The new service will be under the General Secretariat of Tourism Policy and Development and will be responsible for new or existing main four or five stars tourist accommodation, with a capacity of more than 300 beds, for facilities of special tourist infrastructure, which operate independently or in combination with tourist accommodation of above categories or in a complex tourist accommodation or within an Integrated Tourist Development Area, for complex tourist accommodation and for Integrated Tourist Development Areas (IPDA) provided for in article 29 of Law 2545/1997 (A΄ 254) .
The Special Service for the Promotion and Licensing of Tourist Investments is structured at Directorate level and consists of:
The Licensing Department, which is responsible for attracting tourist investments, receiving notices of commencement of operation, granting Special Operation Marks, installation and operation approvals, establishment and operation permits, monitoring the licensing process of special tourist infrastructure facilities and formulation of regulatory proposals to facilitate licensing in the above cases.
The Tourism Suitability and Feasibility Approval Department, which is responsible for the information and personalized support of investors, the receipt and control of the environmental licensing and strategic environmental assessment files in terms of the elements concerning the tourist suitability of the field/plot.
The Town Planning Office, which is responsible for receiving applications through the electronic platform e-adeies for the permit and revision of the building permit of tourist facilities and approvals that fall under the competence of E.Y.P.A.T.E..
YPATE will inform investors about the legislative framework of tourism investments, as well as about the conditions, procedures and specifications for their creation and licensing, and will act as a one-stop service to process the license application.
For this purpose, it will receive the case-by-case requested licensing file, check its completeness, ensure that the interested party completes the necessary supporting documents and either proceed with the issuance of the requested licensing, if it falls within its statutory powers, or it will forward the file to the appropriate bodies, who will be obliged to take the actions imposed for this purpose as a matter of priority, in accordance with their competences.
These bodies are obliged to provide E.Y.P.A.T.E. any necessary information, written or verbal, on the stage at which the relevant procedures are, the shortcomings of the file and the way to complete them, as well as on the reasons for the delay or the impossibility of providing the requested permits or approvals. In any case, the urban planning, forestry and archaeological legislation, as well as the coastal and beach legislation, are respected.
Finally, it will be able to formulate proposals and indicate solutions for dealing with administrative difficulties and problems, which arise during the licensing or other related procedure concerning tourist investments under its jurisdiction.
