Sawt Falasteen - Greece aims to cut queues at ancient sites with new portal

The Hellenic Heritage (hh.gr) website will from April aim to reduce queues at major tourist draws as well as offer information on over 350 sites in eight languages.

Greece has spent years trying to develop an electronic ticketing system to maximise earnings and cut queues. Some three million electronic tickets were issued just for the Acropolis last year, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said at the official presentation.

Greece in 2024 attracted 40.7 million visitors, up 12.8 percent from 2023. The tourism ministry in December said 2025 also looked like a "record year".

"Our ambition is for the traveller to be able to establish a personal connection with each monument," Mitsotakis said.

"The truth is...that the majority of visitors, even today, do not come to our country to experience Greek culture. This is something that must change," Mitsotakis said.

Over 100 archaeological sites and museums will be connected to the system from April 1.

A dedicated business-only section will provide real-time availability data to help tour operators to streamline group bookings, organisers said.

Culture Minister Lina Mendoni said persons with disabilities and their companions will be able to select the use of an elevator, lift or wheelchair when booking tickets.

Travel operators at the presentation raised concerns about being able to harmonise the new tool with their own bookings systems in less than two months.

"If everybody tries to log in on April 1, the system will crash," one operator warned.

B.Mahmoud--SF-PST