According to a press release on April 12, the German banking software company Wirecard is collaborating with the National Bank of Greece (NBG) to integrate Alipay into the new payment system of Greece's largest bank.
This initiative aims to enable merchants in areas frequented by Chinese tourists in Greece to offer more convenient payment services. This deployment is expected to be completed before the third quarter of this year, at which point Chinese tourists will also be able to receive promotional offers from nearby merchants on their mobile phones.
In the past five years, the number of Chinese tourists visiting Greece has increased by 400%, and the Greek tourism sector hopes to surpass one million Chinese tourists by 2021.
Tourism boosts real estate, making Greek investment immigration a hot opportunity
The booming tourism industry in Greece has invigorated the Greek real estate investment market, especially with the support of Greece's property investment immigration policy. Many overseas investors are considering purchasing Greek real estate to obtain Greek immigration status while also achieving substantial returns on their property investments.
According to data released by the Bank of Greece in early April, the value of residential real estate purchased by foreign investors in Greece reached 250 million euros in 2016, a year-on-year increase of 34.5%, returning to the levels of 2014. Meanwhile, Greece's property investment immigration policy, which grants permanent residency in Greece for investments of over 250,000 euros in real estate, has attracted a large number of foreign asset purchasers due to its unique advantages. As of the end of January 2017, there were 1,573 approved applications for the Greek property investment immigration program, with the majority of residence permits issued to Chinese investors, totaling 664 families who obtained immigration status.
In recent years, traditional immigration countries have tightened their immigration policies, while Greek investment immigration is currently thriving! The Greek economy is continuously recovering, and investment potential is on the rise, attracting investors from various industries to target the Greek real estate market. Therefore, Greek investment immigration is bound to be increasingly "snatched up" by more Chinese investors in the future. Experts from WorldWay Immigration remind potential investors to act promptly to settle in Europe in one step! For more immigration information, please call: 400-138-2929.