Socio-economic situation of Local
Businesses in Katakolon, Western Peloponnese
Katakolon is
a seaside town in the
municipality of Pyrgos in Western Elis (Ilia),
Greece Gulf
of Kyparissia
With its close proximity to Ancient
Olympia, the birthplace of the Olympic Games in classical time, Katakolon is considered as one of the most touristic places
in the region. The port of Katakolon is a popular stop for
cruise ships, offering passengers an opportunity to visit the site of Olympia Olympia
Katakolon is
a small town full of jewelry and souvenir shops. Besides that, there are lots of
restaurants- particularly fish restaurants due to the fact that it’s a coastal town.
The port has a history that dates many decades
back. It began its operation as a touristic center since the early 20th century,
while European travelers arrived at it since the 19th century. The main reason
why European travelers visited Katakolon and Elis
Katakolon functioned as a commercial port even
since the Ottoman period. This was intensified since the 1870s, when it became
one of the main ports for the export of currants. The role of this product was
of such importance that allows us to talk of a culture based on currants.
Furthermore, Katakolon had very close
cultural, economic and social ties, primarily with the island
of Zakynthos and secondarily with the island of Cephalonia
We
truly believe that the restoration of the transport to the southern Ionian Islands will have very positive impact for both
Katakolon and these islands.
In those early years of tourism, Katakolon was “faithful” to the idea of cruising
which initially seemed to take the wrong orientation since the commercial part
was smaller than expected. Furthermore touristic activities had just started with
undefined results at the time and so suspiciously missing the dream of tourism.
Professional fishermen in the region experienced the inhuman conditions
of occupation during the civil
war and managed tooth and nail to feed themselves and their families
through the sea by selling fish to the aristocracy.
Today, the port is one of the major entry ports for tourists who are
coming to Greece port
of Katakolon Greece , the port of Katakolon nowadays has the second busiest cruise
traffic in Greece after Piraeus
Today's goal of
the port is in principle to
develop the ability of mooring for the third generation ships – above 350
meters of displacement which
will be achieved by the gradual expansion
of the port and also the
home port option of disembarkation for tourists in cruise ships approaching the Katakolon port.
Along with exports of goods, tourism is expected to constitute one of
the main sectors that will contribute towards the recovery and growth of the
Greek economy in the coming years by assisting in
attracting investments, supporting other economic sectors and boosting
employment. Tourism has already contributed decisively in this direction since it recorded an
impressive recovery in 2013, and it assisted significantly in intercepting the
downward spiraling course of the Greek
economy in the period 2008 - 2013. It then went on to post impressive results
in 2014 and 2015.
With
tourism being the main source of income for residents of Katakolon, there is a need to emphasis more
on how local residents think about tourism and how the political and economic
conditions in the region affect their daily lives. In an interview with a couple who
lives in Pyrgos and owns businesses of both market and jewelry shops in the center of Katakolon, they were clear about the
economic conditions the country is currently experiencing:
"Greece is having tough times, we are all aware of this. Tourism
was strong in past years. It kept us well. But then the Turkey-Russia issue
came up this winter. I thought that things would go really bad for Greek tourism,
although all my friends were so happy! They were telling me that all tourists
from Russia will now come to
Greece , they will not visit Turkey Turkey , it means
that there will not be any tourists in Greece ;
because tourists who come from east go firstly to Turkey
and then come to Greece Turkey and Greece
Also
worth noting is the fact that there are many young people who work in Katakolon, which is something positive given
the high unemployment rate among youth in the country. Most business
owners are aged people but their
employees are usually young ones around 20-30 years old. Many of them are
students coming from various cities scattered around Greece
Despite the fact that around two to three ships are coming in at the port daily,
local business owners are still not
satisfied with the number
of tourists. They are complaining about this year’s figure,
saying that the number of tourists
this year is relatively low in comparison to last year’s figure. Additionally, there
have been only a few festivals, exhibitions and events organized in the seaport town and Pyrgos this year, which can,
to a larger extend, be considered as a disincentive to tourists coming to Greece
Most of the local business
owners don't have any idea on how to improve Katakolon:
“I don't know why this year was like this. I have been working here in Katakolon for 3 years now, every summer
being here in this cafe. Ships do not stay long, so the tourists do not have any chance
to stay longer and do more things here. Katakolon is unfortunately only a break for them. They come to eat and drink, and some of them go to the
beach for swimming. That's it…
Regarding the independent travelers who come
here and stay for 2-3 days, they always complain about the expensive
means of transportation. They also find that there should be more public
transport... The truth is that it wasn't like this before the crisis.
I believe that we can change this bad image about our region
by
enhancing the social life here. I honestly don't know how to do that. I only
know that most of the people here are aged. If there
were other kinds of entertainment, like beach bars or alike, there would be lots of
young people.”
In conclusion, businesses in Katakolon try nowadays to
survive. They are tired of how politics can affect this small, touristic port city. They can’t
help thinking from time to time of moving to another city instead of staying and waiting
for better days to come...
They are aware that economic crisis
affects them in every way but they still believe that the tourism
industry will go better in the not too distant
future.
Both businessmen and
workers share a common vision; they want a better and well-known Katakolon.
Besides, Elis, and the whole area is full of
archaeological sites, monuments of nature and monuments of modern era and
Katakolon is the main gateway to this mythical world.
-Research, interviews
and core article: Gökçe Orhan
(Sociology Graduate at Bahçeşehir University in Istanbul/Turkey, in collaboration with "Dione" Local
Development Centre in Ancient Olympia
-Copyediting: Emmanuel
Dweh Togba (Masters student in Economics at Anadolu
University in Turkey
-Editing: Dionysios
Trambadoros (Economist, Historian Researcher)
-Supervisor: Vaso
Charitopoulou (Head of “Dione”)
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