Petros Doukos, the President of the Hellenic Golf Federation and a former Deputy Minister of Finance, thinks golf has a bright future in Greece as he told me in an email interview. “Golf can become one of the greatest industries of Greece. There is no reason why golf in Greece should be about one-sixtieth of what it is in Spain and about one-twentieth of what it is in Portugal. We have sun year-round, ideal sites for development, resort hotels, and people who are industrious with a solid sense of hospitality -- all the ingredients to build a golf industry.â€
Will it happen? Vassilis Anastasiou, whose career in golf began as a caddy and who now is operator of the Afandou course, is hopeful but cautious. “I have reason to believe that the new government (elected in spring 2004) will be much more serious and effective when it comes to the development of tourism, especially golf,†he told me.
In the past, developers faced serious obstacles, with especially daunting Greek land ownership practices requiring dozens of separate negotiations to acquire a sufficient piece of land. In unspoiled and ruin-rich Greece, increasingly challenging environmental and archaeological reviews also must take place before any development can proceed. But on the bright side, the newly-formed Ministry of Tourism is actively promoting golfing in Greece, and the Greek National Tourist Organization is also looking to golf to fill hotels in the off-season.
And that fabled Greek light keeps filling the sky. Will Greece get a grip on golf? As year-round competition from Turkey and southeastern Europe heats up, it may be the best way to prevent a Greek tragedy – this one in the crucial tourism industry.
