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Greece aims to exploit untapped tourism revenue by allowing diving for post-19th century shipwrecks in the near future, Tourism Minister Harry Theocharis said Monday as his country is already enjoying growth in the key sector.
In an interview with AFP, Theocharis said tourists would over the next few years be allowed to explore wrecks that were off limits before.
The minister announced the plans as the government forecast an increase of 10 percent in visitor revenues this year. Shipwreck tourism is not part of the 2020 revenue estimate.
“We will liberalise the creation of diving parks. We will allow diving in shipwrecks over 50 years old, which are currently not allowed,” Harry Theocharis told AFP in an interview.
A bill would be introduced “within a month” to open shipwrecks “after 1860” and until 1970 to divers, he said.
No details were given Monday, but the Greek seabed holds a large number of shipwrecks from World War I and World War II, including the Britannic, fleet mate of the Titanic, a British hospital ship sunk in 1916 near the island of Kea.
As Greece slowly emerges from a decade-long financial crisis it relies heavily on tourism to boost economic growth and accelerate job creation.
The sector accounts for about a quarter of the country’s gross domestic product and employs around 20 percent of the total workforce. AFP
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