What the Region of Thessaly asked for

The stigma of the new tourism program of the Region of Thessaly in the post-covid era, with emphasis on the development of quality alternative forms of tourism and the support of tourism activity was presented by the Governor of Thessaly Costas Agorastos and the Deputy Regional Minister of Tourism Giannis Boutinakou in Athens, under the Minister of Tourism Vassilis Kikilias, with the participation of the 13 Regions of the country and the leadership of the Ministry and EOT.

Regional Governor Costas Agorastos presented the two new global tourism products developed by Thessaly: the underwater museum of Peristera in Alonissos which is evolving into a diving destination and the wetland of Lake Carla that offers ideal conditions for the development of birdwatching. He also referred to the interregional cooperation of Thessaly with Central Macedonia and Eastern Macedonia – Thrace for the development of maritime tourism and the planning of maritime Egnatia.

The Deputy Regional Minister of Tourism and Culture, Giannis Boutinas, requested the support of the Ministry and EOT for the co-organization:

-workshops targeting European capitals with presentations of thematic tourism products and contacts with tour operators.

-meetings with parallel activities in the wetland of Lake Carla, for the development of birdwatching and the co-organization of a conference for the development of religious and pilgrimage tourism in Meteora

Mr. Boutinas brought up the issue of subsidy in the ferry connection Volos – Mesto Chios with intermediate station Sigri Lesvos and the final station in Kastelli, Crete, which carries out a new alternative ferry axis in the eastern Aegean, connecting the port of Volos with points of the North Aegean. He presented the plan for the creation of a Destination Management Organization in the Region of Thessaly and referred to critical issues of product support that require us to quickly see decisions for:

-the immediate extension for at least 3 months of the BRIDGE program for the interest subsidy.

– the immediate disbursement of the outstanding amounts to be paid to companies by the action “Working capital subsidy affected by the pandemic of tourism”

– the immediate completion of the repayment of the amounts due to the companies from the program “Tourism for all” and from the program of Social Tourism of OAED (without deductions for payment of tax and insurance obligations)

-immediate liquidity of the tourism sector either by the continuation of rental programs for businesses and the suspension of staff, or by the transaction of suspension of payment of insurance and tax liabilities for businesses, at least until the end of June 2022. As characteristically stated by Deputy Governor “especially in the mainland the tourist offices and the tourist buses, apart from the compensation of the reduced occupancy of 65% for the months of July and August 2020, did not receive any other compensation and count another 21 months that the companies remain inactive and the buses are almost immobilized” .

– to give the possibility to include the tourist offices and the tourist buses with KAD 79.11 and 49.39 in the New Development Law for Investment plans that are included, modernization or extension, for the acquisition of vehicle fleet equipment.

– the explanation of the traffic fees of the tourist buses, because the owner of a bus with 50 seats pays 215 euros if it is characterized as KTEL, while 595 euros if the same car is characterized as T.L.D.X. This inequality has existed for several years.

-energy virtual net metering for those hotel companies that can not use the space of the accommodation (due to the layout, the area, the lack of external countries, archeology, urban planning, etc.) and finally

– to integrate all alternative tourism, such as outdoor sports, leisure sports and adventures in the special tourist infrastructure, so that they are selected for support by the Development Law.