Paralia – Katerini, Greece, or how dramatic can changes be in the ...

384 Georgios Zografos, Alex Deffrer
A survey based on questionnaires was organised in order to acquire the citizens’ point
of view concerning the situation in Paralia. Proposals are made in order to provide
solutions to several issues which constitute the “trap” the destination is in.
1. Tourism Development in Greece
In the context of global tourism, it can be said that the future seems very promising.
Several reasons are relevant here - first of all, the fact that the disposable income will be
increased. Tourist activities will be promoted through the influx of capital. Tourist
development will be the key to economic development for various regions throughout
the world.
As far as Greece is concerned, its performance as a tourist destination is shaped by the
general conditions in the Mediterranean. Tourism has proved to be the most powerful
and reliable factor for regional development in Greece.
As is be pointed by Lagos (2003, p. 325), in many areas, tourism has helped to reverse
negative demographic data. Greece has a plethora of cultural and natural assets, a fact
that could only promote its position among the most popular tourist destinations globally.
The tourist infrastructure of the country includes skiing centres, mountain resorts, spa
centres, water therapy centres, marines, museums and archaeological sites.
The kind of tourism that Greece has developed through the last decades has been
based on a clear image of the sea, sun, sand and sex (4S). Greece, however, has not
solved many of its problems in the context of tourist development. Those problems
seem to now have started having an influence on the performance of the Greek tourist
industry. As is clarified by Lagos (2003, p. 326 ), the most important problems are the
ones mentioned below.
The Greek tourist product is not differentiated from that of other Mediterranean
countries. Its competitiveness for a long period of time was based solely on the
reduction of prices.
• The sole dependence of the Greek tourist industry on a specific model of tourist
development has led to the total dominance of the tour operators, who determine
almost anything that has to do with the context of tourist development in Greece.
According to Lagos (2003, p. 327), the fact that hotels regularly operate with
occupancy levels of 60%, is partly due to the fact mentioned above. Furthermore,
the increase in beds which comes with the creation of new resorts has not been
absorbed by the parallel increase of demand.
UNIVERSITY OF THESSALY, Department of Planning and Regional Development