The Santorini Hoteliers Union expresses its strong concern about the measures recently announced by the government, regarding Santorini and the tourism sector which not only constitutes a critical sector of the economy, but also has a strong -on contribution to the country’s GDP.

These are measures that not only do not contribute to strengthening the local economy and tourism competitiveness, but also that, if not changed immediately, may lead to one of the worst tourist seasons in recent times. years.

Their imposition harms entrepreneurship and puts Santorini at a disadvantage compared to other tourist destinations in the world, such as its counterparts in Spain, Turkey and Italy, which constantly strengthen their tourism infrastructures offering a more favorable business environment.

With these data, the tourism of Santorini is placed in a difficult position in the competition of the world map, which weakens the perspective of the development of the island.

We call on the government to listen to the needs of local businesses and make the necessary changes that will allow Santorini to remain one of the top tourist destinations worldwide, ensuring the economic viability of island and the survival of industry professionals.

It was noted that last week the hoteliers of the island (EXS) made public their proposals for the special zoning framework for Tourism, as part of the public consultation.

Among the 15 proposals they submitted were the bans on Airbnb and the “freeze” on the construction of new off-plan hotels in Santorini until the completion of the “Special Spatial Framework for Tourism”.