The agricultural sector
Agriculture has always been the island's main resource. In total, the Cretans cultivate 30% of their land and have had to deal with Brussels regulations concerning the Common Agricultural Policy since 1981, the year Greece joined the European Union. However, the island's inhabitants find it rather difficult to accept the fact that directives concerning one of their most important sources of income are decided several thousand kilometres away from Crete. It is not as easy to change ancestral cultures even if it does not produce as high yields as in Western Europe. And besides, this continuity of tradition certainly guarantees the good quality of the food produced in Crete.
If the people of Crete do not strictly follow the European directives dictating the rhythm of productivity, this does not mean that the development of the agricultural sector is carried out with full respect for natural resources and environmental protection. Indeed, the problem affecting irrigation is quite serious. Thanks to the mountain peaks, the arable areas are irrigated by numerous sources. In the other regions, the Cretans have long since found a way to pump water from the water tables by installing wind turbines in the plains. However, it is not uncommon in summer, when irrigation needs are very high, that several areas are with water cuts or that fields are watered in turn. Moreover, the ill-considered consumption of water drawn from the plains seriously affects the reserves of the ground water layers, making the situation even worse.
On the other hand, the intensive use of pesticides and fertilizers for crops has already damaged the island's flora and especially its fauna. In the race to develop and modernise the agricultural sector, which is less unbridled than elsewhere but is galloping, the Cretans are in second place among the Greek regions that use the most pesticides and fertilisers, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. The glimmer of hope comes from organic farming, which is gradually developing all over the island and could be an interesting and promising alternative for Cretan farmers and their environment.Tourism
Crete is one of the most touristy regions of the country, and the second most visited island after the undisputed Santorini. In some areas, all located on the north coast of the island, this tourist influx is particularly visible and invasive. The tourist activity first benefited the owners of large hotel complexes on the north coast, mostly Greek or foreign, but more rarely Cretan. Little by little, the benefits of this tourist frenzy have spread to the whole population, who have also been able to find something to their liking. At first the infrastructures were developed on the whole island, and today it is not only a few poles that benefit from it. Small restaurants, family guesthouses and tourist shops have opened all over the island, to which we must add car rentals, organized excursions and all the activities that revolve around them to understand that tourism is nowadays indispensable to the Cretan economy as the very first sector of activity. Between the big cities of the north, hotel complexes and holiday residences succeed one another to attract the majority of visitors who choose "all-inclusive" formulas for their holidays. It is therefore in these areas that you will have the least chance to discover authentic Crete. In other words, this means that the unbridled investment in the tourism sector is bringing a lot of money to the people of Crete, but it is also likely to further transform the island's landscape. If this trend continues, the country could only suffer the negative effects of an overflow of tourists in the years to come, despite the income generated, which is obviously welcome after the worst economic crisis the country has experienced since the end of the Second World War. That is why alternative tourism must be developed in order to preserve and sustainably develop Crete's natural, cultural and social resources.
Today's major challenge
In 2009, the most serious economic crisis in modern Greek history hit the country: successive austerity plans were imposed. In 2010, the eurozone countries launched international rescue plans to prevent Greece from going bankrupt. In 2018, the last aid package ends and the economic recovery begins.
Initially, Crete resists well to this crisis: the unemployment rate is lower than in the rest of the country, mainly thanks to the development of the tourism sector. However, from 2012 onwards, while tourism in Crete is experiencing an unprecedented dramatic increase, the unemployment rate is soaring: for the first time, the tourism sector does not seem to be able to absorb the jolts caused by the economic crisis. According to recent official statistics, this is due to the decline in income per visitor, the geographical dispersion of tourist establishments and businesses and the lack of links between tourism and other economic sectors in Crete, such as trade or agriculture.
This is indicative of the fact that tourism is not yet seen as one of the pillars that can contribute globally, directly or indirectly, to the achievement of the objectives set by the Sustainable Development Programme for 2030. This programme, adopted in 2015 by UN member governments (including Greece), aims to end poverty, combat inequality and injustice and address climate change. In other words, the challenge for Cretan tourism development is to ensure that it continues, taking into account its current and future economic, social and environmental impact, while fully meeting the needs of visitors, professionals and host communities.
