A new marina and recreational boat shelter have been given the go-ahead as part of Greek government approval for a series of tourism projects worth over €325m. The approvals have come from an inter-ministerial committee for strategic investments led by Greek Economy Minister Yannis Dragasakis.

The new boat shelter is part of over €50m being spent on projects on the island of Mykonos. It is on this island that the start of the privatisation process for the island’s marina was recently announced.

The site of the marina is at Monolithos on the island of Santorini, a leading cruise ship destination in Greece. The marina, which has a budget of €40m, will have 350 berths up to an unspecificied superyacht size. It will be run by the Municipal Port Fund of Thira and it is anticipated that 120 new jobs will be created when the marina is completed.

Monolithos is currently a small fishing port but the new marina, which is hoped to be completed within two or so years, will provide a facility for yachts wishing to visit Santorini. The island already has a marina which dates from about 10 years ago, but more capacity is needed to meet demand.

A cooperation protocol was signed in 2017 between the Thira Port Fund of Santorini and Enterprise Greece to formulate an investment plan for the marina in the Monolithos area. The marina is identified as one of Greece’s strategic investments which have special conditions and a fast-track option applying to investments.

The protocol involved appointing a consultant to undertake the necessary surveys covering areas such as engineering and environment, as well as developing a marina master plan and conceptual design.

When the protocol was signed, a statement from Thira stated: “Our common aim is the ideal business maturity of the planned project, the preparation of an investment plan, which will examine all parameters of its technical feasibility and sustainability, will analyze and document relevant conclusions as well as the contributory benefit to the local and national economy so as to make the project attractive to the domestic and international investment and business community.”

Enterprise Greece is supervised by the Ministry of Economy and Development as an agency to assist foreign investors and enterprises to do business with Greece.