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

386 Georgios Zografos, Alex Deffrer
2. Northern Greece as a Tourist Destination
Northern Greece is a uniform piece of land that lies on the southern side of the Balkan
Peninsula. It mainly consists of four regions (eastern Macedonia and Thrace, central
Macedonia, western Macedonia and Epirus). The latter is not usually included in the socalled
northern Greece, but it is logical to do so because of its common characteristics
with the three other regions. That mass of land forms an arc and includes all the land
borders of Greece. It is 550 kilometres in length and its width is no more than a 100
kilometres at any point. The size of the area is substantial (52000 square kilometres)
and it represents almost 40% of the Greek land mass.
Northern Greece’s population is almost three million people, representing one third of
the total Greek population. Among the four regions, the region of central Macedonia is
the most populous. Gross Domestic Product per capita varies from region to region in
northern Greece. In general it is equal to or lower than the national average. Prosperity
indexes are rather lower than the national average. According to Psycharis, in 2001,
Gross Domestic Product in central Macedonia was around seventy percent of the
European level (2004, p. 74).
As far as tourist activity is concerned, someone has to look at the connection the area
has with outbound tourism-generating areas. Northern Greece has ten road links to the
surrounding Balkan countries. Evzonoi and Promahon are the main ones. Also it has
five railway links. Only one of them can be characterised as a major link. As far as ports
are concerned, northern Greece has three ports but none of them contributes
significantly to the transfer of tourists into the area. Northern Greece is equipped with
seven airports but only two of them transfer tourists from abroad into the area.
Northern Greece generally hosts 20% to 25% of the total incoming tourists in Greece.
Total bed capacity in northern Greece exceeds 100.000. Halkidiki is the most wellestablished
destination in the region, followed by Pieria (Zografos, 1999, p. 42).
3. Pieria
Pieria is a part of the central Macedonia region. It lies south of Thessaloniki and it is
actually a coastal area. The prefecture has natural borders: the Aegean Sea, the Pierian
Mountains and Mount Olympus. Mount Olympus was the first area to be declared as a
national park in 1932. It is a UNESCO heritage site as well.
Pieria is generally one of the greenest parts of Greece and has lots of forests and
picturesque countryside. The extended coastline is quite attractive. At the foot of Mt
UNIVERSITY OF THESSALY, Department of Planning and Regional Development