TOURISM DEVELOPMENT AND IMPACTS: LESSONS FROM THE ISLAND OF RHODES, GREECE

U razdoblju poslije II. Svjetskog rata otok Rodos prošao je kroz promjene na nekoliko razina gospodarstva, društva i okoliša. Sve su promjene izravno ili neizravno bile povezane s brzim razvojem turizma. Turizam ostavlja dubok utjecaj na lokalno stanovništvo i posjetitelje. Cilj ovoga rada je ispitati percepcije glavnih ispitanika na Rodosu prema utjecaju turizma. Štoviše, to povezuje percepcije ispitanika i rezultate prethodnih studija u regiji. Konačno rad daje informaciju vezano za percipirane buduće strategije i politiku koje će trebati provoditi te razmatra razvoj turizma na Rodosu temeljen na različitim teorijama turističkog razvoja.During the post Second World War period, the island of Rhodes experienced significant changes at several levels of its economy, society, and environment, associated directly or indirectly with rapid tourism development. The tourism impacts are profound on both locals and visitors. The purpose of this paper is to examine the key informants\u27 perceptions in Rhodes toward tourism impacts. Moreover it correlates the respondents\u27 perceptions with the previous studies\u27 outcomes in the region. Finally, it produces information concerning the perceived future strategies and policies that have to be followed and discusses tourism evolution in Rhodes based on various theories of tourism development

EMERGING DYNAMICS IN THE TRAVEL AGENCIES SECTOR: EVIDENCE FROM GREECE

Aktualni razvoj događaja u međunarodnom turističkom okruženju i promjene u turističkoj potražnji, kao i ponudi, izvršili su važan utjecaj na turističke agencije i povećali vanjske rizike i prijetnje s kojima se suočavaju. Neke od tih promjena odnose se na nove tehnologije i proširenje njihove uporabe od strane poduzeća u turizmu i krajnjih korisnika/turista. Takve su prijetnje intenzivnije u slučaju malih turističkih agencija i, preciznije, onih koji djeluju na lokacijama ili zemljama koje rado primaju turiste, poput Grčke. Cilj ovog članka je ispitati u kojoj su mjeri grčke turističke agencije prihvatile informacijske tehnologije (IT), koliko važnom smatraju uporabu IT-a za unaprjeđenje njihova djelovanja i učinkovitosti i jesu li spremne dalje ulagati u informacijske tehnologije u budućnosti. Anketa, koja je provođena putem strukturiranih osobnih intervjua upućenih direktorima i vlasnicima turističkih agencija, otkrila je korisne informacije o važnosti koja se pripisuje informacijskim tehnologijama s obzirom na geografsku lokaciju poduzeća, između ostalog, i položaja intervjuirane osobe u poduzeću.The current developments in the international tourism environment and the changes in both tourism demand and tourism supply have had an important impact on travel agencies and have increased the external risks and threats they face. Some of those changes are related to new technologies and the expansion of their use by tourism enterprises and by the end consumers/tourists. Such threats are more intense in the case of small travel agencies and more particularly those operating in locations or countries welcoming tourists, such as Greece. The objective of this paper is to examine to what extent the Greek travel agencies have adopted information technologies (IT), how important do they consider IT use for the improvement of their operation and effectiveness and whether or not they are willing to make further investments in IT in the future. The survey, which was conducted by means of structured personal interviews addressed to managers and owners of travel agencies, revealed useful information on the importance attributed to IT considering among others the geographical location of the enterprise and the post held by the interviewee

Understanding the Impact of Waste Management on a Destination′s Image: A Stakeholders′ Perspective

The present manuscript describes a case study on the viewpoints of tourism stakeholders on the effect of waste management on a destination′s image. In particular, the study aims to analyze the problems that arose during the summer of 2018 in the touristic image of Corfu because of the waste management on the island. The qualitative method approach through interviews was used to collect the primary data of the survey; online sources were used to collect data to review similar cases. All the stakeholders agree that waste management during the summer of 2018 negatively affected the image of Corfu as a touristic destination. Moreover, based on the interviews′ findings, there is a lack of political will, infrastructure, and information provision from the local authorities on the island of Corfu. Interviews also indicated that an integrated solution to the problem of waste management on the island is the implementation of source separation in households and tourism-related firms with the support of the local authorities. The contribution of this paper is towards identifying the effect that waste management has on the image of a tourist destination. It is the first of its kind conducted in Greece and among the few reported in the literature focusing on the viewpoints of service providers

An Integrated SWOT-PESTLE-AHP Model Assessing Sustainability in Adaptive Reuse Projects

In the recent past, sustainable development has been considered a major issue for urban and regional studies. Adaptive reuse appears to be a practical solution for sustainable urban development. Beyond and in addition to a conceptual base consistent with circular economy and sustainability principles, how do we know if adaptive reuse is actually sustainable, provided that it constitutes a multidisciplinary and multilevel process? The present study aims at evaluating, in as much as feasible quantitative terms, adaptive reuse practices sustainability. This was attained using a set of indicators, developed combining PESTLE (the Political, Economic, Technical, Social, Legal, and Environmental aspects) and SWOT (the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) approaches, of which the results were subjected to evaluation by experts (pairwise comparisons), following the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). The indicators representing strengths and opportunities of the process were calculated to be of higher value (overall level of final cumulative indicators values; 70.4%) compared with indicators representing weaknesses and threats. Enhancing strengths and opportunities and counteracting weaknesses and threats contribute making the potential of adaptive reuse practices in urban sustainability more evident. Among analysis dimensions, political and economic aspects rank first, followed by environmental, socio-cultural, technological-technical, and legal aspect. The empirical results of this paper serve as a useful reference point for decision-making and policy formulation addressing adaptive reuse practices in sustainable development strategies