Crossroads of the Adriatic: Corfu BEING IN THE MIDST OF THE ADRIATIC MARITIME ROUTES OF PEOPLES & CULTURES
An International Tourist Destination The Island of Corfu is a pioneer Tourist Destination for Greece and the Mediterranean. It is the host of : The Historical Old Town of Corfu, an Unesco World Heritage Monument since 2007 Approximately 2 million visitors a year The administrative centre of the Ionian Islands The International Airport Ioannis Capodistrias The Corfu Port Authority S.A. with major infrastructures for ferry and cruise ship docking
Part of the Adriatic Maritime Routes A natural link between the Ionian Islands (Paxoi, Leykada, Zante, Kefalonia, Ithaca) & the main Adriatic Sea destination ports An ideal stop for any Cruise in the wider area of the Mediterranean Able to support & host passing through yachts & sailing vessels Internationally accessible to kick off or end up a leisure sailing trip in the wider area
Cruise tourism Port infrastructures of a new 430m-long pier that enables the catering of 7 vessels simultaneously in the port being able to host the largest cruise vessels sailing in the Mediterranean More than 400 cruise ship calls and more than 600.000 cruise passengers The local economy of Corfu island is enhanced by 34 million euros per year
Ferry Connectivity Ferry connections to domestic and foreign destinations with an annual circulation of 1,5 m passengers and 500.000 vehicles Mainly to Western Greece, via the Port of Igoumenitsa and The Egnatia Highway which support land Balkan travelers All year round connections Paxoi, Antipaxoi, Mathraki, Erikoussa, Othonoi All year round connection to Albania Seasonal connection to Italy, aiming to establish all year round connectivity
Sailing & Yachting Currently serviced by the Marina of Gouvia An available network of alternative coastal tour-ofthe-island destinations Possibility to dock in stations of optimum proximity to the Historical Old Town 4 smaller tourist marinas are on the way (two organised by the Municipality of Corfu, and another two by Corfu Port Authority S.A.) A further 30 minor tourist ports are being evaluated in terms of their marine investment prospects
Seaplane Harbours The Corfu Seaplane harbour was successfully licensed in 2014. It is considered as a Class-A which means a large metropolitan sized seaplane harbour able of processing 5-10 aircraft simultaneously. The seaplane infrastructures will support the interconnection of transport modes, enabling the direct connection from Port to Airport or from Port to Port or Port to remote tourist Marina areas. In the recent past years (2004-2008) seaplanes flew over Ionian region. More than 15.000 flights were carried out transferring more than 180.000 passengers
Connecting the Adriatic Destinations The Adriatic is an area to explore especially for sailing and yachting tourism Closely linked destinations in terms of interest and infrastructure are to the benefit of both tourists and destination service providers Adriatic destinations are complementary and by no means competitive against each other Cultural ties can strengthen destination connectivity
It has been done before
Enhancing Capacity The sailing and yachting sectors are key to the way ahead The Municipality of Corfu aims to create and support the investment in a network of medium and minor tourist marinas all around the Island of Corfu The goal is to boast local economy by creating focal coastal strong points We welcome the sharing of experience in the operation and finance of this project
Corfu: Sail into History
One way or another... Please contact at: mayor@corfu.gov.gr Hope to see you soon in Corfu!