Greece Introduces New Measures To Combat Overtourism At Athen’s Acropolis

Greece is joining up with a number of other European countries to fight overtourism as the world opens up to travelers. While most countries are keen to earn tourists’ travel dollars, some have realized the dangers of having too many visitors. This came after it was found that local attractions are being damaged by the very people they were intending to attract.

Greece introduces new measures to combat overtourism

After most countries were shut off from the world during the pandemic, it was a huge relief when people started traveling again. Not only was it great for the travelers themselves, but also for the economies of the countries they were visiting. However, as crowds of tourists arrived, treasured cultural attractions were damaged. Meanwhile, having too many visitors causes harm to local communities, just trying to live their normal lives.

Due to this, regional governments in popular destinations like Amsterdam, Barcelona, Dubrovnik, Venice, Hawaii and New Zealand are having to make difficult decisions. They have to introduce restrictive measures and regulate visitation at the most popular sites.

Greece is the latest to join the list of countries fighting overtourism as huge numbers of tourists head to the Acropolis in Athens. This renowned 3,300-year-old UNESCO World Heritage Site is a national treasure and is receiving too many visitors. Meanwhile, cruise ships were bringing thousands of people to Athens, only adding to the problem.

‘Unruly scenes’ at the Acropolis

The Guardian reports that queues at the foot of the Acropolis are causing “unruly scenes at the gateway to the sanctuary have spurred the Greek government to take action.” This was so much so that Greece’s cultural minister, Lina Mendoni made an announcement, saying:

Measures will be fully enforced by the end of the month. Visits in June and early July alone increased by 80 percent compared to 2019.

Among the crowd control measures to ease congestion are time-slot scheduling requirements, fast-lane entry points for guided tourist groups, special visitor zones to streamline traffic and an electronic ticketing system.

As with many popular destinations suffering from overtourism, the thousands of passengers from mega cruise ships in the Athenian port of Piraeus tend to contribute to the problem.

Lysandros Tsilidis, president of the Federation of Hellenic Associations of Tourist and Travel Agencies (FedHATTA) which supports the new measures, explained the problem, saying:

In the past, these cruise ships had the capacity to carry a few thousand, the population of a large village. Now the vessels are so big you’ve got the size of a small state on board and at least 30 percent of all of those passengers will have pre-purchased tickets to visit the Acropolis.

Due to this and other modern travel measures, Greece’s most-visited site, the ancient Acropolis apparently draws more than 17,000 visitors each day. These are mind-boggling numbers for local officials to handle.

Tsilidis, 72, told the Guardian that over the course of 50 years, he has watched Greece grow from an already popular Mediterranean destination in the 1970s. Meanwhile, in 2022, it has become one of the most-visited countries in the world.

He said that no one could possibly have imagined how this could happen, saying, “Back then, Greece attracted 7 million tourists; now that number is more than 30 million, three times our population.”

Other EU nations tackling overtourism

Speaking of cruise ships, readers may recall that Venice banned cruise ships from its lagoon to try and preserve the iconic city. That city has also introduced measures to cut down on the number of daytrippers entering the city. Meanwhile, Barcelona is a major Spanish port and no doubt receives similar hordes of visitors.

If planning to visit a busy location like Athens, Venice, Barcelona, or Amsterdam, bear in mind that restrictions may be in place that could affect your visit. Likely the best thing to do is to visit outside the popular summer season when fewer tourists are around.