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Published on : Monday, August 17, 2020
Officials in the Greek town of Preveza hope that small, family-run businesses will help them overcome the corona virus’ impact on travel, thereby saving the region from the environmental impact and economic downturn of mass tourism that is more common on Crete or the Ionian islands.
“The pandemic is an opportunity to promote alternative tourism, fishing tourism,” as well as local life and culture “directly related to the natural resources that date from Antiquity,” said Constantin Koutsikopoulos, heading the agency charged with managing the Ambracian Gulf.
The gulf has a protected wetlands park of around 400 sq. kms that is one of Europe’s Natura 2000 wildlife diversity regions. One hundred and fifty dolphins, loggerhead sea turtles and 300 species of aquatic birds including the rare Dalmatian pelican inhabit in the lagoons and reed beds of the gulf.
Located in the midst of green hills, the Ambracian Gulf is fed by rivers coming down from the mountains of the Epirus region of northwestern Greece. For Greece as a whole, reopening its borders for tourists as early as June appears to have proved lucrative as of now.
New corona virus cases have appeared quite slowly since then, with fewer than 6,000 cases and just over 200 deaths nationwide from the pandemic.
Although Preveza has decided on a slower, more family-oriented approach towards travel compared to better-known Greek destinations, it hasn’t abandoned Mediterranean holiday clichés altogether.
Tags: greece