENS:
Greece on Tuesday began charging a tax on island cruise ships, the latest European effort to tackle soaring visitor numbers to the continent’s most popular destinations.
Cruise ships docking at the popular islands of Santorini and Mykonos will pay 20 euros ($23.62) per passenger.
“In accordance with the law, the tax will be applied in Santorini, Mykonos and other islands in lesser measures,” a finance ministry spokesman told AFP.
Cruise ships to smaller islands will pay a tax of five euros per passenger, according to the new regulations.
Greece hopes to bring in up to 50 million euros a year with the tax, which will apply during the high tourism season, from June 1 to September 30.
Greece adopted the legislation last year in an effort to curb soaring tourist numbers to often-overcrowded destinations, the latest country in Europe to take such measures.
Italian authorities in Venice, one of the world’s top tourist destinations, last year introduced payments for day visitors, who must pay an access fee of five euros ($5.90) on certain days.
In Spain, the government has cracked down on illegal short-term tourist rentals, with sites like Airbnb and Booking.com ordered to take down thousands of ads amid local alarm about increasingly scarce and unaffordable housing. The hugely popular island of Ibiza in June began limiting the number of incoming tourist cars and caravans because of the increasing numbers of visitors.
Locals in Barcelona and elsewhere in Spain, the world’s second most-visited country, have held protests against over-tourism.
Greece plans to use the money raised to upgrade over-strained infrastructure on the islands, including their ports, which are often too small to receive multiple cruise ships at once.
Tourism, and the cruise industry in particular, is booming in Greece.
