ATHENS: American visitor Caroline Kutek had just completed a tour of the Acropolis, Greece’s most-visited archaeological site.

As beautiful as the 2,500-year-old monument was, the huge crowds were just as memorable, she grumbled.

“The wait and the amount of people that are here are definitely overwhelming,” the 30-year-old customer services operator told AFP on a recent June morning, within sight of the hundreds of people queuing on the winding uphill path to the attraction, a common occurrence.

“Too many people for my liking,” said Australian Jackie Zachary.

“I did not expect this many people in June, I thought July would be peak and busier,” the sales assistant said.

At least 14,000 people visited the Acropolis in May, about 70 percent more than in 2022, according to the Greek state organisation for the management of cultural resources (ODAP).

From April onward, average daily visits were equivalent to those seen last August, the month considered the busiest of Greece’s tourism season, says ODAP chairman Ilias Patsarouhas.

Tourist numbers visiting Greece are ticking up to levels rivaling 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.

Even with an online “fast pass”, Kutek and her family still had to wait around 15 minutes to enter, she said.

“The worst part of it was at the top when you are trying to funnel into one line, you lost your people,” Kutek said.

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.

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.

‘Over-tourism’

WHW chair Stephan Doempke told AFP that the site had experienced “over-tourism” for many years and was 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.

Sometimes the congestion at the Propylaea is so significant that the site’s security guards have to interrupt the flow of visitors, says Patsarouhas.

Things can get particularly tight if there is a sudden influx of passengers from one of the many cruise ships that stop at the port of Piraeus this time of year.

On such occasions, between two and three thousand people may arrive, causing waits to increase to over an hour, says 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”, he said.

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.”

Time slots

The ministry is now planning a time slot system to spread out visitors during the day, said Patsarouhas, adding that it would be gradually introduced by the end of June.

But the site guards say that introducing the new system in 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.