The News from Greece
What's been happening this week
There were several positive news stories from Greece this week, so here’s a round-up of what’s been going on.
Athens Airport Beats Records… Again
The rise in Greece tourism numbers seems to never end. Athens Airport reported that from January to August it had received over 21 million passengers, an increase of 13.9% on the same period last year. Of course not everyone who passes through the airport is a tourist, but it is a sign that visitors are continuing to visit Greece in ever-increasing numbers.
Cruise Visitors Restricted
We’ve mentioned before about the problems created by the huge numbers of visitors from cruise ships in popular spots like Mykonos and Santorini. Well, last Sunday the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced measures to tackle the problems.
One new rule will be a levy placed on each cruise passenger, the amount of which will vary with the season and the destination. Some of the money raised will be invested in projects in the destinations, which will hopefully help the local infrastructure to cope with the sudden arrival of hundreds of people at the same time.
A second new law will restrict the number of cruise ships that can dock at the same time. The numbers will be capped at a level that the different destinations can support at any one time. These are small steps but will hopefully keep a cap on the problems created by over-tourism.
Golden Visa Programme
We’ve written before about the fact that foreign citizens buying property in certain areas of Greece will automatically receive a residential visa for five years. The scheme to encourage people to move to Greece has now been extended, so that anyone investing at least €250,000 in a Greek start-up will also automatically receive what they call a Golden Visa, giving residency rights. So if you’re thinking of settling in Greece and have €250,000 to spare, now’s your chance.
Navagio Beach Plans
Navagio Beach on Zakynthos has always been a popular spot, with people wanting to see the shipwreck buried in the sand that makes the beach so unusual. But safety has become a concern and the beach has had to be closed off. The numbers of people wanting to take photographs from the cliffs above meant that the cliffs had become unstable and were a danger to people both on the cliffs and on the sand.
This week the Greek government approved a budget of €500,000 to pay for both safety improvements and to improve the ‘visitor experience’.
And that’s it for this week. It seems that the more we want to visit Greece, the more Greece does to ensure we have a good time.
Mike & Donna
Interesting news tidbits from Greece. I like how the Greek government is trying to control cruise ship visitors. I've seen it deteriorate experiences of people visiting an area by their own transport & paying for a stay, because the places to see & places to have a meal are overwhelmed by ship visitors.
Pleased to see the news about the cruise ship levy.
And l say this as one who once wrote a cruising guide (without ever going on a cruise ship). To the Baltic, which came as a follow up to the Finland guides, which I got on your recommendation.