SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Master in Business Administration (MBA) Postgraduate Dissertation “The alternative forms of Tourism in Greece and sustainable development. The impact of economic crisis and the potential growth.” Student: MARIA ROUKI Supervisor: ELENI GAKI Patras, Greece, July 2018 Postgraduate Dissertation 1 © Hellenic Open University, 2017 The content of this thesis/dissertation along with its results is owned by the Hellenic Open University and his/her author, where each of them has the sole and exclusive right to use, reproduce, and publish it (totally or partially) for educational or research purposes, with the obligation to make reference to the thesis‘s title, the author‘s name and to the Hellenic Open University where the thesis / dissertation was written. Postgraduate Dissertation 2 “The alternative forms of Tourism in Greece and sustainable development. The impact of the economic crisis and the potential growth.” Student: MARIA ROYKH Supervising Committee Supervisor: Co-Supervisor: ELENI GAKI SOTIRIOS GKAGIALIS HOU HOU Patras, Greece, July 2018 Postgraduate Dissertation 3 «Πάληα ζηνλ λνπ ζνπ λάρεηο ηελ Ιζάθε. Τν θζάζηκνλ εθεί είλ’ ν πξννξηζκόο ζνπ. Aιιά κε βηάδεηο ην ηαμείδη δηόινπ. Καιιίηεξα ρξόληα πνιιά λα δηαξθέζεη· θαη γέξνο πηα λ’ αξάμεηο ζην λεζί, πινύζηνο κε όζα θέξδηζεο ζηνλ δξόκν» ΚωλζηαληίλνοΚαβάθεο, (1863-1933) Postgraduate Dissertation 4 ACKNOWLEDGMENT I would like to thank my supervisor Mrs. GakiEleni for her valuable help in preparing and writing my dissertation. I would like to thank the participants in the survey, who gave their time to conduct the interviews and their positive willingness to help whenever necessary. Finally, I would like to thank my parents and my friends for supporting me in the difficult moments. Postgraduate Dissertation 5 ABSTRACT Since 2015, the primary objective of both the United Nations and the EU is to foster sustainable development as the only lever to ensure the well-being of both the present and the future generation. The development of alternative forms of tourism is now being promoted as the most suitable ground for the application of the principles of sustainable development in the tourism sector due to their reduced impact on the environment and their positive contribution to local development. The aim of this thesis is the study of the development of alternative forms of tourism in Greece and sustainable development, the impact of economic crisis and potential growth. In order for the aim of this thesisto be achieved, qualitative research was carried out with the Case Study method for the Prefecture of Corinth with the conduct of semi-structured interviews. The aim of the survey was to feature the forms of alternative tourism developed in the Corinthian region, the implementation of the principles of sustainable development in the field of alternative tourism and their importance. Moreover, the impact of the economic crisis on the development of forms of alternative tourism and their potential development in the region was canvassed. Finally, the strengths of the region were analyzed as a reference to the development of alternative tourism, its weaknesses as well as the opportunities that will be presented and the threats that will emerge from the external environment Keywords words: Alternative Tourism, Alternative form of tourism in Greece, Sustainable Development, economic crisis and potential growth. Postgraduate Dissertation 6 ΠΕΡΙΛΗΨΗ Από ηο 2015 ππυηαπσικόρ ζηόσορ ηόζο ηος Οπγανιζμού Ηνυμένυν Δθνών όζο και ηηρ Δ.Δ. είναι η ενίζσςζη ηηρ Βιώζιμηρ Ανάπηςξηρ υρ ηο μοναδικό μοσλό εξαζθάλιζηρ ηηρ εςημεπίαρ ηόζο ηηρ ηυπινήρ γενιάρ όζο και ηυν μελλονηικών. Η ανάπηςξη ηυν εναλλακηικών μοπθών ηοςπιζμού πλέον πποβάλλονηαι υρ ηο καηαλληλόηεπο έδαθορ για ηην εθαπμογή ηυν απσών ηηρ βιώζιμηρ ανάπηςξηρ ζηον ηομέα ηος ηοςπιζμού λόγυν ηυν μειυμένυν επιπηώζευν ηοςρ ζηο πεπιβάλλον και ηην θεηική ζςμβολή ηοςρ ζηην ηοπική ανάπηςξη. ΢κοπόρ αςηήρ ηηρ επγαζίαρ είναι η μελέηη ηυν εναλλακηικών μοπθών ηοςπιζμού ζηην Δλλάδα και η βιώζιμη ανάπηςξη. Η επίπηυζη ηηρ οικονομικήρ κπίζηρ και η δςνηηική ανάπηςξη. Για ηην επίηεςξη ηος ζκοπού ηηρ ζςγκεκπιμένηρ επγαζίαρ ππαγμαηοποιήθηκε ποιοηική έπεςνα με ηην μέθοδο ηηρ μελέηηρ πεπίπηυζηρ για ηον Νομό Κοπινθίαρ με ηην διεξαγυγή ημιδομημένυν ζςνενηεύξευν. ΢ηόσορ ηηρ έπεςναρ ήηαν να αναδείξοςμε ηιρ μοπθέρ εναλλακηικού ηοςπιζμού πος έσοςν αναπηςσθεί ζηην πεπιοσή ηηρ Κοπινθίαρ, ηην εθαπμογή ηυν απσών ηηρ βιώζιμηρ ανάπηςξηρ ζηον ηομέα ηος εναλλακηικού ηοςπιζμού και ηη ζημανηικόηηηα ηοςρ. Δπιπλέον, διεπεςνήθηκε η επίπηυζη ηηρ οικονομικήρ κπίζηρ ζηην ανάπηςξη ηυν μοπθών ηος εναλλακηικού ηοςπιζμού και η δςνηηική ηοςρ ανάπηςξη ζηην πεπιοσή. Σέλορ αναλύθηκαν ηα δςναηά ζημεία ηηρ πεπιοσήρ υρ αναθοπά ηην ανάπηςξη ηος εναλλακηικού ηοςπιζμού, οι αδςναμίερ ηηρ, καθώρ επίζηρ, οι εςκαιπίερ πος θα παποςζιαζηούν αλλά και οι απειλέρ πος θα πποκύτοςν από ηο εξυηεπικό πεπιβάλλον. Λέξειρ-κλειδιά: Δναλλακηικόρ Σοςπιζμόρ, Δναλλακηικέρ μοπθέρ ηοςπιζμού ζηην Δλλάδα, Βιώζιμη Ανάπηςξη, οικονομική κπίζη και δςνηηική ανάπηςξη. Postgraduate Dissertation 7 Table of Contents Abstract 6 Πεπίλητη 7 Table of Contents 8 List of Figures 10 List of Tables 10 1. Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION 11 1.1 Introduction 11 2. Chapter 2 ALTERNATIVE TOYRISM 13 2.1 Definition 13 2.2 Alternative forms of Tourism 16 2.2.1 Ecotourism 17 2.2.2 Nature tourism and outdoor recreation 18 2.2.3 Cultural Tourism 19 2.2.4 Creative Tourism 20 2.2.5 Agritourism 21 2.2.6 Skiing 21 2.2.7 Wellness Tourism 22 2.3 Impacts of tourism on regions 23 2.4 Mass and alternative tourism 25 2.5 The case of Greece 26 The importance of tourism in the Greek economy and the impact of 2.6 the economic crisis 28 3. Chapter 3 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 30 3.1 The concept of Sustainable development 30 3.2 Sustainable Development and sustainability approaches 31 3.2.1 Approaches for Sustainable Development 31 3.2.2 Approaches for Sustainability 32 3.2.3 Sustainable Development Models 32 3.3 European policy on sustainable development 35 3.3.1 European domestic actions for sustainable development 37 3.3.2 The EU's key priorities for achieving the Agenda 2030 Goals 38 3.3.3 European external actions for sustainable development 40 3.4 Sustainable Development and Alternative Tourism 41 Postgraduate Dissertation 8 Table of Contents 4. Chapter 4 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 44 4.1 Introduction 44 4.2 The research objective and the research questions 45 4.3 Data Collection Techniques 45 4.4 Sampling 46 4.5 Limitations 48 5. Chapter 5 CASE STUDY: THE CORINHT PREFECTURE 49 5.1 History 49 5.2 Mythology 50 5.3 The prefectureof Corinth 50 5.4 The Peloponnese region 51 5.5 Key figures of Peloponnese Region and Corinth Prefecture 52 6. Chapter 6 RESEARCH RESULTS 53 6.1 Introduction 53 6.2 Analysis of the questionnaire replies 54 6.3 S.W.O.T ANALYSIS 60 6.4 Conclusion 64 6.5 Suggestions 66 Bibliography 68 Appendix A Research Questionnaire 74 Postgraduate Dissertation 9 List of Figures Figure 1: Sustainable Development …………………………………………..….…………….33 List of Tables Table 1: Greek Tourism – Basic...........................................................………………………...28 Table 2: The 2030 Agenda Sustainable Development………………..………………………36 Table 3: Corinth Prefecture: arrivals, overnights and occupancy in hotel establishments 2010- 2016………………………………………………………………………………………………..52 Table 4: SWOT Analysis for Corinth Prefecture…………………………………………………62 Postgraduate Dissertation 10 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 INTRODUCTION Alternative tourism has occupied the academic community since the 1980s, mainly as a response to the negative effects of mass tourism. Despite the years that have passed, even today, there is no commonly accepted definition of alternative tourism, let alone its forms. Today in the international literature there are common points referring to the characteristics of alternative tourism and its forms among scholars. All stakeholders agree that alternative tourism is environmentally friendly, at least it does not exercise the same environmental pressure as mass tourism in the short run, it contributes to the development of local communities at the destination and the people who choose it are more active and wish contact and interaction with local residents. (TriarchiEi and karamanis K., 2017:40) The natural disasters that have been observed due to climate change, environmental pollution, growing social problems and resource constraints, led the United Nations Organization in September 2015 during the meeting for celebrating its 70th anniversary in promoting Sustainable Development by setting 17 goals that formed the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development. Sustainable development is a one-way street to achieve peace, poverty eradication, environmental protection and resource savings so that both the present generation and the future generation can meet their needs. The EU is leading the achievement of the goals of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, with a range of actions and measures for both EU and non-EU countries. The purpose of this thesis is to study the extent to which alternative tourism has developed in Greece and its forms, whether the principles of sustainable development are applied and their importance in the development of alternative tourism, the extent to which the economic crisis has affected the development of forms of alternative tourism, the potential development of forms of alternative tourism in Greece. For the purpose of the survey, qualitative research was carried out in the Prefecture of Corinthia using the case study method and