Dear Friends of Yachting,
Greece with its enchanting Seas and Polynesia is considered by many, and not unjustly, the Mecca of sea tourism activities. Our goal must be to make Greece, in the coming years, the center of world yachting.
The unfavorable conditions created by the COVID 19 Pandemic did not leave the industry unaffected, however our mission is to look to the future with optimismand good planning for a better future.
After all, the resumption of sea tourism activities and especially professional yachting will in turn contribute to the effort to recover from the effects of the pandemic. Let us not forget that this sector contributes greatly to employment and the economy, as it supplies a number of neighboring industries such as shipyards, classification societies, oil and food companies.
Professional Yachting in Greece numbers more than 6,000 vessels and employs almost 5,000 sailors, while it affects more than 120 professions and is estimated to contribute about 1.4% of GDP.
However, in order to achieve our goal and bring Greece to the top of the global Yachting preference, we need interventions and reforms that our government is committed to implementing.
The legislative framework needs to be simplified. Open seas for all, in accordance with the National and social acquis.
We need to automate procedures, reduce bureaucracy and modernize the ship register.
Of course we need quality and well trained staff. To do this, the naval academies will have to be upgraded and a new course created to create specialized yachting executives.
For this reasons, together with the Institutions of the sector, we are studying a series of legislative initiatives.
Personally, I believe very much in this area, I believe that Greece must and can succeed and I believe we can invest in this National, factor comparative advantage of our country.
Good seas for everyone.