Can the Greek islands withstand another tourist development? – 2024-09-30 04:20:47

“DSantorini can’t stand it anymore. We don’t need any more hotels» repeats for the umpteenth time the mayor of the most touristic destination in Greece, Mr. Nikos Georgesbut also the hoteliers of the island. In fact, criticizing the directions of the Special Spatial Framework for Tourism under consultation which promotes large tourist facilities, outside of the plan, they request the suspension of the construction of any form of accommodation and especially large strategic investments.

The dialogue regarding the new “tool” proposed by the government for shaping tourism development in Greece has raised a lot of… dust, with professional, scientific and local bodies, organizations and ordinary citizens considering the principles on which it is based obsolete and they warn that it will magnify critical environmental problems. The references to the climate crisis and hypertourism, both in the proposed Special Spatial Framework and in the 400-page Strategic Environmental Impact Study that accompanies it, are judged by many to be insufficient. The word “hypertourism” is not only mentioned three times in both texts.

“Investment in new infrastructure”

But what tourism model does Greece need today? Commenting on the above, the associate professor specializing in “Spatial Policies in Tourism” at the Department of Tourism Management of the University of Western Attica Ethymia Sarandakou characterizes the plan under consultation as out-of-date and outdated, as it considers that it does not respond to the serious problems faced by several destinations in recent years in the management of tourism and spatial growth and above all because it does not have substantial provisions for the management of climate change. As he points out speaking to “Vima”, the plan “ignores issues of water scarcity, declining ski area viability and vulnerability of the coastal zone to sea level rise, or suggests investing in new infrastructure instead of changing the tourism model as a solution». Particularly burdened tourist areas such as Paros, Ios or Halkidiki are considered by the promoted spatial planning framework as developed and not as “control” areas (a name that replaced the term “saturated” of the previous spatial planning plans).

With the exception of Santorini and Mykonos, minimal control areas are placed in burdened tourist destinations such as North Crete, Corfu, Rhodes, Zakynthos, Kos. Thus, directions are given for the growth of the tourism sector, without any provision for their vulnerability to climate change. But even saturated (control) areas will still accept 4 and 5 star hotels.

The port of Mykonos in the past and today

In particular, as mentioned by the tourism expert, with a 35-year tenure at the EOT, president of the Institutional Framework Council of the Hellenic Society for Environment and Culture (ELLET), Betty Hatzinikolaouone of the big “thorns” of the proposed plan is that it favors large investments outside the plan, which it “christens” Organized Tourism Development Units (OMAT). “It places them everywhere, even on uninhabited islands of more than 300 acres, which for the first time enter as potential tourist destinations and in protected areas (for which there are still no management plans). The only “concession” he makes for these sensitive areas is that the planned hotel and real estate investments – since they also include tourist housing – use half of the current building rate. However, again the construction can be huge, depending on the land available to the investor and the size of the island or protected area» notes Mrs. Hatzinikolaou.

For her part, Mrs. Sarandakou considers it necessary “a substantial investment in sustainable tourism development, without this implying a radical reversal of the heliotropic model». For example, as he points out, in arid island areas the application of green practices should be enforced, in medium-sized islands the creation of mild OMATs up to a percentage of their total area should be allowed, etc. “As a spatial model, it is important to aim at the shift of tourist development from the coasts to the hinterland and also the maritime area, to which interest has now shifted due to the necessity of maritime spatial planning» emphasizes for her part the assistant professor of spatial planning at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Mrs Marilena Papageorgiou. According to her, the new framework must manage extremely “hot” and current issues, such as the uncontrolled penetration of tourism into places of residence (especially in the historical centers of cities), the overbuilding of coasts and islands, hypertourism, issues of resilience of destinations against the effects of climate change and issues related to the ecological footprint of tourism development.

The national area is categorized by the proposed Special Spatial Framework for Tourism based on the spatial structure of tourist accommodations: 18 municipal units belong to tourist burdened areas (control), 84 to developed, 139 to developing, 265 to areas with potential for development, while 528 are judged as undeveloped. In the South Aegean, only Santorini, Hermoupoli Syros, Northeastern Kos, Mykonos, Rhodes (Afantou, Ialyssos, Kallithea), South Tinos have been included in the “red” category

Short-term leases are out of the question

Although the plan distinguishes categories of areas, based on different criteria (concentration of hotel beds, geographical shape, etc.), these are not particularly differentiated in terms of the type and size of investments they are allowed to receive. “The design doesn’t take into account catalytic changes for destinations – such as short-term rentals that in some areas add as many beds as hotels – making it outdated a priori» points out Mrs. Hatzinikolaou. Outside of the plan, the increase in the adequacy for building to the proposed 20 acres, that is, ensuring a lower density of tourist facilities, does not regulate their size. “Lands well in excess of 20 acres on various islands have been sold at this time. With private urban development, they can make strategic investments and build a new settlement, perhaps even bigger than the old one next to themshe says herself. In any case, as the Deputy Minister of Environment, Mr. Nikos Tagaras following his decision to “freeze” mammoth tourism investment in Astypalaia, the restrictions on off-plan building will be determined by the new urban and spatial planning, which is currently underway and expected to be completed in about two years.

At the same time, the model of tourism concentration in a few coastal and island areas is perpetuated. The promoted framework barely deals with the dispersion of tourism in non-saturated regions with potential for development and in the undeveloped.

Mrs. Sarandakou proposes in control areas the prohibition of new tourist beds and in developed ones their limitation until the completion of carrying capacity studies, with the exception of the conversion of heritage buildings. It also deems it necessary to ban Strategic Investments in highly touristic areas and small islands and to promote them, as a priority, in undeveloped or with room for development, with special provision for declining spa towns.

Objections are also raised regarding the intended limitation of incompatible tourist activities, such as handicrafts, animal husbandry facilities, etc., in non-plan areas (with the exception of undeveloped areas or areas with potential for development). “It becomes apparent that no other use than tourism is considered necessary for the lives of residents and tourists, and that even potentially non-intrusive uses (eg food storage, etc.) are curtailed in order to ensure the monoculture of tourism” notes ELLET, which mentions that the jurisprudence of the CoE considers livestock facilities to be compatible with the purpose of non-planned areas.

Her words are also agreed by the deputy professor of Spatial Planning at the University of Thessaly Anesti Gourgiotis who underlines that the direction of limiting the creation of new facilities or uses incompatible with tourism activity “needs to be reviewed as it may have a negative impact on manufacturing activity». As for the provision of utilization of abandoned settlements that are of architectural interest with the conversion of buildings into accommodation or with new larger investments, ELLET points out and comments that “it is not clear why something bigger should be built again, obviously changing their form and limiting their architectural interest».

Skiing without… snow

It is also surprising why all forms of special tourism (golf, skiing and cruising) are accepted. “Greece has 28 ski resorts. Those that are below 1,500 meters and with the evolution of climate change have no hope of sustainability. Do we need more?» wonders Mrs. Hadjinikolaou. The positives, according to ELLET, include the traditional touristic railway routes.