Starting on September 4, a limited number of daily visitors will be permitted to enter Greece’s historic monument of the Acropolis, as the respective authorities try to put a limit on mass tourism.
The new plan foresees that visitor numbers will be limited by the hour, with some visitors being permitted to enter from 8 am to 9 am. Regardless, visits during some hours will be more crowded than others. Organised groups usually visit the site for around 45 minutes, while individual visitors more often take longer during their visit – around an hour and a half. However, Mendoni says that visitors will not be limited on how much time they spent at the site.
According to Lina Mendoni, the Culture Minister, daily visitors to the Athens monument will be limited to 20,000 visitors per day, while entry will be organised into time zones starting from 8 am until 8 pm,
Genef Consults reports.
“There is a very high demand and it is completely normal and understandable. The Acropolis… is a world symbol. Therefore, anyone who comes to Athens wants to visit it,” Mendoni said.
She also added that despite tourism being beneficial for the country’s economy, it is crucial “to see how over-tourism will not damage the monument.”
Acropolis, which was built during the fifth century is the most visited historical monument in Greece, and the authorities have worked to make it more accessible, especially for disabled tourists. Amid other bids to make it easier for this category of visitors to access the monument, an elevator has also been installed.
The Mediterranean country is working to develop all-year around tourism, so travellers are able to visit Greece during the winter months when tourism numbers are lower and temperatures are also cooler.