“Nowhere else in the EU is overtourism as intense as in the Greek islands of the South Aegean”, writes the tagesschau, citing Eurostat data, published by the German Federal Statistical Office.

“In the area with islands like Santorini and Mykonos recorded in 2022 an average of 110 overnight stays per inhabitant – no other region could come close to such a ratio. In the Ionian Islands, such as in Corfu, the corresponding number was 81 overnight stays per inhabitant, while on the Croatian Adriatic coast 66. By comparison, in the region of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany’s region with the highest tourism, there were only 18 nights per inhabitant”.

Of course, as the German website observes, “in absolute numbers, he conquers the top the Canary Islands region in Spain, where 89.3 million overnight stays were recorded – an average of approx. 245,000 people daily on one of the islands”.

According to Eurostat data “for 2022 and among the EU states, Greece was the country in which the accommodation sector had the largest share in gross value added at 7.1%. Followed by Croatia, Portugal and Spain.” The corresponding figure for Germany is 1.4%, which is well below the EU average of 2.5%.

As pointed out by ZEIT Online regarding hypertourism, “despite the importance of tourism to the economy, there are many holiday areas across Europe that are experiencing the effects of mass tourism. Especially in the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands they have recently taken place and demonstrations by local residents, who are concerned, among other things, about the rising prices in the housing market.”