Innovative Approaches to Tourism and Leisure

The relatively short-lived, early modern Portuguese military presence along the Omani coast, but also that of the nowadays United Arab Emirates, has left few physical remains. Some forts have been partially excavated, whilst others seem to have been so heavily reconstructed that their original layout remains invisible. As a result, they have little impact on the visitor experience. This paper seeks to provide a framework that renders these forts, and the narratives around them, pertinent in terms of authenticity. A second step deals with their integration as a potentially distinctive heritage resource. Both approaches need to ponder whether such structures are to become major tourist attractions, which seems unfeasible in the near future, yet destinations may still capitalize on them as part of an integrated marketing strategy. As an exercise, the following text can build on comparable examples, ranging from certain prehistoric sites to forms of intangible heritage, as their commodification faces, to some extent at least, similar challenges. In any case, in the heavily Dubai-centered tourism industry of the UAE, the sustainable use of cultural niche areas along the coast does fit well the national design for diversification.

The study emerges from the idea that 2017 has been recognized as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development (UNWTO 2016). The recognition underlines the potential of tourism to contribute to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Thus, it assesses the extraordinary opportunity to build a tourism sector that is more responsible and committed to global development goals. The author focuses on the potential of cultural and natural routes, and itineraries, in terms of inclusive and sustainable economic growth; social inclusiveness, employment and poverty reduction; resource efficiency, environmental protection and climate change; cultural values, diversity and heritage; and mutual understanding, peace and security. Indeed, the paper aims to describe the routes and itineraries, most of which have survived from past centuries, and analyze their potential to boost the power of tourism as a solid contributing factor in order to make the world a better place. The methodology is qualitative and develops beginning with the selection and analysis of bibliographic sources through the identification of key words such as itineraries, cultural routes, historical routes, thematic routes, and so on. Besides these sources, the author will assess other relevant information collected from websites and social network pages related to itineraries and routes known at a European and international level. The sources collected have facilitated the classification of the itineraries and routes according to geographical, historical, thematic, and motivational criteria, and the results have been analyzed based on to their contribution to the SDGs. The conclusions, will also take account of some research limitations such as the problems arising from the analysis of the topic due to the considerably large amount of existing itineraries around the world, and the difficulty to distinguish between official itineraries accredited by entities like the Council of Europe, and those itineraries recognized by other relevant stakeholders, like local communities and travelers.

Sustainable tourism aims to maximize the benefits of tourism and minimize its negative impact, especially on the host countries, mainly by complying with the standards required for the achievement of the sustainable development goals. However, tourism, due to its great scope and impact, has a significant potential to foster and expand its contribution to humanity, by becoming a pivotal leader of Human Development. The present paper suggests the development of a specific type of tourism, the Human Development Tourism, which aims to utilize the world’s material and intangible cultural heritage to cultivate a universal culture of HD values and principles. Human Development Tourism maximizes tourism’s great potential to overall promote the development of humanity by directly developing peoples’ awareness of Human Development, its value for them, and their role in it, hence, enabling them to better serve it. The pilot HD Tourism Program presented here is attached to the CAVE (Classical Aristotelian Virtues of Ethics) Approach© for Human Development, which aims to provide people with the fundamental capabilities for HD through the development of 14 Aristotelian virtues. Hence, it provides an example of how intangible heritage, specifically the Aristotelian Ethical Theory, reflects the HD’s values and principles, and provides people useful guidelines they can use in order to apply these values and principles in their life. The pilot program, also, shows how nature and the material and intangible elements of cultural heritage can be combined in a meaningful and structured way in the context of Human Development Tourism Program.

Aerial photography and filming represent an indispensable resource for the Creative Industries (CIs), deploying activities like registration of artwork and heritage sites. When filming in confined (indoor) spaces, auxiliary devices as cable cams, camera rails, jibs, scaffolds or lifting platforms are being employed, enabling film directors to obtain special camera shots or to perform graphical surveying and recording of heritage sites or buildings. With the rise of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS), commonly known as drones, film producers are increasingly focusing on their use for outdoor aerial photography and filming, since RPAS provide significant advantages over current photography and filming techniques such as the expansion of creative spaces and movements of the camera. Also classical filming equipment is normally not adequate when shorter distances to the object are required, and by using RPAS this can be overcome while adding more possibilities for free movement for the camera operator. It is also less risky, as there is no need to climb up a scaffold, ladder or lifting platform to get professional results, and given that RPAS, compared to classical equipment, are small sized, mobile and do not need any support equipment. Thus, in summary, RPAS do not invade the film set. We can also find other advantages such as that complex and bulky auxiliary infrastructure such as cable cams, jibs, scaffolds, etc. become unnecessary and, therefore, logistics are easier and assembly and disassembly is faster; that RPAS require less space than traditional equipment; and that they are cheaper, as prices have dropped significantly and this creative tool is more accessible for small companies. The benefits of using indoor drones have not yet been deeply studied, and in this paper, industry needs and expected characteristics to enhance its use are analyzed.

Museum provides us experiences, ideas, and satisfaction from the authentic objects of nature, science, history, and the arts. With records of extensive historical items and collections, museum accolades the outstanding universal value and indeed enhances the tourism prospects. This research endeavoured to address the objectives by exploring the perceptions of stakeholders involved in this respect to find a better way forward for museum management strategies and planning perspectives. This was done through a questionnaire survey and interviews with the museums officials. Having carried out this research and carefully assessing the contents of it, it can be safely stated that a dynamic and effective management strategy that reflects visitors’ perceptions in practice will only purifies the heritage museums from its negative impacts of tourism and will lead towards the reward.

In the last years events have substantially increased in number, size and frequency of staging in both rural and urban areas. Motivation in attending is considered one of the most important aspects of consumer behavior and has received significant attention starting with the early of ’90s especially in respect with event consumption. The main purpose of this research is to identify and understand the general dimensions of motivation in attending youth events. The study examines the motivations of Romanian young people in attending events under the umbrella of Cluj-Napoca European Youth Capital. A quantitative study was developed and designed supported by a structured questionnaire to obtain information regarding youths’ motivations and perceptions toward attending the event, including their demographic characteristics. The data were collected during the event. The study reveals that the concerts are preferred (58% of the respondents) and in the opposite part are educational events (30%). When a participant chooses an event the field (57.3%) is considered the most important and the imposed attending (22.4%) is perceived by the majority as less important. The main reason for participating at an event is to experience new and different things (44%) and less important is enjoying the festival crowds (28%).

Towns and cities are increasingly using arts festivals as an important motivator to attract visitors and tourism and to stimulate urban development. During the past two decades, arts festivals have been multiplying in the Western world and becoming more visible and culturally prominent. This research seeks to address tourism aspects that develop between arts festivals organisers and policy makers, residents, visitors and the tourism industry. The objective of the paper is to explore the role of the International Arts festivals in the tourism development of the cities of Kalamata and Drama, Greece, through measurement and evaluation of the perceptions and opinions of its attendants and the cities’ residents and visitors. Primary data were collected with the aid of online questionnaires, distributed and collected during autumn2016. 130 questionnaires were answered by residents and visitors of the Drama International Short Film Festival and 186 questionnaires were answered by residents and visitors of the Kalamata International Dance Festival. Results suggest that, after 22 years of operation, the two Festivals are significantly acknowledged for their overall role in the cities’ tourism image and growth, despite different characteristics the two festivals and the two cities. The city of Drama has benefited from its Festival, which has played a significant part in improving the city’s tourism infrastructure, image and first-time visitor attraction. As Kalamata is an already established destination, the Festival may have not necessarily translated into much higher tourism revenues and infrastructure improvement, but is has significantly enhanced its image and high-profile visitor attraction. In both cases, it is widely acknowledged that the Festivals have a lot of further untapped potential, as unique city branding tools, adding value to the destinations and extending the tourism season. This research aims to contribute to knowledge concerning the impacts of established international festivals on medium-sized cities, useful for research and academic purposes, as well as for local and national authorities responsible for tourism planning.

The intense competition in the global socioeconomic environment forces countries to develop their competitive advantages. Culture constitutes one of the most valuable assets for such purposes and is distinguished for its ability to extend its dynamics beyond time and space limitations. The European Union demonstrates its strong interest in deploying its cultural resources by introducing interventions that proactively protect and promote its heritage. Such interventions have a significant influence on the prospects for economic development, increase of employment and enhancement of social cohesion and active citizenship. The paper focuses on the efforts of the European Union to make the most of its cultural advantages. The paper is organized with a twofold aim. On one hand, it highlights particular dimensions of the European cultural policy context. On the other hand, it focuses on two policy actions, the European Capitals of Culture and the European Heritage Label, and attempts to analyze their role as pillars of broader synergies in the field of culture. The particular initiatives are considered able to encourage cultural cooperation and to exercise an emblematic role as motivational factors of development in different fields of interest. Besides transforming the cultural expression in its tangible and intangible form and enhancing the European identity awareness, they facilitate the better understanding of cultural diversity and the development of multilevel and interactive synergies among various stakeholders. Finally, the paper aspires to define the ability of the particular instruments to serve as useful models for action at regional and local level.

Can tourism provide the context for the development of ethnic identity? As research and practical experience indicate, the answer is yes. But the context varies and so does the level of impact. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to explore the impact of cultural immersion programs for the strengthening of ethnic identity. The impact of such programs is considerable, especially in relation to their implications on major economic, social and political dimensions for all parties involved. This paper uses the Heritage Greece program as a case study, employing a time series analysis of responses to two surveys of participants: one before arrival to Greece and the other at the conclusion of the program. The Heritage Greece program, run by Deree College and funded by the National Hellenic Society, brings every summer about 50 college students of Greek descent from the USA to Greece for a two-week experiential visit. The findings suggest that the impact is considerable, especially as it relates to breaking misconceptions and stereotypes about ethnic identity. However, it is understood that the findings may not apply to any such program, as they are reflecting Greek cultural context. On the other hand, they are indicative of the possibilities of similar programs. This connects to practical and social implications: the paper relates to experiential learning as a tool to explore ties to ethnic identity. In addition, it establishes cultural tourism as a vehicle for bringing together heritage and ethnic identity and highlights the opportunities emerging for the destination as a result of the bridging of heritage to ethnic identity. The findings of the paper can help establish cultural immersion programs or redesign existing ones.

The research highlights the cultural and educational aspects of Greek students’ tourist experiences with other European countries and the way in which these aspects shape their perception of European identity, especially given the challenges of globalisation, such as the financial crisis, the rise in social inequality, and the recent refugee crisis. Without doubt, the more complicated social, political, and economic environment has increased the importance of European identity, which now can be seen as an internal transformation of identities through constant re-interpretation. However, the unstable global system has led to a crisis of European identity and has fuelled Euro-sceptic tendencies. In its place the potential for cultural and educational experience to develop and sustain the European identity has been argued. Cultural and educational tourism can also become an opportunity to challenge socio-cultural standardisation, due to its role in the visualisation, preservation, and even reaffirmation of an individual identity. Our case study focuses on students who have visited European countries as travellers or participants in the EU educational exchange program. Our methodology is based on pilot research using quantitative methods in which students especially from the Technological Educational Institute of Central Greece and Ionian Islands participated. Findings indicate that students’ cultural or educational experiences have a positive influence on the interpretation of European identity.

In April 2010, following a competition, held by Yad Vashem-The World Holocaust Remembrance Center, on behalf of the Israeli Government, Studio de Lange was nominated to plan and design the permanent exhibition in block 27, the Jewish Pavilion at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. The site is UNESCO Heritage since 1979. The pavilion is open to the public since July 2013.After studying the proposals for the new exhibition, we came to the conclusion that the design within Block 27 of the Polish State Museum must be suffused with two primary features: Simplicity and the Senses. This derives from the paramount difficulty of conveying—both as human beings and as Jews—what transpired during those years. As the French novelist George Perec, whose mother was murdered in Auschwitz, said: “A gap will yawn, achingly, day by day, it will turn into a colossal pit, an abyss without foundation, a gradual invasion of words by margins, blank and insignificant, so that all of us, to a man, will find nothing to say.”Our challenge was to create an exhibition that expresses such a historical event in an unpretentious, clear and accurate manner to the visitors—most of whom are young, non-Jewish, European citizens.The design process comprised hundreds of hours of discussion and contemplation, occurring during three years of consultation with the project’s steering committee, as well as with experts from the fields of architecture, art, visual communication, media, typography and cinema. We also worked with specialist engineers, who assisted with the building and preservation works in the Block, voice and sound technicians, acoustical experts and more.The results of this collaborative effort are spaces with clean, minimalist lines that impart the historical facts clearly and directly. Each space in this objectless exhibition presents its specific content differently, but all of them invoke the basic human senses so that the visit becomes experiential as well as educational. Each space has another dominant sense such as extreme quiet,strong soundand human scale video projection.Our aim was to allow visitors to absorb and internalize what they encounter over a relatively brief period of time, and depart with renewed insights regarding their own contemporary existence.The red-brick building inside the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum complex, comprising 1000 m2 spreads over two stories. Block 27 is one of dozens of other similar structures at Auschwitz, now dedicated by the Museum to relating the wartime experiences of different national groups at the concentration and extermination camp.For us, as designers of the Jewish Pavilion, it was important to maintain the original spaces inside the Block as far as possible, including keeping the windows uncovered in order to underscore the connection between the exhibition and its authentic, historic surroundings. Thus, also, in contrast to the other Blocks, the visitors’ route through the exhibition purposely concludes at its rear exit, which faces the barbed wire surrounding the camp. The “Book of Names” (designed by Prof. Chanan de Lange) is a site-specific installation that brings out Yad Vashem’s mission of collecting the name of each and every individual Shoah victim. This project, ongoing for six decades, has resulted in the recording of 4.2 million names so far—a remarkable accomplishment, but one that is not simple to impart experientially.Our goal was to create a permanent memorial to these murdered Jewish men, women and children—one that would encompass both their inconceivable numbers as well as their individual identities. Every name, birth date, home town and place of death is clearly printed on the meter-high pages, illuminated by a gentle strip of light that lies between each page. Thus one can search for, pinpoint and even touch the data of any individual victim, and thus commemorate him or her in a private, intimate and personal way. However, the monumental size of the exhibit—58 volumes of 140 pages each, 500 names per page, measuring 2 m high and 14 m in circumference, also attest to the collective, immeasurable loss to the entire Jewish people, and to humanity. The blank pages of the book's final volume, await the names still to be redeemed, recorded and memorialized in perpetuity by Yad Vashem. CreditsThe exhibition was created by the State of Israel and Yad Vashem, with the assistance of the Claims Conference and in coordination with the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum.Chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Steering CommitteeDr. Shimshon ShoshaniChairman of the International Advisory CommitteeProf. Elie WieselExecutive Director and Exhibition CuratorAvner ShalevProject ManagerIshai AmramiSenior CuratorYehudit InbarHistorianDr. Avraham MilgramCuratorRinat Harris-PavisSenior Photograph CuratorNina Springer-AharoniFilm Production ConsultantLiat BenhabibResearch of Original Film FootageEfrat KomisarAcquisition of Original Film FootageMimi AshArchitecture and DesignStudio de Lange Ltd. – Chanan de Lange & Tal de Lange, Shirley Marco“The Book of Names”Design: Chanan de LangeSource: The Central Database of Shoah Victims' Names – Hall of Names, Archives Division, Yad VashemProduction: Information Technology Division, Yad VashemVisual Communication DesignAdi Stern, Yael Burstein, Ori SuccaryExhibition Production ManagerOrit HallConstruction ManagementShimon Kornfeld – Tafnit Wind Ltd.Construction FirmTomasz Francuz“Ani Ma’amin, I Believe – Prayer”Video installation: Hagit Shimoni“Jewish Life Between the Two World Wars”Multimedia installation: Niv Moshe Ben DavidProduced by 8NDMusic: Moshe BaavourSound design: Chen Nevo“Nazi Antisemitic Ideology”Sound design: Ishai Adar“How Jews Coped During the Holocaust” filmsDirected by Noemi SchoryProduced by Alona Schory, Belfilms“Traces of Life,” wall drawings and voicesMichal Rovner“Return to Life”Multimedia installation: Niv Moshe Ben DavidProduced by 8NDPhotography for Online Exhibition: Niv Moshe Ben David, Pawel Sawicki

New technologies play a pivotal role within the travel and tourism sector, especially by affecting the tourism distribution channels, by transforming the tourist experience and, also, by influencing drastically the tourists’ perception towards destinations. Aim of the present study is to discuss how new technologies influence the perception of Athens as a tourist and cultural destination.

Background Delivering high quality e-services is a key strategy to achieve competitive advantage, due to its positive correlation with the increase of customers purchasing decisions. This systematic literature review attempts to develop a conceptual model of hotel’s e-service quality determinants by examining the different perspective of customers and professionals in the field of tourism. Methods Four sources were used to locate all relevant and eligible studies: specific electronic databases; existing related bibliography and meta-analyses; reference lists of the research papers; and indivisible search on indexes of journal articles in tourism industry. The results Only 66 studies met the inclusion criteria and were selected as primary studies, with a total number of 6162 evaluating hotels. The majority (38%), used as evaluators of hotel e-services users-customers and professionals (30%) in the tourism field. Only 32 studies included hotel customers as evaluators with previous online purchasing experience. Half of these indicated significant impacts of quality determinants on customer purchase intentions. Regarding user-customer approach, the most determinant factors of e-service quality were information quality (n = 23 studies), trust/security (n = 13) and the ease of use (n = 12). From the professional’s perspective, studies also recognized the importance of information quality (n = 19), customer orientation of the hotel website (n = 19), followed by the usefulness level (n = 16), and the communication channels (n = 16). Finally, major differences were identified based on hotel type (chain or independent), size (number of beds) and category. Hotel Chains and 4–5 stars hotels appeared to provide better e-marketing and customer relations strategies, greater level of technology and innovation application, greater value of entertainment and higher level of trust in their websites. Conclusions The research evidence provides valid information for hotels directing them to improve their website design, which corresponds to customer service quality perceptions and has a major contribution on customer experience in sourcing information or making an online purchase.

The primary objective article was to investigate the websites’ persuasiveness of the luxury hotels in Greece and its implications for their financial performance. As a result, a content analysis was applied primarily as a quantitative research method, with website characteristics classified into distinct categories and then described using statistics; 335 websites of luxury hotels were reviewed and data were analyzed by means of STATA 12. Persuasiveness measured using six dimensions, namely: informativeness, usability, credibility, inspiration, involvement and reciprocity. The research divulged a comparatively low degree of the hotels overall persuasiveness, specifically in involvement dimension. Furthermore, current research attempted to pinpoint the relation among the hotels’ website overall persuasiveness and its impact on their financial performance. The findings could offer the hotel managers useful insights into enhancing their website’s persuasiveness and accordingly their financial performance.

In this paper we initially present the importance of search engine optimization (SEO) for tourism Websites. We present the most important metrics that affect SEO such as display speed, quality and quantity of content, mobile responsiveness, inbound links and the technologies that they use. All these metrics greatly affect search engine rankings and consequently online bookings. To assess how SEO is implemented on a tourism related domain we examine a sample of almost 400 Tourism business websites on the island of Kefalonia in Greece. We provide cumulative results for more than 20 important SEO metrics for these Websites. Our case study shows that SEO metrics have been optimized for about 25% of these Websites and need extensive optimization for the rest. Τhe basic idea in this paper is to study and evaluate the state of SEO on a specific tourism destination (Kefalonia) and provide insights for the next steps that need to be implemented in order to improve search engine rankings. We also correlate SEO optimization to search engine position. This has been done by introducing a general SEO grade as a combination of important SEO metrics for every Website, taking into account their relative significance. This correlation proves that more optimized websites rank better for generic queries in their category. SEO is very important in Tourism since it helps search engines figure out what each page is about, and how it may be useful to users. This paper proves that SEO plays a significant role for tourism website rankings and that there is a lot of room for improvement for a large number of tourism websites.

The scope of this paper is on presenting an evaluation model for evaluating and comparing the websites of thematic museums. The particular evaluation model has been used for evaluating the websites of thematic museums on olives and olive oil using a multi-criteria decision making theory called Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP).

The intention of this study was to find out how five star hotels operating in Malta and Gozo are actually utilising social media and the main focus of usage. Another question posed was whether they are in a position to measure the degree of success in its use to attract more visitors to their establishment. The analysis confirmed some of the trends that are commonly mentioned in literature. However, there were also some conflicting results. While the importance of social media is clearly defined and its importance as a communication medium with the consumers was seen as fundamental, it appears that social media is not being used to its full potential. Moreover, while it does have an impact on the booking behaviour of consumers, hotels are finding difficult to establish a direct link with the occupancy rate. These outcomes suggest that further investment in training in social media use and analysis of the data generated by social media is required. Various analysis tools are available but up till the time of this study, very few were being used to their full potential. That said, it is also clear that further research needs to be done given that the uptake of social media by the hospitality sector in constantly on the increase and some establishments are investing in human resources in order to have the right people with the right skill set in relation to analysis of social media related data.

Location-based Augmented Reality could improve the engagement with real places by experiencing the visiting place in different ways through the perspective of novels’ imaginary worlds. We present a framework based on AR approaches, interwoven with a spatio—narrative analysis of novels’ content. Two cases are presented; one city as unveiled from different authors’ novels and three cities under the gaze of a single writer. We emphasize the increasing potential of novels-based AR medium for a creative and fruitful engagement with places’ identities when visiting urban places.

During the last decades the wine industry in Greece has moved on to significant modernization. Thus, the wine produces have focused into the wine-tourism which seems to be a lucrative sector for wine producers. However, there is a necessity to construct a strong back-end which will be ready to serve the customers. For this reason the paper will examine the value of CRM and of social media on the wine tourism in Greece. The paper is a genuine one, since there has not been any similar research on this field. In addition to this, it is paper which will provide a sound knowledge on PR actioners over how to utilize them. The outcome of this literature review, indicates that CRM surely would benefit those firms, however it seems that the way that the operate—relying on traditional marketing methods, hence the use of social media may not be the ideal though word of mouth is important on this sector. Surely, this leaves a space for future research. This can be qualitative research where the wine makers will express their views and perceptions over the use of CRM and social media on their industry.

This study analyses the key factors in the environmental orientation of innovation processes at hotel companies. Using the model of structural equations and data retrieved from the Technological Innovation Spanish panel, we shed light on how the environmental orientation of companies is proactively affected by the typology of innovations and the existing relationship between the market drivers (customers, competitors, clients and suppliers) and companies’ environmental orientation. Based on the results, a validated partial least squares (PLS) graphical model is presented, which clarifies and quantifies established relationships among the different variables. Research gaps and future lines are also highlighted.

The focus of this research is mainly on the definition of sustainable tourism actions that Greek enterprises follow and how tourism and sport tourism can be developed in a sustainable way. Sustainability has three strands: economic, social and environmental. From economic aspect there is an interest from all enterprises to implement the following actions: replacing energy-intensive lamps with new technology ones, recycling waste, landscape restoration, use of “green” cleaners, use of organic products, provide and promote traditional foods and drinks, use of photovoltaic, building insulation etc., because there is a reduction of their costs and also simultaneously benefit thereby the environment and furthermore have a social profile “environmental friendly” which is an incentive for some tourists for their choice. This research investigated the attitudes and the behavior of small, medium and large sport tourism enterprises as regards to sustainable development. As a global industry dependent on high quality natural environments for its attractiveness, tourism cannot hide from its responsibility to promote more sustainable business practices. The fundamental idea of the selective marketing approach is to attract a certain kind of tourists to the destination, those who behave in an environmentally friendly manner. The model for sustainable tourism development in Greece relates to ecological change brought by tourist activity, infrastructure development and through sport.

The rise of new tourism forms has dominated the last two decades matching a dramatically segmented market, thus answering to the minor of niches met in the new tourism era. Sport tourism has concentrated great theoretical attention since it manages to synthesise two major social leisure expressions that of sport and tourism. This tourism development suggested a vivid sustainable character emphasised in the vast majority of theoretical approaches. Still, sport tourism education failed to effectively incorporate sustainability as a core course module, focusing rather on traditional operational outlines, thus limiting the building of green conscious and applicable industry skills in the tourism management scene. The present analysis through a systematic review provides a range of approaches to assist in the difficult task of mapping a sustainable sports tourism outline, not only in terms of the course structure, but also in terms of the relationship between the course and its evolving tourism environment. The examination of existing theoretical paradigms aims to produce generalizable fields of academic education leading to well skilled sustainability-minded sport tourism professionals.

This paper presents a case study of sustainable tourism practices in Costa Rica, including national initiatives that promote sustainability and examples of rural tourism as experienced through study abroad. Costa Rica is known as a world leader in sustainable tourism practices. After widespread rainforest deforestation, and exploitation by foreign developers, Costa Ricans have grown increasingly aware of the importance of protecting their natural resources. Subsequently, national legislation and policies have been developed to support sustainable practices. The Ley de Biodiversidad conserves biodiversity in natural areas (see http://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/details.jsp?id=896). The Certificación para la Sostenibilidad Turística encourages businesses to use sustainable practices by awarding leaves instead of stars for meeting environmental standards (see http://www.turismo-sostenible.co.cr/). The Programa Bandera Azul Ecologica protects the water quality of beaches, coastal areas, and tourist accommodations (see http://banderaazulecologica.org/). A crucial dimension of sustainable tourism in Costa Rica is consideration for the social, economic, and cultural wellbeing of community members. This paper shares the work of José Rogelio Vargas and Susana Matamoros Mendoza who train local community members living near protected areas to become sustainable tourism entrepreneurs. Businesses include lodges, restaurants, tours, and outdoor pursuits. With a focus on empowerment, their efforts aim to improve the quality of life and economic viability of rural communities while conserving surrounding natural resources. This paper also features a course in sustainable tourism at Ithaca College, which includes study abroad in Costa Rica that supports the entrepreneurs. Students learn about sustainable tourism by talking directly with tour operators. They stay in locally run ecolodges, eat locally grown food, and engage in recreational activities led by local guides (e.g., hiking, kayaking, chocolate tour). Students also study the sustainable methods entrepreneurs use (e.g., alternative energy, recycling, community partnerships). While students learn about sustainable tourism, they support the communities that are actually engaged in the enterprise.

Applying Internet of Things solutions to cultural heritage domain is a recent trend following the enormous success of social media and multimedia content distribution technology. In this work we investigate the feasibility of applying such solutions in outdoor cultural events aiming in the enhancement of leisure experience for tourists and the promotion of real-life cultural festivities exploitation for the benefit of local communities. The intervention of mobile-based platforms with tourism and leisure is a challenging field, as it can raise awareness to the broad public and provide digital solutions to public authorities and local businesses on the field. Attempting to provide an answer to those challenges we designed and implemented modern tools that permit tangible and intangible cultural data collection from public authorities and spectators, enhanced dissemination of data to the broader public adapting augmented reality techniques in a friendly manner and local businesses products and services efficient dissemination and exploitation. Our study suggests that such an interaction can be beneficial for local authorities and tourism supporting a sustainable city environment.

In a context of globalization, tourism destinations sustain a fierce competition, they want to develop and strengthen their offer. Thus, attractiveness is increasingly being considered as a crucial factor to their success. In order to earn the biggest market share, these destinations seek to differentiate their product by leveraging key resources and increasing their attractiveness. With 10.3 million tourists in 2016, Morocco succeeded to find its place in the international market by its unique combination of natural, cultural and human capital. However, this number does not reflect the real capacity of the destination. Morocco is a rich country by its heritage and cultural diversity. In fact, the Moroccan gastronomy could play an important role in supporting the attractiveness of the destination. The current research aims to identify the position of the Moroccan gastronomy in the Moroccan tourism offer. To achieve this objective, as a first we apply the methodology of multivariate analysis which consists to study the attributes related to the Moroccan tourism offer in order to classify them according to the type of travel, and see if the Moroccan gastronomy occupies an important position among the essential attributes that characterize the destination. Second step, we proceed to a comparative study between the results obtained from tourists and those obtained from professionals and researchers in the tourism field. Therefore, this research is guided by the following hypothesis: The Moroccan gastronomy is a crucial factor in the attractiveness of the destination.The importance of the Moroccan gastronomy differs according to the type of tourism.The Moroccan gastronomy is a facultative attribute and does not influence on the attractiveness of the destination.

Increasing international tourism competition set new rules in the global tourism market, looking for new innovative and imaginative tourism products, since tourists are no longer satisfied with traditional services only. So instead they seek something that they did not have a chance to experience elsewhere. Public bodies and entrepreneurs involved in tourism focus on distinctiveness of place by using local attributes in the launching of innovative, new products and brands, which can help establish a more Unique Selling Proposition (USP). Local gastronomy has gained recognition as an integral part of the tourism product, and as a mean of destinations differentiation and it plays a crucial role to the construction of the unique character, identity and authenticity of each destination. Recognizing the current marketing trends, the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels (HCH) designed and is implementing an innovative program, which uses local gastronomy culture of each Greek tourism destination, as a vehicle in order to enrich breakfast content in hotels with local agro-dietary products, traditional recipes and viands. The aim of the current research was to investigate the perceptions of hotels managers about the impacts of “Greek Breakfast” on their business and customers from marketing perspective.

Archeological excavations and research show that grapes and wine have played a key social and commercial role in Anatolia, dating back 6000 years. Over the past few decades, Turkey has been resurrecting its very ancient wine traditions, producing high quality wine made from native grape varieties, growing across the geographically sprad wine regions. Wine tourism offers a way to support rural areas, sustain cultural heritage and improve the economy. Wine tourism is more than visiting vineyards; it has the power to create and develop a region’s identity and increase distribution channels. Yedi Bilgeler Winery is an establishment in Turkey, Izmir, which was constructed in 2010. Yedi Bilgeler, the Seven Sages (of Greece) or Seven Wise Men was the title given by ancient Greek tradition to seven early-6th-century BC philosophers, statesmen, and law-givers who were renowned in the following centuries for their wisdom. The winery and the vineyards are at the center of Ionia and between the ancient cities of Ephesus and Magnesia. The philosophy of Cittaslow is implemented in the winery and free trainings for wine, olive oil and cheese tastings are provided for local manufacturers. The boutique hotel is also included in “Cittaslow Friends” to support and help raise awareness about the Cittaslow movement in Turkey. The aim of this paper is to present the Cittaslow philosophy in Yedi Bilgeler winery in Turkey and investigate the vineyards of the region in relation to tourism. As research methodology a literature review and the sources of secondary data were used.

The current research analyses the performance of municipal sport, tourism and culture organizations in Laconia, Greece. The evaluation of local authorities is a very important issue, especially given the increasing decentralization in the decision-making process and resource management from the Central Government to local governments and the increasing responsibility of the local authorities to provide effective services to taxpayers. Result of this is the increasing need for effective management of sport, tourism and cultural organizations, which requires the evaluation of their performance. In this study, we perform a primary research regarding the financial analysis of two municipal cultural and sport organizations using financial ratio analysis. Also we provide a literature review regarding the conceptual definition, operation and methodologies of the evaluation of local governments and their entities, especially those regarding culture, tourism and sports. In conclusion, the study shows that, regarding the examined entities, while some ratios are positive, in contrast, other indicators are being considered as negative. Examining and taking into account the above positive and negative elements, it can be concluded that, by improving the planning of the regular (operating) income and expenditures, the negative ratios will be converted to positive, resulting in positive overall performance for both examined entities.

Recreational SCUBA diving market is a rapidly developing industry, which during the last years focuses among others in the observation of marine fauna and flora. An innovative approach towards this direction is to study whether animal, and particularly fish behaviour, can contribute to the development of SCUBA diving tourism. The principal two axes of the current survey were the enhancement of SCUBA diving safety (via the promotion of swallow waters biocommunities) and the marine life protection (via environmental awareness). The two study areas are located in Chalkidiki peninsula (Greece, North Aegean Sea). The preliminary part of this study demonstrated a non significant difference between males and females regarding their age, their diving experience (training level and hours of diving) and their diving preferences (depth and type of sea bottom). Nesting and agonistic behavior of three Labridae fish (Symphodus ocellatus, Symphodus cinereus, Xyrichthys novacula) were used as motivation factors in the three testing hypotheses. Among those three hypotheses, diving in shallow rocky bottom aiming at the observation of Symphodus ocellatus seems to be the most attractive for the divers. As a general remark, briefing is a very useful tool that can inform, but also orientate the customers. Additionally, the very poor knowledge of Mediterranean undersea wildlife, especially by the recreational SCUBA diving staff should be mentioned. As a conclusion, the current approach can be used for the enhancement of SCUBA diving product (i.e. promotion of specialties such as Fish Identification) or increase of SCUBA diving equipment (i.e. underwater cameras).

In recent years, entertainment activities have been pursued by tourists and have been an important part of generalized leisure tourism. The current studies of Entertainment Tourism have been focusing on casinos industry. To fill the gap of various entertainment business’s effectivenss in contribution of tourism development, and to understand the current status and the possibility of further development of Macau as an Enertainment Tourism Center, research is undertaken to gather insights from local professionals in this industry. Through in-depth interview, this paper investigates 18 respondents who are all top management positions of private organizations in the entertainment industry. These findings highlight the fact that a 5 year, 10 year master plan for development must be in place. Government support and legislation on acquiring licence of entertainment business much be simplified. In addition, nearby areas such as Henqin can be used to create a regional effect of cross border cooperation. These results provided industry-based information about developing Macau into a Entertainment Center. It will enhance the abilities of policy makers, corporates as well as tourism educational institutions to prepare for such development. Regions/countries that are planning to diversify its tourism products can adopt the result as a reference.

The hospitality industry remains one of the cornerstone sectors of the Greek economy employing hundreds of thousands of employees, contributing significantly to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The scope of this study is to examine the main determinant factors of financial performance of the Greek hospitality industry, especially during the sovereign debt crisis. We utilized the population of firms (limited liability companies and corporations) registered on the chamber of commerce during the fiscal years 2011–2013 and operating on the hospitality and food services sectors, leading to 13724 observations for analysis. Regression results indicated that firm size, sales turnover and operating cash flows contribute positively to profitability. On the contrary, firms with increased leverage and capital intensity (fraction of fixed assets) are associated with lower levels of profitability. Our study fills a gap in the existing literature on financial management of the hospitality industry in Greece, offering useful policy implications.

The primary purposes of this study were: (a) to determine the extent to which customer oriented strategy is implemented to four and five-star hotels, and (b) to examine the relationship between customer oriented strategy used by four and five-star hotels and business performance (profit, ROI, sales volume and market share). The research was addressed to all four and five-star hotels in the Region of Peloponnese (142 four and five-star hotels, which recognized by Hellenic chamber of hotels) and involved 142 experienced managers who were the most knowledgeable regarding marketing issues. Responses were received from 98 managers of 98 four and five-star hotels with a 69% response rate. For the purpose of this study a 40-item questionnaire, was used developed by Whiteley (1991). The reliability of the scale was found to be α = 0.89. Also, the particular research used the subjective way of measuring performance. Business performance was judged against four criteria two financial (profit and ROI) and two market based (sales volume and market share). Descriptive statistics and Pearson chi-square (χ2) statistics were used to examine variables relationship using SPSS software (version 22). The results (means) indicated that customer oriented strategy is applied to a great extent from four and five-star hotels (M = 3.97, SD = 0.66). Also, there were significant and positive relationships between the customer oriented strategy and business performance (profit, ROI, sales volume and market share) of four and five-star hotels. This study is useful in extending the concept of customer oriented strategy to the tourism and hospitality industry. The study will be useful in helping managers to their further understanding of the customer oriented strategy process in their respective organization.

Holidays that include outdoor recreational activities are preferred by tourists. The opportunity given to tourists for active employment during holidays is one of the key reason for choosing regions that offer such activities. Our research took place in the region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace in a year base in order to monitor the tourist behavior of tourists. Participants in the survey were 3070 from seven different countries. Travel behavior in the survey was tested with 5 questions. The behavior of the tourists was different between Greek, English and Polish, who behaved differently from German, Bulgarian, Cypriot and Romanian. The favourable and preferred sports activities are the canoe-kayak, rafting, diving, mountain bike (m.t.b.), climbing-rappeliling, flying-fox and water sports.

The present manuscript has two key objectives, firstly it will model the concept of human motivation within an organization and secondly, based on this modeling, it will extract within a coded framework the key motivational factors, as well as the variables that describe/define those factors. To achieve the above-mentioned objectives, an extensive review of the international scientific literature was conducted, while the method of content analysis was adopted. This method allowed the creation of a new integrated model of human motivation in organizations, which led to the formulation and the novel codification of two main factors: the regulating factor and the motivating factor. The regulating factor within an organization can regulate/affect the motivating factor which in turn affects the behavior and the actions of the employees. The regulating factor within an organization depends on two agent factors: the human/employee (Maehr and Mayer in Educ Psychol Rev 9:371– 412, 1997; Wiley in Int J Manpower 18:263–280, 1997) and the community/organization (Miner in Role motivation theories. Psychology Press, USA, 1994; Wiley in Int J Manpower 18:263–280, 1997). Likewise, the motivating factor depends on two agent factors: needs (Islam and Zaki Hj. Ismail in Int J Commer Manage 18:344–362, 2008; Koole in Cogn Emot 23:1–44, 2009; Fisher in J Manage Rev 12:384–412, 2010; Von Gilsa and Zapf in The role of emotion and emotion regulation in job stress and well being. Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2013) and the outcomes of actions/behaviors (positive or negative) (Amaratunga and Baldry in Facilities 20:327–336, 2002; Robbins and Judge in Organizational behavior. Prentice Hall, USA, 2010; Abadi et al. in Int Bus Manage 2:157–169, 2011). Based on the findings of this manuscript, the researchers will soon conduct a field research upon the motivation via reward systems in Greek luxury hotels and how these systems can contribute to the change of organizational culture in hotels.

The alternative tourism has a lot of segments according to the specific requirements of the customers, always in order to provide a designed customized leisure. (Ros Derrett, Cultural tourism, Paper presented to Momento, Queensland Merchandise Awards, Brisbane, Qld., 24 July, 2002) More and more travelers are being attracted by these types of tourism, and consequently this creates the development of new potential types of tourists. During the past years there has been a shift from mass tourism into special interest tourism. The reason behind this shift is related with changes on customers’ patterns. According to (Alebaki and Iakovidou in Enometrica 3:15–24, 2010; Iakovidou, Vlahou and Partalidou, 2001. Quality directions in rural tourism in Greece, Proceedings of the International Conference on “New Directions In Managing Rural Tourism And Leisure”, Euro Scotland, 5–8/9/2001) tourists seek to focus on turning away from mass tourism since they feel that this mode of tourism does not satisfy their needs for quality driven tourist activities. (Alebaki and Iakovidou in Enometrica 3:15–24, 2010) have also identified other factors which have to do with local communities. On many cases, (Alebaki and Iakovidou in Enometrica 3:15–24, 2010) have examined the case of agro-tourism in Greece where communities need to develop their economies in a way where tourism will not disrupt their natural resources. On many cases tourism has been accused of damaging the natural environment and social cohesion. For example, a visitor can go to an agrotourist unit which produced organic food. He will stay in the hotel found within the premises of the farm while he will have the chance to eat dinners made from organic products. He can also go for hiking, mountain biking, rafting or any other activity near the unit. This means that the consumers who are choosing this type of tourism have their own distinctive behavior. The aim of this paper is to examine this difference. According to (Tsartas, Sustainable tourism, Kritiki, Athens, 2010) this is a special interest group which was developed during last years. It is made from middle age and high or medium income consumers. For many years those consumers constituted the core of mass tourism but now they feel that tourism on overcrowded destinations does not satisfy them anymore. They seek for more quality driven solutions such as spa tourism, sea tourism, etc. On the other hand they will like to visit a sustainable destination, such as an agrotourist unit but they seek to spend their days in a quality driven agrotourist unit and not the average one. They can afford to pay a considerable amount of money for their holidays and if they are satisfy they will not hesitate to suggest the destination on their friends. It is a growing segment and on many countries it has become they segment of special interest tourism. Their key motive is that they can find in those destinations the tranquility and quality that they are looking for. The expected outcome is that consumers who select agrotourist activities also tend to have their own distinctive characteristics, which is vital for the development of Tourism in Greece to examine them.

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 all those strategic initiatives and actions so that this country manages to face the challenge of contemporary tourism, seems to be more imperative than ever before, since it will allow it to set its foot on a firm basis and stand out within a particularly complex and completely competitive setting, offering quality services and multiple differentiated choices that will satisfy the tourists’ desires and needs.

The purpose of the paper is to present individual budget travels as a new and increasingly popular way of spending free time. The conducted research has allowed to identify the reasons for choosing budget travelling, the preferred regions for this type of trips, as well as the factors that determine the destination and way of spending time during such journeys. Also the knowledge about the accommodation facilities used and the ways of meeting the nutritional needs during budget travels, as well as the most popular modes of transportation to the destination and in its surroundings, was obtained. Moreover the types of persons accompanying the respondents during the budget trips were identified. The research also allowed to find out barriers that hinder or obstruct more frequent budget travelling, as well as the difficult elements of organization and implementation of such trips. The research was conducted in 2016 with a method of diagnostic survey, using the questionnaire technique. The research sample consisted of 214 people living in Poland and travelling on a budget.

The award of the organization of the Olympic Games 2004 in the city of Athens was considered by many to be a great opportunity to address the far as possible many of the wrongs in tourism starting from Athens, tourism, which had irreparably damaged for many years. The tourist image of the wider Athens area, which, as is known, shouldered the brunt of the host and hospitality of both athletes and gymnasts, who were part in the Olympic Games in 2004, and those came to Athens to watch them, did not differ far from that of mainland Greece. Athens, as it was known, has always been an attraction for various types of tourists, the multitude of tourist and the cultural of lures. Nevertheless, however, was not before the Olympics able to offer high quality level of hospitality services to visitors and especially those who for whatever reasons they want to remain in Athens for periods in excess of normal. From Igoumenakis (Tourism. Interbooks, Athens, 2005) we understand that the Olympic games of Athens 2004 leverages the city branding, thus incorporating more tourists, but at the same time the city authorities must try hard in order to attract not only the interest of athletes but to capitalize the benefits of the game in order to attract the interest of tourists and to maintain the positive brand image created from the Olympic games. Wurzburger (Creative tourism: A global conversation: How to provide unique creative experiences for travelers worldwide, Sunstone Press, Santa Fe, 2009) argues that the notion of tourism has changed during the past years. While during the past decades tourism has relied in the concept of mass tourism, where cities developed massive concrete facilities without taking into consideration neither the quality of living for their citizens nor the service quality provided to tourists. Under mass tourist large areas in Greece, Spain and elsewhere were transformed from tranquil communities into overcrowded areas where the environment was damaged while on many cases mass tourism was accompanied with negative effects on social values and on some cases it even led on increase on crime rates. Nevertheless, mass tourism had one advantage that few could challenge it; it created jobs and brought welfare for rural and island areas which often were characterized from underdevelopment and poverty (Cooper in Worldwide destinations: The geography of travel and tourism, Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann, Italy, 2005). Wurzburger (Creative tourism: A global conversation: How to provide unique creative experiences for travelers worldwide, Sunstone Press, Santa Fe, 2009) notes that this has changed during the past ten years; the need to create sustainable destinations but also competition from new markets that focus on particular market segments has changed the notion of tourist industry. The aim of the project is to examine the potentials of sport tourism in Greece. Almost 15 years after the Olympic games of Athens, Greece has lost a good chance to develop as a sports tourism destination. Through this literature review that will be made, it would be that Greece has several potentials however, till now it has not been able to capitalize the existing opportunities. Therefore, there is a need to work more on this.

The article focuses on rural residents’ tourist activity (participation in tourism). As statistics show, the rate of rural residents’ participation in tourism is lower than the national average. The article uses secondary data (desk research method) and the results of own empirical study based on a sample of rural population (survey method). The study showed a significant variation in the determinants of tourism demand and indicated potential demand for tourism services in the study sample.

In their effort to confront the intensely competitive international ambiance, International Trade Fair Organizers organize hospitality programs for foreign trade visitors in the framework of their field exhibitions, in order to add value to the services offered to their exhibitors by differentiating themselves from their competitors. In the context of these programs, the Exhibition Organizers invite and host selected Foreign Trade Visitors who constitute potential Buyers of the products/services represented in every field exhibition. The invited trade visitors (hereof “Hosted Buyers”) book pre-arranged business appointments (b2b meetings) with the Exhibitors with the aim to reach business agreements/transactions with the exhibitors, thus enhancing the export activities of the enterprises. TIF-HELEXPO has been organizing such Hosted Buyers Programs for the past two decades, in order to make its Trade Fairs and Exhibitions more competitive on an international level. Since 2014, these Hosted Buyers programs have indeed been reinforced and re-designed in a more coordinated and systematic way for all of the Trade fairs and exhibitions of TIF-HELEXPO. It should indicatively be mentioned that during the period 2014–2016, more than 1.700 foreign trade visitors from all over the world have been hosted by TIF-HELEXPO, while more than 17.000 b2b meetings have been conducted and important business agreements between greek and foreign companies have been signed. With the experience gained through the implementation of these Hosted Buyers Programs it has become obvious that the hosting of Foreign Trade Visitors has a great impact on the touristic development of the host city, Thessaloniki, in addition to its undisputed business results. The present report is an attempt to investigate the contribution of the specific Hosted Buyers Programs to the touristic development of the city of Thessaloniki and to reach conclusions which will contribute to the maximization of the touristic contribution of these programs. For the assessment of the contribution of the programs in tourism, primary research was carried out with the use of questionnaires which were sent to all the Trade Visitors who were hosted in Thessaloniki during the period 2014–2016, in the framework of the Hosted Buyers Programs of TIF-HELEXPO.

The aim of this paper is to present the concept of the innovative capability evaluation system of an enterprise in a standardised formula and to present the results of empirical research. The basic problem presented in the paper is the recognition and evaluation of the innovative capability of the researched companies. A set of the innovative capability key determinants which constitute the basis for assessing this capability was extracted during two-phase own research. In the case discussed in the paper, 13 evaluation criteria with appropriate weights and scales of assessment were adopted and then the evaluation model of the innovative capability of a tourist enterprise was presented. In the empirical part of the paper we verified the concept of innovative capability. We also presented the results of empirical research on the innovative capability of hotels. In conclusion, a sequence of actions aimed at levelling the gaps of innovation potential, as well as stimulating the process of innovation in the studied hotels were added. This is an explanatory study based on a sample of 6 Polish hotels belonging to medium—sized enterprises. In the participating companies their financial situation and competitiveness were estimated.

Tourist behavior has always been a central issue in the tourism discourse. Research in this area has long focused on destination choices, especially those destinations which still attract visitors despite of their security circumstances. Most of the tourists who choose traveling to a less safe destination are looking for new adventures, thus unique holidays. However, with that need of experiencing new sensations, and having a non-standard experiences, tourists cannot deny the fact of being attentive and taking precautions while traveling to an unsafe destination. The purpose of this research relies on defining what kind of precautions the tourists take while traveling to a destination which can threaten their safety, and in which way those precautions contribute to increase the tourist satisfaction.