One of Greece's most popular holiday destinations has seen visitor numbers drop considerably following recent earthquakes that rocked the island. Santorini, one of the Cyclades islands in the Aegean Sea, is a hotspot for tourism in the country, with visitors flocking to see its iconic whitewashed homes and sky-blue domes, overlooking an awe-inspiring coastline.

However, in February, the island was rocked by high seismic activity, and Greek authorities declared a state of emergency. Persistent tremors saw Santorini's streets emptied of residents and the typical throngs of holidaymakers.

By May, the seismic activity had subsided significantly, with residents returning to the islands.

However, the first six months of this year have seen a 30% drop in arrivals to Santorini, with the quakes likely playing a big role in the staggering decrease.

Arrivals have been rising in recent weeks but remain well below the highs seen in previous years, as per .

Yannis Paraschis, president of the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE) said "available airline seats are down 26% from the beginning of the year to date".

However, he added that the "indications we have in terms of supply of seats are down in the range of 7%-8% for the summer, so we expect a result with losses of 10%-15%".

Some hospitality bosses fear the slump could continue. Antonis Pagoni, the president of the Santorini hoteliers, told he expects a continued drop in tourist traffic and warned that the effects could impact the rest of the national economy.

"The president of SETE talked about airport arrivals," he said, "but I will unfortunately say that overall arrivals will be down about 20%-25%. Right now we are moving at -25% to -30%.

"It's a huge reduction in a destination like Santorini that attracts more than 3 million visitors. You know, it's 10% of Greek tourism. We are not sure if can afford to lose that revenue."

Meanwhile, like other popular holiday destinations, Santorini has introduced curbs to try and control visitor numbers and ensure they're sustainable, which may have some impact on future inbound tourist statistics.

Among them is a cruise tax during its peak season from June to September, which will begin being collected next month. However, the 20 euro (£17.06) is not expected to affect cruise ship arrivals this year.

Some 3.4million people visited the island in 2023, putting pressure on its infrastructure pushing housing prices out of reach for locals.

Santorini Mayor Nikos Zorzos doesn't want to see more beds on the island to accommodate more guests. Instead, he favours limiting arrivals through the cruise ban he proposed, which will see numbers drop to around 8,000 a day from 17,000.

The cost of living crisis affecting countries across the world is also thought to have had an impact on the lower tourist numbers. Visitors are spending less, with fewer hotel bookings, and reports from shop owners of visitors spending lower amounts than normal on dining and souvenirs, the outlet reports.