Destinations

The City of Athens is spending 4.8 million euros to aesthetically redevelop and make more operational one of its most important monuments, Lycabettus Hill, which hovers 1,000 feet over the city. All renovation works on the hill will be completed by the summer, and all works will meet ecological standards and follow extensive environmental studies.

With the Tigris and the Euphrates, the marshes and forests of palm trees, and the archaeological sites of ancient Mesopotamia and holy (Shiite) cities, Iraq should be counted among the premier tourist destinations in the world, said the coordinator general of Iraq’s tourism office during a recent symposium.

More than two million tourists arrived in Turkey for holidays during July, an increase of 10% over the same month last year, according to the Turkish government, which shows that Greece’s neighbor quickly overcame the negative results the tourism sector suffered because of the recent war in Iraq.

The Organization of World Heritage Cities’ 7th international symposium will take place in the medieval city on the island of Rodos between Sept. 23 and 26. The symposium is under the auspices of the Greek Ministry of Culture and the Cultural Olympics and is in coorporation with UNESCO and the International Center for the Study, the Preservation and the Restoration of Cultural Property.

Deputy Development Minister Dimitris Georgakopoulos unveiled plans to build a state-of-the-art tourism complex that would include popular alternate forms of tourism such as spa, marine and golf facilities.

Government last month announced the approval of a new “Railway-Airport-Public Transport” business plan worth almost 3 billion euros. The lion’s share of the funds, some 2 billion euros, goes to modernizing Greece’s rail network, particularly the Athens-Thessaloniki and Athens-Patras links. The basic aims of the program are to modernize transportation services and to reduce the far-reaching repercussions this sector has on the environment.

Greece’s newest golf course opens this month on the island of Crete. Owners say it is the most challenging golf course in Greece and one that will be meticulously maintained. The course takes in the typical ancient landscape of Crete and will host many of the visitors that come here to enjoy the island’s sunshine and history. The Crete Golf Club says it will offer the best of golf with 18 holes in a desert course design. “Each hole individually sculptured, seamlessly blending into the existing landscape.”

Athens ranks as the 71st most expensive city worldwide, according to the Mercer Human Resource Consulting’s first cost of living survey for 2003, against a placing of 111th last year. Using New York as a base measure of 100, the semi-annual survey, which covers 144 cities, compares the cost of more than 200 items in each location, including housing, food, clothing, household goods, transport and entertainment.

More than a million visitors are expected to flock to Athens to watch the action at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. According to the Athens 2004 committee, foreign visitors during the two weeks of the Games will total somewhere between 500,000 and 700,000. Another 300,000 are expected from throughout Greece, and that includes volunteers. Then there are the 65,000 members that are directly involved in the Games.

In cooperation with the development, interior and culture ministries, as well as regional authorities, Hellenic Tourism Properties signed an agreement with a private-sector firm to carry out quality renovation works at Greece’s five main in-land border points: Evzones, Promahona, Kipon, Kakavias and Nikis. The projects, worth more than six million euros, begin this month and are scheduled for completion before the end of this year. The lion’s share of the budget, 44%, goes to renovation works at Greece’s busiest in-land border point, the Evzones. Works here are expected to be completed this September.