Sea tourism appeared in Greece in the early 70’s, but it started to develop substantially in the early 80’s after the constitution of an appropriate legal framework with the passing of law 438/1976 (which together with the more recent laws 2743/1999 and 3182/2003 constitute the legal framework that govern the industry). Greece was the first country in the Mediterranean Sea where sea tourism started developing, while later France, Turkey, Italy and the Balkan countries of the former Yugoslavia followed. Based on ICAP research entitled «Rentals of professional yachts», which was prepared in February 2010, Kiriacoulis Mediterranean Cruises Shipping SA compared with other greek companies in the industry was in 2008:

• 1^st in value of total assets
• 1^st in earnings before financial expenses, income tax, depreciation and amortization

The operation of the Yachting Industry is directly connected to the Tourist Port industry. A tourist port is defined as the land and sea area which is allocated for the moorings or docking of yachts either on a permanent or transit basis. The land area includes all the buildings installations and other facilities (dry docking, technical services), while the sea area includes the quays, pontoons (either floating or not) and floating machines docks.

The first marinas in Greece were created in Vouliagmeni in 1963, in Zea in 1966 and in Aretsou in 1973. These facilities were constructed by the G.N.T.O. (Greek National Tourism Organization) in cooperation with the Ministry of Mercantile Marine, the Ministry of Economy and Finance and  the R.Y.C.G. (Royal Yacht Club of Greece), which was later renamed to Yacht Club of Greece (Y.C.G.). Tourist ports are governed by law 2160/1993. The law in question as it was amended by law 2636/1998 defines four categories of tourist ports: marinas, hotel ports, protected bays and moorings.

• Marinas provide all the necessary facilities and services for the full support of yachts, such as yacht repairs, electricity, water, telephone, re-fuelling station,  travelift etc.
• Hotel ports are located in front of hotels with more than 200 rooms.
• Protected bays provide basic facilities and elementary services to yachts so as to be in harmony with the environment.
• Moorings are found within bays and have limited facilities so as not to destroy the landscape.

In Greece there are 11.523 berths, which are found in 38 marinas. Kiriacoulis Mediterranean Cruises Shipping S.A participates direct and indirect (through its participation in Κ & G MEDITERRANEAN MARINAS MANAGEMENT S.A.) in the equity of companies operating the marinas of Gouvia – Corfu, Kalamata, Lefkas and Zea. Moreover, it participates in K&G MED. MARINAS MANAGEMENT S.A. which offers consulting services for the development and management of marinas. The following table presents the 38 marinas in Greece by their capacity.

MARINAS IN GREECE BY CAPACITY

SOURCE: Κ & G MEDITERRANEAN MARINAS MANAGEMENT S.A.