Media: Greece to limit crowds in popular spots and allow luxury developments

Greece’s dilemma of luring more tourists has clashed with too many of them coming to the most popular areas – especially islands like Mykonos and Santorini – with regulations coming to curb development but allow luxury hotels.

Other proposals would put restrictions on how many nights a year short-term rentals would be allowed through sites such as Airbnb at the same time the Tourism Ministry is trying to persuade tourists to try less-frequented spots.

The Environment Ministry is looking at land-use policies that would vary according to how saturated an area is with tourists, trying to get ahead of how to deal with it for 2024 and the summer season.

That could see short-term rentals kept to a maximum of 30-60 days a year in especially developed areas including along the coast around Athens, Thessaloniki, and the nearby Halkidiki peninsula that’s a big summer draw.

But there will be incentives to upgrade accommodations to 4-and-5 Star hotels and resorts even in the most popular areas although those can lead to taking over large areas of public beaches that are leased.

That, said Kathimerini, would coincide with many unused properties being razed, many said to be on islands such as Mykonos although it wasn’t explained how that would help reduce the strain on the infrastructure of islands.

The plan also calls for resorts on uninhabited islands, although the size will be limited and limitations, such as no building close to sea borders, meaning mostly those close to the mainland.

New tourism developments would be kept at least 150 meters from the shoreline, unlike the current 30 meters for residences and 50 meters for hotels as there’s also concern about the effect of climate change rising sea levels.

Plans also include urban accommodations including converting unused industrial buildings into habitable units, particularly in Athens and Thessaloniki, the country’s second-largest city, both having many of them sitting abandoned.