ESS presents proposals for the sustainable development of tourism in Santorini, focusing on infrastructure, bed management and the protection of settlements.
OR Santorini Hoteliers Association (EXS) actively participates in the consultation on “Special spatial framework for tourism“, presenting proposals aimed at improving the sustainability and management of tourism in Santorini. With the conclusion of the public consultation on September 15 and Municipal Council of Thira to meet today to discuss the matter, EXS presented its proposals based on its previous 2022 positions for the island’s “Special Urban Development Plan”.
Santorini Hotel Association offers:
- “No new off-plan hotels should be built until the Tourism Master Plan in question is completed.
- To create an industrial zone in Monolithos so that all crafting units are concentrated in one part of the island.
- To protect the areas with agricultural lands and especially the vineyards. The visitor’s experience should not be limited to the hotel, the tavern and the beach, but to the whole range of products that this place produces and the opportunities it offers.
- All settlements must be protected, but especially traditional settlements and must be included in decrees that determine the conditions for development. Emporio, Pyrgos and Megalochori are typical examples.
- The unique caldera should be treated differently from other settlements. The settlements of Oia, Fira, Imeroviglio, etc. should be explored with particular attention. and to determine the specific conditions of construction and use.
- Licensing of hotel construction should include provisions whereby additional square meters of build-up factor will be permitted within the same property and will be exclusively for staff accommodation but will not be converted into guest rooms. with strict monetary restrictions and sanctions for violators, up to the revocation of the work license. This will solve the problem of staff housing needs. Hotels should also be obliged to create parking spaces for their customers (mainly in populated areas).
- In traditional settlements, the construction of buildings with modern architecture should not be allowed, except in the logic of integration into it and adaptation to the style and form of the settlement. Do not allow the growth of traditional settlements.
- To limit the possibility of renting houses without an EOT sign, on the sharing market (Airbnb). There should be a certain percentage of houses per settlement that will be provided, as the settlement location concept changes, removing permanent residents.
- Do not repurpose the dwellings so that they are converted to short-term rental housing.
- In traditional settlements, to have power cables underground and to prohibit any alteration of building facades, aluminum windows, solar water heaters (with a subsidy for owners to install a heat pump in an inconspicuous place) and air conditioners where visible, approval is always required for construction of any pergola or awning installation, only traditional wooden signs are permitted and any violation shall be punishable by a fine and suspension, if a business, until rectified.
- To prohibit the entry of cars into populated areas and to provide for the creation of parking spaces around them. Allow delivery of goods only at certain times.
- The Special Town Planning Plan should also provide for the layout of the new commercial and passenger port with a marina, the waste management area and the new ropeway.
- We believe that the operation of the berth allocation system is necessary and immediate in order to avoid simultaneous arrivals and departures in the ports of the island, in particular on the cruise and in the Gulf of Fira, as well as the operation of time slots in areas with mass presence of people such as in Oia and Fira.
- To create a Destination Management Organization (DMO) for Santorini to properly manage the tourism product, its flows and its image.
- Pointing out the overlap of the previous spatial plans, we for our part insist and demand the implementation of the “Strategic Planning for Santorini” announced by the Prime Minister himself in June 2020 in Santorini, which foresees the creation of new infrastructure on the island, as more importantly is the construction of a new port.”
The Hotel Association of Santorini has noticed that there is a large discrepancy and differences between what Special town planning plan Fr Special device on the territory and the present Special development plan for tourism, such as in the categorization of national tourism, where the special development plan for tourism defines five categories a) control areas, b) developed areas, c) developing areas, d) areas with development potential and e) undeveloped areas with Santorini classification in the control zones without clarifying the criteria for characterizing each zone, as well as in relation to what and what prospects, if there are no ready-made carrying capacity studies.
Finally, on the operation of the short-term rental (Airbnb) The Association of Hoteliers of Santorini reports that there is no solution to the confusing situation that prevails today regarding the categorization and evaluation of their activity, while the critical question of the infrastructures that are absolutely necessary for the survival and sustainability of tourism and the most “controlled” parts, we consider that general references are made and in any case the commitments, options and timetables for their creation or maintenance are absent, which does not improve the current uncertainty and limits the creation of new infrastructures that are necessary for the survival of Santorini as a tourist destination.