Evaluation, Synthesis and Formulation of Proposals for the Use of ...

«Evaluation, Synthesis and Formulation of Proposals for the Use of ICTin the Tourism Sector»5.2.7 Other Special Legal and Institutional IssuesThe need for the certification of tourist enterprises, especially hotels (in addition to the stars system),was a subject that was particularly discussed during the focus groups. This certification was alsofound in international best practice cases. According to opinions expressed in an interview at theHellenic Association of Travel and Tourist Agencies (HATTA), the government allows the operation oftourist websites without checking and certifying that the businesses actually meet the necessaryrequirements. Certification is of particular interest because, as it was found in the present study, it isworldwide used for reasons of tourist promotion, especially in the internet, and allows small businessoperating in the same area, to join forces and cultivate a common internet brand name. Moreover, itfits naturally to various alternative forms of tourism, where the potential traveller – internet userseeks for some guarantee – sign of quality. Characteristic examples can be found in wine tourism,with wine roads in European countries such as France, Spain and Germany, and also in countriesoutside Europe, such as Canada (the collaborative e-Mall model adopted by the Quebec federation ofagrotourism tourist agents for its portal was mentioned as a best practice in chapter 4). Althoughthere are very good similar cooperative efforts in Greece, such as the Northern Greece road wines,these are not promoted in official tourist portals and are largely unknown to the international touristweb community. Of course, another reason is that this particular tourist product is not knowninternationally due to lack of promotion in general.The promotion of exemplaryThe Hellenic Chamber of Hotels aims at the widertourist websites throughimprovement of the quality of services with the help ofawards, especially by thetraining. Its current strategy is towards learning by example,National Tourismwith the demonstration and promotion of model cases, forOrganization, would createexample in the tradition tourism where one can find manyconditions of healthynoteworthy accommodation units. According to viewscompetition and wouldexpressed in the focus groups, the promotion of exemplarypromote the marketing oftourist websites, especially by the National TourismGreek destinationsOrganization, would constitute a most significant incentive forentrepreneurs and would also create conditions of healthy competition. The relevant legal issues havebeen resolved in other countries, for example with awards, such as «website of the year».The focus groups also exposed the need for further modernization of the legal and institutionalframework for private investments in the tourism sector (extension and update of Development Lawprovisions, other subsidizing arrangements etc.), for the extension of the institutional framework tocover the alternative forms of tourism, and its harmonization with the rest of the tourism developmentframework. More specifically, the jointly responsible Ministries should cooperate to prepare or extendVersion 1Month: December Year: 200735