On Wednesday, June 18, at 11:00 in the morning, the first passenger route from Ayvalik is expected at the port of Petra in Western Lesvos, inaugurating the reopening of the coastal ferry connection that once again connects Western Lesvos with the Asia Minor coast.
This is a significant development potential for Petra, Anaxos, Molyvos, and overall for the tourist identity of Western Lesvos, which is being repositioned on the map of cross-border destinations with direct access to the Turkish market.
The municipality of Western Lesvos, which worked to restart the line, will organize a welcoming ceremony at the Petra entrance gate. The first visitors will be welcomed with traditional treats and the distribution of information leaflets in Turkish, in a symbolic but also substantial gesture of hospitality and promotion of the region.
The reopening of the line, as emphasized, is the result of coordinated actions by the Municipality in collaboration with tourism and professional bodies. On Friday, June 13, the mayor of western Lesvos Taxiarchis Verros, and the deputy mayor for tourism Afroditi Vati had a meeting with the representative of the VIMA company, Aris Lazaris, with the aim of coordinating the reception and organizing the first itineraries as well as the overall management of the new tourist flow.
The Petra – Ayvalik route will be operated by the passenger ship EMINE, with a capacity of 900 people, with a duration of approximately two hours. At the same time, every Thursday, there will be a reverse route, Petra – Ayvalik – Petra, offering the possibility of one-day trips from Lesvos to the Turkish coast.
Finally, the mayor of western Lesvos, Taxiarchis Verros, stated that “the opening of the Petra entrance gate to the Turkish market was a battle that we fought for the Municipality and its residents – and it seems that we won it. The destination of a large number of Turkish visitors to Lesvos is our villages. With the port of Petra, we brought the tourist market of the opposite coast much closer to our visitors. Well done to everyone who worked to make the dream a reality.”
