Thesis title: “The development of community-based ecotourism - lumes

357. GENERAL CONCLUSIONS AND DISCUSSIONThe conventional model of mass tourism based on “sea, sand and sun” that hasdominated tourism development in Greece for many decades seems to have broughtthe country’s tourism potential to a dead end. Even though this clearly indicates that aparadigm shift towards more sustainable forms of tourism is needed, this is a longtermand difficult task and therefore, one should not assume that sustainable tourismis possible to achieve overnight. Rather than making a sudden leap, one could expectthe country to take small steps towards the gradual introduction of increasinglysustainable tourism patterns. As a matter of fact, tourism development in Greece iscurrently undergoing a transitional stage and even though the conventional model ofmass tourism is not expected to decrease radically in the coming years, the gradualintegration of more sustainable tourism patterns in the official tourism developmentstrategies could be an important step in the right direction.In order to develop these sustainable tourism strategies it is vital to realize,first, the contribution of tourism to the restoration of regional and local balance, aswell as to the preservation and management of territorial resources. Ecotourism, inparticular, is a very promising alternative form of tourism that has been gainingground in the preferences of tourists during the past years and is expected to becomeeven more popular in the future. Ecotourism has the potential to become a driver ofsustainable tourism development in Greece also, provided that it is actuallyimplemented in a way that truly respects its fundamental principles. Especially thefact that ecotourism provides opportunities for the development of disadvantaged,marginal and rural areas is of vital importance. It constitutes, in this sense, a verypromising tool for reversing the negative demographic and economic trends of theseremote areas that often suffer from intense depopulation. In the same time, ecotourismmight help alleviate those areas in Greece that have been saturated with mass tourism,such as many coastal and insular regions. Moreover, the development of ecotourismcould help transform the traditional image of Greece from an exclusively “sea, sandand sun” destination to a more sophisticated and attractive destination that can offer ahighly diversified tourism product.Yet, the strategies for ecotourism development have to be locally planned andimplemented, in order to be successful. In other words, even if national ecotourismplanning incorporates sustainability issues on a centralized decision-making level, theregional and local parameters are still the most important components of the successof any ecotourism project. Moreover, the incorporation of local issues and concerns inecotourism planning presupposes a deep understanding of every region and athorough study of its particularities in terms of natural, economic, social and culturalcharacteristics. Such an approach guarantees not only the special management ofparticularly sensitive areas and ecosystems, but also the adoption of the appropriatetourism planning strategy according to the specific needs and dynamics of everyregion.In sum, it could be argued that ecotourism development in close connectionwith protected areas has, indeed, the potential to contribute to the conservation of thenatural and cultural heritage and, at the same time, help raise the standards of livingfor the local population. However, one should always keep in mind that ecotourism isnot the only way for achieving sustainable tourism. In reality, this is just one of itscomponents, which implies that ecotourism can deliver the maximum benefit whenintegrated in a broader strategy for sustainable development. For example, thecombination of ecotourism development with the encouragement of other