As seismic activity continues between Santorini and Amorgos, with earthquakes of 4 on the Richter scale and above, the effects on tourism begin to appear. At the same time, seismologists stress that the phenomenon of continuous earthquakes seems to be slowly receding and the possibility of a large earthquake, 6 Richter scale and above, seems less and less possible.
Eva Metis Koutoumanou
The first cruise ship for this season in our country, the "VIKING STAR", changed "course", due to earthquakes, and instead of the Caldera will approach Chania on February 10th.
According to the Municipal Port Fund of Thira, two cruises were scheduled for February, from the same ship, on February 10 and 15.
The next cruises, also from "VIKING STAR", are expected from March 11 onwards, while a total of ten cruise ships are expected in March.
According to industry officials, if everything goes smoothly, what the companies and the port fund will have to manage is where the cruise ships will approach, if the landslide protection measures announced on Thursday (February 6th) are implemented and provide, among other things, for the closure of the ports of Ammoudi, Armeni, Korfos and Old Port of Fira.
At the same time, Santorini hoteliers note that:
"There are cancellations for the next period, until April basically. What is certain is that we are seeing a pause in new bookings," Christos Papadopoulos, a member of the Association of Tour Operators of Northern Greece, told ERT.
While Mr. George Vernikos, general secretary, of the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE), also speaking on ERT state television, ERT News, this Saturday morning (February 8th) stressed that cancellations are not worrying at the moment but that there is a fear of cancellations and especially for weddings that take place in Santorini and are the absolute trend, especially for Asians, in recent years.
According to data from ELSTAT and the Bank of Greece, concerning the year 2023, our country's tourism revenues amounted to 20.5 billion euros, with 820 million coming from Santorini.
According to the same data, there are 1216 businesses with accommodation and 712 catering businesses operating in Santorini.
As it is known, Santorini is the flagship of Greek tourism, welcoming about 3.5 million tourists annually.
From Santorini, where he was, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis left an "open window" for special measures to support entrepreneurship in Santorini and assured everyone that the state mechanism is fully mobilized and. "We are acting proactively without reproducing catastrophe scenarios," the Greek prime minister said.
At the same time, seismologists stress that the phenomenon of earthquakes seems to be slowly receding and the possibility of a large earthquake, on the order of 6 on the Richter scale, seems increasingly unlikely.
