Connecting culture and tourism in modern metropolises investing in sustainable development models like Athens and Piraeus has become a strategic priority for the private sector.
The new season is already starting dynamically with one of the most significant partnerships that brings together the powerful Accor Group with the international philanthropic foundation Art Explora, aiming to bring to Piraeus the first vessel-museum that will operate on water.
This is the world’s first floating museum, inaugurated a year ago, which is coming to Piraeus for the first time this year with the goal of attracting thousands of visitors. In previous stops, this initiative recorded over 300,000 visitors in total across the Mediterranean (Valletta, Venice, Nice, Marseille, Tangier, Rabat, Malaga, Durres).
This move also signals the Accor Group’s major goal to strengthen its presence in Greece in sectors beyond the hospitality industry, confirming that management sees our country as a very promising tourist destination. We recall that a year ago, the Accor Group recorded a 13.3% increase in room sales revenue throughout Greece.
Up to two thousand visitors per day from the floating museum coming to dock at Piraeus port
Specifically, this is a large sailing vessel of the catamaran type, 47 meters long and 55 meters high, which not only meets the highest technology specifications but has the capacity to host up to 2,000 visitors per day.
Tourism representatives believe that the arrival of the catamaran “museum” can boost demand for Greece’s maritime tourism, particularly yachting, while also contributing to the faster development of marinas with commercial stores, dining and entertainment businesses, conference and cultural spaces, and sports centers.
Its specialized design was created by architects Alex de Beaufort and Guillaume Verdier and was built at the Perini Navi shipyard in Italy, specialized in innovative large-scale sailing vessels.
From October 3 to 12, the Art Explora Festival docks at Gate E8 in Piraeus port and will offer free innovative visual and audio installations, virtual reality experiences, art exhibitions, concerts, performances, discussions and workshops, both onboard and in specially configured spaces on the waterfront, as well as in other cultural spaces of the Greek capital. “Boarding a ship is an experience in itself. But it becomes even more special when on it – and on the waterfront – one discovers unique artistic and cultural activities,” comments Frédéric Jousset, president of the Art Explora Foundation.
From the program of activities curated by the Art Explora Foundation and Greek art curator Katerina Tselou, the journey through space-time via the virtual reality series Mediterranean Wonders stands out. Designed by Ubisoft, this installation allows viewers to visit iconic Mediterranean cities like Athens, Alexandria and Venice.
“At Piraeus port – a place of arrival and departure, connection to the islands and southern shores – the Mediterranean emerges as a multilayered place of experience, intensity and imagination. Personal and political stories, ecological concerns, female perspectives compose an explosive, polyphonic landscape where art functions as an act of poetry and resistance,” says program curator Katerina Tselou.
