Greece needs to make radical changes if it is to remain popular with tourists, the country’s own ombudsman has warned. Incoming visitors to the southeast European island nation reached 33 million in 2023, up 5 million year-on-year. But the Mediterranean destination risks putting its reputation as a reliable source of relaxing sunshine holidays in jeopardy, along with the 25% of its GDP and 2 million jobs that tourism accounts for, according to a new report issued on 13 June 2024.
“Unattractive over time”
Major threats identified by the ombudsman include over-construction, a lack of coastal protections and the mismanagement of water resources. Tourism “urgently” needs to be approached “in a sustainable way” the report said, so that Greece does not “exhaust its potential, wasting it and making our tourist destinations unattractive over time.”
The report is the first by the Greek Ombudsman on the sector in the 25 years since the authority was formed and comes at a time when the “country’s economy relies heavily on tourism”, its authors note. Greece is still recovering from a debt crisis that started in 2009, plunging national finances into the longest recession seen by any advanced mixed economy. But its tourism sector is expected to generate €21 billion in 2024.
The money is welcome, but the need to protect the environment on which the sector depends is pressing, said the ombudsman, who called for anti-flooding measures such as limits to coastal construction and deforestation, as well as better preservation of water resources amid “huge” demand for drinking water, swimming pools and water parks.
Measures already taken
Greece has already moved to reduce some of the negative effects of tourism and conserve its sights and surroundings. Daily visitor caps have been introduced at some of the most iconic ancient attractions after fears about crowding and damage.
What’s more, the country already had a tourist tax in place, of about four euros per room but 2024 is the year of a new “climate crisis resilience fee” of between €1.50 to €10 depending on the accommodation’s star rating.
That climate crisis is associated with recent years of heatwaves, droughts and catastrophic wildfires that in 2023 caused at least 20 deaths, vast destruction and saw tourists evacuated from hotels in extremis.
The solution to the dilemma the country faces, needing income in the face of an existential threat, requires imagination, the ombudsman said, appearing to criticise a lack of mettle. “Tourism is a field where the lack of vision and strategy emerges with particular intensity,” the report pointed out, adding “the exercise of a clear tourism governance is an immense need.”
