TOURISM - DEVELOPMENT

Without a doubt, Crete is one of the top tourist destinations in Greece. Every year, for several years, there has been a "record of arrivals". In 2021, the revenues of the Region of Crete from tourism represented 23% (3.058 billion euros) of the country’s total revenues, while the direct contribution of tourism to the Region's GDP amounted to 33%, according to INSETE data. The data from the country's airports are of interest. "Eleftherios Venizelos" takes the lead with 4.8 million international air arrivals (an increase of 32.4%, in the period January - August 2023), followed by Crete, with the airport of Heraklion, with 2.6 million international air arrivals (4.9% increase) and Chania airport with 1.1 million international arrivals (7.1% increase). At Thessaloniki airport we had 1.6 million international air arrivals, showing an increase of 21.4%. Among the visitors to the island, we can include those who arrive by ferry, through other airports or by road.

The continuous increase in tourism and the inflow of money into Crete from it undoubtedly leads to new investments, mainly in the construction sector. Chains, such as Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, traditional hotel powerhouses of the island, such as Grecotel, Phaea Hotels & Resorts of the Sobokos Family, but also newcomers, such as Ikos/Sani and investment funds, such as HIG and Hines, they see significant scope for the development of the island's tourism industry, which is expected to be strengthened by the new airport in Kasteli and the development of the northern road axis (BOAK). Speaking of these two large projects, the construction of which has already begun, it is estimated that they will double the capacity of tourists that the island of Crete will be able to receive.

Obviously, tourism and the development it brings to a place has positive effects on the economy and it seems that this is the prevailing opinion among the permanent residents of Crete. Especially this year, it seems like a lifeline to the problem of accuracy. It was conducted by the Accounting and Financial Management Laboratory of ELMEPA, a pan-Cretan poll in which many households of the island took part. Based on this, punctuality (27.6%) followed by unemployment (23.4%), but also the lack or inadequacy of facilities and infrastructure in Crete (13.5%) are the most important problems the island presents today.

As a solution for the economic and social development of the country, the citizens show their trust in tourism, placing it as a leading factor and a very large percentage (61.3%) wish to increase the number of tourists on the island. 28.6% of the sample stated that tourism in Crete should remain at the same level, while 4.4% arqued that the number of tourists should decrease.

THE OTHER VIEW OF THE CURRENCY

Tourism is a black, harmful demon that came out of Hades riding a bulldozer. He is immediately recognizable by his terrible emblem: the bundle of uprooted lion trees in his left hand, the screaming transistor in his right, the necklace of Coca-Cola caps around his neck and the concrete mixer as a wreath, all shrouded in the smoke of hell. The doctrine of this religion is to kill, what is hurtful to love. And he leaves no location without desecrating it, no beauty of nature unexploited and no beach untouched, "Yes", his hierophants answer to the whole world in their hypocritical voice,“but think of the money it brings! Who are needed so much!”

Alas, this is irresistible; however, someone will be able to answer them that there are other unnamed ways of trade that offer even more... However,we can challenge this new invention, Tourism, when its holy name becomes a pretext for the general erosion and finaldestruction of all the little things that make life precious, charming and distinctive.

Because, even in Greece, one meets peopie,nice and healthy in appearance, who think that when all the trees are cut down to make way for roads and gas stations, when the old taverns are replaced by concrete cubes with neon and jukeboxes , and the whole country is cemented, Greece will become better, cleaner, more civilized and more beautiful. And if anyone ever disagrees, they get the answer: "That's how foreigners prefer it.” But not him_.

No one needs to repent for the feelings of desert outbursts against this three- syllable word, and no one will listen to him. Future generations will say that fora handful of pounds, francs, lira and drachmas, we systematically destroyed their heritage, the happy work of destruction proceeds with a clear conscience and a light heart. Totally painless realty.But after ail, one can fall fighting.

Excerpt from book: Mani, trekking in the South Peloponnese -Patrick Leigh Fermor- 1958 British author, scholar soldier and Philhellenic.

Today, you don't have to be a visionary or a scientist, or even write a research thesis, to realize the negative consequences of hyper-tourism and development that they bring to a place. Let's go back in time, to 1965 in Spain, when the dictator Franco for his own benefit, allowed uncontrolled development through mass tourism, with low-cost flights to the shores of the Mediterranean. In 1960 tourists visiting Spain reached 5 million - 80,000 beds.Construction activity raged on the coasts of the country. The tourists visiting it in 1975 reached 30 million - 430,000 beds. Ugly giant hotels were created with the locals none too happy to have their shores filled with cement from end to end.

According to a recent survey, almost half of Greeks can no longer afford the financial cost of a week's summer vacation. The Greek tourist product is increasingly addressed to foreigners. It should be noted that we are not only referring to two or three expensive islands or luxury all- inclusive hotels, we are talking about the entire tourist product. Almost all the islands. Almost all destinations. The idea of the Greek summer, of multi-day vacations in beautiful Greek locations, is gradually becoming a greedy dream for most.This year many and many simply cannot. They don't find. Next year there will be more.

The same has been happening for years now in third-world destinations, such as Bali, the Seychelles and the Maldives. Most of the increase in foreign arrivals to our country in the last decade is precisely because, quite simply, many more foreigners are traveling to foreign countries for vacations now. It's a global trend, and we're benefiting. The so-called “gentrification”, the meta-turning neighborhoods where people used to live, locals, into AirBnB neighborhoods, leads to skyrocketing rents that drive the old residents further away, alters the character of popular destinations, worsens the quality of life of the residents who remain. And even worse: in places that are not built to accommodate so many visitors at the same time, the infrastructure collapses. Even if the airport has been renovated into a random island of 2,000 permanent residents, even if enough new “beds” have been built to sleep people and taverns to feed them, even if internal or external immigrants have been found to work for all those beds and all those taverns, the road network, the power generation facilities, the water supply and the garbage and sewage management system remain infrastructure designed for 2,000 permanent residents (at most). And now we have moved to the next stage: as the locals in almost all the beautiful corners of Greece try to squeeze every last square meter to sleep/feed as many foreigners as possible (in some cases, in Mykonos, Rhodes and elsewhere, rushing the landscape and breaking the laws, sometimes using mafia methods), they seem unconcerned about how much the quality of the experience they offer their visitors is deteriorating and how inevitable the collapse of their island brand becomes in the very near future. The approach to tourism development as a predator is perhaps to be expected in a business environment that approaches everything as a predator. But it remains a tragedy that we see unfold before our eyes, in the articles and stories and Tik Toks of disappointed influencers.

If we lose the Greek summer, what are we left with? What are we?

The future for our islands is uncertain, especially if we consider the recent example of Ios, where the Michaloliakos family now owns 1/4 of the island. To achieve this, close to 202 plots of land had to be bought by 2,137 people over 4 years. In Crete, for 6 months of the year, the city does not belong to its inhabitants, and more and more people worry that tourism is absorbing all the energy of the place, changing the landscape, and pushing primary production to the margins. After Mykonos and Santorini, the jewel of Crete is at risk from the “monoculture” of the tourist industry. If it continues at this pace without changing anything, the last unbuilt hill and beach will be built. The last lily will be destroyed on the sand dunes of Elafonisi, Balos, and other magnificent beaches that are leveled every spring with bulldozers to install sunbeds, resulting in the continuous erosion of the coastal front. The last drop of water from the sources of the White Mountains will be lost, polluted with sewage and speedboats, and the steepest creek. Finally, the tourist who comes to Crete for all the above will search for their next, more human and virgin destination.

THE FUTURE

Obviously, the solution is not to stop tourists visiting Crete, nor to close the businesses that deal with tourism, nor to stop increasing the infrastructure for tourists. In my opinion, the solution is the careful and long-term planning of tourism and the investments that concern it, and the institutionalization of rules and laws that will aim to protect the place, nature, and all the professionals involved with tourism in the long term. And that should be done now.

If we don’t change something where we are right now, the results of the hyper-tourism in a few years will be equivalent to the Canary Islands, where on April 20, thousands of demonstrators flooded the streets of Tenerife, protesting for mass tourism and asking the authorities to move forward to temporary restrictions on tourist arrivals in order to put a brake on the rapid rise of short-term summer rentals, housing, and hotel construction, which increase housing costs for residents.

Holding placards reading "People live here" and "We don’t want to see our island die," protesters called for changes to the tourism industry, which accounts for 35% of GDP in the Canary Islands archipelago.

“The authorities must immediately stop this corrupt and destructive model that depletes resources and makes the economy more precarious. The Canary Islands have limits, and so does people's patience," Antonio Boulon, one of the organizers of the demonstration, told Reuters.

The archipelago of 2.2 million inhabitants was visited by almost 14 million foreign tourists in 2023, a 13% increase compared to 2022, according to official figures. Local authorities are concerned about the effects of this hypertourism on residents. The president of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, recently said he felt "proud" that the region is a top Spanish tourist destination but acknowledged that more controls are needed as the industry continues to grow. "We cannot continue to blind ourselves. If we continue to ignore the problem, hotels will continue to open without any control," he noted.