One of Europe’s most beautiful and historic cities has found itself so overwhelmed with tourists its main sites have had to bring in new restrictions just to stem the tide.
Greece’s capital Athens is steeped in ancient history, and after facing a devastating economic crisis and the impacts of the pandemic, city officials were eager to allow tourists back in to see the sights. However, it now faces the opposite issue, as too many people come to stay in the iconic city’s hotspots to handle.
Its top tourist attraction, the Acropolis, alongside its beautiful monuments the Parthenon, the Erechtheion and the Propylaea entrance have seen a record boom in visitors. Numbers reached around 23,000 people per day for the World Heritage Site last summer – prompting city officials to take drastic action.
In October last year, officials introduced a limit of just 20,000 visitors a day to be allowed into the archaeological site. There will also be a cap on how many are allowed in each hour – as most large groups tend to arrive before midday.
The entry limits first came into effect in early September for a trial period. This April could see them made permanent.
Greece’s culture minister Lina Mendoni said the controls are necessary to avoid “harm” to the monument.
She said: “Obviously tourism is desirable for the country, for all of us. But we must work out how excessive tourism won’t harm the monument.”
There will be no time limit on visits. Ms Mendoni said people who come with organised tours or from cruise ships, who account for about 50 percent of the daily visitor count, spend an average of 45 minutes at the site.
Under the new system, tourists will have to book a time slot online. 3,000 people will be granted access from 8 to 9 am, 2,000 during the next hour and the numbers will be different across the rest of the day.
“The measure will address the need to protect the monument, which is the main thing for us, as well as (improving) visitors’ experience of the site,” Ms Mendoni. Such caps are also reportedly being considered for other popular archaeological sites.
The Acropolis contains several buildings of huge historical and architectural significance.
Some of them are believed to date back to the fifth century BC and are considered to be the cornerstone of ancient Greek civilisation.
