Three islands calling for tourism fees

Two more Greek islands, both in the Ionian Sea, are considering asking permission from the government for a tourist fee on daily visitors.

The mayor of Symi, an Aegean island close to the Turkish coast, has already asked the government to allow him to impose a fee in order to manage the infrastructure necessary to deal with increased numbers of visitors.

The mayors of the islands of Ithaki and Paxos told Kathimerini they are ready to make the same demand of the government as soon as Symi gets the go-ahead.

All three islands have populations between 2,500 and 3,000.

Paxos receives 240,000 visitors, many of them day-trippers, in July and August, over 90 times the number of its permanent residents.

Both mayors said that services such as garbage collection and protection of monuments are taxed to the maximum.

Kathimerini