Athens Riviera Summit: Marinas an Integral Part of Tourism Development – Obstacles for Investors
Correspondence from the Athens Riviera Summit 2024: NouPou, the Chief Local Media Sponsor of the event, is reporting on what is taking place at the Four Seasons Astir Palace Athens in Vouliagmeni, where the first Conference of the Athenian Riviera is being held.
- 18/06/2024
The port facilities of marinas throughout Greece present great prospects in the coming years, constituting a key element for the development and growth of tourism in the country. However, there are several issues that investors are called to address, as pointed out by the Managing Director of Lamda Marinas, Stavros Katsikadis, referring, among other things, to the lack of investments in previous years, resulting in a significant portion of the marinas being of lower quality.
The Managing Director of Lamda Marinas (Flisvos Marina, Agios Kosmas, Corfu), Stavros Katsikadis, stated that wealth is created through marinas. “However, during the crisis, investors could not risk capital, resulting in a lack of strategic planning and investment. One of the main problems in the industry is that there are 150 licensed marinas. Still, only 30 operate with quality, and 66 operate with lower quality. Therefore, there is reluctance, and a significant problem arises because marinas were not developed in previous years, and we are struggling to develop them. The timeframe for planning and implementing projects is long.”
Flouris: Priority is sustainability
The Secretary General of Tourism Policy and Development, Myron Flouris, referred to Tourism’s achievements and stated that the first goal is sustainability, as “through sustainability, we see the solution to structural problems of the tourism product, such as seasonality, infrastructure resilience, solving spatial development issues and strengthening areas with potential for development.”
He added that, especially in the field of maritime tourism, sustainability is a priority, and mentioned that a maritime tourism observatory is being created “through which we want to collect data using technology and be able to implement policies that move towards sustainable development.”
The project of Astir Marina
TEKAL is a company specializing in the construction of marinas, and its latest project in this field was the Vouliagmeni Marina (Astir Marina). Christiana Psaltakou represented the company. “In recent years, we have specialized in port projects and have carried out major private projects of significant prominence. From 2009 until today, we have been the contractors for the major investment projects of Cosco. Currently, we are executing three fishing shelters in Evia and three major port projects in Northern Greece. It is a great privilege to construct the Vouliagmeni Marina, and we have proven concretely that we can implement the Vouliagmeni Marina, an iconic project – a landmark with many facilities,” stated Ms. Psaltakou.
She also highlighted that Vouliagmeni presents significant archaeological interest. “We have created 60 mooring positions, placing Greece in the elite of mega yachting. The land area extends to 50 acres and is upgraded with commercial stores, management offices, and other facilities. We knew the difficulty due to the extensive legislative requirements when we entered this project. With our vast experience and technical expertise, we applied practices and methods that brought to the forefront the first major marina in line with green and sustainable development standards,” Ms. Psaltakou mentioned, emphasizing that “marinas must be productive forces. This tourist product will become a hub for the development of the tourism economy and at the same time promote green development.”
Dendrinos: The investment of Olympic Marine in Lavrio
From his side, Nikolaos Dendrinos, President of Olympic Marine which manages the Marina in Lavrio, noted that his company entered the new day in 2019 with an upgrade of its facilities. “We emphasized the service aspect to offer services and complementary activities. We are located in the eastern part of the Riviera and have the opportunity to have more space compared to the marinas of Alimos or the southern suburbs. We have developed a shipyard where we build boats under the brand Omikron. We are next to a fantastic maritime environment and target American and European clientele. Our goal is to have customers not only from Greece,” he stated.
V. Vlachos: A city within the city.
Regarding the course of tourism and the role of marinas in this context, Vangelis Vlachos, Director of Alimos Marina, stated that the marina is like a city within the city. “Especially our marina presents three strategic advantages, due to its morphology it is close to the center of Athens, protected from the weather, and offers access to the Saronic Gulf. There is a very high demand, and we are trying to take into account the issue of spatial planning and new mooring positions. Collaboration is important in everything we try to do as investors and individuals between local government and private individuals. Projects cannot progress without the city being involved in them. The state must also solve problems, remove obstacles, and hurdles businesses and investors face, while licensing issues are crucial.”