Destinations

Not too long ago, government said that a law would be implemented to encourage the construction of golf courses in Greece.

Last month, Greek President of the Republic Carlos Papoulias signed a presidential decree that stipulates the technical specifications required to create and operate a professional race track in Greece.

The ministry of environment approved the environmental study for a major tourism development project in Lassithi, Crete. The developer, London-based Minoan Group, formerly Loyalward Ltd. had initially signed a contract with the Ecclesiastical Foundation of Panagia Akrotiriani back in 1998 for developing a tourism facility on 26,000 stremma property owned by the Toplou Monastery.

The first International Tourism Salon (ITS) – Athens 2006 will be held November 30 through December 3 at the Piraeus Port Authority Center (OLP).

Athens will host next year’s City Break exhibition, and European Cities Tourism’s (ECT) annual conference, which is also the sponsor of the exhibition.

Next month, the second international tourism forum will take place on Rodos. This year’s theme is Competitiveness Through Sustainability: Opportunities and Challenges for Mediterranean Destinations.”

International specialists last month met in Piraeus to unveil a plan to limit the damage from a devastating oil spill caused after Israeli raids on a Lebanon power plant. The specialists warned that some of the 15,000 to 30,000 tons of escaped fuel oil could affect the shores of Cyprus, Turkey and Greece.

The Arab-Hellenic Chamber in cooperation with the Messinia Chamber organized a humanitarian aid effort to ease some of the suffering in war-torn Lebanon.

Greek ship owner Vasilis Kostantakopoulos’ large tourism development project in the Messinia Prefecture of Peloponnisos finally received all the permits required to get underway. The permitting process was complex and took many years to complete because of the numerous regulatory adjustments needed.

A 100-million euro investment in a resort complex with golf courses is a step closer to being realized following the signing of a preliminary agreement between the Golfing Developments company and the Orthodox Church in Volos, which owns a part of the property planned for the development.