The Lost Tourism Bet of Mykonos and Santorini

Due to its reputation?and activity on the domestic tourism map, Mykonos is considered perhaps the top destination in Greece. Despite occasional reports about the island, recent urban irregularities that made headlines, and various incidents that have occurred over time, Mykonos remains highly sought after. However, this year things are somewhat different.

Despite the complaints many Greeks have that they cannot afford to visit the Cycladic island for their vacations, a similar situation seems to apply to many incoming tourists. Often, the services offered on the island do not match those provided by some professionals - not as a whole, though - who undermine the tourism product of Mykonos and tarnish its name and reputation.

Data regarding the tourist traffic of Mykonos shows that in April of last year, 21,806 travelers arrived on the island, compared to 30,760 during the same period in 2022, a decrease of 29.1%. As for the trend over the four-month period, international passenger traffic to the island reached 22,735 passengers, a decrease of 28.1% compared to the first four months of 2022, when it had reached 31,609. At the same time, in April, the number of flights to international destinations was 193, compared to 372 during the same period in 2022, marking a decrease of 48.1%.

However, the decline in traffic is also evident in Santorini, as data from the Institute of the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises indicates that the decrease in international air arrivals in April compared to last year reached 6.8% (33,601 arrivals this year compared to 36,037 arrivals in 2022). Additionally, in the first four months of 2023, the decrease reached 5%.

Many people in the tourism market attribute this phenomenon to the fact that the very expensive services do not favor their selection, especially when the aforementioned incidents occur. That is, the services do not justify their price.

What seems to be missing from islands like Mykonos and Santorini is organized promotion. While word-of-mouth is good, the people operating in these areas refuse - informally, at least - to spend money on promoting destinations that have left them with significant profits in recent years.

International competition

Furthermore, strong competition from Mediterranean countries and destinations, as well as from Turkey, which benefits from its low currency value, steals the limelight from our popular islands. On one hand, Greek travelers turn to alternative destinations such as Samos, for example, while foreigners, when they realize the price and service situation prevailing in Greece, resort to cheaper Mediterranean and European destinations, where they receive more than what they pay for in terms of services. As an indicative example, in Samos, which has been included in the programs of major foreign tour operators in recent years, there was a 44.6% increase in April when the season for flights from abroad began, while in Mytilene, the increase reached 100%.

More recent data from Fraport Greece show that in the first half of 2023, passenger traffic in Mykonos decreased by 5.7% compared to the same period last year, with domestic traffic down by 10.4% and international traffic declining by 20.4% compared to 2022. As for Santorini, the Cycladic island experienced an overall increase of 16.6% compared to 2022, but during the January-May period, international traffic recorded a decrease of 3.7% compared to the previous six months, while domestic traffic saw a growth of 33.9%.

Lack of infrastructure readiness

The readiness of popular destinations during the high season continues to be an issue, as the infrastructure of islands like Mykonos, Santorini, and other Greek islands is far from sufficient to support the significantly increasing tourist flow during the summer months of the year.

When it comes to who still chooses Mykonos and Santorini, at the top of the list are Israeli travelers, who have been flooding the two Cycladic islands in recent years, in contrast to tourists from the LGBTQ+ community who have shifted their interest to other islands, aside from Mykonos, unlike what used to happen in the past, given the liberalism that Mykonos advocated in this particular field.