In Macedonia, Northern Greece, very close to Amphipolis, the world’s first educational/entertainment theme park dedicated to the life and career of Alexander the Great is to be built and will be called “Alexander Theme Park“.

The creation of the park was announced by DreamWorkers‘ project manager, Gregory Avanidis, speaking to AP-MPA on the sidelines of today’s 8th conference of the Academic Tourism and Hospitality Program of The American College of Thessaloniki (ACT). The conference was entitled “Tourism and Real Estate Development” and was held in a central hotel in Thessaloniki.

In 2025, announcements are expected for the aforementioned Theme Park and its implementation work is expected to start in 2026, while its budget will count many millions of euros, less than 10 million euros, as Mr. Avanidis answered to a question, without however wanting to reveal the exact amount of the investment.

According to him, the “Alexander Theme Park” will have both indoor and outdoor areas and will be ideal for family entertainment, but also combining education, without, as he explained, referring to a “heavy historical theme”.

“The excavation of the Kasta, the great conversation that took place and the undeniable fact that Alexander lived and parts of his own history were written in that place, give the right to develop the Theme Park, the first in the world to be dedicated to him,” he pointed out.

In his address to the conference, he stressed that Theme Parks are attractive and have potential and estimated that in the coming years they will experience great growth in Greece, since “today there is a clear gap in our country, where there is a lag in their development and in relation to what is happening in the rest of Europe and the world.” For this reason, and as he stressed, it is no coincidence that foreign and Greek investors are already looking for space in Greece, in order to proceed with their development.

Besides, as he said, Theme Parks enhance the tourism product of the place where they are established and given that they can support family entertainment and education in a qualitative way, in the coming years “these projects will flourish in our country, with multiple benefits to be recorded”.

Referring to the theme of the conference, which focused on the impact of real estate on infrastructure and tourism services, Avanidis said both sectors are each important in their own right and their combination, he said, “is consistent with a magic formula.”

Real estate, he said, helps create a tourism product in areas where even today they are “buried in the sand” and has the power “to transform them into diamonds.”

In this context, he referred to the example of Orfyniou beach, but also to the Gerat Resort being implemented in East Kavala, “which may live in the shadow of the prominent tourist area of West Kavala, but soon it will also draw the spotlight on itself, due to real estate,” he stressed.

Characteristically, he said that investors are developing the Neapolis Project in East Kavala, with the completion of which, Mr. Avanidis estimated that the area will get sub-market value and will be on the map of accommodation and destination of tourists.

The importance of geography in tourism

“Tourism has two legs, geography and marketing and more emphasis may be given to the latter, but it is time to highlight the importance of the former which can take a destination off the ground,” stressed PhD, Property Development Consultant Adjunct Professor in Tourism, Hellenic Open University, Georgios Zographos, and spoke about Northern Greece and Porto Heli in the Peloponnese.

Specifically for Northern Greece, Mr. Zographos noted its proximity to the Balkan countries and Eurasia, saying that it should be connected to them and make the most of the advantages of this proximity.”

Underlining the growth experienced by Northern Greece, he said that in 2024 foreign investment, mainly from neighbouring Bulgaria and Romania, amounted to €3 billion in the region, compared to €2.133 billion in 2023, and emphatically stressed that in the period 2015-2024 it totaled €153.1 billion. He noted that investors are aged between 40 and 60 years old and pointed out that 50% of them invest in apartments.

As for property buyers from other countries, he said that they come from Germany, Austria and Poland, among others, while saying that the main “obstacle” remains the difficulty they face with financial institutions, he estimated that the future looks even brighter. On Porto Heli in the Peloponnese, he said that it continues to attract significant and numerous real estate investors and estimated that the islands and areas near it, such as Spetses, will soon be favored.

We are heading for a new record year in tourism this year

“The signals are very encouraging and everything indicates, although it is still early, that this year we are heading for a new record year in tourism,” said Chief Executive Officer, STANTA S.A., Tasos Andreadis, noting that Greeks and foreigners are constantly investing in Greece.

Of course, as he stressed, in order to deal with over-tourism and the problems it creates in local communities, which often “suffocate”, the carrying capacity of each region should be characterized, and thus targeted investments should be made, but also to develop other areas of our country that are currently not on the map of accommodation for tourists, both Greek and foreign. Besides, as he stressed, it is the investments in real estate that give life to the places and support local communities that, if they did not exist, “might not be able to stand up”.

Saying that there are many opportunities for additional investments, Andreadis pointed to the need for the creation of modern office space in Thessaloniki and in Greece as a whole and said that the creation of private universities will very soon highlight the need to implement projects in campuses, dining and leisure facilities, among others

Regarding the Kerameia Allatini project, he pointed out that the first tall building in Thessaloniki will be erected in the 82-acre area, while parks will be built that will be public and accessible to citizens, among other things.