Greece’s neglected ports of call
It is a sad and worrying sight to see that so many marinas in major tourist destinations all around the country have been abandoned and left to sink into ruin. These are marinas that were constructed with funds that came from state coffers and from the European Union in order to help Greece acquire an edge in the brutal global competition for high-quality yacht tourism. Unfortunately, however, the inability of local authorities to take control of the situation, coupled with the idiotic competition between various bodies funding port works and municipal authorities, as well as the notorious snarl of red tape involved in any bureaucratic process in Greece means that the operation and maintenance of many marinas has long been abandoned. What is worse is that this comes at a time when many of Greece’s neighbors, except perhaps for Turkey, have made significant investments in their sea tourism sectors and are attracting a growing number of skippers who are looking to dock at clean, efficient and well-equipped marinas.
