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The carrying capacity of mountainous tourist areas: the case of plastira’s lake The carrying capacity of mountainous tourist areas: the case of plastira’s lake Garyfallos Arabatzis, Serafeim Polyzos and Stavros Tsiantikoudis ABSTRACT garamp@fmenr.duth.gr spolyzos@prd.uth.gr stsianti@fmenr.duth.gr The basic characteristics of tourism in Greece are seasonality, massiveness and its spatial orientation having the biggest percentage of tourist flows concentrated in coastal areas. In the last years an important development of other alternative forms of tourism exists, with more importance in the mountainous tourism. One of the most interesting areas for mountainous tourism with particular environmental characteristics is Plastira’s Lake. This area constitutes an important tourist pole with impressive increase in nights spent by tourists over the last 10 years. Characteristically, as it is reported, during the years 1995 – 1997 arrivals and nights spent by tourists have increased at 440% and 425% respectively. During the period 1997 – 1999 arrivals and nights spent by tourists continuously increased at approximately 52% and 43% respectively. The augmentative changes in the number of tourist arrivals at the area and the determination of limits of tourism development require the estimation of tourism carrying capacity. In this article a methodology of estimation of tourism capacity of the above-mentioned area is developed, using as basic variables the characteristics of the area. Moreover, the intensity of the development of the area is determined, so as to utilize the structured and natural environment, without the environmental degradation. Key words: tourism development, tourism carrying capacity, regional development INTRODUCTION Tourism is a global socioeconomic phenomenon based on the human need for recreation, being in contact with nature and getting acquainted with other places and cultures. It is an activity of important economical, social, cultural and environmental consequence (Fleming & Toepper, 1990; Coccosis et al. 2001; Page et al. 2001). In a number of studies and developmental programs, particularly the economic or social dimension of its sequences is stressed, while the environmental dimensions is underestimated or ignored. The maintenance of balance between tourism and the environment imposes the configuration of suitable policy Tourism Today - Fall 2007 - Full Paper 109
110 Garyfallos Arabatzis, Serafeim Polyzos and Stavros Tsiantikoudis for the tourism development of an area and the imposition of essential limits. Thus, the tourism does not lead to the degradation of the environment and in long-terms to the tourist disdain of an area, but in its protection or its conservation. In other words, the environment influences the tourism and vise versa. The environment of a region is negatively influenced most times by the increase of tourism, whereas the development of tourism depends on the quality and the characteristics of the environment (Brown et al. 1997). Tourism as an economic activity has contributed extremely to the development of many geographically isolated regions of Greece as well as of other countries helping in this way in spatial diffusion of the development and creating the conditions for regional development. In the last years the abrupt and lacking of organization tourism development of many regions of Greece in combination with the massiveness of tourism causes new problems in the organisation of regional space. As main reasons can be reported: (a) regional inequalities because of the excessive concentration of tourism in specific areas, (b) progressive abandonment of other productive activities and the appointment of tourism as the only or main activity in a number of regions and (c) the degradation of the allocated tourism resources and the reduction of tourist attractiveness of an area due to the overexploitation of the natural and structured environment. The problem of the determination of the tourism capacity of a mountainous area such as the Plastira’s Lake area, and the potential of tourism development are analyzed in the present paper. The Plastira's Lake area can be characterized as geographically isolated and problematic as far as development is concerned, with serious demographic problems, with lacks in the technical infrastructure and economic activities of low productivity. The area allocates particularly natural characteristics, a fact that contributed decisive in the development of tourism in the last years. The natural environment is presented particularly considerable in development of the area through a frame of development compatible with the protection of nature. Despite its natural beauty the lake area had not been considered as an important resource for the local communities until 1988; then a local development plan by the Prefecture authorities indicated agro-tourism as an alternative path to development. Afterwards, the communities took the initiative to build 7 hostels that first operated around the mid 90’s. This was followed by increasing numbers of visitors in the area (Koutsouris, 2002). The tourist demand in the area increased very rapidly in the 90s and continues to increase with a lower rate. Concretely, an increase of arrivals and overnight stays by 440% and 425% respectively, was noticed in the 1995-1997 period which consists in the majority of local and less by foreign visitors. In the 1997 – 1999 we have a continuing increase in the total of arrivals and overnight stays, at 51,76% and 43,15% respectively. The overnight stays were Tourism Today - Fall 2007 - Full Paper
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42 • Pearce, P. L. (1995). From c
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44 Filio Lazana, Diana Draganescu,
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Page 63 and 64: 62 Jaume Garau-Taberner competitive
Page 65 and 66: 64 Jaume Garau-Taberner 2.1.4 Other
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Page 77 and 78: 76 Jaume Garau-Taberner The results
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Page 103 and 104: 102 Stanislav Ivanov Tourism Today
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162 Ski - resort and regional devel
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164 Olga Christopoulou, Garyfallos
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168 The european journal of tourism
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