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

Olga Christopoulou, Garyfallos Arabatzis and Serafeim Polyzos
of visits to winter sport markets is low. In addition there are new requirements and challenges
regarding the management of environmentally ‘sensitive’ mountainous regions and villages
that the managers of the resorts are faced with. Survival and development of winter sports’
destinations focuses to a large extend on strategies for creating competitive advantages
(Flagestad and Hope, 2001).
Even though research on tourism is a major scientific occupation in the field of social science,
winter tourism research remains a neglected field of study. This can be due to the lack of
agreement between academics regarding an appropriate theoretical approach in order to
understand tourism motivation. In addition there is a lack of agreement between psychologists
for a theoretical approach to understand the visitors’ motivation patterns. Further development
of the ski industry could be achieved when the determinants of skiers’ preferences are studied
and understood (Holden, 1999).
Mountain’s exploitation for skiing activities constitutes an important issue, especially in the
last two decades and new innovative development plans are increasingly proposed. The
auxiliary firms that are related and support skiing activities generate substantial benefits for
the communities such as employment and social stability to the regions involved. Future
development of ski-resorts should rely on a wider understanding of skiers’ needs and attitudes
(Holden, 1998).
The issue of recreational demand for skiing-related activities in Greece has been thoroughly
investigated neither from the influential socioeconomic factors’ point of view nor from the
contribution of ski resorts themselves to regional economy. The demand for skiing activities
and the associated facilities only sporadically has been studied as for instance in the case of
Thessaloniki city. In this case there have been suggested certain factors that encourage or
discourage the participation in such activities. They have also have been proposed certain
measures for lifting demand such as the expansion of state social tourism programs to
encompass winter tourism destinations in addition to summer tourism ones. Furthermore, the
study examines the ski-resorts in the Northern Greece in terms of their spatial distribution
and serving capacity as well as the factors determining the necessity for winter tourism
(Karameris, 1988; Karameris, 1992).
In another study Christopoulou and Papadopoulos, (2001) studied the preferences and
characteristics of Pertouli ski-resort visitors and together with the factors affecting the visiting
frequency to the ski-resort, as well as the visiting duration. Moreover, attitudes, points of view
and characteristics of Voras ski-resort visitors, in Northern Greece, have been examined using
questionnaires (Arabatzis et al., 2003).
3. METHODOLOGY
The research took place in Parnassos ski-resort which lies in an altitude of 1750-1950 metres,
in Fthiotida District, Central Greece, and belongs to the ‘ski resorts of national importance’
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