1 week ago
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For the 5th consecutive word arsenic President of KTEL Heraklion–Lassithi, Mr. Manolis Hachlioutis speaks to tornosnews.gr astir the vision, challenges, and strategical moves that marque the enactment a pillar of proscription for Crete.
From fleet renewal and investments successful integer solutions to taste routes and societal responsibility, the president of KTEL explains however the institution combines enactment for tourism improvement with work to the section community, portion besides preparing for the caller epoch brought by Kastelli Airport and the VOAK highway.
Mr. Hachlioutis, you person been re-elected for the 5th consecutive word arsenic President of KTEL Heraklion–Lassithi, with the unanimous enactment of shareholders. What bash you judge is the “key” to this continuous trust?
The spot of shareholders and partners is the effect of consistency, targeted investments, transparency, and changeless betterment of our services. From the precise beginning, I invested successful teamwork, fleet renewal, technological development, and unit training. Our decisions are ever guided by the interests of some the institution and our passengers—something that is consistently recognized and appreciated.
Crete’s tourer play present lasts for galore months. What initiatives has KTEL undertaken to guarantee reliable and comfy work for visitors, from accomplishment to departure?
The tourer play successful Crete has so been extended, which requires a beardown and flexible transport network. To amended service visitors, we accrued routes to tourer destinations and inland areas, extended work hours, created explicit routes, and invested successful new, safer buses with adjacent much amenities. This year, we delivered a modern caller presumption successful Moires, Messara, importantly strengthening our infrastructure. The caller presumption facilitates question for residents and visitors, enhances the area’s tourism offering, and contributes to its economical growth.
At the aforesaid time, successful practice with MD Hellas, we hosted Erasmus students from Italy, Germany, and Austria for the archetypal time, who worked astatine the cardinal presumption providing multilingual work to visitors. With exertion arsenic our ally, we besides connection reliable accusation some astatine stations and connected our online platforms, portion caller summons machines astatine cardinal stations and autobus stops guarantee speedy and casual summons issuance.
Recently, the collaboration with the Nikos Kazantzakis Museum and the instauration of a peculiar way to Myrtia were announced. How important bash you see specified taste routes for showcasing the island’s inland areas and connecting them with tourism?
Our collaboration with the Nikos Kazantzakis Museum and the instauration of the Myrtia enactment is portion of our strategy to item the island’s hinterland. Such routes connection visitors authentic experiences and make caller opportunities for section communities. We firmly enactment taste tourism due to the fact that it is simply a comparative vantage for Crete.
The €23 cardinal declaration for pupil proscription highlights the societal relation of KTEL. How bash you equilibrium betwixt your societal ngo and tourism development?
Our societal relation is non-negotiable. We transport students, workers, and residents of distant areas daily, and we supply peculiar fares for assemblage students, ample families, radical with disabilities, subject personnel, and information work employees.
At the aforesaid time, we put successful high-quality services for visitors to enactment the tourism economy. The equilibrium comes done due readying and continuous upgrading of our services. At KTEL Heraklion–Lassithi, determination is nary complacency.
The caller Kastelli Airport and the Northern Road Axis of Crete (VOAK) bring caller prospects for proscription connected the island. What is KTEL’s strategy to respond to the accrued request and upgrade its services?
The caller Kastelli Airport and VOAK volition reshape proscription successful Crete. We are readying caller explicit routes, “smart” transportation stations, and are leveraging exertion to conscionable the increasing needs with a implicit transport web for Crete. We are already moving connected investments successful next-generation buses that are adjacent much environmentally friendly.
The caller KTEL mobile app marks a wide displacement toward integer transformation. What bash you expect from this transition, and what are the adjacent steps successful exertion adoption?
Our app allows passengers to publication tickets online, way routes successful existent time, and person notifications astir docket changes. Digital translation is simply a strategical prime to bring KTEL Heraklion–Lassithi person to passengers portion reducing bureaucracy and costs. We are continuously moving connected technological solutions that marque our passengers’ acquisition smarter, easier, greener, and much user-friendly.
Each year, KTEL Heraklion–Lassithi transports millions of passengers, some locals and tourists. Can you stock immoderate figures for 2024—how galore passengers you served successful full and what percent of them were visitors to the island?
In 2024, we transported astir 3.6 cardinal passengers, of which astir 2 cardinal were visitors to the island. These figures beryllium that KTEL Heraklion–Lassithi remains the starring transport supplier successful Crete, supporting some the section system and tourism development.
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