Tourists are turning their backs on Mykonos and Santorini because of sky-high prices

Tourists refuse from the most famous destinations in Greece, islands of Mykonos and Santorini, due to exorbitant pricesbecause they are looking for “good value for money”.

Mykonos and Santorini are seeing a significant decline in tourist traffic, with visitors to the islands describing their experience noting that they would not make that choice again: “After our trip to Santorini, I think this island is 100% overrated and I will explain why,” say some well-known bloggers.

The numbers are also backed up by the arrivals, with the island’s local media reporting “-22% traffic in Santorini compared to 2019”. A similar decline also occurred in Mykonos, when the situation changed dramatically on the islands, which were and are champions in accommodation, entertainment and food.

“20% traffic drop in Mykonos. Summer 2023 does not look like what was expected for the tourism market, local media say. “As in recent times, among wealthy tourists who nevertheless pay attention to value for money, the prevailing opinion is that Mykonos in particular and secondarily Santorini are trying to capitalize on the country’s explosive tourism momentum.”

“It’s beautiful, yes, but for the price you pay, I can’t say it’s worth it. For a whole month we traveled to Turkey, Spain, Morocco and Greece. For me and my wife, it only cost $6,500. My friend went to Santorini in July with his girlfriend, and the vacation cost $ 7,000 per person for 10 days, ”visitors noted.

Cheaper destinations are beating former island fanatics. Experts say the islands are facing a situation they have created themselves. By raising prices exorbitantly, they forbade Greeks to visit them, and they became a destination exclusively for foreigners, but now even foreigners are not willing to pay exorbitant amounts.

“The fall, of course, is also due to the fact that these two islands, which are the heavy artillery of Greek luxury tourism, have long been no-go places for Greek tourists who do not go there to make a hole in their finances, eventually choosing cheaper destinations in Greece or even abroad,” Mega TV Live News reported on Wednesday.

The fact that lunch cost 100 euros per person, and now costs 200 or even 300 euros, has also affected tourism, MegaTV reports.

Other Greek islands offer holidays for all possible budgets, which is not the case with Mykonos, for example, where housing prices, restaurants, clubs and other services have become available only to well-to-do tourists.

Meanwhile, Greek tourism faces strong competition from Turkey, where the local currency continues to fall and lose value, while tourists care little whether they lie under the sun on one side of the Aegean or the other. Portugal and Albania are also trying to capture the flow of tourists.

The arrogance and self-confidence of tourist entrepreneurs is typical of the already launched “state program for subsidizing social tourism”, where neither Mykonos nor Santorini offered a single place, according to Mega TV. As a result, the turnover in April-May 2023 for Mykonos and Santorini is from -15% to -20%.

International arrivals in April 2023:
Total national: +14.6%
Mykonos: -29%
Santorini: -6.4%
Rhodes: +31.2%
Thessaloniki: +26.8%
Athens: +17.4%

Mykonos-Santorini
Turnover: April-May from -15% to -20%.

However, as market experts say, one should not rush to conclusions. The main season on the islands begins in July and subsides from the end of September. It is during this period that the highest prices for both accommodation and services are fixed. And it is at this time that the public gathers in Mykonos and Santorini, for which +/- 10 thousand euros is a completely insignificant amount.

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