Tourism Investments & Real Estate

Promoting Greece into a leading destination is at the top of Frankfurt-based transport group Fraport’s agenda after taking over the management of 14 regional airports across the country late last year, said its CEO Stefan Schulte.

Nine Greek transport projects are slated to receive EU funding under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) after the European Commission’s decision earlier this month to inject 6.7 billion euros in transport infrastructure to boost jobs and growth.

The Greek government once more has extended the deadline for bids to finance, construct and operate the new Kastelli airport project in Heraklion, Crete.

Alternate Tourism Minister Elena Kountoura presented the tourism investment opportunities in Greece to an audience of government and business leaders from the emerging economic powers, at the 20th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in Russia.

Six regional airports in Greece will get EU funding to the tune of 197 million euros towards their upgrade under the EU Infrastructure Investment Plan, the Greek Infrastructure, Transport and Networks Ministry announced.

Greece is extending the so-called golden visa to Arab nationals investing more than 250,000 euros in property. The investor visas offer five-year residency rights in return for real estate acquisitions or for strategic investments.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on Tuesday between the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (TAIPED) and Lamda Development, which amends the existing share sale and purchase agreement of the Hellinikon former airport.

“It could be a shopping list for the scenery in a movie – rather than a list of possessions that Athens is under immense pressure to offload,” the Guardian says, referring to an asset portfolio of some 71,000 properties now under the newly established Hellenic Holdings and Property Company (EESP), which will be responsible for facilitating the sale of state property and public corporations, including 23 regional airports. According to the UK paper, the full details of real estate up for sale will be revealed in the coming months.

Multi-level cooperation in energy, science, technology and tourism, investments in the private and public sectors (infrastructure, ports, mining, pharmaceutical, agri-food) as well as politics topped the agenda of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s weekend visit to Athens, which came to a close with a trip to the monastic state of Mount Athos in Halkidiki.

Plans to direct financial backing from the so-called Juncker Plan to the upgrade of the Parnassos Ski Center topped the agenda of Alternate Tourism Minister Elena Kountoura’s meeting with mayors of the region.