Abstract
Tourism can be a powerful economic growth driver but also a risk to ongoing development of a region or even a country, if not managed correctly. It will only be sustainable if developed and managed considering both visitors and local communities. The aim of this study is to explore open data quantitative analysis through the construction of two composite indicators measuring overtourism and tourism carrying capacity in specific geographical regions. By evaluating these indices in the 13 administrative regions in Greece, one can easily identify regions that are close to saturation level as well as regions that have potential for further tourism development in the country. Hence, these indicators can be a useful tool for planning tourism policy that respects the specificities and the limits of the regions, protecting a destination from overtourism and averting tourism development from becoming an overwhelming constraint to the growth of the region, the well-being of the local population, and the satisfaction of visitors.
This paper was prepared before the outbreak of the CoViD-19 pandemic. Travel and tourism, in contrast to the resilience shown against the economic crisis, is currently one of the most affected sectors by this unprecedented global health, social and economic crisis. It remains to be seen how the world tourism will address this challenge and overcome the sharp decline expected in 2020.
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Notes
- 1.
For further reading on implications and future perspectives of overtourism see Cappochi et al. (2019).
- 2.
Besides, domestic overnight stays in hotels and short-stay rentals in 2018, constituted only 7% of inbound overnight stays.
- 3.
The current pandemic had much more severe repercussions on the tourism of the island regions of Greece.
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Panousi, S., Petrakos, G. (2021). Overtourism and Tourism Carrying Capacity: A Regional Perspective for Greece. In: Katsoni, V., van Zyl, C. (eds) Culture and Tourism in a Smart, Globalized, and Sustainable World. Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-72469-6_14
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