Greece Backs Levy on Cruise Arrivals

The Greek parliament on Wednesday approved a bill increasing a daily tax on short-term rental and hotel accommodation and charging cruise ship visitors a levy to cope with the impact of natural disasters on its economy.

Due to climate change, Greece is facing an increased number of extreme weather events, such as floods, droughts and forest-fires, which strain its public finances. Tourism is the main driver of its economy, which emerged from a debt crisis in 2018.

From 2025, the daily tax on short-term rentals in the April-October period - the country's main tourism season - will rise to 8 euros ($8.41) from 1.5 euros, the bill says.

During the winter months, the tax will rise to 2 euros from 0.5 euros currently.

"We aim to collect 400 million euros annually, almost double the amount we got last year," a senior finance ministry official told Reuters.

The bill raises a daily tax on hotel accommodation by up to 15 euros in the summer months, depending on the hotel's star rating. It also imposes a 20-euro levy on cruise ship arrivals to the popular islands of Santorini and Mykonos and a five-euro levy to other destinations.

In 2023, the government submitted a 600-million-euro supplementary budget to compensate households and businesses and to restore damage caused by deadly storm Daniel on rail and road infrastructure.

(Reuters - Reporting by Lefteris Papadimas; Editing by Gareth Jones)