First name
Theresa
Last name
Karpathiotaki
Organisation name
Δήμος Χερσονήσου - Municipality of Hersonisos
Type of member
Local/Public Authority
Describe your organisation
Municipality of Hersonisos
- Land of Experiences -
Demographic Characteristics
The Municipality of Hersonisos is one of the Municipalities of the Region of Crete, as established by the Kallikratis Program. The Municipality of Hersonisos [MoH] is composed by four municipality Units [Municipality Unit of Gouves, Municipality Unit of Hersonisos, Municipality Unit of Episkopi and Municipality Unit of Malia]. The area of the New Municipality is 271.58 square kilometers. Furthermore according to the census of 2011, the actual population of the Municipality of Hersonisos is approximately 53.337 people.
The Municipality of Hersonisos is located centrally at the North Coast of the island of Crete. The MoH is adjacent to the Municipality of Heraklion, which is the capital of Crete, and lies proximal to the hub-airport Nikos Kazantzakis.
The MoH comprises of the - more than 38 Kilometers - coastal area and the inland mountainous province. The main income source for people in the coastal area is the tourism industry. The MoH is one of the major touristic destinations in Greece, hosting 6.5% of Greece’s tourist influx and numbering approximately 7,5 million overnight stays annually. Tourism infrastructure includes high quality hotels and accommodation businesses, as well as blue flag awarded beaches.
Moreover, the main income source in the Inland Province is the agricultural activities, mainly focusing on olive oil, wine production and animal husbandry.
Tourism Impact
In numbers, the Municipality of Hersonisos, for the time period 2014 had approximately 1.045.000 arrivals, and 7.295.000 tourists’ fortnight stays. Furthermore the number of tourism enterprises were 3.603 on the year of 2012 [El.Stat].
The new municipality of Hersonisos is one of the most popular and developed tourist destinations of Crete, as well as for Greece. With more than 70,000 beds for the tourists accommodation. These data shows that in total, the accommodation in Municipality of Hersonisos, covers the 25% of beds in Crete, the 73 % of Heraklion and about 6,5% of Greece. The importance of tourism in the region, is very evident both as an economic multiplier as well as, as the vehicle for Social and Environmental change. The MoH therefore is considered, as one of the developed regions of Greece, and of the Mediterranean region.
Environmental Policy
Concerning the environmental policy, Hersonisos Municipality has been twice awarded with the prize ECO-POLIS (2009, 2010) and the Town Council has put a great effort aiming at high-quality life in Hersonisos, the protection of the environment, the eco-culture promotion as well as the promotion of good environmental practices. Furthermore the Municipality of Hersonisos, have received the European Energy Award on May 2013 [Cert. n. EL 0213, Medeea]. Environmental preservation and sustainability is a central issue in the Municipal policy and this is perceived by residents and citizens and also by the thousands of tourists who visit the Municipality, each year.
The management and preservation of the sensitive Mediterranean coastline of Hersonisos Municipality, is of great importance and many beaches in the Municipality area have been awarded within the framework of the European Programme Blue Flags of Europe. The Municipality implements the European campaign LEGAMBIENTE that aims at cleaning the Mediterranean coastline. The island of Dia lies north of Hersonisos, is a NATURA network spot and the wetlands of Aposelemis and Malia are Municipal protected coastal areas with abundant biodiversity. The Town Council promotes and supports the activities of NGOs that are working for the protection of the environment. The Municipality of Hersonisos hosts in its area the Greek Centre for Marine Research and the ‘CRETAQUARIUM’.
The Municipality is a member of the ‘COVENANT of MAYORS’ an European initiative, showing thus its commitment to significantly reduce carbon emissions and move towards sustainable development while respecting the environment. The Municipal Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP) has been submitted in July 2012 and the local authority is targeting at 25% reduction of carbon dioxide emissions by 2020.
Furthermore, MoH is memder of E²STORMED Project (www.e2stormed.eu), which addresses the challenge of improving energy efficiency through sustainable urban stormwater management (SuDS). During the implementation phase, the performance of different stormwater management options (traditional and SuDS), has been evaluated, in matters of energy, environment and cost efficiency, aiming at the formulation of suggestions at regional level (MED).
- Land of Experiences -
Demographic Characteristics
The Municipality of Hersonisos is one of the Municipalities of the Region of Crete, as established by the Kallikratis Program. The Municipality of Hersonisos [MoH] is composed by four municipality Units [Municipality Unit of Gouves, Municipality Unit of Hersonisos, Municipality Unit of Episkopi and Municipality Unit of Malia]. The area of the New Municipality is 271.58 square kilometers. Furthermore according to the census of 2011, the actual population of the Municipality of Hersonisos is approximately 53.337 people.
The Municipality of Hersonisos is located centrally at the North Coast of the island of Crete. The MoH is adjacent to the Municipality of Heraklion, which is the capital of Crete, and lies proximal to the hub-airport Nikos Kazantzakis.
The MoH comprises of the - more than 38 Kilometers - coastal area and the inland mountainous province. The main income source for people in the coastal area is the tourism industry. The MoH is one of the major touristic destinations in Greece, hosting 6.5% of Greece’s tourist influx and numbering approximately 7,5 million overnight stays annually. Tourism infrastructure includes high quality hotels and accommodation businesses, as well as blue flag awarded beaches.
Moreover, the main income source in the Inland Province is the agricultural activities, mainly focusing on olive oil, wine production and animal husbandry.
Tourism Impact
In numbers, the Municipality of Hersonisos, for the time period 2014 had approximately 1.045.000 arrivals, and 7.295.000 tourists’ fortnight stays. Furthermore the number of tourism enterprises were 3.603 on the year of 2012 [El.Stat].
The new municipality of Hersonisos is one of the most popular and developed tourist destinations of Crete, as well as for Greece. With more than 70,000 beds for the tourists accommodation. These data shows that in total, the accommodation in Municipality of Hersonisos, covers the 25% of beds in Crete, the 73 % of Heraklion and about 6,5% of Greece. The importance of tourism in the region, is very evident both as an economic multiplier as well as, as the vehicle for Social and Environmental change. The MoH therefore is considered, as one of the developed regions of Greece, and of the Mediterranean region.
Environmental Policy
Concerning the environmental policy, Hersonisos Municipality has been twice awarded with the prize ECO-POLIS (2009, 2010) and the Town Council has put a great effort aiming at high-quality life in Hersonisos, the protection of the environment, the eco-culture promotion as well as the promotion of good environmental practices. Furthermore the Municipality of Hersonisos, have received the European Energy Award on May 2013 [Cert. n. EL 0213, Medeea]. Environmental preservation and sustainability is a central issue in the Municipal policy and this is perceived by residents and citizens and also by the thousands of tourists who visit the Municipality, each year.
The management and preservation of the sensitive Mediterranean coastline of Hersonisos Municipality, is of great importance and many beaches in the Municipality area have been awarded within the framework of the European Programme Blue Flags of Europe. The Municipality implements the European campaign LEGAMBIENTE that aims at cleaning the Mediterranean coastline. The island of Dia lies north of Hersonisos, is a NATURA network spot and the wetlands of Aposelemis and Malia are Municipal protected coastal areas with abundant biodiversity. The Town Council promotes and supports the activities of NGOs that are working for the protection of the environment. The Municipality of Hersonisos hosts in its area the Greek Centre for Marine Research and the ‘CRETAQUARIUM’.
The Municipality is a member of the ‘COVENANT of MAYORS’ an European initiative, showing thus its commitment to significantly reduce carbon emissions and move towards sustainable development while respecting the environment. The Municipal Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP) has been submitted in July 2012 and the local authority is targeting at 25% reduction of carbon dioxide emissions by 2020.
Furthermore, MoH is memder of E²STORMED Project (www.e2stormed.eu), which addresses the challenge of improving energy efficiency through sustainable urban stormwater management (SuDS). During the implementation phase, the performance of different stormwater management options (traditional and SuDS), has been evaluated, in matters of energy, environment and cost efficiency, aiming at the formulation of suggestions at regional level (MED).