Santorini, the picturesque Greek island renowned for its stunning sunsets and whitewashed villages, welcomed its first cruise ship of the year on Sunday, marking a symbolic return to normalcy after a period of intense seismic activity.
The arrival signals a hopeful start to the tourist season, which locals feared would be severely impacted.
In February, thousands of small earthquakes rattled the island, triggering a state of emergency and prompting the evacuation of thousands of residents.
The unprecedented seismic activity, unusual even for earthquake-prone Greece, led to school closures, construction halts, and the deployment of rescue teams. The island’s vital tourism industry, which draws millions of visitors annually, was thrown into uncertainty.
On Sunday morning, the Celestyal Discovery docked in the sparkling Aegean waters off Santorini with around 1,700 mostly American tourists on board. Celestyal Cruises had taken Santorini off its list earlier this month.
“It’s exciting to know that the island’s open again and we get to visit first,” said 67-year-old Deborah Terry.
Another passenger, Julie Eberly, said she was confident the island was out of danger.
“We trust the tourism board here, so if they said it was safe to come, we came with open arms.”
An island of around 20,000 residents, Santorini took its current shape following one of the largest volcanic eruptions in history around 1600 BC. It welcomes around 2.5 million tourists every year and its economy depends almost exclusively on tourism.
Locals said they were pinning their hopes on visitors returning to the island.
“We all hope that things will return to normal, that people will come back,” said Tassos Kontos, a shop owner. “The cloud seems to be lifting.”
No major damage has been reported on the island following the quakes, but authorities have said they will set up an evacuation port to facilitate the safe escape of people in case a bigger quake hits.
