Tourism in Greece: strategic analysis and challenges by Professor Dimitrios Buhalis (original) (raw)
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A Strategic Analysis of the Greek Leisure Tourism: Competitive Position, Issues and Challenges
Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 2015
All Mediterranean countries adopted and implemented more or less the same model of tourism development based on 4Ss (Sun, Sea, Sand and Sex). The main purpose of this paper is to analyse the experience of developing leisure tourism in Greece in order to draw some useful lessons for other countries and tourism destinations. To address the research aim this paper adopts the approach of strategic analysis. This approach illustrates the importance of tourism as an economic activity and analyses the current situation and structural problems of Greece as a destination. Although Greece has a wonderful range of natural, cultural and heritage resources, the lack of differentiation of the tourism offering as well as competitive disadvantages in the fields of governance, planning and marketing caused an over-dependence on tour operators for the promotion and distribution of its tourism offering. The same factors compromised the quality of tourism services having involved a vicious circle. This situation has a negative impact on the sustainability and competitiveness of the destination and tourism industry. Therefore, the paper assesses the Greek experience with the aim to identify the crucial issues and challenges. This evaluation permits to take some lessons from the Greek experience, beneficial to other destinations willing to develop tourism, and to formulate some recommendations.
Strategic Method of Confrontation of Tourist Competition: The Case of Greece
The relative decline, which the international tourist flows to Greece have shown in the last decade, has created a general questioning among the institutions and the authorities, concerned which make decisions and attempt to apply the suitable tourist strategy in order to achieve the recovery of international tourism. The present article deals with the determination, the analysis and the evaluation of the factors that contributed to the decline of international tourism in Greece. Moreover, it proposes techniques of strategic planning and methods of strategic management which could lead to the better estimation of Greece's tourist environment, to the increase of tourist attractiveness against three neighboring competitor countries (Croatia, Cyprus and Turkey) and finally to tourist recovery.
Tourism on the Greek Islands: Issues of Peripherality, Competitiveness and Development
The Aegean archipelago is the largest island complex in Europe, accommodating 500 000 Greek people, living on 95 inhabited islands. The region's economy depends heavily on tourism, as it is estimated that tourism's contribution varies between 50% and 90% of the Gross Regional Product. The Aegean has been an established destination since the 1960s, offering a great number of facilities. The traditionally built islands and the beautiful landscapes on the one hand, and the unspoiled sea on the other, make it a desirable destination. The major attractions are`sun, sand, sea, sex' types of products, often augmented to take advantage of the cultural, heritage, natural, and historical resources, as well as the events and festivals taking place in the area.
Sustainable tourism in Greece Problems for sustainable tourism development (2).doc
It is commonly accepted that tourism is the backbone of economic development of Greece. As a form of economic activity, tourism falls in services, which means that special attention is given the infrastructures existing in the quality of services. In Greece in recent years an effort to upgrade the tourism product has been made through the upgrading of services but also a shift from the model of mass tourism that prevailed in previous decades, to the model of sustainable tourism. The reason leading to this shift has to do with international trends in tourism and with the fact that Greece offers a unique 'puzzle' tourism resources are not limited to 3S (Sun, sand, sea) of mass tourism but can offer unique experiences in both summer and winter tourism. This paper has revealed that despite of the fact that sustainable tourism is accepted as a key mean of development, there are some issues such as with planning and implementation along with some wrong perceptions from the side of the entrepreneurs.
Annals of Tourism Research, 2004
This paper examines the directions and methodological practices of tourism research carried out in Greece over the last three decades, highlights critical issues in the developmental path of this study in the country, and makes certain proposals concerning its future orientation. Although the reviewed published works are informed by disciplinary methods and theories, it is the anthropological approach that guides this paper’s interpretations. Further, a preliminary analysis of tourism representations illuminates the local-global relationships. In addition, this exploration demonstrates how Greece’s tourism identity is shaped by powerful discourses embedded in historical, political, and ideological processes.Les recherches de tourisme au sujet de la Grèce. Cet article examine les directions et les pratiques méthodologiques des recherches de tourisme qui ont été réalisées en Grèce dans les trente dernières années, souligne des questions critiques dans le chemin de développement de cette matière dans ce pays et fait certaines suggestions au sujet de son orientation future. Quoique les ouvrages publiés qui sont examinés sont fondés sur des méthodes et des théories disciplinaires, c’est une approche anthropologique qui guide les interprétations de cet article. De plus, une analyse préliminaire des représentations du tourisme éclaire les relations globales/locales. Et cette exploration démontre comment l’identité du tourisme en Grèce est formulée par des discours puissants qui font partie des processus historiques, politiques et idéologiques.
TOURISM RESEARCH ON GREECE: A Critical Overview
Annals of Tourism Research, 2004
This paper examines the directions and methodological practices of tourism research carried out in Greece over the last three decades, highlights critical issues in the developmental path of this study in the country, and makes certain proposals concerning its future orientation. Although the reviewed published works are informed by disciplinary methods and theories, it is the anthropological approach that guides this paper's interpretations. Further, a preliminary analysis of tourism representations illuminates the local-global relationships. In addition, this exploration demonstrates how Greece's tourism identity is shaped by powerful discourses embedded in historical, political, and ideological processes.
Current and Future Trends in Tourism and Hospitality. The Case of Greece
This paper identifies some of the current and future trends affecting the tourism and hospitality industry, including globalisation, guests' safety and security, the importance of offering outstanding services, the new technologies that enhance competitiveness, the population ageing that impacts directly on tourist demand and the correlation between price and value. Reference is also made to the trends in the development of tourism lodgings. Furthermore, the paper attempts to analyse the Greek tourism performance indicators for the last 10 years and suggest ways out of the recession for the tourism entrepreneurs. The suggestions to the hoteliers include careful analysis of the current and future trends and application of the proper adaptations, investing in exceptional services and sustainability of their lodging, as well as utilizing the new technologies and the social networks. Moreover, the hotel owners should consider the retirees as their potential guests and, finally, they must seek ways to retain effective, diverse and competent staff.
2018
Greece is undoubtedly a country with a prominent tourism identity and a long –living tourism tradition. But while it is expected from its tourism sector that by the end of the next decade its total contribution to the country’s GDP and to employment in total will be huge, the weight that ought to have been given to it has not been awarded over time. The governmental strategies that were developed were circumstantial, fragmentary, lacking vision and prospect. On the other side, the local communities themselves as well as the tourist enterprises didn’t invest, as they should have, on quality, but merely on the opportunistic model of the three S “sun, sea, sand”, which, however, decayed through time lapse and cannot function anymore within the contemporary conditions of the international tourist market, where competition, mainly from the neighboring countries that offer an almost “similar” product, is intense and tough. Thus, today in the Greece of economic crisis, the need for taking ...
Tourism is an important economic activity
Essays in Economic Theory and Policy, 2022
Tourism is an important economic activity for the Greek economy but it is not the 'locomotive of the economy'. Greece relies on mass tourism, a global and very competitive market. The theory of 'Global Value Chains' allows us to understand that in the tourism industry there are certain key actors (Tour Operators or online intermediaries) who, having direct access to the final consumer, have enormous power and absorb a very large portion of the proceeds. In order to be able to increase the portion of tourism spending that remains with Greek businesses, they should improve their bargaining power for it and gradually succeed in going directly to the market. This can only be achieved through a medium-term strategy that aims to incentivise businesses in the value chain to produce higher value-added services. At the same time, greater connection of tourism businesses with the local economies where they operate is required. This is crucial not only for the survival of activities beyond tourism but also for the survival of tourism itself.