Formula One track proposed as tourism boost
Greece is considering building a Formula One racetrack to tune up the country’s vital tourism industry. «There are some plans on the table about the creation of a Formula One racing track. It requires some caution but it is something we could see as positive,» Deputy Culture Minister Giorgos Orphanos, who holds the sports portfolio, told The Associated Press yesterday. Tourism Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos said that a possible location was the Viotia region, about 100 kilometers north of Athens. He said a final decision would be announced soon. Avramopoulos made his comments after meeting with Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis to discuss a major promotional campaign already under way. Stung by dismal bookings during the Olympics last year, Greece is spending 60 million euros in 2005 to promote itself as a year-round vacation destination. Tourism accounts for 18 percent of the country’s gross domestic product. Avramopoulos, a former mayor of Athens, visited Los Angeles at the beginning of this month to try and woo Hollywood producers to make movies in Greece. «It’s a shame that in the past we’ve missed out on major productions shooting in Greece… we must become competitive in the international arena,» he said. «Captain Corelli’s Mandolin,» a fictional World War II love story starring Oscar-winner Nicholas Cage, was filmed in 2000 on the Ionian island of Cephalonia. (AP)
