The popular holiday destination is capping visitor numbers to protect against over-tourism
Greece is set to cap tourist numbers at the Acropolis of Athens, one of the most famous ancient sites still in existence today. Sitting on an outcrop above the city, the Acropolis is made up of several buildings of great historical interest, the most famous being the Parthenon.
Starting this week, Greece will limit tourist numbers visiting the attraction to 20,000 per day, with holidaymakers looking to visit the site having to use a booking website to secure their slot. Authorities announced the measure during peak holiday season last month, in an attempt to the curb post-Covid travel surge. In an interview with Greek radio station Real FM in August, CNN reports that Greek culture minister Lina Mendoni said that the Acropolis currently has up to 23,000 daily visitors which is "huge number". Though the Acropolis is open until 8pm, Mendoni said the majority of visitors were choosing to visit in the morning hours to beat the crowds. However, it appears as though just about everyone else also has the same idea. The minister said the booming visitor numbers are creating bottlenecks and "unpleasant conditions for the site, the visitors and the staff who are trying to accommodate this high volume of people". The new booking system, which is currently in trial stages, will be fully rolled out by April 2024 and is aimed at tackling overcrowding which can make seeing the site stressful for both tourists and staff. Mendoni added: "There is a very high demand and it is completely normal and understandable. The Acropolis… is a world symbol. Therefore, anyone who comes to Athens wants to visit it." She explained that despite tourism being beneficial for the country's economy, it is crucial to ensure "over-tourism will not damage the monument." The measure follows high profile instances of misbehaviour at other historical sites, with holidaymakers being caught carving their names into the Colosseum in Rome and tourists jumping into the Italian capital's Trevi Fountain to fill up their water bottles. A summer of poor behaviour by legions of tourists across Europe has seen many popular locations push ahead with measures to curb over-tourism. Locations such as Barcelona are contemplating limiting visitor numbers to the city, while Venice has banned enormous cruise liners from docking on it's lagoon.
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