New tourism zoning plan opens up investment options
The new Special Zoning Plan for Tourism that was put to a 10-day public consultation on Friday introduces significant changes to the way tourism infrastructure is planned in Greece.
Its main points concern a generous subsidy for the creation of major tourism installations within demarcated areas, and the opening up of regions where until now it had been forbidden to build new tourism constructions, such as uninhabited islands smaller than 0.5 square kilometers.
Islands with relatively small tourism development that until today could only host camping facilities, will now be able to have accommodation units of up to 100 beds each. The plan also opens Natura-protected areas to tourism development, with the exception of their centers.
It further promotes cruise tourism at ports such as Thessaloniki and Kavala in Macedonia, Volos in central Greece, Katakolo in the Peloponnese, and the islands of Rhodes, Kos and Patmos. The plan opens up more regions to the development of golf courses, too, adding the prefectures of Achaia, Aetoloacarnania and Argolida and the islands of Kos, Lefkada and Cephalonia to candidate spots.
