I feel something different this year. I’ve been in Greece for about a month but I was in Athens for the first few weeks, still in work mode.
But I’m in Crete now— still working, but slowly getting into “summer mode,” with long walks along the Venetian harbor, long coffee sessions with friends and dinners that begin at the time they’d actually be finishing back in the states.
It feels different this year. Although it’s peak season here, the crowds are less. Parking spots are plentiful (a common complaint every year in Hania is the lack of parking in the evenings) and restaurants that in previous years required reservations a few days in advance, have availability even for walk-ins.
I’ve spoken to a lot of locals and everyone seems to agree that it’s slower this year. Not only in tourist numbers, but in the overall mood of the travelers.
Of course, this is my own reality here in Crete. Things may be quite different elsewhere in Greece and I’m not implying that what I’m experiencing is a nationwide trend. It is, however, what I’m experiencing where I am.
Some blame the excessive heat— Greece has experienced recurrent heat waves since June— weather phenomena that used to happen for a few days in August, now a recurring thing beginning in June. Others blame the ongoing bloodbath taking place in Gaza and the ongoing tensions between Israel and Iran.
On a (funny) side note, I have yet to hear that it’s America’s fault. For years I’d hear taxi drivers, shopkeepers and restaurant owners blame everything from forest fires to slumps in tourism numbers on the United States. This year I haven’t heard it even once.
Joking aside, I do believe this “check” is a good thing. It’s giving a lot of people in the tourism sector a chance to pause and reflect— on prices, on the services they provide, on the type of tourism they want in their country. I’m also hearing a lot of people talk about protecting the heritage of Greece and trying to prevent what over-tourism has brought to places like Venice and Barcelona.
A friend who owns a small hotel on the island of Symi told me about a new fee that was being charged to day-trippers to the island with the money aiming to support the local infrastructure that struggles with 300,000+ people who visit the tiny island on day trips.
Similar fees have been imposed on cruise ships that off-load thousands of visitors daily on Greeces two most popular island destinations— Mykonos and Santorini. Similarly, the proceeds of these taxes are meant to prop up things like garbage collection, power grid upgrades and public services most visitors take for granted but are essential for the sustainability of the islands.
As I said, it’s different this year but the “difference” I’m experiencing isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s good to hear more and more of these conversations by Greeks asking if “record numbers” that government officials are quick to brag about year after year are actually a good thing.
Hopefully more and more Greeks are starting to realize that it’s not about the quantity of people arriving every day on international flights from all corners of the globe, but more importantly, about the quality of people that Greece is attracting.
