File photo: Oia, Santorini, in the Cyclades in 2025. Photo: Giles Laurent / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Santorini Hotels Struggle to Fill Rooms Despite the Crowds

by · Greek City Times

The lanes of Oia and Fira may still be busy, but some Santorini hoteliers say the crowds are not filling their rooms, with one owner reporting that his business is down by 30 to 40 per cent.

Hotel owner Thomas Giannis told Euronews that the island had enjoyed intense tourist activity after the Covid pandemic, but that “some unrelated events”, the seismic activity on neighbouring islands and later the war in the Gulf, had brought a drop in tourism. “For me personally it was around 30 to 40%,” he said.

Official figures do not point to an island-wide collapse. The Greek National Tourism Organisation (EOT) said in October that international air arrivals to Santorini reached 505,767 between January and August 2026, up 0.3 per cent on 2025. Turnover at accommodation businesses on the island rose 7.3 per cent in the first half of the year, against 5.7 per cent nationally, while hotel overnight stays rose 2.5 per cent in 2025 despite a fall in arrivals that year.

Those figures cover arrivals and turnover rather than the occupancy of individual hotels, which is where owners say the pressure is being felt. Five factors stand out.

Read more: Santorini Went From 75 Beds, 2 Beaches to a Global Destination

1. Earthquake fears hit early bookings

According to Euronews, the biggest decline was in arrivals from the United States and Israel. American travellers, who tend to spend heavily and are especially sought after, book their holidays until early spring, the same period that coincided with the seismic activity around Santorini in 2025.

2. War in the Middle East

This year, the same booking window coincided with the start of the war with Iran. Greece was far from the fighting, but as Euronews noted, that is not immediately obvious to the average American planning a holiday.

Thira Mayor Nikos Zorzos said the season “started this year with a sense of numbness”, but that the situation then stabilised, with September and October proving strong months that attract visitors with a special interest in the island.

3. Too many new beds

Lower occupancy is also being blamed on the constant construction of new hotel units. “The increase in the number of beds creates an issue with accommodation occupancy,” Zorzos told Euronews, calling on the government to take measures to stop unregulated building on the island.

In September, the mayor said Santorini had roughly 17,000 to 18,000 hotel beds, with holiday homes and short-term rentals adding further capacity, as Greek City Times reported. “We now have greater supply than demand,” he said at the time.

4. Cruise crowds who do not stay

Zorzos said Santorini receives about 3.5 million visitors a year, including cruise passengers, and that the figures are “roughly the same”. But around half of the island’s tourists are estimated to come from cruise ships. They crowd the narrow streets and viewpoints, yet do not stay overnight and, locals say, mostly do not spend money in local shops.

Up to 8,000 cruise passengers a day can now disembark under a cap set by the municipality. A per-passenger cruise levy of €20 applies from 1 June to 30 September, falling to €12 in April, May and October and €4 from 1 November to 31 March. Only a third of that money reaches the municipality, with the rest shared between the tourism and shipping ministries.

Locals have also told the Ministry of Tourism that many travellers recorded at Santorini’s airport actually stay on neighbouring islands, using it only as a gateway, which distorts the figures.

5. A season that is too short

Santorini’s reputation rests largely on summer and its caldera sunsets. To spread demand across the year, a new digital campaign of 32 short videos will promote the island’s wine tradition, gastronomy, and cultural and religious sites to international markets.

Extending the season was also the focus of the Santorini-Mykonos tourism forum held by EOT in October.

“Santorini is not just a summer destination to watch a sunset. It is also a gastronomic and cultural destination. And it can now offer tourism all year round,” Giannis said, adding that the island caters for every budget, especially outside peak season.

Sources: Euronews, https://www.euronews.com/2026/11/11/santorini-seeks-year-round-tourism-by-promoting-gastronomy-wine-and-culture; Greek National Tourism Organisation, https://gnto.gov.gr/deltia_typou/eot-oloklirwthike-to-santorini-mykonos-tourism-forum-2026-sto-epikentro-i-epimikynsi-tis-touristikis-periodou-o-politismos-kai-i-poiotita/

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