Destinations

Last month the new pedestrian bridge in Piraeus was inaugurated. The new bridge spans the busy road and connects passengers emerging from the train station in Piraeus with the ferry boats in the harbor.

Greece is one of four partner countries, namely, Cyprus, Italy and Malta, involved in a program to develop a Mediterranean standard for sustainable tourism (MSST).

The Organization for Tourism and Financial Development for Athens (OTOAA) submitted a bid to organize the annual City Break Expo and the European Cities Tourism (ECT) conference in Athens in June 2007.

The brilliant-white, cube-shaped homes and bluegreen seas of Mykonos island are among the most popular images of Greece’s island tourism.

Neatly dressed in a double-breasted blue suit, a Greek fisherman’s cap firmly set over his white hair, Theodoros Exadaktilos recounts the summer of 1963 when he brought the first tourists to Kefalinia, the largest Ionian island.

Chinese investors intend to create a theme park in Athens featuring cultural elements from their country, according to a report in the financial daily Kathimerini.

A new international airport costing more than 1 billion euros will be built on Crete, according to a government announcement. The new airport will be able to serve 5,000 holidaymakers at a time and will also serve as a transport hub for air cargo in the eastern Mediterranean.

At least five major tourism projects are expected to get underway this year. Two are completely new projects initiated by the Municipality of Katerinis (Pieria) and by the Elia Prefecture (Peloponissos).

Government last month unveiled plans to protect the Evros Delta, one of Greece’s most significant natural showcases of flora and fauna, by turning it into a national park. According to initial plans agreed upon by five ministries, the park will cover 20,000 hectares.

Agrotouristiki SA, the state corporation for alternative tourism development, is setting up a network of municipalities in the central Peloponnese that follow the route of ancient geographer Pausanias, and thus promote the region as a model “ecoagritourism” zone.