Corfu is preparing for an injection of sea and cultural tourism
Corfu is set for several significant projects that will bolster its tourism development. On a visit to the Ionian island last weekend, Tourism Development Minister Aris Spiliotopoulos said that sea tourism in Corfu has a great margin for improvement. Besides the Gouvia marina, which has a capacity of 1,200 boats and is fully set up, the decision for a marina at Kefalomantouko was taken on the spot. That marina is projected to host 98 mega-yachts. By summer, the mooring spot of Alypas at Palaiokastritsa will be ready to host 103 boats. The Korakofolia marina, with a capacity of 80 boats, will be ready in December. At Benitses, the port section has been completed, while the land section costing 1.2 million euros was tendered in 2007. Spiliotopoulos referred to the 7-million-euro project at the historic Achillion site, to be completed in December. The project package «Competitiveness» contains 12 projects for Corfu at a budget of a total 35 million euros. The minister said messages from the UK market are not as good as those from other markets which have shown rises in bookings, such as those from Russia (50 percent), Switzerland (185 percent), Austria (20 percent), Romania (128 percent), Finland (80 percent) and Ireland (100 percent). Domestic tourism is also doing well, with the number of arrivals and nights of accommodation by Greeks on the island continuing to rise. The Greek National Tourism Organization will use the listing of the old city of Corfu as a World Cultural Heritage site by the United Nations’ special committee to highlight Corfu’s cultural significance.
