Koufonissia were once the ultimate alternative tourism destination. Much has since changed. The tourism inflow has risen spectacularly and is not just alternative or camping-dominated. Even so, Ano Koufonissi, the inhabited of the two Koufonissia islands, can take pride in a new alternative and pioneering strategy, its introduction of police officers on electric bicycles.
Up until last year, prior to the outbreak of the pandemic, the small island of a few hundred residents had one police station but no police vehicles. Last winter, a police car was added to the force, which proved useful but somewhat cumbersome for a very small island that remains relatively pristine.
Given the fact that the island is mainly flat, barring a few mild uphill stretches, the local police decided to go green in their policing strategy and introduce electric bicycles. The idea was adopted this summer courtesy of an entrepreneur who has visited the island as a holidaymaker for years. For the time being, the initiative has worked out well.
Over the past 15 or so years, the tourism wave reaching Koufonissia has constantly grown. In 2014, high-speed ferryboat service was added as a transportation option, enabling visitors to travel to the island in just four to five hours from Piraeus port.
This development brought a new category of tourists to the destination: holidaymakers wishing to spend just a few days on Koufonissia, as opposed to the preceding category of long-term campers. By 2020, the island authorities, responding to increased tourism-related needs, had gained a waste processing facility, new port, desalination unit, medical practice, library and a range of other features not easily found even in bigger places. But, on the downside, the island also acquired what would have been unimaginable in older times, lots of cars and traffic jams.
According to data provided by local police station, the number of vehicles on the island this summer has quadrupled compared to pre-pandemic 2019. Despite this sharp rise, the picture along the seaside road and at the port looks good and orderly. Police on electric vehicles have managed to restrict, to great degree, the number of parking violations, which has helped protect the destination’s presentation and ease the nerves of travellers visiting with a Caribbean-like setting in mind rather than downtown Athens, Omonia Square-type bedlam.
The presence of police on electric bicycles is also helping curb petty theft issues experienced on Koufonissia. Continual police patrolling by a bicycle-team unit has drastically reduced the need for police intervention or action. As the old proverb goes, a gram of prevention is worth a kilo of cure.
The introduction of electric bicycles has also proven useful for emergency cases, as was highlighted by a recent incident in which a young female holidaymaker went missing, her travel friends unable to contact her as her mobile phone was down. Police on bicycles managed to local the missing person late at night at a point that would have been difficult to reach on foot or by car.
The electric bicycle police officers have also taken on another role, that of unofficial tourist guides on the island. Visitors often ask these officers for their advice on where it is best to swim on a particular day, depending on the winds, or which taverna to prefer for specific food preferences.
