Olympic legacy and cultural tourism: Exploring the facets of Athens' Olympic heritage

This study examines the effects of the Olympic Games on Athens’ cultural tourism and the city’s potential to leverage the Olympic legacy in synergy with its rich heritage in order to enhance its tourism product during the post-Games period. In doing so, a qualitative and interpretive approach was employed. This includes a literature review on Athens’ 2004 Olympics to identify the sport facilities and regeneration projects, which constitute the Olympic legacy and heritage. Based on that, an empirical analysis was undertaken, by collecting official documents about the 2004 Olympics, and conducting five semi-structured interviews with tourism/administrative officials. The findings indicate that the Olympiad contributed significantly to Athens’ built and human heritage, revealing the dimensions of new venues/facilities, infrastructure, transportation and aesthetic image of the city, and human capital enhancement. Hence, the Games affected to the multifaceted representation and reconstruction of the city’s identity and cultural heritage. However, the potential afforded from the post-Olympic Athens remains unrealised due to lack of strategic planning/management. The study concludes that there is a need to develop cross-leveraging synergies between the Olympic legacy and cultural tourism for the host city. Finally, a strategic planning framework for leveraging post-Games Olympic tourism is suggested in order to maximise the benefits of Olympic legacy and heritage in a host city’s tourism development

Perspectives on Irish tourism 1993-1997 Regions

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:m00/13314 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Rural tourism Product marketing profile

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:OP-IRE/690 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Profile of investment opportunities in the Irish tourism and leisure industry

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:OP-IRE/570 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Tourism and the landscape Landscape management by consensus

Project co-funded by LIFE, DG XI European CommissionAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:OP-IRE/600 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo

Planning culture and time in a mega-event: Thessaloniki as the European City of Culture in 1997

This paper addresses the growing importance of mega-events in urban cultural development, focusing on the atypical example of the European Cities of Culture, in particular Thessaloniki in 1997. The launch of the event demonstrates the significance of the international role of cultural activities in urban and economic regeneration. Comparison of the evaluation of Thessaloniki before and after the event demonstrates a lack of strategic planning, particularly cultural and time planning, resulting in a variety of interconnected problems such as the construction of flagship projects, the lack of a city marketing perspective and the need for a tourism policy. © 2005 Taylor & Francis