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

Olga Christopoulou, Garyfallos Arabatzis and Serafeim Polyzos
linear models have been constructed for the detection of the factors which affect the duration
of the visitors’ stay and the frequency of visits. «Stepwise regression» was selected as a
method for the structure of the models. (Papastavrou et al., 1979). Linear models for the
estimation of the socioeconomic factors that affect the recreation demand have been used by
many scientists (Clawson and Knetsch, 1966, McClaskie et al., 1986).
4. RESULTS – DISCUSSION
4.1 Characteristics and preferences of all visitors
The great majority (81.8%) of respondents at Parnassos ski-resort were not visiting the resort
for the first time. They had visited it before at an average of 14 times during the winter period
(mainly at week-ends and on bank holidays). Their length of stay was around 6 hours.
Most visitors were Athens residents (77.6%) because Parnassos is the nearest large ski resort
to the Greek capital. The ski-resort of Parnitha which is closer to Athens has low quality
facilities. The most common transportation means to the resort was by car (67.55%). However,
a substantial number of visitors used excursion coaches (29.8%) since many travel agencies
organize daily or weekend fieldtrips to Parnassos. The purpose of the visit was mainly skiing
(about 76%), as well as appreciating the nature (19.6%). Participation in snow-related
entertainment games also constitutes one of the main reasons (12.1%) for visiting Parnassos
ski-resort (Table 1).
Table 1: Reasons for visiting the Parnassos ski-resort
Reasons %
Ski 75.6
Mountaineering 2.0
Playing 12.1
Nature Observation 19.6
Other reasons 6.3
* Note: The sum of the individual percentages gives a number larger than 100, because there
was the possibility of multiple answers in the question.
The vast majority (97.2%) of the visitors state that they would like to visit the resort more
often (only 2.8% of the respondents replied that they did not wish more frequent visits) but
due to certain constraints their wish cannot be realized. Lack of time is the major factor that
prevents visitors from visiting the resort more often (61% of the visitors). It is true that
contemporary working time patterns are a restrictive factor of free time availability. In addition,
family affairs keep the levels of winter tourism down (19.7%), since this kind of tourism
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