Ski – resort and regional development: profile of visitors ... - E-Journal

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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