Destinations

Golf investment in Greece is showing signs of exceptional vigor and numerous projects are proceeding from the drawing board to the fairway.The success of two new courses, one at Porto Carras in Chalkidiki and a second course on Crete, seems to have spurred the strong interest of tourists to golf and showed the clear potential for more golf courses throughout Greece.

In a country with intersecting mountain ranges, thousands of natural climbing sites, a huge range of rocks (each demanding a different style of climbing) and an ideal climate, rock-climbing in Greece is slowly becoming a popular sport for both visitors and Greeks alike.

Recent press reports say that more than 60 private Greek islands are up for sale and have peaked the interest of domestic and foreign investors, and international tourism groups.

Athens Mayor Dora Bakoyannis and Deputy Sports Minister George Orfanos last month signed an agreement for the construction of a new swimming pool, sports and cultural center for the Athens Rouf area.

The Hellenic Center for Investment announced last month that it is rapidly proceeding with the implementation of three large tourism projects worth 600 million euros in foreign funds – one on Crete, one in Volos and one on the island of Arkoudi in the Ionian Sea. The projects had been blocked by bureaucratic red tape for quite some time.

A number of properties of the Tourism Development Company are soon to turned over to private enterprises through long-term leasing agreements, and thus bring some much-needed coins to the state.

Athenians that responded to Athens Mayor Dora Bakoyannis’ call for volunteers now man a number of City of Athens info booths daily from 10.00 to 20.00 and will continue to do so through to September.

Every city to have hosted the modern Olympic Games inherited improvements in infrastruc-ture, Olympic installations, facelifts, tourism promotion and a better environment through greater green spaces, says a survey by the international consultancy company Jones LangLalle.

At a joint press conference held at Zappeion Hall last month, the minister of tourism, the minister for the Aegean, and deputy ministers for the economy and for culture presented an ambitious series of conferences to be held through-out the summer.

In a major environmental move aimed at protecting the country’s ecosystem, the government last month signed an agreement that will transform 76,000 hectares of forest and wetlands in northern Greece into two national parks.