Acropolis overcrowding and overheating spark new measures, including visiting slots

Greece's Ministry of Culture will increase shaded areas and hand out free water at the Acropolis as the country's weather service issued the year's first heatwave warning on Monday.

The national weather service EMY said a six-day heatwave would grip Greece from Wednesday, with temperatures hitting highs of 43ºC towards the end of this week. The ministry also said some outdoor archaeological sites may close during the warmest hours, depending on local conditions, but did not specify which ones.

At the Acropolis, Greece's most-visited site, the ministry said shading canopies would be set up to shield the monument's thousands of visitors, while Red Cross staff will hand out free water at peak temperature hours.

Tourist numbers visiting Greece are ticking up to levels rivalling pre-pandemic times as the world witnesses a resurgence in demand for leisure travel. That has been compounded  by the tourist season starting earlier than in previous years. According to the Greek state statistics agency Elstat, more than three million visited the Acropolis last year, up from 1.2 million in 2021 during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Culture Minister Lina Mendoni last week said the ministry was seeking ways to address massive queues at the 2,500-year-old monument, noting that visitor numbers have jumped by 80 per cent compared to 2019.

Mendoni told Skai radio that a time slot system to reduce bottlenecks by spreading out visits throughout the day is ready to be implemented. "The project is ready ... it could be implemented in July," she said.

Much of the problem is caused by cruise ships disembarking hundreds of passengers simultaneously early in the morning, operators say.

American visitor Caroline Kutek, 30, who completed a tour of the Acropolis last month, said: "The wait and the amount of people that are here are definitely overwhelming." Even with an online "fast pass", Kutek and her family had to wait about 15 minutes to enter.

After purchasing their ticket at the entrance, visitors must queue a second time before climbing the stairs of the Propylaea, the gateway of the sanctuary dedicated to the ancient Greek goddess Athena. "The worst part of it was at the top when you are trying to funnel into one line, you lost your people," Kutek said.

World Heritage Watch is a non-governmental organisation that supports Unesco in protecting and safeguarding sites of international importance. It says the Acropolis currently lacks visitor management plans required under the UN watchdog's World Heritage Convention, to which Greece is a signatory.

WHW chair Stephan Doempke said the site has experienced "over-tourism" for many years and is now at risk. "A site of global importance as the Acropolis... is not in good condition, and is at risk, if it lacks a management plan and an understanding of how to deal with tourists," he said.

The congestion at the Propylaea can get so significant that the site's security guards have to interrupt the flow of visitors, said chairman Ilias Patsarouhas, chairman of Greece's Cultural Resources Management and Development Organisation.

Sometimes between 2,000 and 3,000 people arrive at the same time, causing waits to increase to over an hour, said veteran guard Ioannis Mavrikopoulos, who has worked at the Acropolis for 30 years. Mavrikopoulos adds that there is a chronic lack of archaeological site staff around the country, especially on Greek islands where conditions are "dramatic".

Two years ago, there was controversy after Greece's culture ministry approved restoration work at the Acropolis that included a new concrete walkway. The ministry said the redesign improves wheelchair accessibility and reduces the risk of accidents.

Doempke said the upgrades "appear to aim at increasing the number of tourists visiting the site" and are therefore "totally irresponsible".

While the time slot system will help to spread out visitors during the day, site guards say introducing the new system mid-season is a mistake that will make their jobs even harder. "Any changes should take place after the tourism season," said Mavrikopoulos.

Greece is counting on tourism to boost its economy after its near-decade debt crisis. Officials hope to exceed the 31.3 million arrivals recorded in 2019, a record year for the country.