Cruises in Greece set a record in 2024, as according to industry executives, traffic to 49 destinations in Greece reached 8 million passengers. Official figures have not yet been announced, however, sources from the cruise industry, speaking to Athens-Macedonian News Agency, spoke of a historic record, which now exceeds pre-pandemic levels.
It should be noted that according to data from the Association of Greek Ports, in 2023, in 49 Greek ports in the country, total cruise ship arrivals amounted to 5,230 and the number of passengers to 7,003,150, compared to 4,629,650 in 2022.
The island of Santorini is and this year the main attraction for most passengers and the excursion packages that have been booked for two years, although it was briefly affected by seismic activity and restrictive measures. It should be noted, however, that at present cruise ships cannot approach this particular island due to the restrictive measures that were announced recently in the wake of the seismic activity.
Sources said to ANA-MPA that the competent ministries of Maritime, Tourism and Civil Protection have already proceeded to draft a new joint ministerial decision in order to give the "green light" in the coming days to companies so that cruise ships can approach Athinio sea area at a time that does not coincide with the arrivals of coastal shipping ships for safety reasons. It is noted that large cruise ships do not dock directly at the port of Santorini, mainly due to the geographical configuration of the island, but they anchor near the island and passengers are transferred to Santorini via smaller boats. The island's port, located in the caldera, is for servicing coastal shipping ships.