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Major Tourist Development Project to Begin on Corfu

Aerial view of Erimitis, Corfu, where development of a tourist village is expected to begin soon. Photo credit: www.kassiopiproject.com

The U.S. investment group NCH Capital has just been given clearance to begin the “Kassiopi Project,” a 120 million-euro ($134 million) venture to construct a five-star tourist resort on the east coast of the Greek island of Corfu (Kerkyra).
Having initially planned the development of the 500-acre site of Erimitis back in 2012, constant judicial and bureaucratic obstacles since then have prevented the project from ever taking off.
Despite these setbacks, the company has announced that implementation of the project has now begun, with construction transitioning to its pre-processing phase.
According to NCH Capital managing director Andreas Santis, the company’s aim is to create a luxury tourist village which further accentuates Corfu’s natural beauty while attracting travelers belonging to a higher-income demographic.
The company hopes that attracting affluent visitors to this spectacularly scenic area will help strengthen Erimitis’ local economy and provide Corfu with a prime example of what Greek tourism can be.
Dubbed as a “green project,” limited construction will be undertaken in order to create an environmentally friendly, model tourist resort. The intention is to preserve the natural beauty of the island with a design which limits vehicle traffic and the use of electricity.
The tourist resort could create approximately 1,000 jobs for workers during its construction phase.
Project design and supervision is expected to be led by the architectural firm A. N. Tompazis, which has been previously recognized for its emphasis on environmental responsibility in its designs.
A mockup of a landscape in the future Kassiopi tourist village. The planners of the project say that the village will be  environmentally friendly and will highlight the natural beauty of the Greek island of Corfu. Photo credit: www.kassiopiproject.com

The model of the 5-star tourist village consists of 76 suites, 40 vacation homes, and a 60-berth marina which stretches across the site’s shoreline.
According to NCH Capital’s plan, construction of the Kassiopi Project is said to be divided into multiple phases, with construction of the hotel units and infrastructure to be completed by March 2021. The construction of the vacation homes is to be finished by 2023.
Though the company has stated that a majority of the residents of Corfu support the ambitious project, they have received pushback from a sizable portion of the area’s population.
A petition has even been started by Lee Durrell, an American naturalist whose late husband George lived on the island of Corfu with his family from 1935-1939. Their experiences there were later described in a series of books by her late husband and his brother Larry Durrell.
The petition cites ecological concerns for the construction of the site, since the entire island  of Corfu is home to a number of rare birds and reptiles as well as the legally protected Eurasian otter.
More information on the Kassiopi Project can be accessed through the company’s website, here.

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