Crete

Nine out of every 10 foreign investors considering putting their money into the Greek nonperforming loans market are mostly interested in positioning themselves in the hotel sector. However, the stock of tourism properties offered by the Greek banks mainly concerns hotels outside the luxury category, according to market sources.

Drivers in Iraklion will be allowed, as of Wednesday, to park free of charges for two hours at parking spaces on eight streets of the Cretan capital until January 7.

Over 100 Quad bike owners from Heraklion, Crete arrived in Athens amid heavy rain protesting against the implementation of the new road safety regulations (KOK). Upon disembarking from the ferry boat at the port of Piraeus on Monday morning they started their journey to the Ministry of Transport.

A senior high school student from Crete was expelled for hanging a Greek flag on the schoolyard pole. The incident occurred at the Lyceum of Gazi in Heraklion with the school board justifying their decision by saying he had breached safety rules.

Crete, Greece's biggest island, is set to become a power interconnection junction, and an example to follow along the lines of the European Union's Clean Energy for EU Islands initiative if an ambitious plan to carry energy from Africa and Europe is implemented.

A large fish-shaped fossil was discovered in the Samaria Gorge in Crete during maintenence of the gorge path, which is a great tourist and hiking attraction.

Marine organism fossils are common in the the Cretan mountains, with numerous discoveries in the past, esepcially shells, since the time Crete was submerged in water millions of years ago.

Visiting Athens this November? If yes, make sure you don’t miss the opportunity to try some delicious Cretan wines at the Cretan Wine Fair held at the Athens Great Bretagne Hotel on November 5th!

Swinger-themed holidays is a niche in the tourism industry that is has a “special” target group and is gaining in popularity. Dutch company “SDC” offers its clients erotic escapades all over the world, with Crete and the Aegean being one of the favourite destinations. Their site is promoting its new erotic packages for 2018 and Crete has a prominent place on the menu.

German and British holidaymakers accounted for a third of arrivals from abroad and 30 percent of tourist spending last year, according to Bank of Greece data for 2016 processed by the Institute of the Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE).

Citizens' Protection Minister Nikos Toskas on Wednesday congratulated the Hellenic Police for "one of its biggest coups ever" following the rescue on Monday of a Cretan businessman who had been abducted while driving home outside the town of Iraklio on March 30.