Prefecture of Samos signs Agreement with World Centre of Excellence for Destinations

The World Centre of Excellence for Destinations (CED) announced this week the signing of an important agreement with the Prefecture of Samos, Greece.  The mission of the World Centre of Excellence for Destinations (CED) is to contribute to guiding destinations around the world toward excellence and Samos is the first destination to be signed in Greece. 

The CED’s foremost priority is the design and the implementation of the System of Measures for Excellence in Destinations, or SMED. This unique system focuses on short-term and long-term goals of sustainable tourism. Destinations evaluated using the SMED benefit by receiving concrete and feasible recommendations for strategic interventions and continuous improvement.

President of the CED, Mr Andre Vallerand explained, "This important agreement with the island of Samos is the first destination in Greece and marks the beginning of a partnership relationship with Elagro, which will allow the signing of more Greek destinations for the next two years to come".  Other officials present at the signing included CEO and MD of Elagro (Greek Sustainable Tourism Organisation), the Head of the Samos Prefecture, and the Secretary General of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation.

With tourism increasing further, so is the demand for luxury holiday accommodation on the island.  Following this demand the unique Halcyon Hills Luxury Marina and Spa Resort planned will offer world class facilities on the south east coast of Samos including a 1200sqm Spa and an exclusive 36 berth Private Marina.  The development of Halcyon Hills will play an important part in promoting 5-star tourism on the island which will receive funding from the government.  Property at Halcyon Hills can be purchased off plan from £185,000. Buying options include 15% deposit, non status finance, fractional ownership from £22,000 and guaranteed rental returns.

Halcyon Hills Wins Prestigious Homes Overseas Top 20 Award

Five star marina & spa resort, Halcyon Hills, Samos, has won the prestigious Top 20 award for best off-plan development in Greece.

The lavish awards ceremony at the Grosvenor Hotel, Park Lane, London took place on Friday 28th November. The evening was an opulent affair with various respected pillars of the overseas property industry gathering to learn which developments would top the awards lists for 2008.

The Homes Overseas Awards recognises and award the very best property developments from all four corners of the globe. Among the judging criteria were the development concept, infrastructure, architecture and design, location and amenities. Halcyon Hills won the Top 20 award for the best off-plan development in Greece. Judges were particularly impressed with excellence in customer service, project design and clarity of advertising.

Alan Bird, Director of the UK based Barrasford & Bird Worldwide, developers behind the Halcyon Hills resort, collected the award Friday evening and said, “We are pleased that the hard work and dedication that goes on behind the scenes of the Halcyon Hills resort has been recognised by the overseas property industry as a whole.”

The five star resort of Halcyon Hills is situated on the south eastern coast of Samos, languishing in a naturally sheltered bay within walking distance of the small village of Klima. Just fifteen minutes from the airport, the resort will offer a selection of property from apartments suites to three bedroom premier villas with their own private pools. The main feature of Halcyon Hills is the breathtaking and sumptuous 1200sqm spa, designed by award winners Plumtree Mee and BlueSpa.

Property at the Halcyon Hills resort start at £160,000 with fractional ownership available on selected properties. Assisted 100% finance is available.

Barrasford & Bird Worldwide are based in Devon, England. The company specialises in developing and marketing luxury investment property from worldwide locations. Founder members of the Association of International Property Professionals, Barrasford & Bird Worldwide, were established in 2003.

'Fractional' holiday homes are the affordable way forward if you seek the high life

The Daily Mail, 23rd October 2009

The luxury holiday market might not be feeling the pinch as much as some sectors, but no one's pretending all those sun loungers around the pools of exclusive villas are occupied.

On the plus side, shared ownership schemes are popping up in elite destinations from St Lucia to the Maldives as developers worldwide look for new ways to sell luxury properties in a deflated market.

So-called fractional schemes offer the chance for holiday homes, once the exclusive domain of the ultra-rich, to become available to people with considerably smaller bank accounts.

Nick Turner runs The Registry Collection, Europe, which offers a point-based exchange scheme between vacation property owners.

'The credit crunch has put the fractional business on the map in Europe,' he says. 'There's been a flurry of fractional launches in Europe in destinations that have long been second home favourites among the British.' This year has ushered in the launch of fractional properties in Italy, Portugal, France, Spain, Greece and Tunisia.

Robin Barrasford is a developer for Barrasford and Bird World-wide, which has just entered this market.

'We started selling in places such as Bulgaria and Turkey and that opened up overseas property ownership to more people,' says Mr Barrasford.

A three-bedroom villa in the Halcyon Hills luxury resort on the Greek island of Samos will cost you £799,000. But a one-twelfth share in the villa will cost £76,000 and give you two weeks in high season and two more in low season.

There are several ways fractional ownership can be arranged. With direct-deeded ownership, all owners appear on the title deed. In other arrangements, a limited company is set up in Britain or elsewhere.

The company owns the property and the buyer takes shares in that company. While the ultra-rich step aside to top up their champagne glasses, the rest of us can start to think about expanding our horizons along their beaches.