EU Funds to Go Towards Upgrade of Greece’s Tourist Product

Paliouri, Halkidiki. Photo source: Photo: © Facebook – ΟΙ ΟΜΟΡΦΙΕΣ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΑΣ ΜΑΣ

Museums, eco-parks, eno-tourism and religious tourism, thermal spring  facilities, marinas, ski resorts, cultural and arts centers, accommodation facility upgrades, human resources, tourism promotional campaigns and public administration are all set to tap into some 300 million euros in EU subsidies, the Secretary General for Tourism Policy and Development, Yiorgos Tziallas said during a press conference on Monday.

Greece’s Secretary General for Tourism Policy and Development, Yiorgos Tziallas (center) addressing the media.

The EU funds known as ‘’ESPA’’ in Greek will be made available through the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) 2014-2020 program and will be allocated for co-financed activities relating to tourism.

More specifically, 25 million euros have been set aside for the development of public buildings; 20 million euros for multipurpose seaside, lakeside and riverside venues; 25 million euros for the utilization and promotion of thermal springs; five million euros for a pilot religious tourism project; 29 million euros for the upgrade of transport infrastructure, environment and sustainable development.

A further 1.4 million euros will go to nature conservation and operations at Paliouri in Halkidiki; 2.4 million euros for the upgrade of the Rodopi Ecotourism Fanari Park as well as for the development of tourism infrastructure there; 3.1 million euros for Samos’ Epicurean Cultural Center.

Funds have also be allocated for public administration including projects that will simplify procedures as well as for promotional campaigns.

A total of 15 million euros has been set aside for human resources development, education and lifelong learning opportunities and training & certification programs for the unemployed.

The sector is also set to gain from the INTERREG transnational cooperation programs for development projects and thematic forms of tourism.

Some 120 million euros of the ESPA subsidies will also fund a new program — to be launched in the first quarter of 2017 — aimed to support the creation of new small and medium-sized tourism enterprises in Greece.