On the Cyclades island of Amorgos, the seaside village of Katapola has lost its usual tranquillity in recent weeks. On August 1, the MSC Explora I, a cruise ship with 461 suites and titanic dimensions (248 meters long, 32 meters wide), cluttered up the calm waters of Katapola Bay. Current port facilities don't allow the ship to dock at the quay, so small dinghies carried passengers to shore. Although it was only there for 24 hours, it is due to return on August 28. Some locals are not happy about this, as they "don't want Amorgos to follow the same path as the islands of Santorini and Mykonos, which have been overwhelmed by tourism."

Greece welcomed 32.7 million tourists in 2023, 18% more than in 2022, and the Greek Ministry of Tourism is forecasting a new record for 2024. According to the Institute of the Hellenic Association of Tourist Enterprises, the sector's total contribution to the national economy in 2023 is estimated at around 30% of gross domestic product (GDP), and around 40% of jobs are linked directly or indirectly to tourism.

On Amorgos, as on other islands, dependence on this industry is even greater. According to Mayor Eleftherios Karaiskos, "90% of the population is engaged in tourism-related activities." The number of tourists has doubled in the last six years, and in 2023, 100,000 visitors – 75% of them during summer – stayed on the island, which normally has fewer than 2000 inhabitants. Torn between the undesirable effects of overtourism and the financial windfall represented by the sector, islanders are divided.

'Overdevelopment'

Theofanis Paschos owns a 13-room hotel in Katapola, and his business employs his two children. "If there were tourists all year round, more families would be able to stay on the island and wouldn't have to go to Athens to find work. We don't want to become Santorini or Mykonos, but we still have room to grow!" said this man in his 60s.

But Eleftheria Psychogou, a member of the hoteliers' union, disagreed: "In Paros, a lot of construction has been authorized in recent years, and the island is no longer the same, changes are happening fast. We're concerned about overdevelopment on some islands in the Cyclades." Between 2018 and 2023, around 1,300 building permits were issued on the island of Paros, which has a population of 14,500. There are now more building sites on Paros than on Santorini or Mykonos.

"Paros is in the eye of the storm. Every day we're seeing new constructions, 1,000-square-meter villas that have bear no relation to the minimalism of Cycladic architecture. It used to be Santorini, now it's Paros' turn. If measures are not taken, overtourism will spread and destroy other islands," warned Nikos Stefanou, a member of the NGO Sustainable Cyclades.

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