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Greek authorities must address some of the effects of overtourism if they want to guarantee the future of the tourism industry, which is a vital part of the Greek economy. This was claimed by the Greek Ombudsman’s office in a report published today, according to Reuters. The office pointed out that in some very popular places, even tourists themselves complain about too many foreign visitors.
The Greek Ombudsman’s report warns against exhausting the potential of Greek tourist destinations, which could make them unattractive to foreign tourists. “Our country’s economy is very dependent on tourism, which makes the need to manage it sustainably even more urgent.” it said in the message.
The report said that the authorities must therefore focus on correcting some of the negative aspects of mass tourism. For example, the Ombudsman’s Office called Take a gentler approach to water resources, whose consumption is greatly increased by tourism, or increase the protection of beaches from illegal construction.
The report also points out that some places are already overcrowded with tourists. This is the case of Santorini, which covers an area of 92 square kilometers, one-fifth the size of Prague. About 15,500 people live permanently on the island, which was visited by 5.5 million tourists last year, double the number in 2012. “Even tourists complain that Santorini is too crowded” The report noted.
However, the Greek economy is heavily dependent on tourism. About 2 million Greeks receive income from the industry, which accounts for a quarter of Greece’s economic output. About 33 million people visited Greece last year, about three times the country’s population. That’s 5 million more than in 2022.
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