Thesis title: âThe development of community-based ecotourism - lumes

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31strengthen social bonds within the community (Tziovas, 2004, personalcommunication).6.3. ASSESSMENT OF THE WWF PLAN AND SUGGESTIONS FORFURTHER IMPROVEMENTThe assessment of the WWF plan for ecotourism development in Zagori willbe based on a checklist developed by Hawkins & Khan 15 (see Appendix III, pp. 46-48). This particular checklist is based on three main concepts that cover the threeaspects of tourism sustainability, as shown in figure 7:Respect for the integrityof the ecosystemsEcotourismLocal ParticipationEco-DevelopmentEconomic opportunitiesfor the local communityFig 7. The three concepts for viable ecotourism development(Source: Hawkins & Khan, 1998)Some general comments that arise after using this checklist for Zagori are thatPart II, which refers to “local participation” is the one best covered by the WWF planfor ecotourism development, which means that concerns for the social well-being ofthe local population were adequately taken into account while preparing the plan. Incontrast, a look at Part I, pertaining to the “respect and integrity of the ecosystem”reveals an important weakness of the plan. In particular, this weakness refers to itsinability to stimulate and promote issues such as energy conservation (question 6),sustainable waste management (question 7) as well as alternative technologies(question 11). These issues, nevertheless, constitute fundamental components ofenvironmental sustainability and therefore, they cannot be left out. Hence, a revisionof the existent plan in order to incorporate these issues is highly necessitated. Further,a serious lack of information is encountered when it comes to answering Part III ofthe checklist, related to “economic opportunities for the local community”. Inparticular, it is not made clear by the current version of the plan in what ways exactly15 Although a plethora of similar checklists for assessing the success of ecotourism projects exists inliterature, this particular checklist was selected because it encompasses in brief the most crucial pointsfor evaluating an ecotourism development plan from all aspects (environmental, social and economic).In other terms, this is a short, yet comprehensive, checklist that considers the most important pointswhich may help identify whether an ecotourism development plan is viable or not. In addition, a moredetailed checklist would be inappropriate for the case of Zagori, since ecotourism development in thisarea is still in the stage of early planning, hence only general and basic information on this matter isavailable for the moment.
32economic benefits will be generated for the local community (questions 1,2,3), neitherhow these benefits will be distributed among the local population (question 5). Thisimplies that the economic aspect of sustainability of the discussed plan might alsoneed to be revised in order to integrate more concrete and substantial proposals onimproving the economic well-being of the local community. More thoughts andproposals on how the WWF plan for ecotourism development in Zagori could beimproved in practice will follow.Zagori, as mentioned already earlier, is an area of great ecological and culturalvalue due to its distinct geomorphologic features, its high biological diversity and itsunique cultural elements. Notwithstanding, these exceptional characteristics of Zagoristill remain largely undiscovered by the average visitor who lacks special knowledge.Thus, the tourists’ perception of the natural and cultural beauty of the area is notrepresentative of its overall value. The local WWF office has the potential and theexpertise to help enhance the visitors’ understanding of the area, by improving therole of the already existing information center located in Papigo. Moreover, the deepknowledge of local residents concerning the natural environment and culturalelements of their area (such as local customs, traditions, myths etc.) should be utilizedfor improving the visitors’ understanding and appreciation of Zagori. For instance,local people could start leading guided tours for visitors both inside and outside thebuilt environment, in order to explain important points of the history, culture andnature of Zagori, which would otherwise remain undiscovered by most tourists.In addition, a kind of local certification could complement the idea ofestablishing the suggested “network of communities of Chamois biotopes”, bycreating a local logo/label depicting the Balkan Chamois. The adoption of this logo bythe aforementioned network would help identify the Balkan Chamois with thedestination of Zagori and, in the same time, differentiate Zagori from other mountaindestinations with similar profile in Greece. There are two ways of utilizing this label.The first possibility would be to give it to Zagori as a whole, i.e. as a destination.Although in this case the requirements for calling this a certification scheme are notfulfilled, the advantage of this approach is that the adoption of the Balkan Chamois asthe official logo of Zagori provides a special identity to all local products and tourismservices, which thus become recognizable by tourists and are identified with thedestination as a whole. The second possibility would be establishing a set of qualityand/or performance criteria and then awarding the label only to those tourismenterprises that reach or exceed the required standards. The advantage of thisapproach is that it is more beneficial for the natural environment, since it constitutesan incentive for tourism business to in Zagori to operate in a more sustainable way.This could also help visitors who are sensitive with regard to environmental issuesdistinguish and support those businesses in Zagori that operate in a moreenvironmentally friendly manner.Regardless of the approach that will be adopted, though, the establishment ofthe “network of communities of Chamois biotopes” and the adoption of the BalkanChamois as its official label should also be linked to the conservation of the area’snatural resources. There are various ways of redirecting part of the revenues generatedby tourism to conservation purposes. For instance, a fixed symbolic amount could beadded to the bill of every hotel customer who visits Zagori (either through opt-in oropt-out procedures). The total amount accumulated from all tourism businesses inZagori within a year could be then spent on purposes such as scientific researchconducted by local universities/NGOs and/or environmental conservation projects inthe area. In any case, it is necessary to note that the creation of such a logo is not
Page 1 and 2: Tourism Certification and Community
Page 3 and 4: 2ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSI would like to ta
Page 5 and 6: 41. INTRODUCTION AND RESEARCH METHO
Page 7 and 8: 6operate for six months every year
Page 9 and 10: 8and tackled immediately, the futur
Page 11 and 12: 10Many scholars have also attempted
Page 13 and 14: In addition, sustainable tourism co
Page 15 and 16: 14creating a stronger brand that is
Page 17 and 18: 16In an attempt to acquire a deeper
Page 19 and 20: 18such as land use and biodiversity
Page 21 and 22: 20The CST is mainly a performance-b
Page 23 and 24: 22in Costa Rica. As tourism experts
Page 25 and 26: 24Tourist SpendingDirectImpactsTour
Page 27 and 28: 26economic well-being constitutes a
Page 29 and 30: 28policies and oversee the general
Page 31: scientific research regarding topic
Page 35 and 36: 34This task is far from simple; it
Page 37 and 38: 36mechanisms such as tourism certif
Page 39 and 40: 388. LIST OF REFERENCESBendell, J.
Page 41 and 42: Issaverdis, J. P. (2001). The Pursu
Page 43 and 44: 42and Sustainability - Linking Cult
Page 45 and 46: 44IIA. MAP OF EPIRUS(Source: www.al
Page 47 and 48: 46III. CHECKLIST FOR ECOTOURISM PRO
Page 49: 48Part III. Economicopportunities f

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