Making Greece a movie destination
The Greek Tourism Ministry has revealed an ambitious plan to transform popular tourist destinations in Greece into film sets for international movie producers.
According to a survey by the Foundation for Economic & Industrial Research (IOBE), Greece would stand to add 39 million euros to its gross domestic product for a big movie production by a foreign company budgeted at 25 million euros. And this figure does not include the supplementary benefits of luring additional tourists to the country because of the film’s location.
In terms of employment opportunities, a foreign film production could create more than 755 jobs in various sectors of the economy.
Some 40 million tourists annually select their holiday destination on the basis of where a particular movie was made, according to data from the Tourism Ministry.
IOBE research suggests that films produced in Greece have had a positive impact on the economy, citing the case of “Captain Corelli’s Mandolin,” filmed on Cephalonia in 2001, which boosted the island’s hotel reservations by 14 percent. To this end, the ministry has created a working group to figure out ways to facilitate foreign producers who want to film in Greece. The aim is to hammer out the legal framework that would provide incentives to attract foreign production companies.
The working group is also examining ways to make it compulsory for foreign productions to make use of Greek professionals.
