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Greece has joined a growing number of European destinations seeking to manage mass tourism by implementing a tax on cruise ship passengers visiting its islands, starting Tuesday. Cruise ships stopping at popular islands such as Santorini and Mykonos will be charged 20 euros ($23.62) per passenger, while smaller islands will levy a five-euro tax per passenger, according to the new regulations.
"In accordance with the law, the tax will be applied in Santorini, Mykonos and other islands in lesser measures," a finance ministry spokesman told reporters.
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.
Cruise ship passenger numbers surged 13.2 percent last year to 7.9 million, according to the Hellenic Ports Association, which predicts the trend will continue. Mykonos, known as a party destination for international jet-setters, received nearly 1.3 million visitors last year, up 8.4 percent from the previous year.
Perched on a volcano, Santorini received more than 1.3 million passengers last year, up four percent.
