Santorini welcomed the first cruise ship of the year Sunday, giving residents and businessmen of optimism for the tourist season, following the hassle they suffered with seismic activity.

On Sunday morning, Celestyal Discovery tied off Santorini with about 1,700 most of the American tourists.

It is noted that Celestyal Cruises had taken Santorini from her list earlier this month.

Increased seismic activity – unprecedented even in a country as prone to an earthquake as Greece – prompted the authorities to close schools, stop construction and send rescuers to the island.

Speaking to Reuters, the locals said that their hopes were reborn by watching tourists returning to the island.

“We all hope that things will come back to regularity, that people will come back,” said Tasos Kontos, a store owner. “The cloud seems to get up.”

An island of about 20,000 inhabitants, Santorini took its present form after one of the largest volcanic eruptions in history around 1600 BC. It welcomes about 2.5 million tourists each year and its economy depends almost exclusively on tourism.

No significant damage to the island have been reported after earthquakes, but authorities said they would create a port port to facilitate the safe escape of people in the event of a larger earthquake.