JOURNAL "SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, CULTURE, TRADITIONS".................Volume 1a/2019 THE CONTRIBUTION OF CULTURE TO THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF HERAKLION DOI: 10.26341/issn.2241-4002-2019-1a-6 Stylianos Stratantonakis Economist, Master in Sustainable Development, Harokopio University
[email protected] Roido Mitoula Professor, Harokopio University of Athens
[email protected] Helen Theodoropoulou Professor, Harokopio University of Athens
[email protected] Panagiotis Kaldis Professor University of Western Attica
[email protected] Abstract The purpose of this paper is to highlight the brand name of the Municipality of Heraklion through the use of its cultural heritage. As a first step an attempt was made to provide a complete description of the cultural heritage of the Municipality, through the recording of the material and intangible cultural elements. Subsequently an inquiry was made about the economic impacts of cultural tourism in the region and the signs, which are reflected by this type of tourism. In order to achieve these objectives, a bibliographic research was carried out and a questionnaire was distributed to three hundred (300) residents from the Municipality of Heraklion. For the summarization, the classification and the presentation of the primary data, the descriptive statistics methods were used. Specifically, in this paper, the percentages corresponding to the respondents’ answers to each question individually through tables and diagrams are presented, resulting in some conclusions. As it seems the overwhelming majority of the people that took part in inquiry, thinks that The County of Heraklion has a very important cultural heritage. In regard with the direction that the cultural tourism must develop in the region, it is to take place in the organization of cultural events throughout the year, the creation of modern and traditional hospitality facilities, better promotion of the region as a tourist attraction, cultural education programs and the pursuit of attraction of cultural tourism.