Plan to combat over-tourism to Greece’s holiday islands

The European Bank for Recovery and Development (EBRD) and the Greek Ministry of Tourism will roll out a programme to promote sustainable tourism, focusing initially on Rhodes and Santorini, two of the country’s most popular holiday islands. Its aim is to diversify the offer in destinations, reducing the dependence on the “Sun and Beach” model and combatting the threat of over-tourism.

The European Union funded destination management planning initiative aims to help the island’s businesses and local communities develop responses to the challenges of tourism, including diversifying destinations, reducing the dependence on “Sun and Beach” model and combatting the threat of over-tourism.

The initial focus is on Rhodes and Santorini where the Chambers of Commerce of Dodecanese and Cyclades support the programme.

The programme is broadened by the development of a destination management guide for the preparation of similar plans in other destinations around Greece.

The plans will highlight the benefits and the challenges of tourism development and will provide a long-term strategy for each of the island destinations, identifying the necessary initiatives to continue tourism on sustainable terms and defining the roles of different stakeholders. A training guide will lay the foundations for extending relevant practices around the country.

The aim is to ensure that the destinations are developed, managed and promoted successfully, in a sustainable, long term, integrated way, with a clear focus on the needs not only of tourists but of businesses and residents as well.

The EBRD has been investing in Greece since 2015 to support the country’s economic recovery. Since the beginning of its operations, the EBRD has invested €2.7 billion in the country.