Santorini: an island overrun by cruise ship tourists

Tourists on massive cruise ships disembark at Santorini's Old Harbor. There is something very dramatic about the contrast between the imposing cruise ships and the small harbor bay.

Although it's almost 6:00 p.m., the temperature is still over 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit). A little stand opposite the entrance to the Santorini cable car is selling water to tourists in need of refreshment.

The quickest way to Fira, the picturesque capital of the island, is to take the cable car. The only problem is that the cable car has just six carriages, each capable of carrying a maximum of six people.

The cable car also only departs once every 15-20 minutes. The tourists wait patiently for almost an hour in the scorching heat. The line is hundreds of meters long.

Mass tourism in the Mediterranean

Overtourism is a growing problem all over Europe's Mediterranean region.

A number of places are particularly affected, such as the Spanish island Mallorca, parts of Croatia's Adriatic coast and Kotor in Montenegro.

But of all the European holiday destinations, Greek islands, specifically Santorini, suffer most from mass tourism.

Santorini in the Cyclades is world famous for its white, blue-domed buildings and magnificent sunsets.

Day-trippers overwhelm Santorini

A return trip on the cable car costs €12 ($13.25). Everyone inside the carriage is calm and relaxed, and the view outside is breathtaking.

A young couple takes photos. Others prepare their cameras and check their equipment. The trip lasts less than three minutes.

The calm dissipates as soon as the cable car arrives at the top of the hill. Tourists pour out of the cable car, intent on exploring Fira. In next to no time, the town's narrow, winding streets and alleys are thronged with people.

The chaos is a far cry from the calm of the cable car. Everyone is in a hurry; the daytrippers from the cruise ships have only a limited amount of time on the island but several items to tick off their Santorini bucket list.

Flora Danasi's shop is directly opposite the cable car exit. The daytrippers from the cruise ships are an essential source of revenue for her, especially this season.

Compared to recent years, the number of visitors booking accommodation on Santorini and staying for several days has dropped considerably. Hotels and accommodation report that bookings are down almost 30% this season.

"The difference between this year and the last two years is enormous," Danasi tells DW. "On days where no cruise ships dock, the island feels empty, and I don't do any business."

Residents feel sidelined

Just a few streets away from the cable car, the crowd of tourists comes to a complete standstill.

There are too many daytrippers for Anastasia Vazeou, who works in a clothes shop in Caldera. Vazeou grew up in Santorini and still lives there, but she feels sidelined as a resident.

"We have been advised to spend as little time as possible outside at peak cruise tourist times," Vazeou tells DW. "It is sad and extreme. Are tourists more important? There are too many people. It's just too much for such a small island."

Vazeou also works as a receptionist. The guests tell her about endless waiting times and hours of standing in line. "It seems as if it's now a case of quantity before quality here on Santorini," she says.

Noise, litter and pollution

The masses of people visiting the island also make for an unpleasant experience for the visitors.

Mona Isazad, a lecturer in Ireland, is on vacation with her husband in Santorini. In addition to the unique landscapes and the pretty white houses, she will take home memories of a very different aspect of her Santorini vacation. 

"As a tourist, I feel that the island is overcrowded," she says. "There are people everywhere, especially in Oia and Fira."

Isazad and her husband have noticed that there is a lot of litter lying around.

"Also the rubbish seems to be an issue due to the masses. Maybe Greece should think of a way of limiting the daily amount of people on the island and some other measures to preserve nature, like Venice is doing," she says.

People working in the hotel sector also complain about the noise. "From 8:00 in the morning until 1:00 in the afternoon, the alleys are full of groups of tourists. You can hardly move. Like sardines in a tin," says Stavros Koukouvelis, describing the hordes of tourists who descend on Oia in the northwest of the island.

Koukouvelis has been working in Oia for 16 years. The village is a tourist hotspot because it is such an ideal spot for enjoying the sunsets. The apartments he manages in the village are directly on the narrow street that leads to the viewing point.

"The cruise ship tourists are destroying quality tourism. Even two ships cause a problem for us," says Koukouvelis.

Travelers pay almost €400 per night for these apartments and often complain about the noise caused by the crowds of tourists outside their doors.

New limits from 2025 onwards

The challenges that come with cruise tourism on Santorini are nothing new. It was one of the main issues for Mayor Nikos Zorzos during his first term in office from 2011 to 2019.

A 2018 study conducted by the University of the Aegean showed that Santorini can cope with up to 8,000 cruise ship tourists a day as long as their arrival is staggered over the whole day.

Based on this study, a berth allocation system for cruise ships was introduced in 2018. It worked well, Zorzos tells DW. "But the number of visitors was exceeded considerably again and again this year."

Zorzos says that this is not only frustrating for the locals, but also puts huge pressure on the island's infrastructure and is exhausting for the tourists themselves, especially in hot weather.

The mayor says that the daily limit of 8,000 visitors will be re-introduced in 2025. "This year, we were at least able to limit the number of days on which several cruise ships visited Santorini at the same time," he says.

Now in his second term, Zorzos is also concerned about construction on the island and the over-supply of accommodation. "This irrational development of the island must stop. Santorini does not need even a single room more," says the mayor. "It's just destroying the unique landscape that has made our island world-famous."

The island on social media and in reality

It's 6:00 p.m. in Oia, and the sun is still beating down. The streets are jam-packed with visitors on their way to the viewing point to watch the sunset. The crowd moves at snail's pace.

The streets are so narrow at some points that tourists moving in the opposite direction have to wait for several minutes. Hardly a word of Greek is being spoken.

On arrival, they swarm around like ants, vying for the best spot. Two Greek musicians are sitting on a white step playing Greek music on a guitar and a bouzouki.

Most of the tourists don't even notice them, so busy are they with their smartphones, filming their next Insta story and trying to get the perfect photo of the blue-domed buildings, sea and sunset. Everyone wants good photos with as few people as possible — ideally without anyone at all.

As the sun sets, the hustle and bustle subsides. Just minutes after the sun goes down, the viewing point is completely deserted. The musicians play on regardless.

This article was originally published in German.