The president of the Municipal Port Fund of Mykonos, Athanasios Kousathanas – Megas, expressed deep concern about the effects of the increased cruise passenger fee of 20 euros per person, which is applied in Mykonos and Santorini.
“The implementation of the cruise passenger fee risks developing into a threat to this important sector of tourism, cruising. It was established in order to correct a problem that had been solved in advance, at least in Mykonos, thanks to the rational distribution of arrivals, based on the berth allocation system, which has been operating perfectly since this year.”
“As we had predicted, it has caused strong reactions, mainly from Greek passengers, who are protesting against the obligation to pay fees in Greek ports, especially in Mykonos and Santorini, where the unrealistic amount of 20 euros per person was imposed, in contrast to other destinations where the fee amounts to only 5 euros,” the president of the Municipal Port Fund emphasized in a statement.
He also pointed out that “the report published by ‘Naftemporiki’ unfortunately confirms it, as many cruise companies may exclude destinations in 2026, as the measure of increased disembarkation fees in popular ports, such as Santorini and Mykonos, seems to bring the opposite result to the expected one.”
According to the relevant report, Celestyal Cruises’ operations director, George Koumpenas, has pointed out that “in 2025, approximately 20% of the passengers of the company’s two cruise ships, totaling 20,000 passengers, chose to remain on board the company’s ships during their stay in Mykonos and Santorini, mainly due to the new increased fee of 20 euros per person.”
“We emphasize once again that cruising is an important pillar of support for Mykonos’ professionals and any suspension measure has a serious impact on the island’s economy.
We want to believe that the government will reconsider this and promptly announce the suspension of the imposition of the fee, or at least reduce it at five euros, as is the case for other destinations, so that we do not find ourselves in the unpleasant surprise of receiving fewer cruise ships next year and as a result have a reduction in tourist traffic,” he noted.
