In an effort to tackle the phenomenon of over-tourism in Greece and the rest of the world after the pandemic, the first step should be to impose restrictions on cruise ships visiting the country's popular islands, according to a statement by Kyriakos Mitsotakis to Bloomberg.

"I think we will implement it next year," he said of the decision to put a cap on cruise ship visits. "The new rules may limit the total number of berths on the islands or introduce a bidding process for the berths."

Particularly for Greece, where tourism accounts for around a quarter of GDP and the country has broken records for tourist visits and spending since the lifting of the restrictions, the stakes are quite high.

In 2023, Greece welcomed around 32.7 million tourists, an 18% increase from 2022. Already since the first quarter of 2024, the number of visitors has shot up by almost 25%. Cruises generated €847.4 million ($910 million) in revenue last year, more than double the 2022 figure.

At first glance, the prime minister's decision may seem quite invasive, but the new restrictions are unlikely to cause a significant hit to the tourism sector, as ships will continue to visit most islands and many cruise ships will continue to be based in Piraeus.

The issue that Kyriakos Mitsotakis raises is whether and to what extent the enormous cruise ships' economic advantages outweigh their environmental effects.

He stressed that "Santorini is a problem in itself" and noted that the number of boats arriving on the island and how much they contribute to the tourist economy may not be interrelated.

"There are people who have paid a lot of money to be in Santorini and don't want to be squeezed in. Plus, the island can't afford it, even from a security point of view," he adds.

Santorini was the most popular destination for cruise ships in Greece for 2023, with 800 ships calling and carrying nearly 1.3 million visitors, a 17% increase from the previous year, according to the Hellenic Ports Union.