A few weeks after rattling by a small earthquake of thousands, Santorini, a crown jewel in the Greek tourism sector, is determined to return to business as usual, despite the seismic phenomenon remaining a mystery.
Tourism-dependent islands that have enjoyed a strong comeback after the coronavirus pandemic are hoping for it.
The first two cruise ships of the season arrive on the last two Sundays of March, with more than 40 people scheduled for this month, starting the year when a coalition of cruise ship owners predicted a 10% increase in cruise visitors last year.
However, hoteliers are still hoping for a late year, with bookings down about 30% compared to 2024.
“Things have woken up over the past few weeks,” said Alexis Jannuratos, the edge of an ancient volcano that gave the island unique shapes, multicolored beaches and rock formations by taking in spectacular views of the Blue Dolphins hotel and the Santorini caldera. However, he said April is likely to be a “disastrous” month for tourism revenue.
Yangnoratos, who hosted South Korean visitors at the height of the mid-February earthquake crisis, said his occupancy rate at the hotel was 30% in April, and is expected to increase by around 50% for bookings in May and summer months.
Maria Manudaki, who owns a cliffside alti suite on the southwest of the island, said that “it's coming in with dribs and dribs” over the next few months, but will hold a half-open this week with visitors from the UK, France, Israel and the United States.
The island, with a population of 15,500 and usually with over 3 million visitors a year, was previously worried beyond tourism. Even this week, authorities launched a tourism campaign in Santorini, advocated the importance of “sustainable” tourism. As of June 1, cruise ship visitors will have to pay a fee of around $21.50, a measure approved last year to reduce tensions in the island's excess crowds.
But a few weeks ago, thousands of earthquakes rattled the island, sometimes every few minutes, most residents fled. Authorities have shut down schools, deployed emergency services in the area, and experts have rushed to interpret the tremor that peaked at a fierce, 5.3 magnitude pounding on February 10th.
As the tremors eased in late February and early March, residents returned, schools reopened, and hoteliers resumed renovations in preparation for Easter and summer visitors. Currently, most tremors are less than 3 size, essentially unperceptible, and life on the island has returned to normal.
However, seismic phenomenon remains unexplained.
“We have not yet reached a conclusion on the cause,” said Atanasios Ganas, research director at the National Observatory of the Institute for Geodynamics in Athens, this week.
Some landslide-prone areas will be closed until May 15th, as earthquake experts are looking for ways to minimize risk, Mayor Nikos Zorzos told reporters on Tuesday at the launch of the island's tourism campaign at the Acropolis Museum in Athens.
“There's a bit of numbness at first, but the season has opened. I'm ready,” he insisted.
Greek Tourism Minister Olga Kefalozianni said Santorini was “returning to normalcy” and “remaining a safe and kind destination”, adding that the safety of residents and visitors is an “absolute priority.”
The earthquake crisis has also affected the island's seasonal workforce, with tremors increasing long-term concerns by workers over the long hours needed at summer resorts, and the lack of year-round profits like health insurance, said Giorgos Daimantopoulos, general secretary of the Association of Traders and Business Professionals in Santorini.
Recruitment has already begun for the 25,000 seasonal workers the island's tourism sector relies on, he said, adding that so far the employment has come from Albania, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and the Philippines. Statistics from the Ministry of Labor show that just over 2,600 workers were hired in March.
In the meantime, scientists are trying to understand recent earthquakes.
Researchers use seismic monitors and remotely controlled underwater vehicles to study tremors and local volcanoes.
Also on Monday evening, foreign scientists joined their Greek counterparts on a video link for discussion in Athens, analysing tremors and mild volcanic activity with the help of artificial intelligence. They agreed to one thing. The earthquake sequence was unprecedented and surprising.
Regarding the outlook for a strong earthquake, Ganas said it suggests that this is unlikely, despite the possibility of the region being a fierce and violent person, the size of 7.1.
The island's hoteliers pretend to be both geological and financial disruption, but Manusoudaki said he is more concerned about financial losses than the possibility of a massive earthquake, given the resilience of the Santorini building.
“It's true that many buildings in the caldera essentially cling to the cliffs,” she said. “But they are built to withstand earthquakes,” she added. “I feel safer here than Athens.”
