Tourism increasing in Crete Article Published: 06:27 01/04/2007 Article Classification: Bay View Crete
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Crete is one of the most popular holiday destinations in Greece. Fifteen percent of all arrivals in Greece come through the city of Heraklion (port and airport), while charter flights to Iraklion were last year 20% of the total of charter flights in Greece.

In sum more than two million tourists visited Crete last year. This increase in tourism is reflected on the number of hotel beds, which increased in Crete by 53% from 1986 to 1991 while in the rest of Greece the increase was 25%.

Newspapers have reported that the Ministry of Mercantile Marine is ready to support the agreement between Greece, South Korea, Dubai Ports World and China for the construction of a large international container port and free trade zone in southern Crete near Tympaki.

The plan is to expropriate 850 ha of land. The port would handle 2 million containers per year. As of March 2007, there has been no official announcement.

Today the tourism infrastructure in Crete caters to all tastes. There is accommodation of every possible category, from large luxury hotels with all the facilities (swimming pools, sports and recreation facilities etc.), to smaller family owned apartments, to camping facilities.

Visitors can arrive at the island through two international airports in Heraklion and Hania, or by boat to the ports of Heraklion, Hania, Rethimno and Agios Nikolaos.

Olive Tree have promoted a number of developments in Crete and have just 'signed off' Bay View prior to their site visit in May of this year. Olive Tree's Darran Phillips and Richard Brady believe this to be one of the best up and coming investment opportunities in Europe.

Crete's mild climate is attracting growing interest from Northern Europeans to have a holiday home or residence on the island. E.U. citizens have the right to freely buy property and reside with little formality. 

A growing number of real estate companies cater to mainly British expatriates, followed by German, Dutch, Scandinavian and other European nationalities wishing to own a home in the sun. The British expatriates are concentrated in the western prefectures of Chania and Rethymnon and to a lesser extent in Heraklion and Lassithi.

Some 40 per cent of Britons in late 2006 said they were planning to live outside the United Kingdom or retire abroad due to socio-economic changes in the country. One in 10 Britons do so already.