Tourist missing in Greece sends worrying message to hotel owner

A 73-year-old French woman missing since Friday on the Greek island of Sikinos sent a distress message to her hotel before disappearing, the hotel owner said on Tuesday.

A search is underway to find the woman, who has not been named by authorities. She is one of three tourists missing in Greece, and five of them died this month due to unseasonable heat.

Ilias Gavanas, owner of the guesthouse where the woman was staying, said he last heard from her on Friday when he reached her by phone around 8:30 a.m. after missing a call from her at 5:50 a.m.

He said the woman sent him a selfie and a message saying: “I’m falling.” He responded in French and English, asking for her location and telling her to call the European emergency number 112, and alerted the police and municipal authorities.

Temperatures soared above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) across Greece earlier this month.

The hike is popular with tourists on Sikinos, a largely arid and sparsely populated island in the southern Aegean Sea, Gavanas said.

“We warn them not to go out in hot weather, to always let us know where they are, not to wander off alone,” he said. “It was 40 degrees.”

The Ministry of Tourism said it was “remaining vigilant” and working with other ministries to ensure travelers were kept informed.

A second French woman is missing in Sikinos and authorities believe the two missing women went hiking together even though they were not staying at the same hotel, police said.

Searches are underway on the island of Amorgos to find an American missing since June 11.

Among the five tourists who died was British television presenter Michael Mosley, whose body was found on the island of Symi.

A 55-year-old American died on the Ionian island of Mathraki, a 74-year-old Dutch tourist died on the island of Samos and two hikers died on Crete.

In addition to record temperatures, Greece is expected to see record levels of tourism this year.

Overtourism is a problem in Greece, as in other European vacation hotspots. The ombudsman's report says Santorini – a small Aegean island with a population of 15,550 – receives more than 5.5 million visitors a year, double the number it received in 2012.

“In Santorini, even tourists complain about the large number of tourists,” the text adds.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in an interview with Bloomberg on Friday that the government was also considering imposing a cap on the number of cruise ships visiting the most popular tourist islands.