Paradise beaches, historical ruins, and sun-kissed days attracted 33 million visitors to Greece in 2023 – five million more than the previous year. In a new report, the country's ombudsman warns that the number of tourists risks negatively impacting the environment, reports news agency Reuters.
To maintain a sustainable tourist industry, Greece must curb construction and protect water resources and coastal areas, the ombudsman argues.
"Our country's economy is strongly dependent on tourism, which makes the need to manage it in a sustainable way even more urgent", the report states. Greece must not "exhaust its potential, waste it, and make our tourist destinations unattractive over time", it continues.
An example highlighted is the small island of Santorini. It has around 15,500 inhabitants but over 5.5 million visitors travel there every year. "On Santorini, even tourists complain that there are too many tourists", the ombudsman writes.
