In the summer of 2025 the Greek government introduced a cruise tax, payable by cruise passengers on disembarkation at Greek ports. The tax rates range from €1 to €20 and are levied on all cruise ship passengers, regardless of age, each time they disembark at a port. If they do not disembark they are not charged. The fees are collected from passengers by the cruise companies or agents and are paid to the government quarterly.
Officially named the “Sustainable Tourism Fee”, the tax is in line with two other tourist taxes already in operation: the Transit Occupancy Tax and the Climate Resilience Tax, levied on those staying in hotels and short-term accommodation. “The implementation of the measure is a central government choice and is linked to the plan to support and upgrade critical port infrastructure on the islands … the aim is to provide safe and functional facilities, improve accessibility for visitors and ensure integrated management of natural resources,” the ministries of Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy and of Tourism announced in June, unveiling the plan. (Balkaninsight.com)
The money will contribute to the sum of some €585 million which the government will be spending on upgrading the country’s island ports, to turn them into “hubs of connectivity, green transition, and security”, as announced by the Deputy Minister of Maritime Affairs and Island Policy Stefanos Gkikas at a conference in September.
Money received by Cretan municipalities
The revenues from the cruise tax will be divided among three ministries: the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy, the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Interior – which distributes a proportion of the fees to municipalities.
According to a report in Haniotika Nea, the funds of the Municipality of Chania are to be swelled by the sum of €220,362 from the cruise tax for the first 8 months of 2025, with an amount for the remainder of the year expected to be paid by 31st January.
On 22nd December the Minister of the Interior Theodoros Livanios approved payment of a total of €9,775,519.24 to municipalities of the country, from the amounts received from the cruise tax, for the construction and improvement of their infrastructure and for the reinforcement of the tourist product.
For the period to 31st August the municipalities of Crete will receive the following amounts:
— Municipality of Agios Nikolaos: €27,307.68
— Municipality of Heraklion: €274,280.40
— Municipality of Rethymnon: €198.54
— Municipality of Chania: €220,362,41
The amounts are relatively small, since the tax was introduced for the first time on 1st July 2025. Based on the arrivals for 2025, it is estimated that the Municipality of Chania will receive over €500,000 for 2026.
There is still cruise ship activity at Souda, with two ships arriving on the morning of Christmas Eve: the Viking Saturn with 897 passengers and its sister ship the Viking Star with 896. The last cruise ship scheduled for 2025 is the Viking Vela, due at Souda on 30th December.
(Haniotika Nea, 27/12/25)