Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challengescore.ac.uk/download/pdf/101686.pdf · Tourism...

41
Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challenges Dimitrios Buhalis School of Management Studies for the Service Sector, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, UK This paper provides a strategic analysis of the competitiveness of Greek tourism. It illustrates the importance of tourism as an economic activity and analyses the current situation and structural problems of Greece as a destination. Although Greece offers unique nature, culture and heritage, the lack of differentiation of the tourism product as well as competitive disadvantages in marketing and planning cause an over-dependence on intermediaries for the promotion and distribution of the tourism product whilst jeopardising its quality. This affects the profitability and competitive- ness of both the destination and its small and medium-sized tourism enterprises. The paper proposes a grand strategy as well as numerous strategic directions, objectives and tasks aiming to demonstrate the way ahead for Greek tourism. Several major opportunities emerge through the Olympic Games in 2004 as well as the major projects currently being undertaken which will enhance the infrastructure of the country. It is argued that a consistent tourism policy based on professional development and imple- mented through a Master Plan is urgently required. Strategies and methodologies need to be identified, whilst private enterprises need to increase their cooperation locally in order to enhance the quality and competitiveness of the product. Introduction. Tourism in Greece: From Mythology to a Modern Industry Greece has a long tradition in tourism and hospitality mainly due to its history and ancient civilisation. Foreigners were considered sacred in ancient Greece. Xenius Zeus, the father of gods, also became the god of hospitality to protect foreigners and inspire locals to look after their visitors. A land of rich economic, religious and intellectual activity for more than three and a half millennia; geographically spread on an archipelago of more than 2500 islands; located at the south-eastern corner of Europe; on a crossroad to Africa and Asia, inevitably stimulated travel activity since the beginning of recorded history (Briassoulis, 1993: 285; Skoulas, 1985: 2; EIU, 1986: 45). In modern times, the scientific docu- mentation of tourism in Greece commenced after the Second World War, while major tourism development started in the mid-1970s, when the unpopularity of Spanish resorts stimulated demand for alternative Mediterranean destinations. A dramatic increase of tourism flows to Greece in the late 1970s and 1980s was experienced, facilitated by plenty of natural, cultural and environmental resources, existing airport infrastructure in major islands, and lower cost of living in comparison with most of Europe (EIU, 1990: 49). Greek resorts have different product and market profiles making them capable of satisfying a great diversity of tourism demand (Buhalis, 1991; Ottaway, 1993; Boniface & Cooper, 1994: 140; Wickers, 1993). The tourism industry grew rapidly, especially on island destinations and regions with historical monuments, as demonstrated in Discussion Web Site: http://www.commerce.otago.ac.nz/tourism/current-issues/homepage.htm 1368-3500/01/05 0440-42 $16.00/0 ©2001 D. Buhalis Current Issues in Tourism Vol. 4, No. 5, 2001 440

Transcript of Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challengescore.ac.uk/download/pdf/101686.pdf · Tourism...

Page 1: Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challengescore.ac.uk/download/pdf/101686.pdf · Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challenges Dimitrios Buhalis School of Management

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis andChallenges

Dimitrios BuhalisSchool of Management Studies for the Service Sector University of SurreyGuildford GU2 7XH UK

This paper provides a strategic analysis of the competitiveness of Greek tourism Itillustrates the importance of tourism as an economic activity and analyses the currentsituation and structural problems of Greece as a destination Although Greece offersunique nature culture and heritage the lack of differentiation of the tourism productas well as competitive disadvantages in marketing and planning cause anover-dependence on intermediaries for the promotion and distribution of the tourismproduct whilst jeopardising its quality This affects the profitability and competitive-ness of both the destination and its small and medium-sized tourism enterprises Thepaper proposes a grand strategy as well as numerous strategic directions objectivesand tasks aiming to demonstrate the way ahead for Greek tourism Several majoropportunities emerge through the Olympic Games in 2004 as well as the major projectscurrently being undertaken which will enhance the infrastructure of the country It isargued that a consistent tourism policy based on professional development and imple-mented through a Master Plan is urgently required Strategies and methodologies needto be identified whilst private enterprises need to increase their cooperation locally inorder to enhance the quality and competitiveness of the product

Introduction Tourism in Greece From Mythology to a ModernIndustry

Greece has a long tradition in tourism and hospitality mainly due to its historyand ancient civilisation Foreigners were considered sacred in ancient GreeceXenius Zeus the father of gods also became the god of hospitality to protectforeigners and inspire locals to look after their visitors A land of rich economicreligious and intellectual activity for more than three and a half millenniageographically spread on an archipelago of more than 2500 islands located at thesouth-eastern corner of Europe on a crossroad to Africa and Asia inevitablystimulated travel activity since the beginning of recorded history (Briassoulis1993 285 Skoulas 1985 2 EIU 1986 45) In modern times the scientific docu-mentation of tourism in Greece commenced after the Second World War whilemajor tourism development started in the mid-1970s when the unpopularity ofSpanish resorts stimulated demand for alternative Mediterranean destinationsA dramatic increase of tourism flows to Greece in the late 1970s and 1980s wasexperienced facilitated by plenty of natural cultural and environmentalresources existing airport infrastructure in major islands and lower cost ofliving in comparison with most of Europe (EIU 1990 49) Greek resorts havedifferent product and market profiles making them capable of satisfying a greatdiversity of tourism demand (Buhalis 1991 Ottaway 1993 Boniface amp Cooper1994 140 Wickers 1993) The tourism industry grew rapidly especially onisland destinations and regions with historical monuments as demonstrated in

Discussion Web Site httpwwwcommerceotagoacnztourismcurrent-issueshomepagehtm

1368-35000105 0440-42 $16000 copy2001 D BuhalisCurrent Issues in Tourism Vol 4 No 5 2001

440

the spatial analysis of tourism distribution (Komilis 1987 Leontidou 1991Papadopoulos 1989 297ndash300)

Greece is one of the most remote peripheral insular and poor economicregions of the EU Its tourism requires urgent strategic management action inorder to compete with alternative destinations and maximise the prosperity ofthe host population Similar strategic exercises are undertaken by competingdestinations around the globe as they prepare to face the new business realitiesIn Spain for example

the evolution of demand towards a more diversified touristic productoffering better value for money the growing concern for the environmentwhich contradicts the degradation of the surroundings a fragmentedsector structure with low level of professionalism and a substantial growthof competition [especially new destinations which compete in its tradi-tional market segments and enjoy comparative advantages in costprices]have changed the setting of Spanish tourism by constituting a seriousthreat to its competitiveness However these future trends though worry-ing can be considered as opportunities to remodel the strategy of supply ofSpanish tourism (Camison et al 1994 443)

Several resorts and especially Benidorm and Calvia went through a majorface-lift to accommodate the new trends Hence this paper concentrates on thefactors which jeopardise the success of Greek tourism as well as on theirimpacts on the prosperity of the private sector and the local society andattempts to propose a strategic framework for competitiveness enhancementOnly competitive destinations will be able to maximise their benefits in thefuture (Buhalis 2000a) and if Greece would like to benefit from tourism itshould learn from the international experience and adapt its strategic and oper-ational practices

The paper is based on on-going primary and secondary research and benefitsfrom a number of interviews with strategic players in Greek tourism A compre-hensive literature review is also incorporated in order to facilitate furtherresearch on the topic As most destinations are comprised by an amalgam ofsmall and medium-sized tourism enterprises (SMTEs) it is argued that thecompetitiveness and prosperity of destinations are closely interrelated withthose of SMTEs and vice versa This is also reinforced by Porterrsquos (1990) analysisof lsquothe competitive advantage of nationsrsquo where the competitiveness of thegeographical area of business operations is directly influenced by both the exter-nal business environment and the competence of local enterprises As Camison etal (1994 443) state

the conditions determining the competitiveness of a tourist service[whether accommodation catering a theme park a wholesale travelagency etc] and the holiday experience of a tourist find meaning in acertain geographical area (the destination) defined by a multidimensionalrelationship among firms and industries involved transport and commu-nications infrastructure complementary activities [commercial infrastruc-ture tradition of fairs etc] support services [training information etc]natural resources and institutional policies

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 441

Following the introduction and the examination of the importance of tourismin the Greek economy (why is tourism important) the paper focuses on the stra-tegic position of Greek tourism A comprehensive auditing is undertaken inorder to assess the current situation and to illuminate the structural problems ofthe industry (where are we now) The analysis of the structural problemsdemonstrate several reasons which determine the strategic situation (why are wethere) while the effects on private sector profitability and the impacts of tour-ism on the host society are illustrated (what are the implications) A strategicframework is provided in order to formulate a grand strategy for Greek tourismand to demonstrate future direction (where do we want to go) Furthermore anumber of strategic directions objectives and tasks demonstrate how the grandstrategy can be implemented while the need for a Master Plan drawn up by thepublic sector and close cooperation of the private sector are prescribed in order tofacilitate the implementation of the strategy (how are we going there)

Why is Tourism Important The Contribution of Tourism to theGreek Economy

The Greek economy is often criticised for failing to develop strong industrialsectors and to establish suitable distribution channels for exporting agricultureTourism is a major contributor to the balance of payments while it is one of thefew activities which would enable Greece to achieve competitive advantagesthrough the redistribution of labour within Europe (Economist 1993 5ndash6) Thus itis a vital motivator of the Greek economy reducing the deficit of the balance ofpayments boosting employment generating income and contributing to regionaldevelopment (Zacharatos 1989 274 Truett amp Truett 1987 178)

Nobody knows the exact contribution of tourism to the Greek economy mainlybecause there is inadequate research on expenditure flows of income and nationalaccounts Tourism is a major export and contributor to both Gross National Product(GNP) and balance of payments The Greek National Tourism Organisation (GNTO)suggests that the tourism contribution to the GDP is estimated at up to 7 Thetourism receipts in 1998 were 5186 millions US covering 293 of the deficit in thebalance of payments and 3983 of the exports of services (wwwgntogr 12 Octo-ber 2000) Paulopoulos (1999) estimates that in 1994 the foreign currency earnedfrom incoming tourism was $9bn providing 18ndash20 of the GNP Tourism income is25 times more than the income generated by industrial products and 18 times morethan the total exports However these figures do not include pre-purchases ofdrachma by tourists abroad credit card payments payments for cruises and otherearnings which have been estimated to increase total receipts by up to 80 (EIU1994 42 and 1993 43 Papadopoulos amp Mirza 1985 133) Tourism is included in theGreek National Accounts as lsquoInvisible Receiptrsquo and since 1989 it has only beensecond to the lsquonet EU contributionsrsquo having overtaken both lsquoshippingrsquo and lsquoemi-grant remittancesrsquo contributions which used to dominate in the past (Epilogi 1994355 Papadopoulos amp Mirza 1985 131 EIU 1990 49)

Tourism is also increasingly recognised as an instrument for regional develop-ment policies especially for socioeconomically depressed and problematic areas(Konsolas amp Zacharatos 1993 57) It is instrumental in developing unfavouredregions and especially insular areas which have little potential to develop local

442 Current Issues in Tourism

handicraft and other industries without tourism demand Consequently in theperiod 1965ndash1980 the tourism output multiplier in Greece was estimated to be 152(Zacharatos 1989 281) Domestic tourism also facilitates a certain degree of redis-tribution of wealth between metropolitan and peripheral regions Not only wasthe emigration pace from the islands diminished especially of young people butalso a trend for rehabitation on the islands has been evident in the last decade asnew job opportunities have emerged (Panagiotopoulou 1990 10 Loukissas 1982537) Tourism also stimulates seasonal migration of professionals in several desti-nations who work at the region for several months every year (Logothetis 199023) Tourism is also a major employer as it is estimated that employment in the tour-ism sector is 10 (61 direct employment and 39 indirect) of the total employ-ment in Greece (wwwgntogr 12 October 2000) Paulopoulos (1999) estimates atotal of 690000 people to be employed in tourism if we include people indirectlyinvolved with tourism with 35 employed yearly 40 for 6ndash8 months and 25only during the peak season for 2ndash3 months About 74 of the labour is employedin accommodation establishments 21 in travel agencies transportation and thepublic sector while a further 5 is occupied in sea transportation (Stereopoulos1995 153) Job opportunities are provided mainly for young people and forwomen who are often self-employed within their household (Kassimati et al 1994Kousis 1989 328) However tourismrsquos contribution to employment is jeopar-dised as increasingly the industry is using self-catering and self-serviced accom-modation and catering (Zacharatos 1989 284)

In reality the contribution of tourism to the Greek economy is substantiallygreater as the official figures ignore the lsquopara-economyrsquo (black or parallel econ-omy) estimated to be as high as 28ndash50 of the official GDP (EIU 1993 25 EIU1990 47) Tourism being a seasonal activity often complements other economicactivities such as agriculture and education and therefore para-economy in tour-ism is even greater than other industries Para-economy includes both interna-tional transfers of funds for tourism products offered within the country as well asthe illegal export of tourism foreign exchange which is re-exported without beingprocessed through the Greek economic system As a result the real impacts oftourism in the economy are largely unknown (Zacharatos 1988 1989)

Where Are We Now Situation Analysis The Greek TourismIndustry and its Competitiveness

The contribution of Greek tourism to the national economy demonstrates themagnitude and complexity of the industry Following a brief demand analysisan examination of tourism supply is undertaken whilst a strengthsndashweak-nessesndashopportunitiesndashthreats (SWOT) analysis demonstrates the competitive-ness of both destination and its SMTEs In addition the paper elaborates on awide range of structural problems and illustrates their effects on the profitabilityof the private sector and on the impacts of tourism at the destination

Tourism demand for GreeceGreece has enjoyed a continuous growth in arrivals since the early 1950s

Despite the lack of any comprehensive tourism demand analysis undertaken bythe GNTO several research documents address the tourism-demand issue for

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 443

Greece (Psoinos 1994a 1994b GNTO 1985a Tourismos ke Oikonomia 1993NSSG 1983 1985 1987 1990 1993 Stavrou 1984 1986a 1986c) In 1950 33333foreign tourists passed the borders while this figure rose to almost 11 million in1999 as illustrated in Table 1 Greece comes in the 17th place in the world classifi-cation of tourist destinations There is a concentration in the summer months asin the last ten years in 375 of arrivals were in July and August while the periodMay to September attracted 74 of total arrivals This is clearly reflected on thebednights as illustrated on Table 2 Most visitors (932) originate from Europeand 702 from the EU especially British Germans Swedish Finnish Dutch andAustrians Hence these nationalities are the dominant markets with the Britishand Germans contributing almost half of all arrivals as illustrated in Table 3About 777 came by plane and 605 by chartered flights Although tourismarrivals in Greece were forecasted to reach 20 million by the year 2000 (Jenner ampSmith 1993 161) this was not achieved as a result of increasing competition andincompetent management in both the public and private sectors

In 1999 about 60 million bednights were recorded in all types of accommoda-tion establishments 75 of which were by international tourists Similar to arriv-als the vast majority of the bednights spent in the country were by Europeansespecially British Germans Swedish Finnish Dutch and Austrians Hence thesenationalities are the dominant markets accounting for more than three-quarters ofthe bednights with the British and Germans contributing almost half of allbednights Domestic tourism is also a significant contributor More than 75 oftourists arrived in Greece by air and 58 of the total arrived on charter flightsbecause of the distance from the country of departure In 1985 about 89 of tour-istsrsquo arrivals to Greece were holiday-makers while only 7 travelled for business2 for other reasons and 1 were in transit About 53 of the tourists arriving in1985 had bought an inclusive tour package (GNTO 1985a 8) The inconvenienceof indirect transportation schedules large differentials in charges for groups andindividual customers by accommodation establishments lack of informationabout the Greek tourism product as well as insufficient marketing by SMTEshave enabled tour operators to act as intermediates between consumers and prin-cipals and to play a dominant role in the tourism industry However the develop-ment of the Internet enables prospective visitors to pre-book their packagesindependently and to use cheaper non-frills airlines and leisure fares of scheduleairlines for their transportation

The country has cultural attractions and heritage few other destinations canequal and therefore it can respond to the lsquonew era of tourismrsquo where a greaterdegree of individuality and sophistication will be required by consumers In 1998the average length of stay in the country was 14 days while the average expendi-ture per capita reached a level of $456 Similar results emerged in recent researchalthough the location of the data collection produced a sample containing a higherpercentage of business travellers (Psoinos 1994a 62)

Despite research on motivation attitudes and satisfaction of tourists arriving inGreece being inadequate a few typologies have emerged Fotis (1992 83ndash86) classi-fied holiday-makers in Rhodes in four main categories lsquotranquillersrsquo seeking quietand relaxing holidays lsquoculturersrsquo who include a strong educational and historicalelement in their holidays lsquobudgetersrsquo who are predominately budget-constrainedfamilies and young lsquonightlifersrsquo enjoying nightlife entertainment Similarly

444 Current Issues in Tourism

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 445

Table 1 Tourism demand and supply figures for Greece during the period 1950ndash1995

Year Arrivals Bednights Bedcapacity

Expenditure(million $)

Expenditureper capita

1950 33333 ndash ndash 4735 1421951 40568 ndash ndash 5933 1461952 68184 ndash ndash 9583 1411953 94410 ndash ndash 22721 2411954 157618 1273105 ndash 25321 1611955 195852 1351312 ndash 29123 1491956 218301 1594088 ndash 31213 1521957 261738 2041096 ndash 41374 1661958 276534 2069722 ndash 36196 1421959 339802 2552271 ndash 41667 1381960 399438 2963478 ndash 49260 1411961 494191 3934522 57022 62469 1421962 597924 4921803 60945 75986 1401963 741193 6129500 65604 95415 1421964 757495 5102121 71741 90800 1351965 976125 6158300 78487 107575 1271966 1131730 8810300 85323 143458 1441967 996473 ndash 90362 126768 1491968 1017621 ndash 98631 120263 1371969 1305951 6212000 108180 140470 1311970 1609210 7683639 118859 193556 1551971 2257994 11224000 135103 305299 1711972 2731587 14687325 151420 392700 1761973 3177682 15698030 166552 514900 1971974 2188304 10214164 175161 436600 2531975 3172968 13574801 185275 643600 2441976 4243563 19202614 213431 823700 2251977 4597354 18714446 231797 980600 2481978 5081033 22259598 247040 1326300 2931979 5798360 26672482 265550 1662300 3181980 5271115 27170344 278045 1733500 3611981 5577109 28171610 285860 1881000 3691982 5463060 29954664 301230 1527200 3031983 5258372 27216605 317920 1175700 2461984 6027266 32821789 333820 1312800 2381985 7039428 35709851 348170 1428000 2171986 7339015 35450027 359380 1834200 2611987 8053052 35755308 375370 2268100 2971988 8351182 36000000 395810 2396100 3051989 8540962 34157667 423790 1976000 2451990 9310492 36289604 438360 2575000 2901991 8271258 29873046 459300 2566100 319

Wickens (1994 819 and 2000) classified tourists arriving in Pefkochori as lsquocul-tural heritagersquo type interested in the natural beauties of Greece as well as itsculture and history lsquoraversrsquo attracted by the cheapness of the resort particularlythe cheapness and availability of alcohol as well as the sun beach and nightlifelsquoShirley Valentinesrsquo who are women on a mono-gender holiday who hope forromance and sexual adventure with a lsquoGreek Godrsquo based on the Greek malestereotype which has been perpetuated by newspapers and the film ShirleyValentine lsquoheliolatrousrsquo tourists who are sun-worshippers trying indefatigablyto change their colour and finally lsquoLord Byronsrsquo who undertake an annual ritualreturn to the same destination and experience the real flavour of Greek hospital-ity and ambience Although these typologies provide an initial demand profilethe strategic analysis and the positioning of the Greek tourism product will beimpossible without further research undertaken on the characteristics needsmotivations and behaviour of tourists

446 Current Issues in Tourism

Year Arrivals Bednights Bedcapacity

Expenditure(million $)

Expenditureper capita

1992 9756012 36260299 475800 3268400 3501993 9913267 36747968 499606 3335200 3541994 11301722 40657544 486518 3904900 3461995 10658114 38889975 534703 4294000 4031996 9782061 47945506 550692 3723100 3811997 10588489 53364507 560957 3772200 3561998 11363822 56549442 577759 5186100 4561999 10970665 60256902 584714 NA NA

Source Adapted from the Greek National Tourism Organisation and National Statistical Service ofGreece

Table 2 Nights spent by foreign tourists and Greek nationals in hotels and similarestablishments by month

Month Year Variation

1996 1997 1998 1999 9796 9897 9998January 867638 946798 1005719 1066084 912 622 600February 928305 933592 998977 1060008 057 700 611March 1250226 1369751 1273310 1448624 956 ndash704 1377April 2766116 2822243 2905546 2864693 203 295 ndash141May 5258710 5923093 6229116 6617666 1263 517 624June 6405495 7075829 7530343 8342167 1046 642 1078July 7965179 9003064 9872757 10723835 1303 966 862August 9551439 10878827 11661790 11805077 1390 720 123September 6993686 7822329 8224367 8756290 1185 514 647October 4113665 4419861 4640619 5234218 744 499 1279November 1032350 1113342 1175950 1245219 785 562 589December 812697 1055778 1030948 1093021 2991 ndash235 602Total 47945506 53364507 56549442 60256902 1130 597 656

Source Greek National Tourism Organisation and National Statistical Service of Greece

Table 1 (cont) Tourism demand and supply figures for Greece during the period1950ndash1995

Tab

le 3

Arr

ival

s of

for

eign

tou

rist

s at

fron

tier

s by

cit

izen

ship

199

1ndash19

99

Cou

ntry

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

19

99

238

453

128

211

191

619

298

843

586

182

673

061

Au

stri

a28

831

734

525

928

863

634

809

134

730

135

960

438

811

845

019

550

160

2B

elgi

um

-Lu

xem

bou

rg17

975

422

509

922

403

626

514

824

557

221

356

722

931

027

367

433

291

3B

ulg

aria

157

910

140

725

144

534

133

764

136

504

154

765

182

338

197

347

202

848

Fran

ce47

094

554

222

255

464

461

856

555

179

846

273

242

667

848

620

154

598

1G

erm

any

156

111

31

944

704

206

937

92

404

628

227

291

11

907

863

199

467

02

136

515

245

013

7Fo

rmer

Yu

gosl

avia

518

644

934

1319

179

227

930

127

034

724

717

1Y

ugo

slav

ia27

089

426

076

423

149

619

899

920

163

310

307

7Fy

rom

37

809

586

911

128

051

Den

mar

k21

188

328

123

525

362

231

888

532

436

929

895

934

426

129

253

233

624

8Sw

itze

rlan

d12

624

116

312

616

499

919

332

725

907

225

642

529

573

128

938

730

813

8U

K1

674

875

215

485

02

191

347

241

862

82

224

885

168

799

91

711

942

204

424

32

433

033

Irel

and

440

8557

885

627

8069

928

622

5254

050

454

0944

524

486

49Sp

ain

104

655

119

964

118

967

122

773

949

2079

717

713

1496

905

992

88It

aly

517

145

622

619

625

509

722

652

643

473

491

081

533

303

659

688

745

915

Cyp

rus

104

041

107

029

904

1292

372

980

5985

893

131

441

126

992

139

386

Nor

way

683

9695

898

102

452

143

257

142

013

157

722

160

457

226

282

269

419

Net

herl

and

s45

006

554

618

751

087

255

659

350

561

645

217

946

414

454

833

961

680

7H

ung

ary

107

685

107

403

739

9910

510

291

170

113

657

145

192

186

147

123

280

Ukr

ain

e10

742

106

5212

942

270

1728

084

328

43R

uss

ia10

147

412

918

418

056

020

079

412

741

710

491

0P

olan

d47

535

437

8834

292

310

1849

665

889

4710

179

312

264

711

515

2P

ortu

gal

165

8626

245

209

1921

581

208

5815

856

131

2513

713

210

34R

oman

ia17

919

196

8318

862

254

7438

868

510

1251

854

634

3972

689

Swed

en26

194

631

425

131

703

038

763

945

927

644

825

747

248

146

761

746

879

3C

zech

oslo

vaki

a13

012

919

158

589

642

Cze

ch R

epu

blic

788

4610

788

217

708

717

406

817

809

417

450

8Sl

ovak

ia15

102

135

3628

431

303

8355

291

462

17

Current Issues in Tourism 447

Cou

ntry

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

19

99

Fin

lan

d21

613

117

209

911

651

813

743

410

255

312

083

714

846

114

933

718

897

1O

ther

Eu

rop

ean

809

9510

439

420

537

325

209

328

8280

128

575

4134

967

370

63T

otal

EU

485

017

46

521

010

663

629

17

519

381

785

578

46

592

701

684

321

67

663

483

878

937

1T

otal

Eu

rop

e7

356

995

841

966

38

470

616

986

5986

936

382

98

419

060

927

776

210

174

303

113

200

13Ja

pan

579

0210

968

089

907

953

6789

457

871

3585

029

871

3083

971

Isra

el36

989

350

6545

815

414

0554

264

749

8082

386

894

0215

498

7L

eban

on

Syri

a15

637

159

2214

924

139

7415

651

183

5716

165

177

9818

347

Tu

rkey

535

3173

650

149

390

733

8849

018

474

1644

741

698

7580

502

Iran

422

66

794

761

56

458

596

05

319

373

03

848

380

9O

ther

Mid

dle

Eas

t5

474

804

88

014

562

37

919

124

108

300

638

27

854

Oth

er A

sian

448

5955

467

545

0663

611

111

547

167

380

145

515

841

3984

806

Tot

al A

sia

218

618

304

626

370

171

998

2633

381

641

299

738

586

635

857

443

427

6E

gyp

tSu

dan

200

2019

525

196

0918

540

214

4919

865

193

6317

604

240

45So

uth

Afr

ica

135

2716

944

146

8712

559

120

628

909

874

87

339

101

96O

ther

Afr

ica

179

4814

660

142

4212

145

151

7514

797

143

2413

795

137

99T

otal

Afr

ica

514

9551

129

485

3843

244

486

8643

571

424

3538

738

480

40A

rgen

tina

509

28

655

879

411

530

970

38

176

440

84

238

508

9B

razi

l8

523

899

98

555

107

4410

851

966

18

062

629

94

531

Mex

ico

364

26

535

533

65

318

453

93

385

225

82

052

420

0U

SA80

429

278

941

256

719

270

777

239

684

222

130

240

555

219

362

229

314

Can

ada

471

0159

807

514

7256

650

503

0943

966

477

2250

512

516

80O

ther

Am

eric

an10

983

152

5412

468

904

38

694

108

2611

052

904

410

447

Tot

al A

mer

ica

255

770

378

191

343

344

364

062

323

780

298

144

314

057

291

507

305

261

Au

stra

lia66

566

696

5856

064

615

5654

453

543

1146

692

427

9650

516

Oth

er O

cean

ic8

489

803

56

930

726

85

613

521

23

513

101

285

982

Tot

al O

cean

ia75

055

776

9362

994

688

2460

066

595

2350

205

529

2456

498

Form

er U

SSR

781

9410

005

811

716

0T

otal

803

612

79

331

360

941

282

310

641

942

101

301

779

233

295

100

703

2510

916

046

216

408

8C

ruis

es23

513

142

465

250

044

458

891

258

196

854

876

651

816

444

777

644

184

0G

ran

d to

tal

827

125

89

756

012

991

326

711

230

854

107

121

459

782

061

105

884

8911

363

822

126

059

28

Fo

rmer

Yu

gosl

av R

epu

blic

of

Mac

edon

iaSo

urce

Gre

ek N

atio

nal

Tou

rism

Org

anis

atio

n a

nd N

atio

nal S

tati

stic

al S

ervi

ce o

f G

reec

e

448 Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges

Tourism supply in Greek tourismA modern industry has emerged since the 1950s to cater for the tourism

demand The Greek tourism product is an amalgam of natural cultural and heri-tage attractions spread throughout the country as well as a wide variety of servicesoffered predominantly by SMTEs Moreover 15000 miles of coastline 2500islands an average of 300 sunny days annually a unique fauna and flora as well asclimatic superiority with mild winters and warm summers are some of its naturalattractions The Greek civilisation of more than 3500 years also provides plentifulcultural heritage throughout the country Some rsquo25000 registered and protectedmonuments and archaeological sites numerous museums and about 500 charac-teristic traditional settlementsrsquo offer a unique blend of tourist attractions (Buckleyamp Papadopoulos 1986 96 EIU 1986) As far as amenities are concerned a plethoraof SMTEs provide the entire variety of services

In January 2000 a total of 8100 official accommodation establishments with atotal capacity of almost 600000 beds are provided in different categories asdemonstrated in Table 4 Another 450000 beds are provided by some 28000secondary accommodation establishments such as lsquorooms to letrsquo and self-cateringapartments often referred to as lsquoparahoteleriarsquo In addition 11000 beds in cruiseliners and 12000 in yachts as well as 329 camping sites with 30354 pitches and83000 camping spaces accommodate all types of demand (GNTO) Eurostat esti-mates that about 20000 restaurants operate in Greece while a countless number ofcatering and entertainment establishments are on offer Furthermore some 7000travel agencies 1500 coach rental and 4000 car rental firms are estimated to operatethroughout the country (EC 1993a)

Accessibility is facilitated through 32 airports most of which can receive directinternational charter flights An extensive domestic scheduled flights network isprovided by Olympic Airways as well as by newly established private carrierswhich take advantage of the increasingly deregulated skies The proliferation ofprivate airlines (eg Aegean Cronus Axon Air Greece) during the last five yearsand the price wars with the state-owned Olympic Airways have increased bothdomestic and international traffic Moreover a complex network of sea road andrail transport enables passenger transportation throughout the country(Briassoulis 1993 291) During the last decade there has been a remarkableimprovement to the quality and ability of vessels as the Greek shipping industryprepares for the lifting of cabotage in 2002 which will enable European shippinglines to operate on Greek routes However recent tragedies involving olderGreek ferries pressurised the Ministry of Merchant Marine to take action in orderto improve the safety and security of the vessels and to ensure the adequate train-ing of crews In addition Piraeus port needs the development of a modernpassenger terminal to provide adequate service

Unfortunately the Greek infrastructure is incapable of supporting the tourismsuperstructure growth of the last decades and thus telecommunications transpor-tation police and health services water supply and sewage systems are underextreme pressure in the summer peak months to satisfy the demand density(Konsolas amp Zacharatos 1993 63 and EIU 1990 61) Nevertheless during the lastdecade several major projects have been initiated including the Metro and the newairport in Athens a wide network of motorways and the gradual development of

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 449

Tab

le 4

Acc

omm

odat

ion

esta

blis

hm

ent b

y re

gion

and

cat

egor

y in

199

9

Tot

alLu

xury

A C

ateg

ory

B C

ateg

ory

Reg

ion

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Ster

ea1

236

493

9892

877

225

368

101

4480

780

514

644

191

120

5722

605

Pel

opon

isos

660

230

1043

846

466

11

377

554

889

925

012

96

825

130

22Io

nio

595

332

8663

683

61

340

255

378

930

817

911

139

894

617

107

Ipir

os24

24

868

938

51

5411

611

446

884

381

478

284

4N

orth

ern

Aeg

ean

550

108

7220

792

450

11

090

231

364

257

498

374

97

125

Cre

te1

214

604

8911

396

021

508

510

034

166

188

9335

608

263

139

9826

904

Dod

ekan

isa

887

545

0710

436

68

324

26

227

127

224

8442

924

201

106

0120

161

Cyc

lad

es73

718

406

352

483

176

341

963

108

587

014

03

824

731

7T

hes

saly

575

119

9522

939

439

978

150

150

52

980

672

626

494

9M

aced

onia

983

335

1372

943

41

046

184

255

231

913

698

168

100

3619

140

Th

race

702

470

467

50

00

418

134

522

110

22

103

Tot

al7

749

302

814

584

714

7717

872

345

0574

572

302

146

688

145

675

242

143

277

C C

ateg

ory

D C

ateg

ory

E C

ateg

ory

Reg

ion

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Ster

ea60

318

193

339

6519

43

712

703

814

62

263

448

1P

elop

onis

os32

68

818

166

4894

135

02

625

4246

792

4Io

nio

380

119

2822

722

571

114

212

136

650

126

9Ip

iros

992

362

451

519

356

682

1417

234

4N

orth

ern

Aeg

ean

199

442

78

400

2840

477

333

427

830

Cre

te67

820

123

369

0397

163

12

995

5175

91

516

Dod

ekan

isa

495

163

7530

686

611

076

293

956

729

142

9C

ycla

des

367

835

715

977

100

152

22

922

104

141

92

821

Th

essa

ly24

15

723

107

7853

962

186

159

780

159

0M

aced

onia

491

124

0723

497

351

687

013

066

6083

51

700

Th

race

2886

81

614

1125

949

35

6012

0T

otal

390

710

958

120

570

51

065

192

5637

515

606

856

117

024

Sour

ce G

NT

O D

ept o

f Acc

omm

odat

ion

Est

abli

shm

ents

450 Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges

the railtrack These developments will change the entire infrastructure of thecountry

The implementation of the Greek national tourism policy is supervised by theGreek National Tourism Organisation (GNTO) and the Ministry of TourismThe two organisations share the responsibilities for planning implementationand promotion of Greek tourism at national and regional level as well as coordi-nating the involvement of the public and private sectors in all tourism activitiesPublic investment in commercial facilities was utilised in the early days ofGreek tourism to stimulate both tourism demand and the private sectorrsquos confi-dence to invest The GNTO operates 21 regional and 25 overseas offices in 18countries worldwide (Konsolas amp Zacharatos 1993 59 Leontidou 1991Briassoulis 1993)

The Greek tourism product is distributed to the international market predomi-nantly through European tour operators which organise package holidays andinclude resorts in their programmes Some 800 tour operators distribute the Greektourism product More than 7000 incoming travel agencies often act as tour opera-torsrsquo handling agencies while providing a variety of tourism services such asorganisation of excursions currency exchange and accommodation bookingsdirectly to consumers They usually participate in negotiations between tour oper-ators and accommodation establishments as well as cooperate with tour operatorsrsquorepresentatives at destinations In addition the GNTO operates several informa-tion offices at major resorts whilst several local authorities provide tourist infor-mation as well as distribute promotional material and make local bookings Theglobal GNTO network distributes information material to potential tourists aswell as undertakes all the marketing and public relations functions both for indi-vidual and institutional customers

SWOT analysis for Greek tourism and small and medium-sized tourismenterprises

A SWOT analysis is undertaken for the Greek tourism as well as its SMTEs inorder to assess their present and projected competitiveness based on strategicmanagement research undertaken for the Aegean islands (Buhalis 1991 Cooperamp Buhalis 1992) The interrelations between SMTEs and destinations are quiteapparent illustrating that a destinationsrsquo weaknesses and threats are reflected inthe SMTEsrsquo competitiveness and vice versa As illustrated in Table 5 the SWOTanalysis concentrates on the strategic rather than operational strengths andweaknesses of SMTEs

As far as strengths of the Greek tourism and SMTEs are concerned their flexi-bility and ability to tailor products to consumersrsquo needs are of great importanceto their existence SMTEs can identify profitable niches in the market establishtheir requirements and attempt to satisfy specialised needs Direct control byentrepreneurs permits quick and efficient managerial reaction to external chal-lenges Fewer hierarchical levels facilitate closer and more effective control overthe service delivery process enabling personal services to customers In addi-tion archaeological heritage natural and cultural resources as well as the localcharacter are also significant assets As a result tourists benefit from localresources which are ideally situated to offer special-interest holidays SMTEsalso capitalise on personal relationships with consumers suppliers labour and

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 451

the entire tourism industry in general Their size enables the provision of apersonal finish to all products provided while it is not unusual for customers tobecome friends and to be treated accordingly Similarly strong relations withemployees support labour loyalty and low turnover The proprietorrsquos family isnormally directly involved with every aspect of the business reacting efficientlyand promptly to any problem arising Their involvement in running the enter-prise provides considerable benefits especially in having a very flexiblemulti-skilled and dedicated workforce which tolerates unsociable workingschedules Family members feel committed to the long-term prosperity of theenterprise and often do not distinguish between their professional and familylife Thus a better matching between tourism demand and SMTEsrsquo supply isachieved

A close-up of the weaknesses of Greek tourism and SMTEs is critical for under-standing the ability of the industry to compete in the global tourism arenaAlthough entrepreneurs are normally an asset it seems that a number of manage-

452 Current Issues in Tourism

Table 5 Greek tourism and SMTEsrsquo SWOT analysis

Strengths

Flexibility

Tailor-made product delivery

Entrepreneurial activity

Family involvement

Natural and cultural resources

Strong local character

Personalised relationships

Labour loyalty and low turnover

Weaknesses

Management

Marketing

Information technologies illiteracy

Dependence upon tour operators

Supporting markets

Lack of economies of scale

Human resources management

Education and training

Transportation and accessibility

Financial management and resources

Seasonality

Lack of standardisation

Lack of quality assurances

Opportunities

European Union support

European redistribution of labour

Increase in tourism demand size

Trends in tourism demand

Low cost of living in periphery

Information technology

Infrastructure development

Transportation

Olympic Games

Threats

Environmental degradation

Concentration and globalisation

Oversupply

Lack of visibility in CRSs

Infrastructure

Warsterrorism

Political intervention

Source Adapted from Buhalis 1991 60c and Cooper and Buhalis 1992 108

rial problems often arise Lack of strategic and operational managementknow-how generates inconsistency in the creation and delivery of tourism prod-ucts This has direct implications for consumersrsquo satisfaction and the projectedimage of the industry There is often a complete lack of strategic vision and enter-prises are often treated as an extension of proprietorsrsquo domestic environmentEntrepreneurs recruit family members and relatives as personnel and supplierseven though more appropriatequalified alternatives can be found in the market-place Therefore the management of SMTEs clearly projects the proprietorrsquosfamily life-style and decision-making processes onto an enterprise Marketing isanother significant weakness for most entrepreneurs and Greek resorts as they areoften completely unaware of the techniques available and thus follow a prod-uct-oriented rather than a consumer-orientated approach Consequently uncoor-dinated isolated trouble-shooting marketing activities are occasionallyundertaken rather than a consistent and well-planned marketing campaign Lackof marketing research debilitates knowledge of consumersrsquo needs and makes itdifficult to identify methods for improving services in order to meet consumersrsquoexpectations Inability to finance and execute advertising campaigns and otherpromotional techniques reduces their visibility in their markets These weak-nesses in combination with the fact that many entrepreneurs are unfamiliar withinformation technology (IT) add to the problems of SMTEs in promoting them-selves effectively Consequently both Greek SMTEs and destinations sufferfrom over-dependence on the tourism distribution channels to promote anddistribute their product In particular intermediaries and especially tour opera-tors have enormous power within the channel and are capable of determiningthe Greek tourism product marketing distribution and pricing mixes (Buhalis1995) Hence the marketing campaign and the visibility of Greek tourism to itsmain target markets are often determined by the coverage space photographsand description in tour operatorsrsquo brochures European tour operators alsocontrol accessibility to Mediterranean or long-haul destinations as they ownmost charter airlines which provide direct and inexpensive flights to these desti-nations

As most resorts are located in peripheral areas there is usually little economicdevelopment in the supplying sectors Therefore remote destinations have toimport essential raw and construction materials from elsewhere while SMTEsoften face transportation delivery and purchasing problems and excessivetransportation costs Moreover lack of economies of scale in purchasing rawmaterial low bargaining power and lack of advanced facilities are additionaloperational disadvantages This essentially means that SMTEs have to payhigher prices for products than their larger counterparts Lack of specialisedpersonnel and inadequate training procedures mean that human resourcesmanagement is a major weakness of Greek tourism In most SMTEs personnelhave to cover a wide range of positions a loose job description is usuallyprovided and multi-skilled personnel are required The labour turnover due tothe seasonality of the tourism industry reduces the availability of qualified andexperienced personnel and makes tourism product delivery not only variablebut also unprofessional The small size of operation provides little opportunityfor the division of tasks professional employees and proper training Since noquality standards are introduced service delivery varies according to the occu-

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 453

pancy service provider and timing Transportation and accessibility to remotedestinations may also be a weakness as most enterprises are located in periph-eral and often inaccessible regions SMTEs tend to feel frustrated because theyare unable to attract consumers simply because they cannot provide conve-nient reliable and affordable transportation The formulation of charter aircarriers by destination areas such as Turkey and Spain as well as the emergingderegulation policies in the European Union may diminish this problem in thenear future Moreover SMTEs face significant financial constraints as on theone hand they are required to invest in fixed assets at the beginning of theiroperations and on the other hand there is a discrimination against them byfinancial institutions since they normally have very few assets Consequentlythey are forced to accept unfavourable financial deals Finally the Greek tour-ism industry and SMTEs suffer from seasonality problems and have to produceadequate income within a limited period every year Lack of diversified invest-ment in other economic activities forces proprietors to work intensively in thepeak months and rest in the off-peak months while their pay-back period isinevitably unfavourable As the tourism industry becomes more professionalembraces quality management and responds to an increasingly discerningcustomer SMTEsrsquo typical lack of business expertise and minimal standardisa-tion may become an increasing liability especially for some target markets(Cooper amp Buhalis 1992 102)

Recent developments in the external environment present numerous opportu-nities for the Greek tourism industry and SMTEs Firstly the European Uniontakes several actions to support small and medium-sized enterprises (EC 1993b72) while it supports infrastructure development of peripheral regions andcontributes significantly to the prosperity of SMTEs The country is going througha major transformation as a result of several public projects supported by theEuropean Commission including the Attico Metro the new Athens Airport thedevelopment of the peripheral motorway Elefsina-Spata and the peripheralmotorway of Immitos The unification of the heritage sites and thepedestrianisation of the Athens city centre aims to develop an open archaeologi-cal park and deal with the traffic and pollution problems The Olympic Games in2004 provide a unique challenge and opportunity for the city and the country torebrand and redevelop itself and demonstrate its unparalleled heritage andcultural resources The Games also provide the resources and funding as well asa lsquodeadlinersquo for several infrastructural projects that were already scheduled butperhaps delayed In addition several projects are anticipated to improve thesuperstructure of the industry through both renovation of existing propertiesand through the development of new hotels and other facilities It is anticipatedthat the regeneration of the city and the country in general will provide majoropportunities for the attractiveness and competitiveness of the tourism industry(Buhalis 2000b Papanikos 1999 Romanos 1998)

It is anticipated that there will be a gradual redistribution of Europeanlabour providing support for each region to specialise in the production ofgoods and services where it can achieve competitive advantages Traditionallyremote and insular destinations where most Greek resorts and SMTEs arebased achieve a competitive advantage in tourism and therefore greatersupport is anticipated Greek tourism benefits from the continuous growth of

454 Current Issues in Tourism

global tourism demand as more people require holiday services while SMTEsare expected to increase their share as they tend to satisfy the emerging special-ised and sophisticated demand better than larger organisations Informationand telecommunication technologies can provide strategic tools for tourismdestinations and SMTEs enabling them to manage their product more effi-ciently disseminate information and establish a distribution mechanismthrough destination management systems (Buhalis 1994) New technologiesalso offer opportunities for developing innovative tourism products such asteleworking for tourists who would like to spend time working during theirstay at the destination Finally Greek tourism tends to achieve a cost advan-tage since it employs unpaid family members and operates in inexpensiveperipheral regions which often have a lower cost of living in comparison withmetropolitan areas

In terms of external threats environmental degradation through inappropriatewaste management and excessive usage of natural resources can be observedLack of know-how and funds effectively increases environmental problemsConsequently several resorts suffer severe damage while entrepreneurs and localauthorities feel powerless to take remedial measures Moreover oversupply oftourism service providers and lack of well-defined carrying capacity limits inseveral destinations have placed numerous Greek resorts and SMTEs in a disad-vantaged position as they cannot achieve sufficient income Similarly the concen-tration of power in fewer tourism industry enterprises through emergingglobalisation also threatens the ability of Greek SMTEs to survive as internationalvertically integrated tourism organisations acquire control over local enterprisesThe dependence upon channel partners for the promotion and distribution ofGreek tourism is exaggerated by the relatively low presence of Greek suppliers inthe major CRSs (Computer Reservation Systems) which is caused by the seasonal-ity and scale of the tourism production on the one hand and the tariffs of thesesystems on the other The issue of infrastructure is closely related to the oversup-ply which attracts higher demand than planned Destinations often have limitedinfrastructure provisions which fail to follow the pace of development generatingpressure on the existing inadequate facilities Finally the tourism industry suffersfrom its geographical proximity to the Balkans and the Middle East and as a conse-quence is often associated by consumers with wars and terrorism activities Greektourism and SMTEs have limited means of dealing with unfavourable situationsand thus are more vulnerable to their impacts Political intervention perhapsthrough the public sector decisions and the legislator framework often damagesthe prosperity of SMTEs As SMTEs have little lobbying power they have limitedinfluence over political decisions which determine their welfare

The SWOT analysis demonstrates quite clearly that the Greek tourism indus-try faces a wide range of problems and threats which will jeopardise its ability toprovide suitable tourism products in the future as well as its ability to make acontribution to the national welfare However several opportunities and chal-lenges emerge and they need to be addressed in order to strengthen the competi-tiveness of the industry Further analysis is therefore required in order to assessthe factors which generate these problems and also to identify ways to respond tothe challenges they present

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 455

Why Are We There and What Are the Implications StructuralProblems and Challenges

Despite its popularity and growth over the last 40 years the Greek tourismindustry has reached a stage where both its potential and competitiveness havebecome questionable

The seemingly unstoppable growth of this market contributed to a degreeof complacency which has led to Greece repeating some of the errors madein Spain Rapid price increases mean the country is no longer perceived bymass market clients as cheap in relation to comparable destinations in theMediterranean but much of the countryrsquos tourism infrastructure hastilybuilt in response to demand for cheap accommodation does not meet theneeds of a market less sensitive to price and more concerned with qualityand value for money (EIU 1990 45)

Richter-Papaconstantinou (1992 27) explains that tourism development inRhodes lsquotakes place without any Master Plan of the area respect of the landscapeand environment analysis whether there is demand and what the demand isafter regard to what is happening in similar situationsrsquo At the micro level theEuropean travel trade and intermediaries warn that the Greek tourism product isno longer competitive (Conway 1996 41 Touloupas 1996 Douvitsas 1994)whilst Chitiris (1991 148ndash150) outlines a range of managerial problems andmistakes in Greek resort hotels which diminish the quality of the tourismservices Hence unless the Greek tourism industry addresses a number of criticalissues immediately its future might be seriously jeopardised resulting in apotential catastrophe of the national economy The major structural problemsand challenges for the Greek tourism product can be summarised in Table 6

As a result Greece fails to attract the desired lsquohigh-quality high-expenditurersquotourists as it is increasingly unable to satisfy their requirements (Conway 199641) The deterioration of the tourism product and image leads to a lower willing-ness-to-pay by consumers which consequently leads to a further drop in qualityas the industry attempts to attract customers with lower prices This is a viciousspiral which has been destroying the essence of developing tourism in severalMediterranean destinations The concentration of bargaining power in Euro-pean distribution intermediaries and tour operators in particular in combina-tion with the inability of the Greek tourism industry to promote itself andestablish effective distribution mechanisms inevitably minimises the profitmargins of SMTEs and their ability to yield decent returns on their investmentAs a result touristsrsquo expenditure per capita in Greece gradually deteriorateswhile their volume increases (SETE 1993 35)

Thus the tourism policy often consisted in a lsquofreezingrsquo of the selling price ofthe tourist package abroad a measure which combined with the devalua-tion of the drachma and its continuous parity losses succeeded in securing alsquofictitious competitivenessrsquo for the Greek package This competitivenesshowever was seriously threatened each time there was an attempt at asubstantial increase because of important rises in cost elements(Kalogeropoulou 1993 2)

456 Current Issues in Tourism

The above issues illustrate that the Greek tourism product becomes increas-ingly incompetent Hence the inadequate lsquoproductrsquo lsquopromotionrsquo and lsquoplacersquo(distribution) elements of the tourism marketing mix reduce the willingness ofprospective consumers to pay and has disastrous implications for the pricingpolicies deteriorating the profitability of the SMTEs and the tourism economicimpacts on the destination

Ultimately the economic impacts of tourism in Greece become debatableespecially due to the inadequacy of tourism economic research and data whilethe destination has to bear the environmental social and cultural decay Encour-agingly articles in recent tourism industry publications acknowledge these chal-lenges and appreciate the dangers urging both the private and public sector totake action (Touristiki Agora Tourismos ke Oikonomia Travel News XENIA) as well

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 457

Table 6 Structural problems and challenges

Image of Greece as cheap simple unsophisticated undifferentiated sun-seadestination

Gradual deterioration of tourism product and lack of reinvestment in improvements

Increase of tourism arrivals but decrease of tourism expenditure per capita

Inadequacy of the Greek planning process

Dependence upon major tour operators for promotion and distribution

Plethora of anarchically developed and behaving SMTEs aiming at short-termprofitability

Inappropriate and ill-timed marketing campaign which has little effectiveness

Inadequacy of infrastructure to serve the ever-expanding demand

Lack of coordination at the destination and disrespect for touristsrsquo needs

Lack ofprofessionalism and training in both state andprivate tourism establishments

Individualistic behaviour by SMTEs and unwillingness to cooperate on adestination basis

Unsuccessful and inconsistent programmes of government intervention

Almost unregulated environment with nearly complete lack of control

Political intervention which allows exception policies and employment of unquali-fied staff

Development of tourism as a single regional development option

Oversupply of tourism amenities and fierce price competition

Failure of the private sector to invest in long-term projects

Deterioration of natural social and cultural resources

SMTEsrsquo inability to resist in global concentration of the tourism industry

Inadequate distribution mechanisms which generate overdependence onintermediaries

Failure of both the private and public sectors to learn from internationally gainedexperience in tourism development and marketing

Lack of tourism research to identify the impacts of tourism

Negligence with regard to new tourism demand challenges

as several influential members of the tourism industry (Josephides 1993 19941995 Skoulas 1994 Daskalantonakis 1994 Divanis 1994b Plevris 1995Papandropoulos 1995)

Political intervention limited research lack of tourism policy andplanning

Perhaps the largest obstacle in developing a competitive tourism industry inGreece has been the inconsistent and irrational political intervention Unfortunatelytourism has extensively been utilised as a political vehicle where each govern-ment uses it to gratify its political needs and friends This can be experienced in alllevels of recruitment in the public sector institutions as a change of government oreven minister results in immense changes throughout the GNTO as well as tomajor policies and regulations Thus in the last 35 years (since 1966) the leadershipof the GNTO has changed 28 times allowing each General Secretary to stay inoffice for an average of 138 months Political allies of each government use politi-cal pressure and intensive lobbying in order to achieve amendments in regula-tions incentive policies and business environment Hence the short-termprofitability and commercial interests of the friends and political allies of eachgovernment often overrule the long-term strategy and set an improper examplefor the entire industry These practices result in a great inconsistency in Greek tour-ism policy and disrupt its rationalisation Therefore a lsquodepolitisation of Greektourismrsquo towards a professionally managed public sector guided through acompromised strategic Master Plan is urgently required (Josephides 1995)

The limited existing scientific tourism research highlights the lack of comprehen-sive examination of tourism impacts in Greece while it illustrates that tourismpolicy is based on insufficient documentation (Zacharatos 1989 278 and 1988 22)Public sector research is almost non-existant while the authorities seem uninter-ested in consulting the Greek-tourism research produced by academics (for exam-ple Zacharatos 1984 1986 Komilis 1987 Loukissas 1977 Papadimitris 1988Papadopoulos 1985 Moore 1992 Tsartas 1989 Velissariou 1991 Fotis 1992Buhalis 1991 1995 2000c Buhalis amp Diamantis 2000) or the international tourismlsquobody of knowledgersquo (Zacharatos 1988 24) In addition tourism consumptionbeing characterised as a particular category of private consumption in the nationalaccounts it fails to reflect the real tourism impact on each economic sector Thusthe process of collecting information for tourism expenditure in Greece preventsthe assessment of tourism expenditure impacts on the national and regional econ-omy and therefore cannot be used in drawing scientifically founded tourismpolicy (Zacharatos 1989 277 Konsolas amp Zacharatos 1993 58) Consequentlytourism policy follows conventional wisdom and concentrates on attracting alarger volume of tourists ignoring scientific methods to assess the economicsocial cultural and environmental impacts of each tourism segment assumingthat the greater the tourism volume the better for the national economy

The lack of a comprehensive and rational tourism policy and planning or a MasterPlan for Greek tourism is primarily responsible for the aforementioned structuralproblems Policy is usually based on unsubstantiated statements published by theTourism Ministry or the GNTO (GNTO 1985b 1989a 1993) often as pre-electionpromotional material In essence Greek authorities attempt to intervene aiming tostimulate arrivals as well as to facilitate the operation and development of the

458 Current Issues in Tourism

tourism industry Based on the assumption that tourism arrivals to Greece wouldincrease indefinitely the general directions of the Greek tourism policy focusalmost invariably on the targets summarised in Table 7 (Euromonitor 1992 61GNTO 1989b 41 and 1993 1 OECD 1992 70 Skoulas 1985 194 Leontidou 199188ndash91 Apostolopoulos 1990 Zacharatos 1989 275 and 1988 21)

However as these tasks are not quantified and there is no time schedule orplanning process for their achievement it is inevitable that their implementationand assessment is subject to irrationalities and personal judgement Occa-sionally incentives for tourism development responses to lobbying from tour-ism-related associations and regions training programmes and generallegislation attempt to direct the Greek tourism industry towards the describedpolicy directions In addition an inconsistent and untargeted promotionalcampaign is implemented yearly (Touloupas 1996 130) The campaign attempts toachieve the above unspecified policy tasks while it is often a lsquolast minutersquo reactionmeasure to a forecasted decline of bookings for the current season rather than acoordinated long-term marketing policy (Jenner amp Smith 1993 143Papadopoulos 1989 304) Despite the advertising campaignrsquos positive impact onarrivals the feedback to the campaign is rather speculative as no formal researchis undertaken to identify the most cost-effective media and communication meth-ods for each target market (Papadopoulos 1989 311 and 1987 82)

Because the deficient scientific examination of Greek tourism and its impactsprevents the authorities from establishing quantifiable and measurable tourismpolicies their policies are based on subjective and personal judgements while feedbackpractices are rarely followed In addition the implementation of the vaguelydefined tourism policy as well as the targets regulations and standards are oftenbent to accommodate lobbying and political pressures (Zacharatos 1989 279)Komilis (1993 225) suggests that tourism planning in Greece is generally realisedand exercised within a socio-political environment characterised by severalfactors a limited degree of political commitment lack of social awareness andacceptability of planning actions inadequacy of scientific and technical founda-

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 459

Table 7 Greek tourism policy targets

Development of demand

Training of tourism employees

Increase arrivals and foreign exchange income

Increase competitiveness of tourism product

Improvement of services in the industry

Reduction of seasonality and expansion of tourism season

Attraction of high spenders and alternative types of tourism

Construction of facilities appealing to the upper end of the market such as luxuryhotels golf courses congress centres casinos and marinas

Development of tourism infrastructure with emphasis on transportation

Support of social tourism for low-income domestic tourists

Geographical redistribution of tourism

tion to support planning intervention and a centralised administrative-institu-tional system gathering a plethora of functions but failing to perform itscoordination and enforcing role When the conflicting interests and power of eachmember of the tourism industry are brought into the equation where differentpartners attempt to influence legislation in order to maximise their own short-termprofitability regardless of the impacts on the destination and other enterprises theplanning process becomes more complicated This results in an ineffective plan-ning system and process which produces policies unable to provide an appropri-ate balance between restrictive policies and control planning implementationMoreover the plethora of SMTEs in combination with inadequate legislationconcerning their establishment and operation seem to affect adversely thecompetitiveness of the industry and the ability to diversify and enrich local tour-ism products (Komilis 1992 11 EIU 1990 59)

Consequently several structural problems are originated jeopardising theprosperity of both SMTEs and destinations especially in overdeveloped regionsOn the supply side failure of the infrastructure to follow the dramatic expansionof the superstructure in combination with the lack of solid institutional context oftourism policy and long-term regulation result in the exploitation and inadequacyof environmental and socio-cultural resources as well as the inability of the indus-try to generate the level of economic benefits desired and expected On the tourismdemand side after the meteoric growth in the 1970s and 1980s the Greek tourismindustry has been trying to transform lsquothe country into a destination which cancompete not just on price but on value for moneyrsquo (EIU 1990 45) It is becomingapparent that the tourism population in not infinite and an adaptability andresponsiveness to touristsrsquo needs is ofgreat importance (Sezeramp Harrison 1994 83)

Structural problems jeopardise the profitability of the private sectorBecause of the aforementioned structural problems most tourism industry

enterprises are experiencing a decline in profitability Hotels in particular arebadly affected due to the high fixed assets as well as their immobility and inflexi-bility which prevents them from adjusting to demand fluctuation Several reasonsdetermine their low profitability and inability to increase prices in line with infla-tion The low occupancy levels achieved yearly is a key problem Smith and Jenner(1995 17) estimate that the lsquoyear-round bed occupancy over the range of licensedaccommodation is slightly under 30rsquo As most of the properties are closed duringthe winter months due to the seasonality problems they rely on three to six monthsto generate sufficient returns on their investment The occupancy levels of accom-modation establishments in Greek tourism are often determined by theirco-operation with travel intermediaries Based on the different seasonality patternsof different markets rooms are normally allocated a year before the summer seasonto tour operators on lsquoallotmentrsquo or lsquocommitmentrsquo contracts which effectively deter-mine the prices charged according to the security provided by tour operators forusing and paying for hoteliersrsquo rooms Once the contracts are signed hoteliers effec-tively lose their control on their inventory and their right to market their rooms toother business sources before the release period (typically 7ndash14 days before arrival)in order to avoid overbooking However should their bookings fail to match theirprogramme tour operators often utilise their buying power to cancel unwantedrooms at the beginning of the tourist season without paying compensation Smaller

460 Current Issues in Tourism

hoteliers are often left with unoccupied rooms they which are unable to promote atthe lsquolast minutersquo unless they drop their prices to unacceptable levels As a result oftheir deficient intra-channel power hotels often suffer a significant cut-back of theiroccupancy levels which has direct implications for their profitability (Buhalis 19952000c 460 Ktenas 1996)

Similarly the seasonality of the Mediterranean and Greek tourism industry hasalways been a problem for the profitability of SMTEs since enterprises operateonly for a limited period (Jenner amp Smith 1993 70 Drakatos 1987 Donatos ampZairis 1991) Attempts to promote winter tourism by developing cultural andspecial interest tourism in the islands and winter sports in several ski resorts inGreece have proved fairly unsuccessful (EIU 1986 56) This is attributed to theimage of Greece as an exclusively summer-sun destination as well as to the unco-ordinated attempts to maintain tourism enterprises active during the wintermonths (EIU 1990 57)

The average room rate is the second major determinant of hotel profitability It isbecoming apparent that employment costs and cost of capital in combination witha relatively strong currency policy reduce the ability of Greek accommodationestablishments to offer competitive pricing and maintain their profitabilityMarketing inadequacies and inability to promote the tourism product as a differ-entiated entity the rapid increase of supply in comparison to demand and theoverall dependence upon the oligopsonistic tour operators for the Greek tourismproduct promotion force hoteliers to accept contracts by tour operators whichminimise their profit margin and adversely effect the quality of their productIncreasing levels of pressure by tour operators prevent SMTEs from renovatingand investing in their properties and therefore a gradual deterioration of the prop-erties is inevitable (Richter-Papaconstantinou 1992 14 Skoulas 1985 189) Euro-pean tour operators faced with fierce competition in their markets are essentiallywilling to pay an annual price increase equal to little less than the depreciation ofthe drachma plus the inflation at the place of origin of the tourists (Ktenas 1994)This policy progressively deteriorates the profitability of the Greek tourism indus-try and has severe impacts for its prosperity The situation is worse for smalleraccommodation establishments which manage to negotiate even smaller priceincreases due to their exclusive dependence upon fewer intermediaries(Logothetis 1992 14)

The oversupply of tourism services both in Greece and worldwide also contributesto global competition for a less rapidly increasing demand (Josephides 1993 54)In Greece the average annual increase of the official hotel bed supply in 1983ndash1992was 47 while the annual average increase in international tourist bednights was27 (Epilogi 1994 271) The investment incentive Law 126282 boosted this over-supply as it generated small infeasible and uncontrollable accommodation unitsunable to offer high quality of services while it increased the concentration of tour-ism units in infrastructure-undersupplied resorts (Kriebardis amp Marmagiolis1990 51 Stavrou 1989b 5) The vast majority of the capacity growth is on the lsquoille-galrsquo unregistered self-catering and self-serviced lsquoparahoteleriarsquo sector whichprovide very low quality and priced accommodation and therefore appeal tomass tour operatorsrsquo clientele This not only increases unfair competition for theofficially registered hotels but also reduces both tax revenues and employment atthe macro level

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 461

Horwath (1994 3) concludes that

unfortunately the results in terms of return on investment in the tourismindustry are not very promising especially when compared with those ofother Greek economic sectors It is an undisputable fact that the averageGreek tourism entrepreneur is heavily dependent on the tourist packageprice which is strongly negotiated by the international tour operators It isan lsquounhealthyrsquo dependency as a result of the weak position of the Greektourist product in the international market In addition the aforemen-tioned dependency is the result of the lack of marketing activities in anaverage tourist enterprise As we all know effective marketing activitiesare based on the product place price promotion which all contribute toclient satisfaction and further to a bigger share in the international touristmarket Up to now three of the aforementioned important elements ofmarketing have been overlooked which determine the weak negotiationpower of the Greek entrepreneur

This situation has also resulted to several European companies expandingtheir operations into Greece or purchasing shares in Greek partners in order toimprove their vertical integration Should this vertical integration expand signif-icantly however lsquoGreek tourism will be in fact controlled by foreign deci-sion-making centres which will certainly operate on the basis of their owninterests and not according to the overall interests of our national economyrsquo(Kalogeropoulou 1993 2) Hence radical measures are required immediately inproduct formulation promotion strategy and distribution channels to supportboth Greek destinations and SMTEs to enhance their competitiveness profitabil-ity and prosperity Failure to react would have severe implications for the futureof the Greek tourism private sector as the essence of its existence would be jeop-ardised its costs may exceeding its returns

Structural problems generate negative tourism impactsIn addition to the profitability problems of the private sector the aforemen-

tioned structural problems have profound implications for the welfare of hostpopulations in various Greek destinations as their economic social cultural andenvironmental resources are exploited without ensuring their sustainabilityLack of comprehensive research and failure to initiate carrying-capacity limits orzoning systems contribute to the anarchic development of tourism as well asexpand negative impacts of tourism on local societies and environments Thefollowing section highlights some of the costs Greek destinations are called topay for their tourism activity whilst it suggests that these issues should beaddressed in the strategic planning process

Macro-economic negative impactsDespite the contribution of tourism to the Greek economy certain potential

risks can also be identified Not only is the competitiveness and profitability ofthe tourism industry jeopardised but also several destination regions seem tofollow a policy of developing tourism at the expense of industrial and agricul-tural growth (Stavrou 1989a 6 Vernicos 1987 105) Instead of tourism stimulat-ing agriculture it seems that it hastens its decline as the two economic activities

462 Current Issues in Tourism

compete for land and labour The lack of structural investments in industrial oragricultural sectors combined with the popularity of tourism professions in theworkforce endanger the balance of the regional economy while reducing thetourism multipliers (Briassoulis 1993 295) As a result the economic structure ofthe destination is jeopardised while a complete dependence upon tourismbecomes inevitable (Komilis 1992 7) Both opportunity costs and displacementeffects are therefore evident Moreover there is evidence that the progress ofdestinations through their life-cycle and especially the introduction of masstourism decreases their economic impacts while it makes local control of theindustry far more difficult (Loukissas 1982 537) lsquoBecause of the high degree ofdependence of Greek tourist enterprises on tour operators the actual amount oftourist spending remaining in the country is only the 40ndash50 of total touristspendingrsquo (Briassoulis 1993 296) Public-sector subsidies to the private sector invarious forms such as incentives cooperative marketing campaigns and unem-ployment benefits in the off-season as well as tax evasion and lsquoparaeconomyrsquo alsoreduce the real benefit at the macro level (Mourdoukoutas 1988 Drakatos 1987Leontidou 1991 102) Lack of scientific research on the economic impacts oftourism makes the real contribution of tourism in the economy speculativerather than based on hard evidence (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Konsolas ampZacharatos 1993)

Social and cultural negative impactsThe development of mass tourism and the lack of effective planning and

management are also responsible for a number of negative social and culturalimpacts observed in Greek host societies (Tsartas 1989 1992 Stavrou 19781979 1980 1986b) Although the degree of interaction of the population withtourists depends heavily on the geomorphology of destinations and the loca-tion of resorts (Loukissas 1982 538) touristsrsquo behaviour is often offensive tothe host population but tolerated due to the economic benefits (Castelberg-Koulma 1991 201 Kousis 1989 Wickens 1994 823) Most Greek tourismdestinations are almost crime-free zones during the winter due to the smallpopulation and personal relationships of locals Tourism however introducesseveral types of criminal activity often unknown to local people As policeforces are usually allocated according to needs of the permanent population ina destination they are often incapable of handling the demands of the summermonths and are unable to deal with visitorsrsquo misbehaviour such as hooliganismand lsquolager-lootingrsquo

The commercialisation of history cultural traditions and the Greek lifestyle isa phenomenon met in several destinations This regrettably affects the renownedGreek hospitality commercialises human relations with tourists and reduces theties of solidarity and cooperation between locals since they compete for the tour-ism market (Papadopoulos 1988b 24) As the average employee works 605hours weekly for 295 weeks a year there is little time left for social religious andcultural obligations during the season (Mourdoukoutas 1988 325) Although acertain degree of lsquodemonstration effectrsquo and lsquoxenomaniarsquo can be attributed totourism the country is equally influenced by the mass media as well as by theGreek students and professionals living abroad (Papadopoulos 1988a 30Wickens 1994 822) Moore (1995) also explains that tourism not only has had a

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 463

contribution to the increase of alcohol consumption by Greeks but has alsoshifted their taste away from locally produced wine to imported spirits and beerBriassoulis (1993 296) perhaps describes best the change in labour force valueswhen as she suggests that tourism has created a

peculiar parasitic group of tourist entrepreneurs operating tourist-servingenterprises like tavernas cafeterias etc the principal characteristics ofwhich are high profits and tax evasion Consequently a particular person-ality type is created the lsquosuccessfulrsquo entrepreneur who earns a lot with littlework has a rich erotic life and is professionally independent (in contrast topublic and private employees) This model is followed by many youngpeople who abandon other productive year-round occupations lsquoworkrsquoonly during the tourist season stay idle for the rest of the year and eventu-ally suffer from the volatility of the tourist market

The family relations and values are therefore under great transition andperhaps threat (Castelberg-Koulma 1991 201 Kousis 1989 Moore 1992)

Negative environmental impactsDespite environmental resources becoming central to destinationsrsquo competi-

tiveness most Greek destinations go through an unparalleled exploitation due toinadequate planning and reinvestment in their sustainability jeopardising theirfuture (Buhalis amp Fletcher 1995) Boniface and Cooper (1994 141) suggest thatgeographical concentration of tourism

has led to the view that Greece will become saturated with tourists and thatdamage will be done to the environment and cultural heritage in the morepopular areas Already the environment has suffered from haphazarduncontrolled building and pollution of the sea and the flora and fauna arebeing effected by waste disposal

Coastal pollution water shortages sewage treatment waste disposal trafficcongestion noise pollution overbuilding and aesthetic degradation are some ofthe impacts experienced already in a number of resorts (Briassoulis 1993 297Coccosis amp Parprairis 1992 Peterson 1990 Marinos 1983 Stavrou 1988 19 and1989a 5 Papadopoulos 1988b 24) Most of the islands also face water shortagedue to the inability of natural supplies to provide sufficient water for the tourismdemand Imported mineral water from the mainland is an expensive way tosolve this problem due to the transportation cost while it creates more waste andenvironmental damage In addition the destruction of endangered speciesrsquo habi-tats is another problem experienced on several islands (ZakynthosCaretta-Caretta and Allonissos monk-seals) (Ottaway 1992 Van Den Bergh1993 70 Prurier et al 1993) Urgent coordination with all tourism actors at thelocal level is essential while regulation is required to set objective and measurablelimits and targets in order to preserve local environmental resources Financialdifficulties in the industry only exacerbate these impacts as the private and publicsectors feel unable to reinvest in the conservation of resources

The aforementioned negative impacts emerge as a result of the structuralproblems of the Greek tourism industry and illustrate that the mass tourismorientation of the industry reduces the sovereignty of the host population over

464 Current Issues in Tourism

their land and resources whilst jeopardising their expected benefits and futurewelfare As these impacts are trade-offs for the economic gains of the tourismactivity it is important that consistent long-term strategic planning should beundertaken in order to enable the preservation of the local resources and achievesustainability at tourism destinations These tasks should all be reinforced byresearch political will and strategic planning

Where Do We Need to Go and How Are We Going ThereTowards Strengthening the Competitiveness of Greek Tourismand SMTEs

Based on the situation analysis as well as on the strategic weaknesses andstructural problems the paper attempts to provide a framework for strategicplanning which will enable the strengthening of the competitiveness of Greektourism and SMTEs Porter (1985 1) suggests that competitive strategy lsquois thesearch for a favourable competitive position in an industryrsquo which is a function ofthe attractiveness of the industry and the relative competitive position withinthat particular industry He also argues that lsquocompetitive strategy aims to estab-lish a profitable and sustainable position against the forces that determine indus-try competitionrsquo Competitiveness is therefore defined as the effort undertakenby organisations to maintain long-term profitability above the average of theparticular industry within which they operate or above alternative investmentopportunities in other industries

Traditionally the tourism industry in the majority of destinations worldwideis based on a network of SMTEs which provide all types of tourism products andservices while enabling closer interaction between the host population and visi-tors as well as facilitating a rapid infusion of tourism spending into the localeconomy As lsquotouristsrsquo overall experience is composed of numerous smallencounters with a variety of tourism service providersrsquo (Moutinho 1990 104)there is a great overlap between the customer perception of local SMTEs anddestinations which makes them almost indistinguishable Consequently thecompetitiveness and prosperity of destinations and SMTEs are closely interre-lated as the fortune of the one depends heavily upon the management andcompetitiveness of the other Therefore the generic strategy for destinationsinvolves SMTEs and vice versa

Grand strategy Strategy formulation for Greek tourism and SMTEsBased on the strategic analysis a grand strategy is proposed for the Greek

tourism industry and SMTEs in order to demonstrate the directions the destina-tions should follow in their attempt to increase their competitiveness and reducetheir vulnerability As different resorts destinations and SMTEs have dissimilarneeds only generic strategies can be drawn However these guidelines can beapplicable to destinations and SMTEs worldwide as they address strategic ratherthan operational issues The analysis is based on the assumption that SMTEsformulate leisure value-added chains or networks of wealth creation whichessentially comprise the entire destination Therefore an integrated approach isfollowed as there is a great complementarity between the strategies and strate-gic directions for both the Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 465

The grand strategy analysis is based on an examination of three general strat-egy models namely Porterrsquos generic strategies Gilbertrsquos proposition for lsquodiffer-entiation of the destinationrsquo and Poonrsquos analysis for lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo Agrand strategy is then proposed for both Greek tourism and SMTEs based oninference emerging from these three models Figure 1 illustrates the three maingeneric strategies proposed by Porter (1980 34ndash46) in order to lsquooutperform otherfirms in an industryrsquo overall cost leadership where the firm is required to minimiseits costs based on mass production and strict cost control of the main businessfunctions differentiation of products or services by lsquocreating something that isperceived industry-wide as being uniquersquo or focus on a lsquoparticular buyer groupsegment of the product line or geographical marketrsquo and achieve either cost leader-ship or product differentiation (Porter 1980 37ndash8)

Furthermore Gilbert (1984 1990) argues that destinations should differenti-ate their tourism products in order to be able to achieve a unique lsquotourist productbenefitrsquo which would enable them to establish their position in the internationaltourism market as well as to attract high spenders and loyal tourists Tourismdestinations therefore should attempt to achieve a lsquostatus arearsquo image ratherthan a lsquocommodity arearsquo one as illustrated in Figure 2 In the first case the desti-nation is heavily substitutable very sensitive to price and economic changeswhile consumers have a low awareness of any unique benefits or attributes of theregion Thus holidaymakers base their decision to visit the area merely on pricewhile the demand for the destination is incidental and destinations are unable toattract high spenders In contrast lsquostatus areasrsquo achieve intentional demand as aresult of the unique product attributes perceived by the tourism market Theseunique attributes may be genuine or imagined and thus a destination isregarded as irreplaceable increasing consumersrsquo loyalty and willingness to payGilbert (1990 24ndash5) asserts that destinations should attempt to become lsquostatusareasrsquo in order to improve their image loyalty and economic benefits

A third strategic approach is proposed by Poon (1987 1988 1989 1990 1993)based on the concept of lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo of the tourism business Inessence Poon examines the industry processes and proposes a strategy to enabletourism organisations to improve their competitiveness Poon argues that lsquoflexi-ble specialisationrsquo is a strategy of lsquopermanent innovationrsquo and lsquoceaseless changersquowhich provides for the lsquonew tourismrsquo This new tourism is flexible segmentedcustomised to the touristrsquos needs and diagonally integrated In contrast the oldtourism can be characterised as lsquomass standardised and rigidly packagedrsquo(Poon 1989 91ndash3)

466 Current Issues in Tourism

STRATEGIC ADVANTAGE

Perceived product uniqueness Cost advantage

TARGETMARKET

Industrywide Differentiation Cost Leadership

Particularsegmentsonly

Differentiation Focus Cost Focus

Figure 1 Porterrsquos three generic strategiesSource Porter 1980 39

The main sources of flexibility for service firms lie in the organisationmanagement marketing distribution and other forms of interaction andinterrelationships among guests hotels suppliers distributors What isimportant however is not each of these stand alone aspects but how theyare coupled to create competitive advantages and hence capabilities tomove with the market (Poon 1988 24)

Examination of these three main strategies illustrates that they share a similarbase Porterrsquos lsquodifferentiationrsquo Gilbertrsquos lsquostatus arearsquo and Poonrsquos lsquoflexiblespecialisationrsquo describe the attempt undertaken by firms and tourist destinationsto achieve value competitive advantages In contrast the lsquocost leadershiprsquo lsquocom-modity arearsquo and the lsquostandardisation or Fordism production modelrsquo describethe effort to achieve lsquocost competitive advantagersquo where destinations andSMTEs offer their products for less than their competitors In the first caseconsumers perceive the product as unique and are willing to pay a premiumwhile in the second case the decision is merely based on price Thus the classicalstrategic decision of lsquolow volume-high profit marginrsquo or lsquohigh volume-low profitmarginrsquo is the underlying concept of the two alternative strategies

Both Gilbert and Poon agree that destinations should aim to achieve lsquostatusarearsquo or niche orientation through differentiation in order to increase consumersatisfaction as well as to maximise the benefits for both regions and SMTEs As aresult Greek tourism and SMTEs need to focus towards the differentiation strat-egy define their niche markets and serve them accordingly This strategy isalready adopted in several resort areas such as Valencia in Spain where it isrecognised that the need for diversification and differentiation lsquohas now becomeessential owing to the level of competitiveness that has been attained (and can beforeseen) in the world tourist marketrsquo (Fayos-Sola 1992 49) Differentiation isalso particularly useful for insular destinations in microstates where a limitednumber of economic and financial resources are available (Wilkinson 1989 170)As most destinations consist of SMTEs networks there is an overlap betweentheir strategic orientations and therefore the above analysis is applicable to boththe Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Destinations implementing a lsquostatus arearsquo strategy can enhance the satisfac-tion of tourists as well as their competitiveness The formulation of unique and

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 467

CommodityArea

Statusarea

Willingness topay higher prices

StatusArea

Product attributes Product attributes

CommodityArea

Figure 2 Gilbertrsquos differentiation strategySource Adapted from Gilbert 1990 25

customised products by using flexibility and cooperation also increases touristsrsquowillingness to pay and wins their loyalty while it responds to the new tourismdemand trends However the proposed strategy should not be seen as an excusefor SMTEs and destinations not to attempt to improve their efficiency and mini-mise their production costs Although the unique service for touristsrsquo needs shouldbe their priority offering perceived value for money would determine theircompetitiveness in the marketplace As a result all Greek resorts and SMTEsshould assess their assets and strengths for serving specific target markets takingadvantage of their small size which facilitates flexibility and specialisation

It is quite apparent that the cost advantage strategy has to be avoided inmanagement of tourism destinations as regions need to preserve their scarceenvironmental and sociocultural resources and achieve sustainable develop-ment As cost advantage is based on mass production and consumption itassumes an unlimited production capacity which is inapplicable in the tourismindustry The inseparability of the tourism product determines that consumersshould be present at the time of product delivery and when combined with tour-ism seasonality it generates demand peaks which drain destinationsrsquo scarceenvironmental sociocultural resources The lsquohigh volume-low profit marginrsquostrategy has therefore harmful social and environmental impacts on destina-tions Destinations have maximum carrying capacities beyond which both thewelfare of local populations and the satisfaction of tourists are jeopardisedAlthough economic benefits can also be achieved by using the lsquocommodity arearsquoor the lsquostandard product modelrsquo it is argued that these approaches reduce tour-istsrsquo satisfaction and their willingness to pay and are opposed to the demandtrend towards individualisation

Unfortunately however some destinations can no longer be positioned asirreplaceable unique products due to their overdevelopment Tourism supplyhas exceeded the carrying capacity of these resorts and their product hasreached the saturation or decline phase of their life-cycle Several Spanish costasand some Greek resorts such as Benitses Kavos Faliraki Malia Hersonissos andNidri (Josephides 1994) have been overdeveloped to such an extent that only alsquohigh-volume low-profit marginrsquo strategy is feasible When resorts reach theirsaturation level only a lsquocost leadershiprsquo or lsquomass productionrsquo strategy can beproposed as they are unable to provide any specific lsquotourist product benefitrsquo Theattraction of the lower end of the market is inevitable and as a consequence thereare no alternative strategies The minimisation of further sociocultural and envi-ronmental damage as well as attempts to improve the surrounding environmentshould also be a primary objective of both tourism destinations and SMTEs in thiscase The ultimate aim should be to regenerate the resources of the area and torelaunch the tourism destination to attract specific markets which will be willing topay a higher price for the destination

Strategic directions objectives and tasks for Greek tourism and SMTEsTable 8 presents three pivotal strategic directions which are identified in order

to stimulate the competitiveness of both Greek tourism and SMTEs This sectionillustrates how the aforementioned grand strategy can be implemented for tour-ist destinations and SMTEs through a number of strategic directions objectivesand tasks as presented in Table 9

468 Current Issues in Tourism

Enhancing the satisfaction of tourists and delighting the customer are pivotalto ensuring the well-being of Greek destinations and SMTEs in the long term andthus the entire range of tourism service providers should aim to delight theirclients As a result of the tourism product integration consumer satisfactioncannot be achieved by independent businesses separately but by the entirenetwork of SMTEs in Greek destinations The improvement in services isperhaps the most important strategic objective Consistency of promises throughstandardisation of service delivery and implementation of a total qualitymanagement philosophy throughout the industry are essential strategic tasks forachieving this objective while flexibility in service delivery and improvementsin training are critical In line with the grand strategy the production oftailor-made tourism products should be ensured in order to satisfy the specificneeds of particular niches and the requirements of the emerging new tourismdemand Product augmentation would enable also the Greek tourism product toexceed the expectations of consumers and hence enhance their satisfaction Lifestyle segmentation would enable Greek tourism and SMTEs to design appropri-ate tourism products As tourist demand elasticity has increasingly becomedoubtful in recent years the price of the holiday is no longer considered to be themost important attribute in the decision-making process Consequently theGreek tourism industry should concentrate on providing value for money at allprice levels as well as offering at least whatever they have promised to theconsumer

Supporting the long-term competitiveness and profitability of Greek tour-ism and SMTEs is by far the most important strategic objective for the tourismindustry The first strategic objective for every SMTE has to be the increase inrevenue by maximising its occupancy or load factors and the rates it achievesThe lengthening of the operating season as well as the identification of newmarkets and the penetration into existing ones and the effective utilisation ofdistribution channels will contribute to this strategic direction Higher ratescan be achieved by targeting specialised and smaller tour operators attractingalternative types of tourists and expanding the distribution channels mix aswell as by attempting a certain degree of lsquodisintermediationrsquo by encouragingdirect sales to outgoing travel agencies or consumers Aggressive marketingand establishment of partnerships with other enterprises should be essentialfunctions of Greek tourism and SMTEs Motivation of lsquofront-of-housersquo employ-ees as salesmen and sale incentives would also increase average spending percustomer The use of CRSs and destination management systems may also bean appropriate method for achieving higher prices and better occupancy rates(Buhalis 1994) Finally yield management techniques should be utilised by alltypes of SMTEs to assist them in pricing and maximising revenue Cost control

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 469

Table 8 Pivotal strategic dimensions for Greek tourism

(1) Enhance the satisfaction of tourists and delight the customer(2) Strengthen the long-term profitability and competitiveness of Greek tourism and

SMTEs(3) Develop Greek destinations sustainably and ensure prosperity of host population

470 Current Issues in Tourism

Table 9 Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Strategic directions Strategic objectives Strategic tasks

1 Enhance the sat-isfaction of tour-ists and delightthe customer

11 Improvement of services a Standardisation of service de-livery

b Development of quality controlsystems

c Consistency of promisesd Improvements in operational

managemente Flexibility in services deliveryf Training and education im-

provementsg Smile and personal relation-

shipsh Augmentation of tourism

producti Total quality management

12 Specialisation of tourismproduct

a Niche marketingb Lifestyle targeting

13 Value for money a Quality at each price level

2 Strengthen thelong-term com-petitiveness andprofitability ofGreek tourismand SMTEs

21 Increase revenue a Increase tourist volumesb Target new markets and pene-

tration in existing marketsc Use yield managementd Expand distribution channel

mixe Aggressive marketingf Achieve high average spending

per customerg Select high-quality specialised

tour operatorsh Attract alternative types of

tourismi Use alternative distribution

channelsj Motivate front-of-house em-

ployees as salesmen

22 Cost control and rationalmanagement

a Standardise service deliveryb Increase productivityc Reduce labour costsd Rationalise supplies manage-

mente Educationtraining for manag-

ers and employeesf Use of new technologyg Integrate service delivery

within SMTEs

23 Human resources man-agement

a Internal marketingb Empowermentc Satisfactory salary and working

conditionsd Long-term relations with em-

ployeese Motivation and rewards

and rational management is the second strategic objective needed to increaseefficiency and profitability of both Greek destinations and SMTEs in the longterm Standardisation of the service delivery process and minimisation of thelabour cost through better operational management would be primary recom-mendations Managers and employees should improve their productivity andmarketing skills by intensive training In addition the rationalisation of supplymanagement and the use of new technology is expected to reduce operationalcosts Finally integration of service delivery enables SMTEs to provide comple-mentary services and achieve additional revenues without immense costs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 471

24 State and public tourismorganisation support

a Destination development andcontrol

b Incentives policies for improve-ment

c Attract European Union assis-tance

d Promotional activitye Provide financial resources

3 Develop Greekdestinationssustainably andensure prosper-ity of host popu-lation

31 Environmental protection a Carrying capacity identificationb Zoning system applicationc Architecture preservationd Installation of sewage treat-

ment systemse Reduction of noise pollutionf Natural supplies management

32 Infrastructure ameliora-tion

a Accessibility improvementsb Telecommunication improve-

mentsc Public facilities advancements

33 Transportation improve-ments

a Improvement of local timeta-bles

b Punctuality and reliabilityc Improvements of vehiclesd Flexibility to meet demand

needs

34 Economic integration a Integration with raw materialproduction

b Utilisation of local labour forcec Integration of tourism servicesd Diagonal integration of destina-

tionrsquos economy

35 Equitable return on re-sources utilised

a Establish mechanism forreinvestments

b Provide services for hostcommunity

c Invest in sustainability ofresources

d Ensure equity in distributionof wealth produced

Source Adapted from Buhalis 1991 83a

Table 9 (cont) Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Human resources management is crucial in the delivery process of tourismproducts The concept of lsquointernal marketingrsquo where employees are perceivedand treated as lsquointernal customersrsquo has to be utilised in order to ensure theirsatisfaction As Berry (1981 34) states lsquothe satisfaction of the needs and wants ofthe internal customers can upgrade their capacity for satisfying the needs andwants of their external customersrsquo and as a consequence it can contribute to thecompetitiveness and profitability of Greek tourism and SMTEs Satisfactorysalary and working conditions are prerequisites for the well-being of SMTEsrsquoemployees Long-term relationships between employees and SMTEs minimiseturnover enabling a better performance while they reduce recruitment andtraining costs Empowerment would enable employees to be involved in themanagement of SMTEs and authorise them to respond more efficiently toconsumer requests while contributing to their job satisfaction Finally thesupport of the GNTO is vital for the long-term survival of SMTEs Apart fromthe improvement in infrastructure the GNTO is expected to hold the strategicresponsibility of the destination as well as to regulate the competition in orderto enable smaller enterprises to survive Incentive policies need to reflect thespecific requirements of each resort and enable development or improvementof certain types of enterprises The GNTO is also instrumental in attractingassistance from European development funds while it should also coordinatethe majority of Greek tourism promotional activity A promotional mix whichmaximises the effectiveness of the communication message needs to be drawnwhile budgets need to be available at the time consumers go through their deci-sion-making process in order to influence their choice of destination Finally theneed for the public sector to provide affordable financial resources for SMTEs ishighlighted by the EU (EC 1993b 73)

The third strategic direction for Greek tourism and SMTEs should be thesustainable development of destinations and local areas not only for the hostpopulation but also because this is vital for both consumer satisfaction and theprofitability of SMTEs Although in most cases SMTEs are unable to incorporatethese types of strategic objectives and tasks on their own they can initiate aframework of necessary actions for sustainable destination developmentthrough their associations Environmental protection is naturally the mostimportant strategic objective as consumersrsquo environmental consciousness hasbeen raised recently Carrying capacity limits should be identified and strictregulations and guidelines for tourism development need to be drawn A zoningsystem should be implemented in order to locate tourism activities according tothe geographical morphology of the destination In addition natural resourcesmanagement is necessary as tourism demand may exhaust the resources andespecially the water supplies The installation of sewage treatment systems andthe reduction of noise pollution should be considered especially for resortswhich suffer the consequences of these problems In addition infrastructureamelioration must be one of the primary objectives as it is an essential prerequi-site for both consumersrsquo satisfaction and SMTEsrsquo development The improve-ment of accessibility public services as well as telecommunications facilities is acrucial factor Transportation is also significant in increasing both consumersatisfaction and profitability of SMTEs as it determines whether consumers canaccess the destination easily while it also provides the first impression to tour-

472 Current Issues in Tourism

ists Improvements of timetables and services reliability increasing transporta-tion capacity and an enhancement of the fleet in terms of speed cleanliness andleisure facilities are all required Furthermore greater flexibility is needed bytransportation operators in order to meet demand needs Economic integrationcan improve the economic and social benefits of tourism in the region and theefficiency of SMTEs Ultimately tourism should be utilised as the catalyst andmajor stimulant for regional development Tourism enterprises should makeevery effort to use local raw materials and labour in order to maximise the multi-plier effects within Greece Diagonal integration of destinationsrsquo economy can beachieved by rearranging the goods and service production in order to supportthe tourism industry demand and thus minimise imports Finally SMTEs andtourism organisations need to offer a fair return-on-resources utilised back to thehost community A mechanism should be established in order to reinvest part ofthe revenues in the sustainability of resources provide services for the hostcommunity such as education training health services and generally ensureequity in distribution of wealth produced from local resources As the privatesector cannot be expected to behave altruistically towards the host communitythe GNTO and other public-sector departments should probably utilise regula-tion and taxation for this purpose

Conclusion Greek Tourism Needs a Long Overdue Master Planand Comprehensive Policy

The emerging international tourism competition the hitherto mass tourismorientation of the industry the transformation of demand the development ofthe volume of tourists visiting the dependence upon intermediaries for thedistribution of the tourism product in the major target markets the lack of a widerange of managerial skills by Greek tourism entrepreneurs and the lack of acomprehensive tourism policy or Master Plan by the public sector has led thecompetitiveness of Greece tourism to decline This has several unfavourableimplications for the profitability of the private sector as well as numerous nega-tive economic sociocultural and environmental impacts for the host populationAs a result the return on resources utilised for the production of Greek tourismservices is inadequate and the sustainability of Greece as a major tourism desti-nation is rapidly becoming doubtful Based on a strategic analysis the paper illu-minates the strategic weaknesses and structural problems of both the private andpublic sectors and demonstrates that a rationalisation of the tourism industry isurgently required Consequently a grand strategy as well as a wide range of stra-tegic directions objectives and tasks are proposed for both Greece as an entityand its SMTEs Although no quantitative targets are set in this paper it isexpected that each destination will analyse its resources and adapt its strategicplanning accordingly

The GNTO is urged to rationalise its strategy and to draw up a Master Plan anda comprehensive strategy for the entire country and for each resort where a strategywould be adopted based on quantifiable objectives and tasks Extensive researchneeds to be undertaken by using credible measurement methodologies such asInput-Output models and multipliers analysis not only for the economic but alsofor the social cultural and environmental impacts (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Buhalis

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 473

amp Fletcher 1995) A holistic tourism management system is demanded to facilitatethe development and implementation of the tourism strategy through funds allo-cation and monitoring land use control and examination of tourism public- andprivate-sector practices A thorough examination of tourism impacts in eachregion would be a prerequisite for tourism planning as it will establish andprovide scientific backing to strategic targets Komilis (1994 71) explains thatalthough the various levels of planning (sectoral nationalEU spatial or regional)are not mutually exclusive but rather complementary the regional level planningis more suitable for drawing sustainable strategies especially for areas withdissimilar needs like the Greek destinations The regional planning should lsquocon-tribute to the maximisation of regional development benefits in a way that utilisesand mobilises the regional resource base realises regional inter-sectoral linkagesand is compatible with regional economic interests societal values and environ-mental assetsrsquo It should also take into consideration the uniqueness of insulareconomies as well as the cultural and environmental resources of each particularregion and the complexity of rural and urban functions The planning processshould encourage the complementarity and coexistence of economic activitiesrather than promote sectoral separation and single-sector developments In addi-tion it needs to improve the balance between regional self-sufficiency anddependence upon external inputs and finally it should promote integration withinthe European Union

The public sector has to play its long overdue role as regulator coordinatorinfrastructure provider and promoter of the destination while a multi-integrationof the tourism industry with all the involved bodies in the preparation distribu-tion and delivery of the tourism experience needs to be ensured (Wanhill 1993Hall 1994 Skoulas 1994 10 Stavrou 1988 46) The private sector also has an impor-tant role to play as it should improve the Greek tourism industry competitivenessby improving its managerial and labour force competencies enhancing the qualityof services designing appropriate marketing mixes to attract and satisfy targetmarkets and cooperating closely in order to achieve synergies and economies ofscale (Briassoulis 1993 300 Cooper amp Buhalis 1992) To reverse the vicious circleof decreasing quality is of critical importance for the Greek tourism industryBetter quality services would stimulate the competitiveness of the Greek tourismproduct strengthen its position in the international market provide principalswith distribution channel power enhance its customersrsquo willingness to pay andenable the industry to increase its prices improving the profitability at the microlevel and the economic impacts of tourism at the macrolevel Ultimately a diagonalintegration strategy for both Greek tourism and SMTEs should aim to delightconsumers enhance the long-term prosperity of SMTEs and improve the welfareof the host populations The Olympic Games in 2004 offer a unique opportunity toregenerate and rebrand Greek tourism a cause which the entire industry shouldchampion

The AuthorDimitrios Buhalis is Senior Lecturer and course leader MSc in tourism at theUniversity of Surrey He holds a BBA from the University of the Aegean as wellas an MSc and a PhD in tourism management from the University of Surrey Hisresearch interests focus on information systems and technology strategic

474 Current Issues in Tourism

management distribution channels of tourism destination management andplanning and destination integrated computer information reservation manage-ment systems

AcknowledgementsThe author would like to acknowledge Prof C Cooper and Prof J Fletcher for

their invaluable contribution to this research Financial support from the SurreyResearch Group ConTours Consultants as well as field research sponsorshipsby the University of Surrey the Greek National Tourism Organisation and theUniversity of the Aegean are gratefully appreciated

Note1 An earlier version of this paper was published as a monograph PlanningDevelop-

ment by the International Centre for Research and Studies in TourismAix-en-Provence France

CorrespondenceAny correspondence should be directed to Dr Dimitrios Buhalis Senior

Lecturer in Business Information Management SMSSS University of SurreyGuildford GU2 7XH UK (dbuhalissurreyacuk)

ReferencesApostolopoulos T (1990) New strategy of tourism development (in Greek) Tourism and

Economy (November) 228ndash38Berry C (1981) The employee as customer Journal of Retail Banking 3 33ndash40Boniface B and Cooper C (1994) The Geography of Travel and Tourism (2nd edn) London

HeinemannBriassoulis H (1993) Tourism in Greece In W Pompl and P Lavery (eds) Tourism in

Europe Structures and Developments (pp285ndash301) Oxford CAB InternationalBuckley P and Papadopoulos S (1986) Marketing Greek tourism The planning process

Tourism Management 7 86ndash100Buhalis D (1991) Strategic marketing and management for the small and medium

tourism enterprises in the periphery of the European Community A case study for theAegean islands in Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Buhalis D (1994) Information and telecommunications technologies as a strategic tool forsmall and medium tourism enterprises in the contemporary business environment InA Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 254ndash75)England J Wiley and Sons

Buhalis D (1995) The impact of information telecommunications technologies on tourismdistribution channels Implications for the small and medium sized tourismenterprisesrsquo strategic management and marketing PhD Dissertation University ofSurrey Guildford

Buhalis D (2000a) Marketing the competitive destination of the future TourismManagement (Special Issue ndash The Competitive Destination) 21 (1) 97ndash116

Buhalis D (2000b) (forthcoming) Athens Tourism-Travel Intelligence LondonBuhalis D (2000c) Relationships in the distribution channel of tourism Conflicts between

hoteliers and tour operators in the Mediterranean region Journal of InternationalHospitality Leisure and Tourism Adminstration 1 (1) 113ndash39

Buhalis D and Diamantis D (2001 forthcoming) Tourism development andsustainability on the Greek archipelagos In G Apostolopoulos and D Ioannides (eds)Tourism in the Mediterranean Routledge

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 475

Buhalis D and Fletcher J (1995) Environmental impacts on tourism destinations Aneconomic analysis In H Coccosis and P Nijkamp (eds) Sustainable Tourism Development(pp 3ndash25) London Avebury

Camison C Bigne E and Monfort VM (1994) The Spanish tourism industry Analysisof its strategies and the efficacy and achievements gained from them In A Seaton et al(eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 442ndash52) England JWiley and Sons

Castelberg-Koulma M (1991) Greek women and tourism Womenrsquos co-operatives as analternative form of organisation In N Redclift and T Sinclair (eds) Working WomenInternational Perspectives on Labour and Gender Ideology (pp 197ndash223) LondonRoutledge

Chitiris L (1991) Hotel Management (in Greek) Athens InterbooksCoccosis H and Parprairis A (1992) Assessing the interactions between environment

and tourism Case study of the island of Mykonos Paper presented in the IV WorldCongress of Regional Science International University of Balearic Islands Palma deMallorca 26ndash9 May

Conway H (1996) Greece Travel Weekly 1308 39ndash43Cooper C and Buhalis D (1992) Strategic management and marketing of small and

medium sized tourism enterprises in the Greek Aegean islands In R Teare D Adamsand S Messenger (eds) Managing Projects in Hospitality Organisations (pp 101ndash25)London Cassell

Daskalantonakis N (1994) Quality ndash The future of tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (3 July)D9

Divanis A (1994b) Tourism policy Left on its own luck (in Greek) XENIA (October)4ndash5

Donatos G and Zairis P (1991) Seasonality of foreign tourism in the Greek islands ofCrete Annals of Tourism Research 18 515ndash19

Douvitsas P (1994) Marketing Greece through British tour operators A futureperspective MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Drakatos C (1987) Seasonal concentration of tourism in Greece Annals of Tourism Research14 582ndash6

EC (1993a) Microeconomic Analysis of the Tourism Sector A study by the pH Group forEuropean Commission DGXXIII (September) Report XXIII30394-EN BrusselsEuropean Commission

EC (1993b) Growth competitiveness employment The challenges and ways forward intothe 21st century Bulletin of the European Communities Supplement 693 (White Paper)Luxembourg

Economist (1993) Last Chance Sisyphus A survey of Greece Economist (22 May) 2ndash22EIU (1986) Greece (pp 45ndash60) International tourist reports National Report No 3EIU (1990) Greece (pp 45ndash62) International tourist reports National Report No 4EIU (1993) Greece ndash Country Profile 1992ndash1993 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEIU (1994) Greece ndash Country Profile 1994ndash1995 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEpilogi (1994) Economic review ndash The Greek Economy 1994 (in Greek) AthensEuromonitor (1992) Tourism in Greece Market Research Europe (25 May) 51ndash63Fayos-Sola E (1992) A Strategic Outlook for Regional Tourism Policy The White Paper

on Valencian Tourism Tourism Management 13 45ndash9Fotis J (1992) Vacational lifestyle segmentation of tourists on the island of Rhodes

Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey GuildfordGilbert D (1984) The need for countries to differentiate their tourist product and how to

do so Seminar papers for Ministers of Tourism and Directors of National TouristOrganisations Tourism Managing for Results University of Surrey Guildford

Gilbert D (1990) Strategic marketing planning for national tourism Tourist Review 45 (1)18ndash27

GNTO (1985a) Survey of attributes of foreign tourists 1984ndash1985 (in Greek) Greek NationalStatistical Services Athens GNTO

476 Current Issues in Tourism

GNTO (1985b) EOT-Tourism rsquo85 Development ndash Participation ndash Quality of Life (in Greek)Greek National Statistical Services Athens GNTO

GNTO (1989a) Annual report 1988 ndash Forecast 89 Towards Quality Athens GNTOGNTO (1989b) The study of tourism promotion With special reference to the measures to

increase Japanese tourists to Greece Draft final report Japan InternationalCooperation Agency

GNTO (1993) Tourism towards the 2000 (in Greek) Greek National Tourism OrganisationAthens GNTO

Hall M (1994) Tourism and Politics Policy Power and Place J Wiley and SonsHorwath (annual) The Greek Hotel Industry (in Greek) Annual reports Pireus HorwathJenner P and Smith C (1993) Tourism in the Mediterranean Research report London

Economist Intelligence UnitJosephides N (1993) Environmental Concern ndash Whatrsquos In It for the Tourism Industry (pp 51ndash6)

Proceedings of the conference Tourism and the environment Challenges and choicesfor the 1990rsquos 16ndash17 November 1992 Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre LondonBrussels European Union

Josephides N (1994) Tourism analysis Presentation in Philoxenia international tourismexhibition Thessaloniki Greece

Josephides N (1995) A sorry state for beautiful Greece Travel Weekly 1261 (5 April)11Kalogeropoulou H (1993) Greece ndash Prospects for the tourism industry within the context

of the European Single Market of 1993 Tourism Review 48 (1) 2ndash4Kassimati K Thanopoulou M and Tsartas P (1994) Womenrsquos Employment in the

Tourist Sector Study of the Greek Labour Market and Identification of Future ProspectsDGV Equal Opportunities Unit Document V40994-EN European CommissionBrussels

Komilis P (1987) Spatial analysis of tourism in Greece (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planningand Economic Research

Komilis P (1992) The spatial structure of tourism and physical planning practices inGreece Paper presented in conference Tourism and environment Issues ofpolicyplanningmanagement 23ndash4 October University of the Aegean Dept ofEnvironment Lesvos

Komilis P (1993) Values in the Tourism Planning and Policy Making Process (pp 224ndash9)Proceedings of the conference Values and the environment 23ndash4 September GuildfordUniversity of Surrey

Komilis P (1994) Tourism and sustainable regional development In A Seaton et al (eds)Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 65ndash73) England JWiley andSons

Konsolas N and Zacharatos G (1993) Regionalization of tourism activity in GreeceProblems and policies In H Briassoulis and J Van der Straaten (eds) Tourism andEnvironment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 57ndash65) Dordrecht Kluer AcademicPublisher

Kousis M (1989) Tourism and the family in a rural Cretan community Annals of TourismResearch 16 318ndash32

Kriebardis S and Marmagiolis I (1990) Tourism Activity in Greece Problems and Perspectives(pp 45ndash54) (in Greek) Economic Report of Commercial Bank AprilndashJune AthensCommercial Bank

Ktenas S (1994) Hoteliers ask for 15 to 20 increases for 1995 (in Greek) TO BHMA (3July) D9

Ktenas S (1996) Crisis in Greek tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (7 April) D16Leontidou L (1991) Greece Prospects and contradictions of tourism in the 1980rsquos In AM

Williams and GJ Shaw (eds) Tourism and Economic Development Western EuropeanExperiences (2nd edn) (pp 94ndash106) London Belhaven Press

Logothetis M (1990) The Economy of Dodekanisos During 1988ndash1989 Developments andPerspectives (in Greek) Rhodes Regional association of municipalities of Dodekanisos

Logothetis M (1992) Touristiki Sigkiria (in Greek) Rhodes Institute of Tourist and HotelResearch

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 477

Loukissas P (1977) The impact of tourism on regional development A comparativeanalysis of the Greek islands PhD Dissertation Cornell University USA

Loukissas P (1982) Tourismrsquos regional development impacts A comparative analysis ofthe Greek islands Annals of Tourism Research 9 523ndash43

Marinos P (1983) Small island tourism-the case of Zakynthos in Greece TourismManagement 4 212ndash15

Moore R (1992) From shepherds to shopkeepers The development of tourism in a centralGreek town PhD Dissertation University of California at Berkeley USA

Moore R (1995) Gender and alcohol use in a Greek tourist town Annals of Tourism Research22 300ndash13

Mourdoukoutas P (1988) Seasonal employment seasonal unemployment andunemployment compensation The case of the tourism industry of the Greek islandsAmerican Journal of Economics and Sociology 47 315ndash29

NSSG (l983) Tourism Statistics 1981 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (l985) Tourism Statistics 1982ndash1983 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1987) Tourism Statistics 1984ndash1985 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1990) Tourism Statistics 1986ndash1987 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1993) Tourism Statistics 1988ndash1990 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceOECD (1992) Greece Tourism Policy and International Tourism in OECD Member Countries (pp

70ndash8) Paris OECDOttaway M (1992) Turtle power Sunday Times Travel and Style (28 June)Ottaway M (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 1 Sunday Times (17 January)

57ndash59Panagiotopoulou R (1990) The problem and perspectives of the European insular regions

(in Greek) Working paper University of the Aegean ChiosPapadimitris G (1988) Short run and long run prospects of the Greek tourism industry

PhD Dissertation University of Manchester ManchesterPapadopoulos S (1985) An economic analysis of foreign tourism in Greece An

examination of the growth and structure of foreign tourism to Greece 1960ndash1984 with aplanning model and marketing policy recommendations PhD Thesis University ofBradford Management Centre Bradford

Papadopoulos S (1987) Strategic marketing techniques in international tourismInternational Marketing Review (summer) 71ndash84

Papadopoulos S (1988a) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (1) 29ndash30

Papadopoulos S (1988b) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (2) 24ndash7

Papadopoulos S (1989) Greek marketing strategies in the Europe tourism market ServiceIndustries Journal 9 297ndash314

Papadopoulos S and Mirza H (1985) Foreign tourism in Greece An economic analysisTourism Management 6 125ndash37

Papandropoulos A (1995) The crisis in tourism is evident (in Greek) OikonomikosTachydromos (29 June) 26ndash8

Papanikos G (1999) The year 2004 olympic games and their influence upon the Greektourism (in Greek) ITEP (Research Institute for Tourism) Athens

Paulopoulos P (1999) The Size and Dynamics of the Tourism Sector (in Greek) ResearchInstitute for Tourism Athens

Peterson C (1990) Greece tackles overbuilding in tourism areas EnvironmentalConservation 17 166ndash8

Plevris V (1995) Alarm bells from the Hellenic Federation of Hotels (in Greek) XENIA128 (May) 6ndash7

Poon A (1987) Information technology and innovation in international tourism ndashimplications for the Caribbean tourism industry PhD thesis Science Policy ResearchUnit University of Sussex Brighton

Poon A (1988) Flexible specialisation and small size ndash the case of Caribbean tourism DRCDiscussion Paper 57 SPRU Brighton University of Sussex

478 Current Issues in Tourism

Poon A (1989) Competitive strategies for new tourism In C Cooper (ed) Progress inTourism Recreation and Hospitality Management (vol 1) (pp 91ndash102) London BelhavenPress

Poon A (1990) Flexible specialisation at small size The case of Caribbean tourism WorldDevelopment 18 109ndash23

Poon A (1993) Tourism Technology and Competitive Strategies Oxford CAB InternationalPorter M (1980) Competitive Strategy Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors

New York Free PressPorter M (1985) Competitive Advantage Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance New

York Free PressPorter M (1990) The Competitive Advantage of Nations New York Free PressPrurier E Sweeney A and Geen A (1993) Tourism and the environment The case of

Zakynthos Tourism Management 14 137ndash9Psoinos P (1994a) Research on the foreign touristsrsquo attributes in Greece (in Greek) Athens

Greek National Tourism OrganisationPsoinos P (1994b) Research on the attributes of foreigners who have never visited Greece (in

Greek) Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationRichter-Papaconstantinou C (1992) Tourism development of Rhodes Cahiers du Tourisme

(Serie B) 67 Aix en Provence Centre des Hautes Eacutetudes TouristiquesRomanos A (1998) Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites (in Greek) Athens

Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites SASETE (1993) Tourism Developments and problems (in Greek) Athens Association of Greek

Tourism EnterprisesSezer H and Harrison A (1994) Tourism in Greece and Turkey An economic view for

planners In A Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposiumpp74ndash84 England Wiley and Sons

Skoulas N (1985) Holidays and travel in the year 2035 ndash Contribution of the NationalTourist Organisation of Greece SDI Schriftey Wirtschafts und Unternehmenspolitik 40181ndash99

Skoulas N (1994) Quality improvement of tourism services (in Greek) Paper presentedin the conference Competitiveness of tourism enterprises ndash the role of quality 1 AprilHoliday Inn Athens Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises

Smith C and Jenner P (1995) Greece International Tourism Reports 3 5ndash21Stavrou S (1978) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Kos Island (in Greek) Research and

Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationStavrou S (1979) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Mykonos and Naxos Islands (in

Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1980) Research on Tourism Awareness on the Islands Kalymnos and Leros (in Greek)Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1984) Tourism Development in Greece during 1969ndash1982 (in Greek) Research andDevelopment Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986a) Research for the Characteristics of Foreign Tourist Demand in Greece in theYears 8485 (in Greek) Research Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1986b) Research on the Tourism Awareness on Paros Santorini Kythira Islands (inGreek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986c) Critical Review of Tourism Activity in the Years 8385 (in Greek) Researchand Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1988) Tourism in the Northern Aegean Islands Presentation of GNTO for the TourismDevelopment of the Periphery (in Greek) Proceedings of the first conference for thedevelopment of the Northern Aegean islands Homereum cultural centre Chios 11November Chios Periphery of Northern Aegean islands

Stavrou S (1989a) GNTO Presentation for the Tourism Development Possibilities for theSouthern Aegean Islands (in Greek) Conference for the development of Southern Aegean

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 479

islands Syros 30 September ndash 2 OctoberStavrou S (1989b) The Contribution of the Development Law 126282 in the Development of the

Country (in Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A5 Athens GreekNational Tourism Organisation

Stereopoulos N (1995) It is regarded ideal it became problematic (in Greek) OikonomikosTachidromos (21 December) 151ndash3

Touloupas P (1996) Greece as a tourist destination for the British tour operators Ananalysis from a marketing perspective in the particular context of the United KingdomMSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Tourismos ke Oikonomia (1993) 20 years 1973ndash1993 (in Greek) Special Issue AthensTourismos ke Oikonomia (1994) ICAP tourism enterprises Drastic reduction of loses in 1993

(in Greek) December 14ndash15Touristiki Agora (various issues) (Monthly tourism industry periodical in Greek) Business

Press AthensTruett D and Truett L (1987) The response of tourism to international economic

conditions Greece Mexico and Spain Journal of Developing Areas 21 177ndash90Tsartas P (1989) Socioeconomic Impacts of Tourism Development in Cyclades Region with Special

Reference on Ios and Serifos Islands During 1950ndash1980 (in Greek) Athens National Centrefor Social Research

Tsartas P (1992) Socioeconomic impacts of tourism on two Greek isles Annals of TourismResearch 19 516ndash33

Van Den Bergh J (1993) Tourism development and natural environment Aneconomicndashecological model for the Sporades islands In H Briassoulis and J Van DerStraaten (eds) Tourism and Environment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 67ndash83)Dordrecht Kluer Academic Publishers

Velissariou E (1991) Die Wirtschaftlichen Effekte des Tourismus Dargestell am Beispiel Kretas(The Economic Impacts of Tourism on Crete) PhD Dissertation University of MunichFrankfurt Peter Lang

Vernikos N (1987) The study of Mediterranean small islands Emerging theoreticalissues Ekistics 54 (323ndash4) 101ndash9

Wanhill S (1993) Government organisations In C Cooper J Fletcher D Gilbert and SWanhill (eds) Tourism Principle and Practice (pp 145ndash60) London Pitman

Wickens D (1994) Consumption of the authentic The hedonistic tourist in Greece In ASeaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 819ndash25)England JWiley and Sons

Wickens E (2000) Rethinking touristsrsquo experiences In M Robinson et al (eds) MotivationsBehaviour and Tourist Types (pp 455ndash72) Business Education Publishers Sunderland

Wickers D (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 2 Sunday Times 57ndash510Wilkinson PF (1989) Strategies for tourism in islands microstates Annals of Tourism

Research 16 153ndash77XENIA (various issues) (Monthly bulletin of the Greek Hotel Chamber in Greek) AthensZacharatos G (1984) Tourismus und Wirtschafts-Struktur Dargestellt am Beispiel

Griechenlands Europaische Hochschulschriften Reihex Band 7 Frankfurt am MainZacharatos G (1986) Tourism consumption (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planning and

Economic ResearchZacharatos G (1988) The simplistic empiricism Tourism policy and the time of crisis

(1992) (in Greek) Sychrona Themata 11 (May) 21ndash6Zacharatos G (1989) The problems and perspectives of tourism in Greece (in Greek) In H

Katsoulis T Giannitsis and P Kazakos (eds) Politics and Society Economy and ForeignRelationships (pp 273ndash89) Athens Papazisis

Zacharatos G (1993) The necessity of multimedia use in the tourism education in Greece(in Greek) Paper presented at the international conference Overcomingisolation-telematics and regional development University of the Aegean Chios 30April ndash 2 May

480 Current Issues in Tourism

Page 2: Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challengescore.ac.uk/download/pdf/101686.pdf · Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challenges Dimitrios Buhalis School of Management

the spatial analysis of tourism distribution (Komilis 1987 Leontidou 1991Papadopoulos 1989 297ndash300)

Greece is one of the most remote peripheral insular and poor economicregions of the EU Its tourism requires urgent strategic management action inorder to compete with alternative destinations and maximise the prosperity ofthe host population Similar strategic exercises are undertaken by competingdestinations around the globe as they prepare to face the new business realitiesIn Spain for example

the evolution of demand towards a more diversified touristic productoffering better value for money the growing concern for the environmentwhich contradicts the degradation of the surroundings a fragmentedsector structure with low level of professionalism and a substantial growthof competition [especially new destinations which compete in its tradi-tional market segments and enjoy comparative advantages in costprices]have changed the setting of Spanish tourism by constituting a seriousthreat to its competitiveness However these future trends though worry-ing can be considered as opportunities to remodel the strategy of supply ofSpanish tourism (Camison et al 1994 443)

Several resorts and especially Benidorm and Calvia went through a majorface-lift to accommodate the new trends Hence this paper concentrates on thefactors which jeopardise the success of Greek tourism as well as on theirimpacts on the prosperity of the private sector and the local society andattempts to propose a strategic framework for competitiveness enhancementOnly competitive destinations will be able to maximise their benefits in thefuture (Buhalis 2000a) and if Greece would like to benefit from tourism itshould learn from the international experience and adapt its strategic and oper-ational practices

The paper is based on on-going primary and secondary research and benefitsfrom a number of interviews with strategic players in Greek tourism A compre-hensive literature review is also incorporated in order to facilitate furtherresearch on the topic As most destinations are comprised by an amalgam ofsmall and medium-sized tourism enterprises (SMTEs) it is argued that thecompetitiveness and prosperity of destinations are closely interrelated withthose of SMTEs and vice versa This is also reinforced by Porterrsquos (1990) analysisof lsquothe competitive advantage of nationsrsquo where the competitiveness of thegeographical area of business operations is directly influenced by both the exter-nal business environment and the competence of local enterprises As Camison etal (1994 443) state

the conditions determining the competitiveness of a tourist service[whether accommodation catering a theme park a wholesale travelagency etc] and the holiday experience of a tourist find meaning in acertain geographical area (the destination) defined by a multidimensionalrelationship among firms and industries involved transport and commu-nications infrastructure complementary activities [commercial infrastruc-ture tradition of fairs etc] support services [training information etc]natural resources and institutional policies

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 441

Following the introduction and the examination of the importance of tourismin the Greek economy (why is tourism important) the paper focuses on the stra-tegic position of Greek tourism A comprehensive auditing is undertaken inorder to assess the current situation and to illuminate the structural problems ofthe industry (where are we now) The analysis of the structural problemsdemonstrate several reasons which determine the strategic situation (why are wethere) while the effects on private sector profitability and the impacts of tour-ism on the host society are illustrated (what are the implications) A strategicframework is provided in order to formulate a grand strategy for Greek tourismand to demonstrate future direction (where do we want to go) Furthermore anumber of strategic directions objectives and tasks demonstrate how the grandstrategy can be implemented while the need for a Master Plan drawn up by thepublic sector and close cooperation of the private sector are prescribed in order tofacilitate the implementation of the strategy (how are we going there)

Why is Tourism Important The Contribution of Tourism to theGreek Economy

The Greek economy is often criticised for failing to develop strong industrialsectors and to establish suitable distribution channels for exporting agricultureTourism is a major contributor to the balance of payments while it is one of thefew activities which would enable Greece to achieve competitive advantagesthrough the redistribution of labour within Europe (Economist 1993 5ndash6) Thus itis a vital motivator of the Greek economy reducing the deficit of the balance ofpayments boosting employment generating income and contributing to regionaldevelopment (Zacharatos 1989 274 Truett amp Truett 1987 178)

Nobody knows the exact contribution of tourism to the Greek economy mainlybecause there is inadequate research on expenditure flows of income and nationalaccounts Tourism is a major export and contributor to both Gross National Product(GNP) and balance of payments The Greek National Tourism Organisation (GNTO)suggests that the tourism contribution to the GDP is estimated at up to 7 Thetourism receipts in 1998 were 5186 millions US covering 293 of the deficit in thebalance of payments and 3983 of the exports of services (wwwgntogr 12 Octo-ber 2000) Paulopoulos (1999) estimates that in 1994 the foreign currency earnedfrom incoming tourism was $9bn providing 18ndash20 of the GNP Tourism income is25 times more than the income generated by industrial products and 18 times morethan the total exports However these figures do not include pre-purchases ofdrachma by tourists abroad credit card payments payments for cruises and otherearnings which have been estimated to increase total receipts by up to 80 (EIU1994 42 and 1993 43 Papadopoulos amp Mirza 1985 133) Tourism is included in theGreek National Accounts as lsquoInvisible Receiptrsquo and since 1989 it has only beensecond to the lsquonet EU contributionsrsquo having overtaken both lsquoshippingrsquo and lsquoemi-grant remittancesrsquo contributions which used to dominate in the past (Epilogi 1994355 Papadopoulos amp Mirza 1985 131 EIU 1990 49)

Tourism is also increasingly recognised as an instrument for regional develop-ment policies especially for socioeconomically depressed and problematic areas(Konsolas amp Zacharatos 1993 57) It is instrumental in developing unfavouredregions and especially insular areas which have little potential to develop local

442 Current Issues in Tourism

handicraft and other industries without tourism demand Consequently in theperiod 1965ndash1980 the tourism output multiplier in Greece was estimated to be 152(Zacharatos 1989 281) Domestic tourism also facilitates a certain degree of redis-tribution of wealth between metropolitan and peripheral regions Not only wasthe emigration pace from the islands diminished especially of young people butalso a trend for rehabitation on the islands has been evident in the last decade asnew job opportunities have emerged (Panagiotopoulou 1990 10 Loukissas 1982537) Tourism also stimulates seasonal migration of professionals in several desti-nations who work at the region for several months every year (Logothetis 199023) Tourism is also a major employer as it is estimated that employment in the tour-ism sector is 10 (61 direct employment and 39 indirect) of the total employ-ment in Greece (wwwgntogr 12 October 2000) Paulopoulos (1999) estimates atotal of 690000 people to be employed in tourism if we include people indirectlyinvolved with tourism with 35 employed yearly 40 for 6ndash8 months and 25only during the peak season for 2ndash3 months About 74 of the labour is employedin accommodation establishments 21 in travel agencies transportation and thepublic sector while a further 5 is occupied in sea transportation (Stereopoulos1995 153) Job opportunities are provided mainly for young people and forwomen who are often self-employed within their household (Kassimati et al 1994Kousis 1989 328) However tourismrsquos contribution to employment is jeopar-dised as increasingly the industry is using self-catering and self-serviced accom-modation and catering (Zacharatos 1989 284)

In reality the contribution of tourism to the Greek economy is substantiallygreater as the official figures ignore the lsquopara-economyrsquo (black or parallel econ-omy) estimated to be as high as 28ndash50 of the official GDP (EIU 1993 25 EIU1990 47) Tourism being a seasonal activity often complements other economicactivities such as agriculture and education and therefore para-economy in tour-ism is even greater than other industries Para-economy includes both interna-tional transfers of funds for tourism products offered within the country as well asthe illegal export of tourism foreign exchange which is re-exported without beingprocessed through the Greek economic system As a result the real impacts oftourism in the economy are largely unknown (Zacharatos 1988 1989)

Where Are We Now Situation Analysis The Greek TourismIndustry and its Competitiveness

The contribution of Greek tourism to the national economy demonstrates themagnitude and complexity of the industry Following a brief demand analysisan examination of tourism supply is undertaken whilst a strengthsndashweak-nessesndashopportunitiesndashthreats (SWOT) analysis demonstrates the competitive-ness of both destination and its SMTEs In addition the paper elaborates on awide range of structural problems and illustrates their effects on the profitabilityof the private sector and on the impacts of tourism at the destination

Tourism demand for GreeceGreece has enjoyed a continuous growth in arrivals since the early 1950s

Despite the lack of any comprehensive tourism demand analysis undertaken bythe GNTO several research documents address the tourism-demand issue for

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 443

Greece (Psoinos 1994a 1994b GNTO 1985a Tourismos ke Oikonomia 1993NSSG 1983 1985 1987 1990 1993 Stavrou 1984 1986a 1986c) In 1950 33333foreign tourists passed the borders while this figure rose to almost 11 million in1999 as illustrated in Table 1 Greece comes in the 17th place in the world classifi-cation of tourist destinations There is a concentration in the summer months asin the last ten years in 375 of arrivals were in July and August while the periodMay to September attracted 74 of total arrivals This is clearly reflected on thebednights as illustrated on Table 2 Most visitors (932) originate from Europeand 702 from the EU especially British Germans Swedish Finnish Dutch andAustrians Hence these nationalities are the dominant markets with the Britishand Germans contributing almost half of all arrivals as illustrated in Table 3About 777 came by plane and 605 by chartered flights Although tourismarrivals in Greece were forecasted to reach 20 million by the year 2000 (Jenner ampSmith 1993 161) this was not achieved as a result of increasing competition andincompetent management in both the public and private sectors

In 1999 about 60 million bednights were recorded in all types of accommoda-tion establishments 75 of which were by international tourists Similar to arriv-als the vast majority of the bednights spent in the country were by Europeansespecially British Germans Swedish Finnish Dutch and Austrians Hence thesenationalities are the dominant markets accounting for more than three-quarters ofthe bednights with the British and Germans contributing almost half of allbednights Domestic tourism is also a significant contributor More than 75 oftourists arrived in Greece by air and 58 of the total arrived on charter flightsbecause of the distance from the country of departure In 1985 about 89 of tour-istsrsquo arrivals to Greece were holiday-makers while only 7 travelled for business2 for other reasons and 1 were in transit About 53 of the tourists arriving in1985 had bought an inclusive tour package (GNTO 1985a 8) The inconvenienceof indirect transportation schedules large differentials in charges for groups andindividual customers by accommodation establishments lack of informationabout the Greek tourism product as well as insufficient marketing by SMTEshave enabled tour operators to act as intermediates between consumers and prin-cipals and to play a dominant role in the tourism industry However the develop-ment of the Internet enables prospective visitors to pre-book their packagesindependently and to use cheaper non-frills airlines and leisure fares of scheduleairlines for their transportation

The country has cultural attractions and heritage few other destinations canequal and therefore it can respond to the lsquonew era of tourismrsquo where a greaterdegree of individuality and sophistication will be required by consumers In 1998the average length of stay in the country was 14 days while the average expendi-ture per capita reached a level of $456 Similar results emerged in recent researchalthough the location of the data collection produced a sample containing a higherpercentage of business travellers (Psoinos 1994a 62)

Despite research on motivation attitudes and satisfaction of tourists arriving inGreece being inadequate a few typologies have emerged Fotis (1992 83ndash86) classi-fied holiday-makers in Rhodes in four main categories lsquotranquillersrsquo seeking quietand relaxing holidays lsquoculturersrsquo who include a strong educational and historicalelement in their holidays lsquobudgetersrsquo who are predominately budget-constrainedfamilies and young lsquonightlifersrsquo enjoying nightlife entertainment Similarly

444 Current Issues in Tourism

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 445

Table 1 Tourism demand and supply figures for Greece during the period 1950ndash1995

Year Arrivals Bednights Bedcapacity

Expenditure(million $)

Expenditureper capita

1950 33333 ndash ndash 4735 1421951 40568 ndash ndash 5933 1461952 68184 ndash ndash 9583 1411953 94410 ndash ndash 22721 2411954 157618 1273105 ndash 25321 1611955 195852 1351312 ndash 29123 1491956 218301 1594088 ndash 31213 1521957 261738 2041096 ndash 41374 1661958 276534 2069722 ndash 36196 1421959 339802 2552271 ndash 41667 1381960 399438 2963478 ndash 49260 1411961 494191 3934522 57022 62469 1421962 597924 4921803 60945 75986 1401963 741193 6129500 65604 95415 1421964 757495 5102121 71741 90800 1351965 976125 6158300 78487 107575 1271966 1131730 8810300 85323 143458 1441967 996473 ndash 90362 126768 1491968 1017621 ndash 98631 120263 1371969 1305951 6212000 108180 140470 1311970 1609210 7683639 118859 193556 1551971 2257994 11224000 135103 305299 1711972 2731587 14687325 151420 392700 1761973 3177682 15698030 166552 514900 1971974 2188304 10214164 175161 436600 2531975 3172968 13574801 185275 643600 2441976 4243563 19202614 213431 823700 2251977 4597354 18714446 231797 980600 2481978 5081033 22259598 247040 1326300 2931979 5798360 26672482 265550 1662300 3181980 5271115 27170344 278045 1733500 3611981 5577109 28171610 285860 1881000 3691982 5463060 29954664 301230 1527200 3031983 5258372 27216605 317920 1175700 2461984 6027266 32821789 333820 1312800 2381985 7039428 35709851 348170 1428000 2171986 7339015 35450027 359380 1834200 2611987 8053052 35755308 375370 2268100 2971988 8351182 36000000 395810 2396100 3051989 8540962 34157667 423790 1976000 2451990 9310492 36289604 438360 2575000 2901991 8271258 29873046 459300 2566100 319

Wickens (1994 819 and 2000) classified tourists arriving in Pefkochori as lsquocul-tural heritagersquo type interested in the natural beauties of Greece as well as itsculture and history lsquoraversrsquo attracted by the cheapness of the resort particularlythe cheapness and availability of alcohol as well as the sun beach and nightlifelsquoShirley Valentinesrsquo who are women on a mono-gender holiday who hope forromance and sexual adventure with a lsquoGreek Godrsquo based on the Greek malestereotype which has been perpetuated by newspapers and the film ShirleyValentine lsquoheliolatrousrsquo tourists who are sun-worshippers trying indefatigablyto change their colour and finally lsquoLord Byronsrsquo who undertake an annual ritualreturn to the same destination and experience the real flavour of Greek hospital-ity and ambience Although these typologies provide an initial demand profilethe strategic analysis and the positioning of the Greek tourism product will beimpossible without further research undertaken on the characteristics needsmotivations and behaviour of tourists

446 Current Issues in Tourism

Year Arrivals Bednights Bedcapacity

Expenditure(million $)

Expenditureper capita

1992 9756012 36260299 475800 3268400 3501993 9913267 36747968 499606 3335200 3541994 11301722 40657544 486518 3904900 3461995 10658114 38889975 534703 4294000 4031996 9782061 47945506 550692 3723100 3811997 10588489 53364507 560957 3772200 3561998 11363822 56549442 577759 5186100 4561999 10970665 60256902 584714 NA NA

Source Adapted from the Greek National Tourism Organisation and National Statistical Service ofGreece

Table 2 Nights spent by foreign tourists and Greek nationals in hotels and similarestablishments by month

Month Year Variation

1996 1997 1998 1999 9796 9897 9998January 867638 946798 1005719 1066084 912 622 600February 928305 933592 998977 1060008 057 700 611March 1250226 1369751 1273310 1448624 956 ndash704 1377April 2766116 2822243 2905546 2864693 203 295 ndash141May 5258710 5923093 6229116 6617666 1263 517 624June 6405495 7075829 7530343 8342167 1046 642 1078July 7965179 9003064 9872757 10723835 1303 966 862August 9551439 10878827 11661790 11805077 1390 720 123September 6993686 7822329 8224367 8756290 1185 514 647October 4113665 4419861 4640619 5234218 744 499 1279November 1032350 1113342 1175950 1245219 785 562 589December 812697 1055778 1030948 1093021 2991 ndash235 602Total 47945506 53364507 56549442 60256902 1130 597 656

Source Greek National Tourism Organisation and National Statistical Service of Greece

Table 1 (cont) Tourism demand and supply figures for Greece during the period1950ndash1995

Tab

le 3

Arr

ival

s of

for

eign

tou

rist

s at

fron

tier

s by

cit

izen

ship

199

1ndash19

99

Cou

ntry

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

19

99

238

453

128

211

191

619

298

843

586

182

673

061

Au

stri

a28

831

734

525

928

863

634

809

134

730

135

960

438

811

845

019

550

160

2B

elgi

um

-Lu

xem

bou

rg17

975

422

509

922

403

626

514

824

557

221

356

722

931

027

367

433

291

3B

ulg

aria

157

910

140

725

144

534

133

764

136

504

154

765

182

338

197

347

202

848

Fran

ce47

094

554

222

255

464

461

856

555

179

846

273

242

667

848

620

154

598

1G

erm

any

156

111

31

944

704

206

937

92

404

628

227

291

11

907

863

199

467

02

136

515

245

013

7Fo

rmer

Yu

gosl

avia

518

644

934

1319

179

227

930

127

034

724

717

1Y

ugo

slav

ia27

089

426

076

423

149

619

899

920

163

310

307

7Fy

rom

37

809

586

911

128

051

Den

mar

k21

188

328

123

525

362

231

888

532

436

929

895

934

426

129

253

233

624

8Sw

itze

rlan

d12

624

116

312

616

499

919

332

725

907

225

642

529

573

128

938

730

813

8U

K1

674

875

215

485

02

191

347

241

862

82

224

885

168

799

91

711

942

204

424

32

433

033

Irel

and

440

8557

885

627

8069

928

622

5254

050

454

0944

524

486

49Sp

ain

104

655

119

964

118

967

122

773

949

2079

717

713

1496

905

992

88It

aly

517

145

622

619

625

509

722

652

643

473

491

081

533

303

659

688

745

915

Cyp

rus

104

041

107

029

904

1292

372

980

5985

893

131

441

126

992

139

386

Nor

way

683

9695

898

102

452

143

257

142

013

157

722

160

457

226

282

269

419

Net

herl

and

s45

006

554

618

751

087

255

659

350

561

645

217

946

414

454

833

961

680

7H

ung

ary

107

685

107

403

739

9910

510

291

170

113

657

145

192

186

147

123

280

Ukr

ain

e10

742

106

5212

942

270

1728

084

328

43R

uss

ia10

147

412

918

418

056

020

079

412

741

710

491

0P

olan

d47

535

437

8834

292

310

1849

665

889

4710

179

312

264

711

515

2P

ortu

gal

165

8626

245

209

1921

581

208

5815

856

131

2513

713

210

34R

oman

ia17

919

196

8318

862

254

7438

868

510

1251

854

634

3972

689

Swed

en26

194

631

425

131

703

038

763

945

927

644

825

747

248

146

761

746

879

3C

zech

oslo

vaki

a13

012

919

158

589

642

Cze

ch R

epu

blic

788

4610

788

217

708

717

406

817

809

417

450

8Sl

ovak

ia15

102

135

3628

431

303

8355

291

462

17

Current Issues in Tourism 447

Cou

ntry

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

19

99

Fin

lan

d21

613

117

209

911

651

813

743

410

255

312

083

714

846

114

933

718

897

1O

ther

Eu

rop

ean

809

9510

439

420

537

325

209

328

8280

128

575

4134

967

370

63T

otal

EU

485

017

46

521

010

663

629

17

519

381

785

578

46

592

701

684

321

67

663

483

878

937

1T

otal

Eu

rop

e7

356

995

841

966

38

470

616

986

5986

936

382

98

419

060

927

776

210

174

303

113

200

13Ja

pan

579

0210

968

089

907

953

6789

457

871

3585

029

871

3083

971

Isra

el36

989

350

6545

815

414

0554

264

749

8082

386

894

0215

498

7L

eban

on

Syri

a15

637

159

2214

924

139

7415

651

183

5716

165

177

9818

347

Tu

rkey

535

3173

650

149

390

733

8849

018

474

1644

741

698

7580

502

Iran

422

66

794

761

56

458

596

05

319

373

03

848

380

9O

ther

Mid

dle

Eas

t5

474

804

88

014

562

37

919

124

108

300

638

27

854

Oth

er A

sian

448

5955

467

545

0663

611

111

547

167

380

145

515

841

3984

806

Tot

al A

sia

218

618

304

626

370

171

998

2633

381

641

299

738

586

635

857

443

427

6E

gyp

tSu

dan

200

2019

525

196

0918

540

214

4919

865

193

6317

604

240

45So

uth

Afr

ica

135

2716

944

146

8712

559

120

628

909

874

87

339

101

96O

ther

Afr

ica

179

4814

660

142

4212

145

151

7514

797

143

2413

795

137

99T

otal

Afr

ica

514

9551

129

485

3843

244

486

8643

571

424

3538

738

480

40A

rgen

tina

509

28

655

879

411

530

970

38

176

440

84

238

508

9B

razi

l8

523

899

98

555

107

4410

851

966

18

062

629

94

531

Mex

ico

364

26

535

533

65

318

453

93

385

225

82

052

420

0U

SA80

429

278

941

256

719

270

777

239

684

222

130

240

555

219

362

229

314

Can

ada

471

0159

807

514

7256

650

503

0943

966

477

2250

512

516

80O

ther

Am

eric

an10

983

152

5412

468

904

38

694

108

2611

052

904

410

447

Tot

al A

mer

ica

255

770

378

191

343

344

364

062

323

780

298

144

314

057

291

507

305

261

Au

stra

lia66

566

696

5856

064

615

5654

453

543

1146

692

427

9650

516

Oth

er O

cean

ic8

489

803

56

930

726

85

613

521

23

513

101

285

982

Tot

al O

cean

ia75

055

776

9362

994

688

2460

066

595

2350

205

529

2456

498

Form

er U

SSR

781

9410

005

811

716

0T

otal

803

612

79

331

360

941

282

310

641

942

101

301

779

233

295

100

703

2510

916

046

216

408

8C

ruis

es23

513

142

465

250

044

458

891

258

196

854

876

651

816

444

777

644

184

0G

ran

d to

tal

827

125

89

756

012

991

326

711

230

854

107

121

459

782

061

105

884

8911

363

822

126

059

28

Fo

rmer

Yu

gosl

av R

epu

blic

of

Mac

edon

iaSo

urce

Gre

ek N

atio

nal

Tou

rism

Org

anis

atio

n a

nd N

atio

nal S

tati

stic

al S

ervi

ce o

f G

reec

e

448 Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges

Tourism supply in Greek tourismA modern industry has emerged since the 1950s to cater for the tourism

demand The Greek tourism product is an amalgam of natural cultural and heri-tage attractions spread throughout the country as well as a wide variety of servicesoffered predominantly by SMTEs Moreover 15000 miles of coastline 2500islands an average of 300 sunny days annually a unique fauna and flora as well asclimatic superiority with mild winters and warm summers are some of its naturalattractions The Greek civilisation of more than 3500 years also provides plentifulcultural heritage throughout the country Some rsquo25000 registered and protectedmonuments and archaeological sites numerous museums and about 500 charac-teristic traditional settlementsrsquo offer a unique blend of tourist attractions (Buckleyamp Papadopoulos 1986 96 EIU 1986) As far as amenities are concerned a plethoraof SMTEs provide the entire variety of services

In January 2000 a total of 8100 official accommodation establishments with atotal capacity of almost 600000 beds are provided in different categories asdemonstrated in Table 4 Another 450000 beds are provided by some 28000secondary accommodation establishments such as lsquorooms to letrsquo and self-cateringapartments often referred to as lsquoparahoteleriarsquo In addition 11000 beds in cruiseliners and 12000 in yachts as well as 329 camping sites with 30354 pitches and83000 camping spaces accommodate all types of demand (GNTO) Eurostat esti-mates that about 20000 restaurants operate in Greece while a countless number ofcatering and entertainment establishments are on offer Furthermore some 7000travel agencies 1500 coach rental and 4000 car rental firms are estimated to operatethroughout the country (EC 1993a)

Accessibility is facilitated through 32 airports most of which can receive directinternational charter flights An extensive domestic scheduled flights network isprovided by Olympic Airways as well as by newly established private carrierswhich take advantage of the increasingly deregulated skies The proliferation ofprivate airlines (eg Aegean Cronus Axon Air Greece) during the last five yearsand the price wars with the state-owned Olympic Airways have increased bothdomestic and international traffic Moreover a complex network of sea road andrail transport enables passenger transportation throughout the country(Briassoulis 1993 291) During the last decade there has been a remarkableimprovement to the quality and ability of vessels as the Greek shipping industryprepares for the lifting of cabotage in 2002 which will enable European shippinglines to operate on Greek routes However recent tragedies involving olderGreek ferries pressurised the Ministry of Merchant Marine to take action in orderto improve the safety and security of the vessels and to ensure the adequate train-ing of crews In addition Piraeus port needs the development of a modernpassenger terminal to provide adequate service

Unfortunately the Greek infrastructure is incapable of supporting the tourismsuperstructure growth of the last decades and thus telecommunications transpor-tation police and health services water supply and sewage systems are underextreme pressure in the summer peak months to satisfy the demand density(Konsolas amp Zacharatos 1993 63 and EIU 1990 61) Nevertheless during the lastdecade several major projects have been initiated including the Metro and the newairport in Athens a wide network of motorways and the gradual development of

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 449

Tab

le 4

Acc

omm

odat

ion

esta

blis

hm

ent b

y re

gion

and

cat

egor

y in

199

9

Tot

alLu

xury

A C

ateg

ory

B C

ateg

ory

Reg

ion

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Ster

ea1

236

493

9892

877

225

368

101

4480

780

514

644

191

120

5722

605

Pel

opon

isos

660

230

1043

846

466

11

377

554

889

925

012

96

825

130

22Io

nio

595

332

8663

683

61

340

255

378

930

817

911

139

894

617

107

Ipir

os24

24

868

938

51

5411

611

446

884

381

478

284

4N

orth

ern

Aeg

ean

550

108

7220

792

450

11

090

231

364

257

498

374

97

125

Cre

te1

214

604

8911

396

021

508

510

034

166

188

9335

608

263

139

9826

904

Dod

ekan

isa

887

545

0710

436

68

324

26

227

127

224

8442

924

201

106

0120

161

Cyc

lad

es73

718

406

352

483

176

341

963

108

587

014

03

824

731

7T

hes

saly

575

119

9522

939

439

978

150

150

52

980

672

626

494

9M

aced

onia

983

335

1372

943

41

046

184

255

231

913

698

168

100

3619

140

Th

race

702

470

467

50

00

418

134

522

110

22

103

Tot

al7

749

302

814

584

714

7717

872

345

0574

572

302

146

688

145

675

242

143

277

C C

ateg

ory

D C

ateg

ory

E C

ateg

ory

Reg

ion

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Ster

ea60

318

193

339

6519

43

712

703

814

62

263

448

1P

elop

onis

os32

68

818

166

4894

135

02

625

4246

792

4Io

nio

380

119

2822

722

571

114

212

136

650

126

9Ip

iros

992

362

451

519

356

682

1417

234

4N

orth

ern

Aeg

ean

199

442

78

400

2840

477

333

427

830

Cre

te67

820

123

369

0397

163

12

995

5175

91

516

Dod

ekan

isa

495

163

7530

686

611

076

293

956

729

142

9C

ycla

des

367

835

715

977

100

152

22

922

104

141

92

821

Th

essa

ly24

15

723

107

7853

962

186

159

780

159

0M

aced

onia

491

124

0723

497

351

687

013

066

6083

51

700

Th

race

2886

81

614

1125

949

35

6012

0T

otal

390

710

958

120

570

51

065

192

5637

515

606

856

117

024

Sour

ce G

NT

O D

ept o

f Acc

omm

odat

ion

Est

abli

shm

ents

450 Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges

the railtrack These developments will change the entire infrastructure of thecountry

The implementation of the Greek national tourism policy is supervised by theGreek National Tourism Organisation (GNTO) and the Ministry of TourismThe two organisations share the responsibilities for planning implementationand promotion of Greek tourism at national and regional level as well as coordi-nating the involvement of the public and private sectors in all tourism activitiesPublic investment in commercial facilities was utilised in the early days ofGreek tourism to stimulate both tourism demand and the private sectorrsquos confi-dence to invest The GNTO operates 21 regional and 25 overseas offices in 18countries worldwide (Konsolas amp Zacharatos 1993 59 Leontidou 1991Briassoulis 1993)

The Greek tourism product is distributed to the international market predomi-nantly through European tour operators which organise package holidays andinclude resorts in their programmes Some 800 tour operators distribute the Greektourism product More than 7000 incoming travel agencies often act as tour opera-torsrsquo handling agencies while providing a variety of tourism services such asorganisation of excursions currency exchange and accommodation bookingsdirectly to consumers They usually participate in negotiations between tour oper-ators and accommodation establishments as well as cooperate with tour operatorsrsquorepresentatives at destinations In addition the GNTO operates several informa-tion offices at major resorts whilst several local authorities provide tourist infor-mation as well as distribute promotional material and make local bookings Theglobal GNTO network distributes information material to potential tourists aswell as undertakes all the marketing and public relations functions both for indi-vidual and institutional customers

SWOT analysis for Greek tourism and small and medium-sized tourismenterprises

A SWOT analysis is undertaken for the Greek tourism as well as its SMTEs inorder to assess their present and projected competitiveness based on strategicmanagement research undertaken for the Aegean islands (Buhalis 1991 Cooperamp Buhalis 1992) The interrelations between SMTEs and destinations are quiteapparent illustrating that a destinationsrsquo weaknesses and threats are reflected inthe SMTEsrsquo competitiveness and vice versa As illustrated in Table 5 the SWOTanalysis concentrates on the strategic rather than operational strengths andweaknesses of SMTEs

As far as strengths of the Greek tourism and SMTEs are concerned their flexi-bility and ability to tailor products to consumersrsquo needs are of great importanceto their existence SMTEs can identify profitable niches in the market establishtheir requirements and attempt to satisfy specialised needs Direct control byentrepreneurs permits quick and efficient managerial reaction to external chal-lenges Fewer hierarchical levels facilitate closer and more effective control overthe service delivery process enabling personal services to customers In addi-tion archaeological heritage natural and cultural resources as well as the localcharacter are also significant assets As a result tourists benefit from localresources which are ideally situated to offer special-interest holidays SMTEsalso capitalise on personal relationships with consumers suppliers labour and

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 451

the entire tourism industry in general Their size enables the provision of apersonal finish to all products provided while it is not unusual for customers tobecome friends and to be treated accordingly Similarly strong relations withemployees support labour loyalty and low turnover The proprietorrsquos family isnormally directly involved with every aspect of the business reacting efficientlyand promptly to any problem arising Their involvement in running the enter-prise provides considerable benefits especially in having a very flexiblemulti-skilled and dedicated workforce which tolerates unsociable workingschedules Family members feel committed to the long-term prosperity of theenterprise and often do not distinguish between their professional and familylife Thus a better matching between tourism demand and SMTEsrsquo supply isachieved

A close-up of the weaknesses of Greek tourism and SMTEs is critical for under-standing the ability of the industry to compete in the global tourism arenaAlthough entrepreneurs are normally an asset it seems that a number of manage-

452 Current Issues in Tourism

Table 5 Greek tourism and SMTEsrsquo SWOT analysis

Strengths

Flexibility

Tailor-made product delivery

Entrepreneurial activity

Family involvement

Natural and cultural resources

Strong local character

Personalised relationships

Labour loyalty and low turnover

Weaknesses

Management

Marketing

Information technologies illiteracy

Dependence upon tour operators

Supporting markets

Lack of economies of scale

Human resources management

Education and training

Transportation and accessibility

Financial management and resources

Seasonality

Lack of standardisation

Lack of quality assurances

Opportunities

European Union support

European redistribution of labour

Increase in tourism demand size

Trends in tourism demand

Low cost of living in periphery

Information technology

Infrastructure development

Transportation

Olympic Games

Threats

Environmental degradation

Concentration and globalisation

Oversupply

Lack of visibility in CRSs

Infrastructure

Warsterrorism

Political intervention

Source Adapted from Buhalis 1991 60c and Cooper and Buhalis 1992 108

rial problems often arise Lack of strategic and operational managementknow-how generates inconsistency in the creation and delivery of tourism prod-ucts This has direct implications for consumersrsquo satisfaction and the projectedimage of the industry There is often a complete lack of strategic vision and enter-prises are often treated as an extension of proprietorsrsquo domestic environmentEntrepreneurs recruit family members and relatives as personnel and supplierseven though more appropriatequalified alternatives can be found in the market-place Therefore the management of SMTEs clearly projects the proprietorrsquosfamily life-style and decision-making processes onto an enterprise Marketing isanother significant weakness for most entrepreneurs and Greek resorts as they areoften completely unaware of the techniques available and thus follow a prod-uct-oriented rather than a consumer-orientated approach Consequently uncoor-dinated isolated trouble-shooting marketing activities are occasionallyundertaken rather than a consistent and well-planned marketing campaign Lackof marketing research debilitates knowledge of consumersrsquo needs and makes itdifficult to identify methods for improving services in order to meet consumersrsquoexpectations Inability to finance and execute advertising campaigns and otherpromotional techniques reduces their visibility in their markets These weak-nesses in combination with the fact that many entrepreneurs are unfamiliar withinformation technology (IT) add to the problems of SMTEs in promoting them-selves effectively Consequently both Greek SMTEs and destinations sufferfrom over-dependence on the tourism distribution channels to promote anddistribute their product In particular intermediaries and especially tour opera-tors have enormous power within the channel and are capable of determiningthe Greek tourism product marketing distribution and pricing mixes (Buhalis1995) Hence the marketing campaign and the visibility of Greek tourism to itsmain target markets are often determined by the coverage space photographsand description in tour operatorsrsquo brochures European tour operators alsocontrol accessibility to Mediterranean or long-haul destinations as they ownmost charter airlines which provide direct and inexpensive flights to these desti-nations

As most resorts are located in peripheral areas there is usually little economicdevelopment in the supplying sectors Therefore remote destinations have toimport essential raw and construction materials from elsewhere while SMTEsoften face transportation delivery and purchasing problems and excessivetransportation costs Moreover lack of economies of scale in purchasing rawmaterial low bargaining power and lack of advanced facilities are additionaloperational disadvantages This essentially means that SMTEs have to payhigher prices for products than their larger counterparts Lack of specialisedpersonnel and inadequate training procedures mean that human resourcesmanagement is a major weakness of Greek tourism In most SMTEs personnelhave to cover a wide range of positions a loose job description is usuallyprovided and multi-skilled personnel are required The labour turnover due tothe seasonality of the tourism industry reduces the availability of qualified andexperienced personnel and makes tourism product delivery not only variablebut also unprofessional The small size of operation provides little opportunityfor the division of tasks professional employees and proper training Since noquality standards are introduced service delivery varies according to the occu-

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 453

pancy service provider and timing Transportation and accessibility to remotedestinations may also be a weakness as most enterprises are located in periph-eral and often inaccessible regions SMTEs tend to feel frustrated because theyare unable to attract consumers simply because they cannot provide conve-nient reliable and affordable transportation The formulation of charter aircarriers by destination areas such as Turkey and Spain as well as the emergingderegulation policies in the European Union may diminish this problem in thenear future Moreover SMTEs face significant financial constraints as on theone hand they are required to invest in fixed assets at the beginning of theiroperations and on the other hand there is a discrimination against them byfinancial institutions since they normally have very few assets Consequentlythey are forced to accept unfavourable financial deals Finally the Greek tour-ism industry and SMTEs suffer from seasonality problems and have to produceadequate income within a limited period every year Lack of diversified invest-ment in other economic activities forces proprietors to work intensively in thepeak months and rest in the off-peak months while their pay-back period isinevitably unfavourable As the tourism industry becomes more professionalembraces quality management and responds to an increasingly discerningcustomer SMTEsrsquo typical lack of business expertise and minimal standardisa-tion may become an increasing liability especially for some target markets(Cooper amp Buhalis 1992 102)

Recent developments in the external environment present numerous opportu-nities for the Greek tourism industry and SMTEs Firstly the European Uniontakes several actions to support small and medium-sized enterprises (EC 1993b72) while it supports infrastructure development of peripheral regions andcontributes significantly to the prosperity of SMTEs The country is going througha major transformation as a result of several public projects supported by theEuropean Commission including the Attico Metro the new Athens Airport thedevelopment of the peripheral motorway Elefsina-Spata and the peripheralmotorway of Immitos The unification of the heritage sites and thepedestrianisation of the Athens city centre aims to develop an open archaeologi-cal park and deal with the traffic and pollution problems The Olympic Games in2004 provide a unique challenge and opportunity for the city and the country torebrand and redevelop itself and demonstrate its unparalleled heritage andcultural resources The Games also provide the resources and funding as well asa lsquodeadlinersquo for several infrastructural projects that were already scheduled butperhaps delayed In addition several projects are anticipated to improve thesuperstructure of the industry through both renovation of existing propertiesand through the development of new hotels and other facilities It is anticipatedthat the regeneration of the city and the country in general will provide majoropportunities for the attractiveness and competitiveness of the tourism industry(Buhalis 2000b Papanikos 1999 Romanos 1998)

It is anticipated that there will be a gradual redistribution of Europeanlabour providing support for each region to specialise in the production ofgoods and services where it can achieve competitive advantages Traditionallyremote and insular destinations where most Greek resorts and SMTEs arebased achieve a competitive advantage in tourism and therefore greatersupport is anticipated Greek tourism benefits from the continuous growth of

454 Current Issues in Tourism

global tourism demand as more people require holiday services while SMTEsare expected to increase their share as they tend to satisfy the emerging special-ised and sophisticated demand better than larger organisations Informationand telecommunication technologies can provide strategic tools for tourismdestinations and SMTEs enabling them to manage their product more effi-ciently disseminate information and establish a distribution mechanismthrough destination management systems (Buhalis 1994) New technologiesalso offer opportunities for developing innovative tourism products such asteleworking for tourists who would like to spend time working during theirstay at the destination Finally Greek tourism tends to achieve a cost advan-tage since it employs unpaid family members and operates in inexpensiveperipheral regions which often have a lower cost of living in comparison withmetropolitan areas

In terms of external threats environmental degradation through inappropriatewaste management and excessive usage of natural resources can be observedLack of know-how and funds effectively increases environmental problemsConsequently several resorts suffer severe damage while entrepreneurs and localauthorities feel powerless to take remedial measures Moreover oversupply oftourism service providers and lack of well-defined carrying capacity limits inseveral destinations have placed numerous Greek resorts and SMTEs in a disad-vantaged position as they cannot achieve sufficient income Similarly the concen-tration of power in fewer tourism industry enterprises through emergingglobalisation also threatens the ability of Greek SMTEs to survive as internationalvertically integrated tourism organisations acquire control over local enterprisesThe dependence upon channel partners for the promotion and distribution ofGreek tourism is exaggerated by the relatively low presence of Greek suppliers inthe major CRSs (Computer Reservation Systems) which is caused by the seasonal-ity and scale of the tourism production on the one hand and the tariffs of thesesystems on the other The issue of infrastructure is closely related to the oversup-ply which attracts higher demand than planned Destinations often have limitedinfrastructure provisions which fail to follow the pace of development generatingpressure on the existing inadequate facilities Finally the tourism industry suffersfrom its geographical proximity to the Balkans and the Middle East and as a conse-quence is often associated by consumers with wars and terrorism activities Greektourism and SMTEs have limited means of dealing with unfavourable situationsand thus are more vulnerable to their impacts Political intervention perhapsthrough the public sector decisions and the legislator framework often damagesthe prosperity of SMTEs As SMTEs have little lobbying power they have limitedinfluence over political decisions which determine their welfare

The SWOT analysis demonstrates quite clearly that the Greek tourism indus-try faces a wide range of problems and threats which will jeopardise its ability toprovide suitable tourism products in the future as well as its ability to make acontribution to the national welfare However several opportunities and chal-lenges emerge and they need to be addressed in order to strengthen the competi-tiveness of the industry Further analysis is therefore required in order to assessthe factors which generate these problems and also to identify ways to respond tothe challenges they present

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 455

Why Are We There and What Are the Implications StructuralProblems and Challenges

Despite its popularity and growth over the last 40 years the Greek tourismindustry has reached a stage where both its potential and competitiveness havebecome questionable

The seemingly unstoppable growth of this market contributed to a degreeof complacency which has led to Greece repeating some of the errors madein Spain Rapid price increases mean the country is no longer perceived bymass market clients as cheap in relation to comparable destinations in theMediterranean but much of the countryrsquos tourism infrastructure hastilybuilt in response to demand for cheap accommodation does not meet theneeds of a market less sensitive to price and more concerned with qualityand value for money (EIU 1990 45)

Richter-Papaconstantinou (1992 27) explains that tourism development inRhodes lsquotakes place without any Master Plan of the area respect of the landscapeand environment analysis whether there is demand and what the demand isafter regard to what is happening in similar situationsrsquo At the micro level theEuropean travel trade and intermediaries warn that the Greek tourism product isno longer competitive (Conway 1996 41 Touloupas 1996 Douvitsas 1994)whilst Chitiris (1991 148ndash150) outlines a range of managerial problems andmistakes in Greek resort hotels which diminish the quality of the tourismservices Hence unless the Greek tourism industry addresses a number of criticalissues immediately its future might be seriously jeopardised resulting in apotential catastrophe of the national economy The major structural problemsand challenges for the Greek tourism product can be summarised in Table 6

As a result Greece fails to attract the desired lsquohigh-quality high-expenditurersquotourists as it is increasingly unable to satisfy their requirements (Conway 199641) The deterioration of the tourism product and image leads to a lower willing-ness-to-pay by consumers which consequently leads to a further drop in qualityas the industry attempts to attract customers with lower prices This is a viciousspiral which has been destroying the essence of developing tourism in severalMediterranean destinations The concentration of bargaining power in Euro-pean distribution intermediaries and tour operators in particular in combina-tion with the inability of the Greek tourism industry to promote itself andestablish effective distribution mechanisms inevitably minimises the profitmargins of SMTEs and their ability to yield decent returns on their investmentAs a result touristsrsquo expenditure per capita in Greece gradually deteriorateswhile their volume increases (SETE 1993 35)

Thus the tourism policy often consisted in a lsquofreezingrsquo of the selling price ofthe tourist package abroad a measure which combined with the devalua-tion of the drachma and its continuous parity losses succeeded in securing alsquofictitious competitivenessrsquo for the Greek package This competitivenesshowever was seriously threatened each time there was an attempt at asubstantial increase because of important rises in cost elements(Kalogeropoulou 1993 2)

456 Current Issues in Tourism

The above issues illustrate that the Greek tourism product becomes increas-ingly incompetent Hence the inadequate lsquoproductrsquo lsquopromotionrsquo and lsquoplacersquo(distribution) elements of the tourism marketing mix reduce the willingness ofprospective consumers to pay and has disastrous implications for the pricingpolicies deteriorating the profitability of the SMTEs and the tourism economicimpacts on the destination

Ultimately the economic impacts of tourism in Greece become debatableespecially due to the inadequacy of tourism economic research and data whilethe destination has to bear the environmental social and cultural decay Encour-agingly articles in recent tourism industry publications acknowledge these chal-lenges and appreciate the dangers urging both the private and public sector totake action (Touristiki Agora Tourismos ke Oikonomia Travel News XENIA) as well

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 457

Table 6 Structural problems and challenges

Image of Greece as cheap simple unsophisticated undifferentiated sun-seadestination

Gradual deterioration of tourism product and lack of reinvestment in improvements

Increase of tourism arrivals but decrease of tourism expenditure per capita

Inadequacy of the Greek planning process

Dependence upon major tour operators for promotion and distribution

Plethora of anarchically developed and behaving SMTEs aiming at short-termprofitability

Inappropriate and ill-timed marketing campaign which has little effectiveness

Inadequacy of infrastructure to serve the ever-expanding demand

Lack of coordination at the destination and disrespect for touristsrsquo needs

Lack ofprofessionalism and training in both state andprivate tourism establishments

Individualistic behaviour by SMTEs and unwillingness to cooperate on adestination basis

Unsuccessful and inconsistent programmes of government intervention

Almost unregulated environment with nearly complete lack of control

Political intervention which allows exception policies and employment of unquali-fied staff

Development of tourism as a single regional development option

Oversupply of tourism amenities and fierce price competition

Failure of the private sector to invest in long-term projects

Deterioration of natural social and cultural resources

SMTEsrsquo inability to resist in global concentration of the tourism industry

Inadequate distribution mechanisms which generate overdependence onintermediaries

Failure of both the private and public sectors to learn from internationally gainedexperience in tourism development and marketing

Lack of tourism research to identify the impacts of tourism

Negligence with regard to new tourism demand challenges

as several influential members of the tourism industry (Josephides 1993 19941995 Skoulas 1994 Daskalantonakis 1994 Divanis 1994b Plevris 1995Papandropoulos 1995)

Political intervention limited research lack of tourism policy andplanning

Perhaps the largest obstacle in developing a competitive tourism industry inGreece has been the inconsistent and irrational political intervention Unfortunatelytourism has extensively been utilised as a political vehicle where each govern-ment uses it to gratify its political needs and friends This can be experienced in alllevels of recruitment in the public sector institutions as a change of government oreven minister results in immense changes throughout the GNTO as well as tomajor policies and regulations Thus in the last 35 years (since 1966) the leadershipof the GNTO has changed 28 times allowing each General Secretary to stay inoffice for an average of 138 months Political allies of each government use politi-cal pressure and intensive lobbying in order to achieve amendments in regula-tions incentive policies and business environment Hence the short-termprofitability and commercial interests of the friends and political allies of eachgovernment often overrule the long-term strategy and set an improper examplefor the entire industry These practices result in a great inconsistency in Greek tour-ism policy and disrupt its rationalisation Therefore a lsquodepolitisation of Greektourismrsquo towards a professionally managed public sector guided through acompromised strategic Master Plan is urgently required (Josephides 1995)

The limited existing scientific tourism research highlights the lack of comprehen-sive examination of tourism impacts in Greece while it illustrates that tourismpolicy is based on insufficient documentation (Zacharatos 1989 278 and 1988 22)Public sector research is almost non-existant while the authorities seem uninter-ested in consulting the Greek-tourism research produced by academics (for exam-ple Zacharatos 1984 1986 Komilis 1987 Loukissas 1977 Papadimitris 1988Papadopoulos 1985 Moore 1992 Tsartas 1989 Velissariou 1991 Fotis 1992Buhalis 1991 1995 2000c Buhalis amp Diamantis 2000) or the international tourismlsquobody of knowledgersquo (Zacharatos 1988 24) In addition tourism consumptionbeing characterised as a particular category of private consumption in the nationalaccounts it fails to reflect the real tourism impact on each economic sector Thusthe process of collecting information for tourism expenditure in Greece preventsthe assessment of tourism expenditure impacts on the national and regional econ-omy and therefore cannot be used in drawing scientifically founded tourismpolicy (Zacharatos 1989 277 Konsolas amp Zacharatos 1993 58) Consequentlytourism policy follows conventional wisdom and concentrates on attracting alarger volume of tourists ignoring scientific methods to assess the economicsocial cultural and environmental impacts of each tourism segment assumingthat the greater the tourism volume the better for the national economy

The lack of a comprehensive and rational tourism policy and planning or a MasterPlan for Greek tourism is primarily responsible for the aforementioned structuralproblems Policy is usually based on unsubstantiated statements published by theTourism Ministry or the GNTO (GNTO 1985b 1989a 1993) often as pre-electionpromotional material In essence Greek authorities attempt to intervene aiming tostimulate arrivals as well as to facilitate the operation and development of the

458 Current Issues in Tourism

tourism industry Based on the assumption that tourism arrivals to Greece wouldincrease indefinitely the general directions of the Greek tourism policy focusalmost invariably on the targets summarised in Table 7 (Euromonitor 1992 61GNTO 1989b 41 and 1993 1 OECD 1992 70 Skoulas 1985 194 Leontidou 199188ndash91 Apostolopoulos 1990 Zacharatos 1989 275 and 1988 21)

However as these tasks are not quantified and there is no time schedule orplanning process for their achievement it is inevitable that their implementationand assessment is subject to irrationalities and personal judgement Occa-sionally incentives for tourism development responses to lobbying from tour-ism-related associations and regions training programmes and generallegislation attempt to direct the Greek tourism industry towards the describedpolicy directions In addition an inconsistent and untargeted promotionalcampaign is implemented yearly (Touloupas 1996 130) The campaign attempts toachieve the above unspecified policy tasks while it is often a lsquolast minutersquo reactionmeasure to a forecasted decline of bookings for the current season rather than acoordinated long-term marketing policy (Jenner amp Smith 1993 143Papadopoulos 1989 304) Despite the advertising campaignrsquos positive impact onarrivals the feedback to the campaign is rather speculative as no formal researchis undertaken to identify the most cost-effective media and communication meth-ods for each target market (Papadopoulos 1989 311 and 1987 82)

Because the deficient scientific examination of Greek tourism and its impactsprevents the authorities from establishing quantifiable and measurable tourismpolicies their policies are based on subjective and personal judgements while feedbackpractices are rarely followed In addition the implementation of the vaguelydefined tourism policy as well as the targets regulations and standards are oftenbent to accommodate lobbying and political pressures (Zacharatos 1989 279)Komilis (1993 225) suggests that tourism planning in Greece is generally realisedand exercised within a socio-political environment characterised by severalfactors a limited degree of political commitment lack of social awareness andacceptability of planning actions inadequacy of scientific and technical founda-

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 459

Table 7 Greek tourism policy targets

Development of demand

Training of tourism employees

Increase arrivals and foreign exchange income

Increase competitiveness of tourism product

Improvement of services in the industry

Reduction of seasonality and expansion of tourism season

Attraction of high spenders and alternative types of tourism

Construction of facilities appealing to the upper end of the market such as luxuryhotels golf courses congress centres casinos and marinas

Development of tourism infrastructure with emphasis on transportation

Support of social tourism for low-income domestic tourists

Geographical redistribution of tourism

tion to support planning intervention and a centralised administrative-institu-tional system gathering a plethora of functions but failing to perform itscoordination and enforcing role When the conflicting interests and power of eachmember of the tourism industry are brought into the equation where differentpartners attempt to influence legislation in order to maximise their own short-termprofitability regardless of the impacts on the destination and other enterprises theplanning process becomes more complicated This results in an ineffective plan-ning system and process which produces policies unable to provide an appropri-ate balance between restrictive policies and control planning implementationMoreover the plethora of SMTEs in combination with inadequate legislationconcerning their establishment and operation seem to affect adversely thecompetitiveness of the industry and the ability to diversify and enrich local tour-ism products (Komilis 1992 11 EIU 1990 59)

Consequently several structural problems are originated jeopardising theprosperity of both SMTEs and destinations especially in overdeveloped regionsOn the supply side failure of the infrastructure to follow the dramatic expansionof the superstructure in combination with the lack of solid institutional context oftourism policy and long-term regulation result in the exploitation and inadequacyof environmental and socio-cultural resources as well as the inability of the indus-try to generate the level of economic benefits desired and expected On the tourismdemand side after the meteoric growth in the 1970s and 1980s the Greek tourismindustry has been trying to transform lsquothe country into a destination which cancompete not just on price but on value for moneyrsquo (EIU 1990 45) It is becomingapparent that the tourism population in not infinite and an adaptability andresponsiveness to touristsrsquo needs is ofgreat importance (Sezeramp Harrison 1994 83)

Structural problems jeopardise the profitability of the private sectorBecause of the aforementioned structural problems most tourism industry

enterprises are experiencing a decline in profitability Hotels in particular arebadly affected due to the high fixed assets as well as their immobility and inflexi-bility which prevents them from adjusting to demand fluctuation Several reasonsdetermine their low profitability and inability to increase prices in line with infla-tion The low occupancy levels achieved yearly is a key problem Smith and Jenner(1995 17) estimate that the lsquoyear-round bed occupancy over the range of licensedaccommodation is slightly under 30rsquo As most of the properties are closed duringthe winter months due to the seasonality problems they rely on three to six monthsto generate sufficient returns on their investment The occupancy levels of accom-modation establishments in Greek tourism are often determined by theirco-operation with travel intermediaries Based on the different seasonality patternsof different markets rooms are normally allocated a year before the summer seasonto tour operators on lsquoallotmentrsquo or lsquocommitmentrsquo contracts which effectively deter-mine the prices charged according to the security provided by tour operators forusing and paying for hoteliersrsquo rooms Once the contracts are signed hoteliers effec-tively lose their control on their inventory and their right to market their rooms toother business sources before the release period (typically 7ndash14 days before arrival)in order to avoid overbooking However should their bookings fail to match theirprogramme tour operators often utilise their buying power to cancel unwantedrooms at the beginning of the tourist season without paying compensation Smaller

460 Current Issues in Tourism

hoteliers are often left with unoccupied rooms they which are unable to promote atthe lsquolast minutersquo unless they drop their prices to unacceptable levels As a result oftheir deficient intra-channel power hotels often suffer a significant cut-back of theiroccupancy levels which has direct implications for their profitability (Buhalis 19952000c 460 Ktenas 1996)

Similarly the seasonality of the Mediterranean and Greek tourism industry hasalways been a problem for the profitability of SMTEs since enterprises operateonly for a limited period (Jenner amp Smith 1993 70 Drakatos 1987 Donatos ampZairis 1991) Attempts to promote winter tourism by developing cultural andspecial interest tourism in the islands and winter sports in several ski resorts inGreece have proved fairly unsuccessful (EIU 1986 56) This is attributed to theimage of Greece as an exclusively summer-sun destination as well as to the unco-ordinated attempts to maintain tourism enterprises active during the wintermonths (EIU 1990 57)

The average room rate is the second major determinant of hotel profitability It isbecoming apparent that employment costs and cost of capital in combination witha relatively strong currency policy reduce the ability of Greek accommodationestablishments to offer competitive pricing and maintain their profitabilityMarketing inadequacies and inability to promote the tourism product as a differ-entiated entity the rapid increase of supply in comparison to demand and theoverall dependence upon the oligopsonistic tour operators for the Greek tourismproduct promotion force hoteliers to accept contracts by tour operators whichminimise their profit margin and adversely effect the quality of their productIncreasing levels of pressure by tour operators prevent SMTEs from renovatingand investing in their properties and therefore a gradual deterioration of the prop-erties is inevitable (Richter-Papaconstantinou 1992 14 Skoulas 1985 189) Euro-pean tour operators faced with fierce competition in their markets are essentiallywilling to pay an annual price increase equal to little less than the depreciation ofthe drachma plus the inflation at the place of origin of the tourists (Ktenas 1994)This policy progressively deteriorates the profitability of the Greek tourism indus-try and has severe impacts for its prosperity The situation is worse for smalleraccommodation establishments which manage to negotiate even smaller priceincreases due to their exclusive dependence upon fewer intermediaries(Logothetis 1992 14)

The oversupply of tourism services both in Greece and worldwide also contributesto global competition for a less rapidly increasing demand (Josephides 1993 54)In Greece the average annual increase of the official hotel bed supply in 1983ndash1992was 47 while the annual average increase in international tourist bednights was27 (Epilogi 1994 271) The investment incentive Law 126282 boosted this over-supply as it generated small infeasible and uncontrollable accommodation unitsunable to offer high quality of services while it increased the concentration of tour-ism units in infrastructure-undersupplied resorts (Kriebardis amp Marmagiolis1990 51 Stavrou 1989b 5) The vast majority of the capacity growth is on the lsquoille-galrsquo unregistered self-catering and self-serviced lsquoparahoteleriarsquo sector whichprovide very low quality and priced accommodation and therefore appeal tomass tour operatorsrsquo clientele This not only increases unfair competition for theofficially registered hotels but also reduces both tax revenues and employment atthe macro level

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 461

Horwath (1994 3) concludes that

unfortunately the results in terms of return on investment in the tourismindustry are not very promising especially when compared with those ofother Greek economic sectors It is an undisputable fact that the averageGreek tourism entrepreneur is heavily dependent on the tourist packageprice which is strongly negotiated by the international tour operators It isan lsquounhealthyrsquo dependency as a result of the weak position of the Greektourist product in the international market In addition the aforemen-tioned dependency is the result of the lack of marketing activities in anaverage tourist enterprise As we all know effective marketing activitiesare based on the product place price promotion which all contribute toclient satisfaction and further to a bigger share in the international touristmarket Up to now three of the aforementioned important elements ofmarketing have been overlooked which determine the weak negotiationpower of the Greek entrepreneur

This situation has also resulted to several European companies expandingtheir operations into Greece or purchasing shares in Greek partners in order toimprove their vertical integration Should this vertical integration expand signif-icantly however lsquoGreek tourism will be in fact controlled by foreign deci-sion-making centres which will certainly operate on the basis of their owninterests and not according to the overall interests of our national economyrsquo(Kalogeropoulou 1993 2) Hence radical measures are required immediately inproduct formulation promotion strategy and distribution channels to supportboth Greek destinations and SMTEs to enhance their competitiveness profitabil-ity and prosperity Failure to react would have severe implications for the futureof the Greek tourism private sector as the essence of its existence would be jeop-ardised its costs may exceeding its returns

Structural problems generate negative tourism impactsIn addition to the profitability problems of the private sector the aforemen-

tioned structural problems have profound implications for the welfare of hostpopulations in various Greek destinations as their economic social cultural andenvironmental resources are exploited without ensuring their sustainabilityLack of comprehensive research and failure to initiate carrying-capacity limits orzoning systems contribute to the anarchic development of tourism as well asexpand negative impacts of tourism on local societies and environments Thefollowing section highlights some of the costs Greek destinations are called topay for their tourism activity whilst it suggests that these issues should beaddressed in the strategic planning process

Macro-economic negative impactsDespite the contribution of tourism to the Greek economy certain potential

risks can also be identified Not only is the competitiveness and profitability ofthe tourism industry jeopardised but also several destination regions seem tofollow a policy of developing tourism at the expense of industrial and agricul-tural growth (Stavrou 1989a 6 Vernicos 1987 105) Instead of tourism stimulat-ing agriculture it seems that it hastens its decline as the two economic activities

462 Current Issues in Tourism

compete for land and labour The lack of structural investments in industrial oragricultural sectors combined with the popularity of tourism professions in theworkforce endanger the balance of the regional economy while reducing thetourism multipliers (Briassoulis 1993 295) As a result the economic structure ofthe destination is jeopardised while a complete dependence upon tourismbecomes inevitable (Komilis 1992 7) Both opportunity costs and displacementeffects are therefore evident Moreover there is evidence that the progress ofdestinations through their life-cycle and especially the introduction of masstourism decreases their economic impacts while it makes local control of theindustry far more difficult (Loukissas 1982 537) lsquoBecause of the high degree ofdependence of Greek tourist enterprises on tour operators the actual amount oftourist spending remaining in the country is only the 40ndash50 of total touristspendingrsquo (Briassoulis 1993 296) Public-sector subsidies to the private sector invarious forms such as incentives cooperative marketing campaigns and unem-ployment benefits in the off-season as well as tax evasion and lsquoparaeconomyrsquo alsoreduce the real benefit at the macro level (Mourdoukoutas 1988 Drakatos 1987Leontidou 1991 102) Lack of scientific research on the economic impacts oftourism makes the real contribution of tourism in the economy speculativerather than based on hard evidence (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Konsolas ampZacharatos 1993)

Social and cultural negative impactsThe development of mass tourism and the lack of effective planning and

management are also responsible for a number of negative social and culturalimpacts observed in Greek host societies (Tsartas 1989 1992 Stavrou 19781979 1980 1986b) Although the degree of interaction of the population withtourists depends heavily on the geomorphology of destinations and the loca-tion of resorts (Loukissas 1982 538) touristsrsquo behaviour is often offensive tothe host population but tolerated due to the economic benefits (Castelberg-Koulma 1991 201 Kousis 1989 Wickens 1994 823) Most Greek tourismdestinations are almost crime-free zones during the winter due to the smallpopulation and personal relationships of locals Tourism however introducesseveral types of criminal activity often unknown to local people As policeforces are usually allocated according to needs of the permanent population ina destination they are often incapable of handling the demands of the summermonths and are unable to deal with visitorsrsquo misbehaviour such as hooliganismand lsquolager-lootingrsquo

The commercialisation of history cultural traditions and the Greek lifestyle isa phenomenon met in several destinations This regrettably affects the renownedGreek hospitality commercialises human relations with tourists and reduces theties of solidarity and cooperation between locals since they compete for the tour-ism market (Papadopoulos 1988b 24) As the average employee works 605hours weekly for 295 weeks a year there is little time left for social religious andcultural obligations during the season (Mourdoukoutas 1988 325) Although acertain degree of lsquodemonstration effectrsquo and lsquoxenomaniarsquo can be attributed totourism the country is equally influenced by the mass media as well as by theGreek students and professionals living abroad (Papadopoulos 1988a 30Wickens 1994 822) Moore (1995) also explains that tourism not only has had a

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 463

contribution to the increase of alcohol consumption by Greeks but has alsoshifted their taste away from locally produced wine to imported spirits and beerBriassoulis (1993 296) perhaps describes best the change in labour force valueswhen as she suggests that tourism has created a

peculiar parasitic group of tourist entrepreneurs operating tourist-servingenterprises like tavernas cafeterias etc the principal characteristics ofwhich are high profits and tax evasion Consequently a particular person-ality type is created the lsquosuccessfulrsquo entrepreneur who earns a lot with littlework has a rich erotic life and is professionally independent (in contrast topublic and private employees) This model is followed by many youngpeople who abandon other productive year-round occupations lsquoworkrsquoonly during the tourist season stay idle for the rest of the year and eventu-ally suffer from the volatility of the tourist market

The family relations and values are therefore under great transition andperhaps threat (Castelberg-Koulma 1991 201 Kousis 1989 Moore 1992)

Negative environmental impactsDespite environmental resources becoming central to destinationsrsquo competi-

tiveness most Greek destinations go through an unparalleled exploitation due toinadequate planning and reinvestment in their sustainability jeopardising theirfuture (Buhalis amp Fletcher 1995) Boniface and Cooper (1994 141) suggest thatgeographical concentration of tourism

has led to the view that Greece will become saturated with tourists and thatdamage will be done to the environment and cultural heritage in the morepopular areas Already the environment has suffered from haphazarduncontrolled building and pollution of the sea and the flora and fauna arebeing effected by waste disposal

Coastal pollution water shortages sewage treatment waste disposal trafficcongestion noise pollution overbuilding and aesthetic degradation are some ofthe impacts experienced already in a number of resorts (Briassoulis 1993 297Coccosis amp Parprairis 1992 Peterson 1990 Marinos 1983 Stavrou 1988 19 and1989a 5 Papadopoulos 1988b 24) Most of the islands also face water shortagedue to the inability of natural supplies to provide sufficient water for the tourismdemand Imported mineral water from the mainland is an expensive way tosolve this problem due to the transportation cost while it creates more waste andenvironmental damage In addition the destruction of endangered speciesrsquo habi-tats is another problem experienced on several islands (ZakynthosCaretta-Caretta and Allonissos monk-seals) (Ottaway 1992 Van Den Bergh1993 70 Prurier et al 1993) Urgent coordination with all tourism actors at thelocal level is essential while regulation is required to set objective and measurablelimits and targets in order to preserve local environmental resources Financialdifficulties in the industry only exacerbate these impacts as the private and publicsectors feel unable to reinvest in the conservation of resources

The aforementioned negative impacts emerge as a result of the structuralproblems of the Greek tourism industry and illustrate that the mass tourismorientation of the industry reduces the sovereignty of the host population over

464 Current Issues in Tourism

their land and resources whilst jeopardising their expected benefits and futurewelfare As these impacts are trade-offs for the economic gains of the tourismactivity it is important that consistent long-term strategic planning should beundertaken in order to enable the preservation of the local resources and achievesustainability at tourism destinations These tasks should all be reinforced byresearch political will and strategic planning

Where Do We Need to Go and How Are We Going ThereTowards Strengthening the Competitiveness of Greek Tourismand SMTEs

Based on the situation analysis as well as on the strategic weaknesses andstructural problems the paper attempts to provide a framework for strategicplanning which will enable the strengthening of the competitiveness of Greektourism and SMTEs Porter (1985 1) suggests that competitive strategy lsquois thesearch for a favourable competitive position in an industryrsquo which is a function ofthe attractiveness of the industry and the relative competitive position withinthat particular industry He also argues that lsquocompetitive strategy aims to estab-lish a profitable and sustainable position against the forces that determine indus-try competitionrsquo Competitiveness is therefore defined as the effort undertakenby organisations to maintain long-term profitability above the average of theparticular industry within which they operate or above alternative investmentopportunities in other industries

Traditionally the tourism industry in the majority of destinations worldwideis based on a network of SMTEs which provide all types of tourism products andservices while enabling closer interaction between the host population and visi-tors as well as facilitating a rapid infusion of tourism spending into the localeconomy As lsquotouristsrsquo overall experience is composed of numerous smallencounters with a variety of tourism service providersrsquo (Moutinho 1990 104)there is a great overlap between the customer perception of local SMTEs anddestinations which makes them almost indistinguishable Consequently thecompetitiveness and prosperity of destinations and SMTEs are closely interre-lated as the fortune of the one depends heavily upon the management andcompetitiveness of the other Therefore the generic strategy for destinationsinvolves SMTEs and vice versa

Grand strategy Strategy formulation for Greek tourism and SMTEsBased on the strategic analysis a grand strategy is proposed for the Greek

tourism industry and SMTEs in order to demonstrate the directions the destina-tions should follow in their attempt to increase their competitiveness and reducetheir vulnerability As different resorts destinations and SMTEs have dissimilarneeds only generic strategies can be drawn However these guidelines can beapplicable to destinations and SMTEs worldwide as they address strategic ratherthan operational issues The analysis is based on the assumption that SMTEsformulate leisure value-added chains or networks of wealth creation whichessentially comprise the entire destination Therefore an integrated approach isfollowed as there is a great complementarity between the strategies and strate-gic directions for both the Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 465

The grand strategy analysis is based on an examination of three general strat-egy models namely Porterrsquos generic strategies Gilbertrsquos proposition for lsquodiffer-entiation of the destinationrsquo and Poonrsquos analysis for lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo Agrand strategy is then proposed for both Greek tourism and SMTEs based oninference emerging from these three models Figure 1 illustrates the three maingeneric strategies proposed by Porter (1980 34ndash46) in order to lsquooutperform otherfirms in an industryrsquo overall cost leadership where the firm is required to minimiseits costs based on mass production and strict cost control of the main businessfunctions differentiation of products or services by lsquocreating something that isperceived industry-wide as being uniquersquo or focus on a lsquoparticular buyer groupsegment of the product line or geographical marketrsquo and achieve either cost leader-ship or product differentiation (Porter 1980 37ndash8)

Furthermore Gilbert (1984 1990) argues that destinations should differenti-ate their tourism products in order to be able to achieve a unique lsquotourist productbenefitrsquo which would enable them to establish their position in the internationaltourism market as well as to attract high spenders and loyal tourists Tourismdestinations therefore should attempt to achieve a lsquostatus arearsquo image ratherthan a lsquocommodity arearsquo one as illustrated in Figure 2 In the first case the desti-nation is heavily substitutable very sensitive to price and economic changeswhile consumers have a low awareness of any unique benefits or attributes of theregion Thus holidaymakers base their decision to visit the area merely on pricewhile the demand for the destination is incidental and destinations are unable toattract high spenders In contrast lsquostatus areasrsquo achieve intentional demand as aresult of the unique product attributes perceived by the tourism market Theseunique attributes may be genuine or imagined and thus a destination isregarded as irreplaceable increasing consumersrsquo loyalty and willingness to payGilbert (1990 24ndash5) asserts that destinations should attempt to become lsquostatusareasrsquo in order to improve their image loyalty and economic benefits

A third strategic approach is proposed by Poon (1987 1988 1989 1990 1993)based on the concept of lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo of the tourism business Inessence Poon examines the industry processes and proposes a strategy to enabletourism organisations to improve their competitiveness Poon argues that lsquoflexi-ble specialisationrsquo is a strategy of lsquopermanent innovationrsquo and lsquoceaseless changersquowhich provides for the lsquonew tourismrsquo This new tourism is flexible segmentedcustomised to the touristrsquos needs and diagonally integrated In contrast the oldtourism can be characterised as lsquomass standardised and rigidly packagedrsquo(Poon 1989 91ndash3)

466 Current Issues in Tourism

STRATEGIC ADVANTAGE

Perceived product uniqueness Cost advantage

TARGETMARKET

Industrywide Differentiation Cost Leadership

Particularsegmentsonly

Differentiation Focus Cost Focus

Figure 1 Porterrsquos three generic strategiesSource Porter 1980 39

The main sources of flexibility for service firms lie in the organisationmanagement marketing distribution and other forms of interaction andinterrelationships among guests hotels suppliers distributors What isimportant however is not each of these stand alone aspects but how theyare coupled to create competitive advantages and hence capabilities tomove with the market (Poon 1988 24)

Examination of these three main strategies illustrates that they share a similarbase Porterrsquos lsquodifferentiationrsquo Gilbertrsquos lsquostatus arearsquo and Poonrsquos lsquoflexiblespecialisationrsquo describe the attempt undertaken by firms and tourist destinationsto achieve value competitive advantages In contrast the lsquocost leadershiprsquo lsquocom-modity arearsquo and the lsquostandardisation or Fordism production modelrsquo describethe effort to achieve lsquocost competitive advantagersquo where destinations andSMTEs offer their products for less than their competitors In the first caseconsumers perceive the product as unique and are willing to pay a premiumwhile in the second case the decision is merely based on price Thus the classicalstrategic decision of lsquolow volume-high profit marginrsquo or lsquohigh volume-low profitmarginrsquo is the underlying concept of the two alternative strategies

Both Gilbert and Poon agree that destinations should aim to achieve lsquostatusarearsquo or niche orientation through differentiation in order to increase consumersatisfaction as well as to maximise the benefits for both regions and SMTEs As aresult Greek tourism and SMTEs need to focus towards the differentiation strat-egy define their niche markets and serve them accordingly This strategy isalready adopted in several resort areas such as Valencia in Spain where it isrecognised that the need for diversification and differentiation lsquohas now becomeessential owing to the level of competitiveness that has been attained (and can beforeseen) in the world tourist marketrsquo (Fayos-Sola 1992 49) Differentiation isalso particularly useful for insular destinations in microstates where a limitednumber of economic and financial resources are available (Wilkinson 1989 170)As most destinations consist of SMTEs networks there is an overlap betweentheir strategic orientations and therefore the above analysis is applicable to boththe Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Destinations implementing a lsquostatus arearsquo strategy can enhance the satisfac-tion of tourists as well as their competitiveness The formulation of unique and

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 467

CommodityArea

Statusarea

Willingness topay higher prices

StatusArea

Product attributes Product attributes

CommodityArea

Figure 2 Gilbertrsquos differentiation strategySource Adapted from Gilbert 1990 25

customised products by using flexibility and cooperation also increases touristsrsquowillingness to pay and wins their loyalty while it responds to the new tourismdemand trends However the proposed strategy should not be seen as an excusefor SMTEs and destinations not to attempt to improve their efficiency and mini-mise their production costs Although the unique service for touristsrsquo needs shouldbe their priority offering perceived value for money would determine theircompetitiveness in the marketplace As a result all Greek resorts and SMTEsshould assess their assets and strengths for serving specific target markets takingadvantage of their small size which facilitates flexibility and specialisation

It is quite apparent that the cost advantage strategy has to be avoided inmanagement of tourism destinations as regions need to preserve their scarceenvironmental and sociocultural resources and achieve sustainable develop-ment As cost advantage is based on mass production and consumption itassumes an unlimited production capacity which is inapplicable in the tourismindustry The inseparability of the tourism product determines that consumersshould be present at the time of product delivery and when combined with tour-ism seasonality it generates demand peaks which drain destinationsrsquo scarceenvironmental sociocultural resources The lsquohigh volume-low profit marginrsquostrategy has therefore harmful social and environmental impacts on destina-tions Destinations have maximum carrying capacities beyond which both thewelfare of local populations and the satisfaction of tourists are jeopardisedAlthough economic benefits can also be achieved by using the lsquocommodity arearsquoor the lsquostandard product modelrsquo it is argued that these approaches reduce tour-istsrsquo satisfaction and their willingness to pay and are opposed to the demandtrend towards individualisation

Unfortunately however some destinations can no longer be positioned asirreplaceable unique products due to their overdevelopment Tourism supplyhas exceeded the carrying capacity of these resorts and their product hasreached the saturation or decline phase of their life-cycle Several Spanish costasand some Greek resorts such as Benitses Kavos Faliraki Malia Hersonissos andNidri (Josephides 1994) have been overdeveloped to such an extent that only alsquohigh-volume low-profit marginrsquo strategy is feasible When resorts reach theirsaturation level only a lsquocost leadershiprsquo or lsquomass productionrsquo strategy can beproposed as they are unable to provide any specific lsquotourist product benefitrsquo Theattraction of the lower end of the market is inevitable and as a consequence thereare no alternative strategies The minimisation of further sociocultural and envi-ronmental damage as well as attempts to improve the surrounding environmentshould also be a primary objective of both tourism destinations and SMTEs in thiscase The ultimate aim should be to regenerate the resources of the area and torelaunch the tourism destination to attract specific markets which will be willing topay a higher price for the destination

Strategic directions objectives and tasks for Greek tourism and SMTEsTable 8 presents three pivotal strategic directions which are identified in order

to stimulate the competitiveness of both Greek tourism and SMTEs This sectionillustrates how the aforementioned grand strategy can be implemented for tour-ist destinations and SMTEs through a number of strategic directions objectivesand tasks as presented in Table 9

468 Current Issues in Tourism

Enhancing the satisfaction of tourists and delighting the customer are pivotalto ensuring the well-being of Greek destinations and SMTEs in the long term andthus the entire range of tourism service providers should aim to delight theirclients As a result of the tourism product integration consumer satisfactioncannot be achieved by independent businesses separately but by the entirenetwork of SMTEs in Greek destinations The improvement in services isperhaps the most important strategic objective Consistency of promises throughstandardisation of service delivery and implementation of a total qualitymanagement philosophy throughout the industry are essential strategic tasks forachieving this objective while flexibility in service delivery and improvementsin training are critical In line with the grand strategy the production oftailor-made tourism products should be ensured in order to satisfy the specificneeds of particular niches and the requirements of the emerging new tourismdemand Product augmentation would enable also the Greek tourism product toexceed the expectations of consumers and hence enhance their satisfaction Lifestyle segmentation would enable Greek tourism and SMTEs to design appropri-ate tourism products As tourist demand elasticity has increasingly becomedoubtful in recent years the price of the holiday is no longer considered to be themost important attribute in the decision-making process Consequently theGreek tourism industry should concentrate on providing value for money at allprice levels as well as offering at least whatever they have promised to theconsumer

Supporting the long-term competitiveness and profitability of Greek tour-ism and SMTEs is by far the most important strategic objective for the tourismindustry The first strategic objective for every SMTE has to be the increase inrevenue by maximising its occupancy or load factors and the rates it achievesThe lengthening of the operating season as well as the identification of newmarkets and the penetration into existing ones and the effective utilisation ofdistribution channels will contribute to this strategic direction Higher ratescan be achieved by targeting specialised and smaller tour operators attractingalternative types of tourists and expanding the distribution channels mix aswell as by attempting a certain degree of lsquodisintermediationrsquo by encouragingdirect sales to outgoing travel agencies or consumers Aggressive marketingand establishment of partnerships with other enterprises should be essentialfunctions of Greek tourism and SMTEs Motivation of lsquofront-of-housersquo employ-ees as salesmen and sale incentives would also increase average spending percustomer The use of CRSs and destination management systems may also bean appropriate method for achieving higher prices and better occupancy rates(Buhalis 1994) Finally yield management techniques should be utilised by alltypes of SMTEs to assist them in pricing and maximising revenue Cost control

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 469

Table 8 Pivotal strategic dimensions for Greek tourism

(1) Enhance the satisfaction of tourists and delight the customer(2) Strengthen the long-term profitability and competitiveness of Greek tourism and

SMTEs(3) Develop Greek destinations sustainably and ensure prosperity of host population

470 Current Issues in Tourism

Table 9 Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Strategic directions Strategic objectives Strategic tasks

1 Enhance the sat-isfaction of tour-ists and delightthe customer

11 Improvement of services a Standardisation of service de-livery

b Development of quality controlsystems

c Consistency of promisesd Improvements in operational

managemente Flexibility in services deliveryf Training and education im-

provementsg Smile and personal relation-

shipsh Augmentation of tourism

producti Total quality management

12 Specialisation of tourismproduct

a Niche marketingb Lifestyle targeting

13 Value for money a Quality at each price level

2 Strengthen thelong-term com-petitiveness andprofitability ofGreek tourismand SMTEs

21 Increase revenue a Increase tourist volumesb Target new markets and pene-

tration in existing marketsc Use yield managementd Expand distribution channel

mixe Aggressive marketingf Achieve high average spending

per customerg Select high-quality specialised

tour operatorsh Attract alternative types of

tourismi Use alternative distribution

channelsj Motivate front-of-house em-

ployees as salesmen

22 Cost control and rationalmanagement

a Standardise service deliveryb Increase productivityc Reduce labour costsd Rationalise supplies manage-

mente Educationtraining for manag-

ers and employeesf Use of new technologyg Integrate service delivery

within SMTEs

23 Human resources man-agement

a Internal marketingb Empowermentc Satisfactory salary and working

conditionsd Long-term relations with em-

ployeese Motivation and rewards

and rational management is the second strategic objective needed to increaseefficiency and profitability of both Greek destinations and SMTEs in the longterm Standardisation of the service delivery process and minimisation of thelabour cost through better operational management would be primary recom-mendations Managers and employees should improve their productivity andmarketing skills by intensive training In addition the rationalisation of supplymanagement and the use of new technology is expected to reduce operationalcosts Finally integration of service delivery enables SMTEs to provide comple-mentary services and achieve additional revenues without immense costs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 471

24 State and public tourismorganisation support

a Destination development andcontrol

b Incentives policies for improve-ment

c Attract European Union assis-tance

d Promotional activitye Provide financial resources

3 Develop Greekdestinationssustainably andensure prosper-ity of host popu-lation

31 Environmental protection a Carrying capacity identificationb Zoning system applicationc Architecture preservationd Installation of sewage treat-

ment systemse Reduction of noise pollutionf Natural supplies management

32 Infrastructure ameliora-tion

a Accessibility improvementsb Telecommunication improve-

mentsc Public facilities advancements

33 Transportation improve-ments

a Improvement of local timeta-bles

b Punctuality and reliabilityc Improvements of vehiclesd Flexibility to meet demand

needs

34 Economic integration a Integration with raw materialproduction

b Utilisation of local labour forcec Integration of tourism servicesd Diagonal integration of destina-

tionrsquos economy

35 Equitable return on re-sources utilised

a Establish mechanism forreinvestments

b Provide services for hostcommunity

c Invest in sustainability ofresources

d Ensure equity in distributionof wealth produced

Source Adapted from Buhalis 1991 83a

Table 9 (cont) Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Human resources management is crucial in the delivery process of tourismproducts The concept of lsquointernal marketingrsquo where employees are perceivedand treated as lsquointernal customersrsquo has to be utilised in order to ensure theirsatisfaction As Berry (1981 34) states lsquothe satisfaction of the needs and wants ofthe internal customers can upgrade their capacity for satisfying the needs andwants of their external customersrsquo and as a consequence it can contribute to thecompetitiveness and profitability of Greek tourism and SMTEs Satisfactorysalary and working conditions are prerequisites for the well-being of SMTEsrsquoemployees Long-term relationships between employees and SMTEs minimiseturnover enabling a better performance while they reduce recruitment andtraining costs Empowerment would enable employees to be involved in themanagement of SMTEs and authorise them to respond more efficiently toconsumer requests while contributing to their job satisfaction Finally thesupport of the GNTO is vital for the long-term survival of SMTEs Apart fromthe improvement in infrastructure the GNTO is expected to hold the strategicresponsibility of the destination as well as to regulate the competition in orderto enable smaller enterprises to survive Incentive policies need to reflect thespecific requirements of each resort and enable development or improvementof certain types of enterprises The GNTO is also instrumental in attractingassistance from European development funds while it should also coordinatethe majority of Greek tourism promotional activity A promotional mix whichmaximises the effectiveness of the communication message needs to be drawnwhile budgets need to be available at the time consumers go through their deci-sion-making process in order to influence their choice of destination Finally theneed for the public sector to provide affordable financial resources for SMTEs ishighlighted by the EU (EC 1993b 73)

The third strategic direction for Greek tourism and SMTEs should be thesustainable development of destinations and local areas not only for the hostpopulation but also because this is vital for both consumer satisfaction and theprofitability of SMTEs Although in most cases SMTEs are unable to incorporatethese types of strategic objectives and tasks on their own they can initiate aframework of necessary actions for sustainable destination developmentthrough their associations Environmental protection is naturally the mostimportant strategic objective as consumersrsquo environmental consciousness hasbeen raised recently Carrying capacity limits should be identified and strictregulations and guidelines for tourism development need to be drawn A zoningsystem should be implemented in order to locate tourism activities according tothe geographical morphology of the destination In addition natural resourcesmanagement is necessary as tourism demand may exhaust the resources andespecially the water supplies The installation of sewage treatment systems andthe reduction of noise pollution should be considered especially for resortswhich suffer the consequences of these problems In addition infrastructureamelioration must be one of the primary objectives as it is an essential prerequi-site for both consumersrsquo satisfaction and SMTEsrsquo development The improve-ment of accessibility public services as well as telecommunications facilities is acrucial factor Transportation is also significant in increasing both consumersatisfaction and profitability of SMTEs as it determines whether consumers canaccess the destination easily while it also provides the first impression to tour-

472 Current Issues in Tourism

ists Improvements of timetables and services reliability increasing transporta-tion capacity and an enhancement of the fleet in terms of speed cleanliness andleisure facilities are all required Furthermore greater flexibility is needed bytransportation operators in order to meet demand needs Economic integrationcan improve the economic and social benefits of tourism in the region and theefficiency of SMTEs Ultimately tourism should be utilised as the catalyst andmajor stimulant for regional development Tourism enterprises should makeevery effort to use local raw materials and labour in order to maximise the multi-plier effects within Greece Diagonal integration of destinationsrsquo economy can beachieved by rearranging the goods and service production in order to supportthe tourism industry demand and thus minimise imports Finally SMTEs andtourism organisations need to offer a fair return-on-resources utilised back to thehost community A mechanism should be established in order to reinvest part ofthe revenues in the sustainability of resources provide services for the hostcommunity such as education training health services and generally ensureequity in distribution of wealth produced from local resources As the privatesector cannot be expected to behave altruistically towards the host communitythe GNTO and other public-sector departments should probably utilise regula-tion and taxation for this purpose

Conclusion Greek Tourism Needs a Long Overdue Master Planand Comprehensive Policy

The emerging international tourism competition the hitherto mass tourismorientation of the industry the transformation of demand the development ofthe volume of tourists visiting the dependence upon intermediaries for thedistribution of the tourism product in the major target markets the lack of a widerange of managerial skills by Greek tourism entrepreneurs and the lack of acomprehensive tourism policy or Master Plan by the public sector has led thecompetitiveness of Greece tourism to decline This has several unfavourableimplications for the profitability of the private sector as well as numerous nega-tive economic sociocultural and environmental impacts for the host populationAs a result the return on resources utilised for the production of Greek tourismservices is inadequate and the sustainability of Greece as a major tourism desti-nation is rapidly becoming doubtful Based on a strategic analysis the paper illu-minates the strategic weaknesses and structural problems of both the private andpublic sectors and demonstrates that a rationalisation of the tourism industry isurgently required Consequently a grand strategy as well as a wide range of stra-tegic directions objectives and tasks are proposed for both Greece as an entityand its SMTEs Although no quantitative targets are set in this paper it isexpected that each destination will analyse its resources and adapt its strategicplanning accordingly

The GNTO is urged to rationalise its strategy and to draw up a Master Plan anda comprehensive strategy for the entire country and for each resort where a strategywould be adopted based on quantifiable objectives and tasks Extensive researchneeds to be undertaken by using credible measurement methodologies such asInput-Output models and multipliers analysis not only for the economic but alsofor the social cultural and environmental impacts (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Buhalis

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 473

amp Fletcher 1995) A holistic tourism management system is demanded to facilitatethe development and implementation of the tourism strategy through funds allo-cation and monitoring land use control and examination of tourism public- andprivate-sector practices A thorough examination of tourism impacts in eachregion would be a prerequisite for tourism planning as it will establish andprovide scientific backing to strategic targets Komilis (1994 71) explains thatalthough the various levels of planning (sectoral nationalEU spatial or regional)are not mutually exclusive but rather complementary the regional level planningis more suitable for drawing sustainable strategies especially for areas withdissimilar needs like the Greek destinations The regional planning should lsquocon-tribute to the maximisation of regional development benefits in a way that utilisesand mobilises the regional resource base realises regional inter-sectoral linkagesand is compatible with regional economic interests societal values and environ-mental assetsrsquo It should also take into consideration the uniqueness of insulareconomies as well as the cultural and environmental resources of each particularregion and the complexity of rural and urban functions The planning processshould encourage the complementarity and coexistence of economic activitiesrather than promote sectoral separation and single-sector developments In addi-tion it needs to improve the balance between regional self-sufficiency anddependence upon external inputs and finally it should promote integration withinthe European Union

The public sector has to play its long overdue role as regulator coordinatorinfrastructure provider and promoter of the destination while a multi-integrationof the tourism industry with all the involved bodies in the preparation distribu-tion and delivery of the tourism experience needs to be ensured (Wanhill 1993Hall 1994 Skoulas 1994 10 Stavrou 1988 46) The private sector also has an impor-tant role to play as it should improve the Greek tourism industry competitivenessby improving its managerial and labour force competencies enhancing the qualityof services designing appropriate marketing mixes to attract and satisfy targetmarkets and cooperating closely in order to achieve synergies and economies ofscale (Briassoulis 1993 300 Cooper amp Buhalis 1992) To reverse the vicious circleof decreasing quality is of critical importance for the Greek tourism industryBetter quality services would stimulate the competitiveness of the Greek tourismproduct strengthen its position in the international market provide principalswith distribution channel power enhance its customersrsquo willingness to pay andenable the industry to increase its prices improving the profitability at the microlevel and the economic impacts of tourism at the macrolevel Ultimately a diagonalintegration strategy for both Greek tourism and SMTEs should aim to delightconsumers enhance the long-term prosperity of SMTEs and improve the welfareof the host populations The Olympic Games in 2004 offer a unique opportunity toregenerate and rebrand Greek tourism a cause which the entire industry shouldchampion

The AuthorDimitrios Buhalis is Senior Lecturer and course leader MSc in tourism at theUniversity of Surrey He holds a BBA from the University of the Aegean as wellas an MSc and a PhD in tourism management from the University of Surrey Hisresearch interests focus on information systems and technology strategic

474 Current Issues in Tourism

management distribution channels of tourism destination management andplanning and destination integrated computer information reservation manage-ment systems

AcknowledgementsThe author would like to acknowledge Prof C Cooper and Prof J Fletcher for

their invaluable contribution to this research Financial support from the SurreyResearch Group ConTours Consultants as well as field research sponsorshipsby the University of Surrey the Greek National Tourism Organisation and theUniversity of the Aegean are gratefully appreciated

Note1 An earlier version of this paper was published as a monograph PlanningDevelop-

ment by the International Centre for Research and Studies in TourismAix-en-Provence France

CorrespondenceAny correspondence should be directed to Dr Dimitrios Buhalis Senior

Lecturer in Business Information Management SMSSS University of SurreyGuildford GU2 7XH UK (dbuhalissurreyacuk)

ReferencesApostolopoulos T (1990) New strategy of tourism development (in Greek) Tourism and

Economy (November) 228ndash38Berry C (1981) The employee as customer Journal of Retail Banking 3 33ndash40Boniface B and Cooper C (1994) The Geography of Travel and Tourism (2nd edn) London

HeinemannBriassoulis H (1993) Tourism in Greece In W Pompl and P Lavery (eds) Tourism in

Europe Structures and Developments (pp285ndash301) Oxford CAB InternationalBuckley P and Papadopoulos S (1986) Marketing Greek tourism The planning process

Tourism Management 7 86ndash100Buhalis D (1991) Strategic marketing and management for the small and medium

tourism enterprises in the periphery of the European Community A case study for theAegean islands in Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Buhalis D (1994) Information and telecommunications technologies as a strategic tool forsmall and medium tourism enterprises in the contemporary business environment InA Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 254ndash75)England J Wiley and Sons

Buhalis D (1995) The impact of information telecommunications technologies on tourismdistribution channels Implications for the small and medium sized tourismenterprisesrsquo strategic management and marketing PhD Dissertation University ofSurrey Guildford

Buhalis D (2000a) Marketing the competitive destination of the future TourismManagement (Special Issue ndash The Competitive Destination) 21 (1) 97ndash116

Buhalis D (2000b) (forthcoming) Athens Tourism-Travel Intelligence LondonBuhalis D (2000c) Relationships in the distribution channel of tourism Conflicts between

hoteliers and tour operators in the Mediterranean region Journal of InternationalHospitality Leisure and Tourism Adminstration 1 (1) 113ndash39

Buhalis D and Diamantis D (2001 forthcoming) Tourism development andsustainability on the Greek archipelagos In G Apostolopoulos and D Ioannides (eds)Tourism in the Mediterranean Routledge

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 475

Buhalis D and Fletcher J (1995) Environmental impacts on tourism destinations Aneconomic analysis In H Coccosis and P Nijkamp (eds) Sustainable Tourism Development(pp 3ndash25) London Avebury

Camison C Bigne E and Monfort VM (1994) The Spanish tourism industry Analysisof its strategies and the efficacy and achievements gained from them In A Seaton et al(eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 442ndash52) England JWiley and Sons

Castelberg-Koulma M (1991) Greek women and tourism Womenrsquos co-operatives as analternative form of organisation In N Redclift and T Sinclair (eds) Working WomenInternational Perspectives on Labour and Gender Ideology (pp 197ndash223) LondonRoutledge

Chitiris L (1991) Hotel Management (in Greek) Athens InterbooksCoccosis H and Parprairis A (1992) Assessing the interactions between environment

and tourism Case study of the island of Mykonos Paper presented in the IV WorldCongress of Regional Science International University of Balearic Islands Palma deMallorca 26ndash9 May

Conway H (1996) Greece Travel Weekly 1308 39ndash43Cooper C and Buhalis D (1992) Strategic management and marketing of small and

medium sized tourism enterprises in the Greek Aegean islands In R Teare D Adamsand S Messenger (eds) Managing Projects in Hospitality Organisations (pp 101ndash25)London Cassell

Daskalantonakis N (1994) Quality ndash The future of tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (3 July)D9

Divanis A (1994b) Tourism policy Left on its own luck (in Greek) XENIA (October)4ndash5

Donatos G and Zairis P (1991) Seasonality of foreign tourism in the Greek islands ofCrete Annals of Tourism Research 18 515ndash19

Douvitsas P (1994) Marketing Greece through British tour operators A futureperspective MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Drakatos C (1987) Seasonal concentration of tourism in Greece Annals of Tourism Research14 582ndash6

EC (1993a) Microeconomic Analysis of the Tourism Sector A study by the pH Group forEuropean Commission DGXXIII (September) Report XXIII30394-EN BrusselsEuropean Commission

EC (1993b) Growth competitiveness employment The challenges and ways forward intothe 21st century Bulletin of the European Communities Supplement 693 (White Paper)Luxembourg

Economist (1993) Last Chance Sisyphus A survey of Greece Economist (22 May) 2ndash22EIU (1986) Greece (pp 45ndash60) International tourist reports National Report No 3EIU (1990) Greece (pp 45ndash62) International tourist reports National Report No 4EIU (1993) Greece ndash Country Profile 1992ndash1993 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEIU (1994) Greece ndash Country Profile 1994ndash1995 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEpilogi (1994) Economic review ndash The Greek Economy 1994 (in Greek) AthensEuromonitor (1992) Tourism in Greece Market Research Europe (25 May) 51ndash63Fayos-Sola E (1992) A Strategic Outlook for Regional Tourism Policy The White Paper

on Valencian Tourism Tourism Management 13 45ndash9Fotis J (1992) Vacational lifestyle segmentation of tourists on the island of Rhodes

Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey GuildfordGilbert D (1984) The need for countries to differentiate their tourist product and how to

do so Seminar papers for Ministers of Tourism and Directors of National TouristOrganisations Tourism Managing for Results University of Surrey Guildford

Gilbert D (1990) Strategic marketing planning for national tourism Tourist Review 45 (1)18ndash27

GNTO (1985a) Survey of attributes of foreign tourists 1984ndash1985 (in Greek) Greek NationalStatistical Services Athens GNTO

476 Current Issues in Tourism

GNTO (1985b) EOT-Tourism rsquo85 Development ndash Participation ndash Quality of Life (in Greek)Greek National Statistical Services Athens GNTO

GNTO (1989a) Annual report 1988 ndash Forecast 89 Towards Quality Athens GNTOGNTO (1989b) The study of tourism promotion With special reference to the measures to

increase Japanese tourists to Greece Draft final report Japan InternationalCooperation Agency

GNTO (1993) Tourism towards the 2000 (in Greek) Greek National Tourism OrganisationAthens GNTO

Hall M (1994) Tourism and Politics Policy Power and Place J Wiley and SonsHorwath (annual) The Greek Hotel Industry (in Greek) Annual reports Pireus HorwathJenner P and Smith C (1993) Tourism in the Mediterranean Research report London

Economist Intelligence UnitJosephides N (1993) Environmental Concern ndash Whatrsquos In It for the Tourism Industry (pp 51ndash6)

Proceedings of the conference Tourism and the environment Challenges and choicesfor the 1990rsquos 16ndash17 November 1992 Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre LondonBrussels European Union

Josephides N (1994) Tourism analysis Presentation in Philoxenia international tourismexhibition Thessaloniki Greece

Josephides N (1995) A sorry state for beautiful Greece Travel Weekly 1261 (5 April)11Kalogeropoulou H (1993) Greece ndash Prospects for the tourism industry within the context

of the European Single Market of 1993 Tourism Review 48 (1) 2ndash4Kassimati K Thanopoulou M and Tsartas P (1994) Womenrsquos Employment in the

Tourist Sector Study of the Greek Labour Market and Identification of Future ProspectsDGV Equal Opportunities Unit Document V40994-EN European CommissionBrussels

Komilis P (1987) Spatial analysis of tourism in Greece (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planningand Economic Research

Komilis P (1992) The spatial structure of tourism and physical planning practices inGreece Paper presented in conference Tourism and environment Issues ofpolicyplanningmanagement 23ndash4 October University of the Aegean Dept ofEnvironment Lesvos

Komilis P (1993) Values in the Tourism Planning and Policy Making Process (pp 224ndash9)Proceedings of the conference Values and the environment 23ndash4 September GuildfordUniversity of Surrey

Komilis P (1994) Tourism and sustainable regional development In A Seaton et al (eds)Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 65ndash73) England JWiley andSons

Konsolas N and Zacharatos G (1993) Regionalization of tourism activity in GreeceProblems and policies In H Briassoulis and J Van der Straaten (eds) Tourism andEnvironment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 57ndash65) Dordrecht Kluer AcademicPublisher

Kousis M (1989) Tourism and the family in a rural Cretan community Annals of TourismResearch 16 318ndash32

Kriebardis S and Marmagiolis I (1990) Tourism Activity in Greece Problems and Perspectives(pp 45ndash54) (in Greek) Economic Report of Commercial Bank AprilndashJune AthensCommercial Bank

Ktenas S (1994) Hoteliers ask for 15 to 20 increases for 1995 (in Greek) TO BHMA (3July) D9

Ktenas S (1996) Crisis in Greek tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (7 April) D16Leontidou L (1991) Greece Prospects and contradictions of tourism in the 1980rsquos In AM

Williams and GJ Shaw (eds) Tourism and Economic Development Western EuropeanExperiences (2nd edn) (pp 94ndash106) London Belhaven Press

Logothetis M (1990) The Economy of Dodekanisos During 1988ndash1989 Developments andPerspectives (in Greek) Rhodes Regional association of municipalities of Dodekanisos

Logothetis M (1992) Touristiki Sigkiria (in Greek) Rhodes Institute of Tourist and HotelResearch

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 477

Loukissas P (1977) The impact of tourism on regional development A comparativeanalysis of the Greek islands PhD Dissertation Cornell University USA

Loukissas P (1982) Tourismrsquos regional development impacts A comparative analysis ofthe Greek islands Annals of Tourism Research 9 523ndash43

Marinos P (1983) Small island tourism-the case of Zakynthos in Greece TourismManagement 4 212ndash15

Moore R (1992) From shepherds to shopkeepers The development of tourism in a centralGreek town PhD Dissertation University of California at Berkeley USA

Moore R (1995) Gender and alcohol use in a Greek tourist town Annals of Tourism Research22 300ndash13

Mourdoukoutas P (1988) Seasonal employment seasonal unemployment andunemployment compensation The case of the tourism industry of the Greek islandsAmerican Journal of Economics and Sociology 47 315ndash29

NSSG (l983) Tourism Statistics 1981 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (l985) Tourism Statistics 1982ndash1983 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1987) Tourism Statistics 1984ndash1985 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1990) Tourism Statistics 1986ndash1987 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1993) Tourism Statistics 1988ndash1990 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceOECD (1992) Greece Tourism Policy and International Tourism in OECD Member Countries (pp

70ndash8) Paris OECDOttaway M (1992) Turtle power Sunday Times Travel and Style (28 June)Ottaway M (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 1 Sunday Times (17 January)

57ndash59Panagiotopoulou R (1990) The problem and perspectives of the European insular regions

(in Greek) Working paper University of the Aegean ChiosPapadimitris G (1988) Short run and long run prospects of the Greek tourism industry

PhD Dissertation University of Manchester ManchesterPapadopoulos S (1985) An economic analysis of foreign tourism in Greece An

examination of the growth and structure of foreign tourism to Greece 1960ndash1984 with aplanning model and marketing policy recommendations PhD Thesis University ofBradford Management Centre Bradford

Papadopoulos S (1987) Strategic marketing techniques in international tourismInternational Marketing Review (summer) 71ndash84

Papadopoulos S (1988a) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (1) 29ndash30

Papadopoulos S (1988b) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (2) 24ndash7

Papadopoulos S (1989) Greek marketing strategies in the Europe tourism market ServiceIndustries Journal 9 297ndash314

Papadopoulos S and Mirza H (1985) Foreign tourism in Greece An economic analysisTourism Management 6 125ndash37

Papandropoulos A (1995) The crisis in tourism is evident (in Greek) OikonomikosTachydromos (29 June) 26ndash8

Papanikos G (1999) The year 2004 olympic games and their influence upon the Greektourism (in Greek) ITEP (Research Institute for Tourism) Athens

Paulopoulos P (1999) The Size and Dynamics of the Tourism Sector (in Greek) ResearchInstitute for Tourism Athens

Peterson C (1990) Greece tackles overbuilding in tourism areas EnvironmentalConservation 17 166ndash8

Plevris V (1995) Alarm bells from the Hellenic Federation of Hotels (in Greek) XENIA128 (May) 6ndash7

Poon A (1987) Information technology and innovation in international tourism ndashimplications for the Caribbean tourism industry PhD thesis Science Policy ResearchUnit University of Sussex Brighton

Poon A (1988) Flexible specialisation and small size ndash the case of Caribbean tourism DRCDiscussion Paper 57 SPRU Brighton University of Sussex

478 Current Issues in Tourism

Poon A (1989) Competitive strategies for new tourism In C Cooper (ed) Progress inTourism Recreation and Hospitality Management (vol 1) (pp 91ndash102) London BelhavenPress

Poon A (1990) Flexible specialisation at small size The case of Caribbean tourism WorldDevelopment 18 109ndash23

Poon A (1993) Tourism Technology and Competitive Strategies Oxford CAB InternationalPorter M (1980) Competitive Strategy Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors

New York Free PressPorter M (1985) Competitive Advantage Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance New

York Free PressPorter M (1990) The Competitive Advantage of Nations New York Free PressPrurier E Sweeney A and Geen A (1993) Tourism and the environment The case of

Zakynthos Tourism Management 14 137ndash9Psoinos P (1994a) Research on the foreign touristsrsquo attributes in Greece (in Greek) Athens

Greek National Tourism OrganisationPsoinos P (1994b) Research on the attributes of foreigners who have never visited Greece (in

Greek) Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationRichter-Papaconstantinou C (1992) Tourism development of Rhodes Cahiers du Tourisme

(Serie B) 67 Aix en Provence Centre des Hautes Eacutetudes TouristiquesRomanos A (1998) Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites (in Greek) Athens

Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites SASETE (1993) Tourism Developments and problems (in Greek) Athens Association of Greek

Tourism EnterprisesSezer H and Harrison A (1994) Tourism in Greece and Turkey An economic view for

planners In A Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposiumpp74ndash84 England Wiley and Sons

Skoulas N (1985) Holidays and travel in the year 2035 ndash Contribution of the NationalTourist Organisation of Greece SDI Schriftey Wirtschafts und Unternehmenspolitik 40181ndash99

Skoulas N (1994) Quality improvement of tourism services (in Greek) Paper presentedin the conference Competitiveness of tourism enterprises ndash the role of quality 1 AprilHoliday Inn Athens Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises

Smith C and Jenner P (1995) Greece International Tourism Reports 3 5ndash21Stavrou S (1978) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Kos Island (in Greek) Research and

Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationStavrou S (1979) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Mykonos and Naxos Islands (in

Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1980) Research on Tourism Awareness on the Islands Kalymnos and Leros (in Greek)Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1984) Tourism Development in Greece during 1969ndash1982 (in Greek) Research andDevelopment Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986a) Research for the Characteristics of Foreign Tourist Demand in Greece in theYears 8485 (in Greek) Research Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1986b) Research on the Tourism Awareness on Paros Santorini Kythira Islands (inGreek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986c) Critical Review of Tourism Activity in the Years 8385 (in Greek) Researchand Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1988) Tourism in the Northern Aegean Islands Presentation of GNTO for the TourismDevelopment of the Periphery (in Greek) Proceedings of the first conference for thedevelopment of the Northern Aegean islands Homereum cultural centre Chios 11November Chios Periphery of Northern Aegean islands

Stavrou S (1989a) GNTO Presentation for the Tourism Development Possibilities for theSouthern Aegean Islands (in Greek) Conference for the development of Southern Aegean

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 479

islands Syros 30 September ndash 2 OctoberStavrou S (1989b) The Contribution of the Development Law 126282 in the Development of the

Country (in Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A5 Athens GreekNational Tourism Organisation

Stereopoulos N (1995) It is regarded ideal it became problematic (in Greek) OikonomikosTachidromos (21 December) 151ndash3

Touloupas P (1996) Greece as a tourist destination for the British tour operators Ananalysis from a marketing perspective in the particular context of the United KingdomMSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Tourismos ke Oikonomia (1993) 20 years 1973ndash1993 (in Greek) Special Issue AthensTourismos ke Oikonomia (1994) ICAP tourism enterprises Drastic reduction of loses in 1993

(in Greek) December 14ndash15Touristiki Agora (various issues) (Monthly tourism industry periodical in Greek) Business

Press AthensTruett D and Truett L (1987) The response of tourism to international economic

conditions Greece Mexico and Spain Journal of Developing Areas 21 177ndash90Tsartas P (1989) Socioeconomic Impacts of Tourism Development in Cyclades Region with Special

Reference on Ios and Serifos Islands During 1950ndash1980 (in Greek) Athens National Centrefor Social Research

Tsartas P (1992) Socioeconomic impacts of tourism on two Greek isles Annals of TourismResearch 19 516ndash33

Van Den Bergh J (1993) Tourism development and natural environment Aneconomicndashecological model for the Sporades islands In H Briassoulis and J Van DerStraaten (eds) Tourism and Environment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 67ndash83)Dordrecht Kluer Academic Publishers

Velissariou E (1991) Die Wirtschaftlichen Effekte des Tourismus Dargestell am Beispiel Kretas(The Economic Impacts of Tourism on Crete) PhD Dissertation University of MunichFrankfurt Peter Lang

Vernikos N (1987) The study of Mediterranean small islands Emerging theoreticalissues Ekistics 54 (323ndash4) 101ndash9

Wanhill S (1993) Government organisations In C Cooper J Fletcher D Gilbert and SWanhill (eds) Tourism Principle and Practice (pp 145ndash60) London Pitman

Wickens D (1994) Consumption of the authentic The hedonistic tourist in Greece In ASeaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 819ndash25)England JWiley and Sons

Wickens E (2000) Rethinking touristsrsquo experiences In M Robinson et al (eds) MotivationsBehaviour and Tourist Types (pp 455ndash72) Business Education Publishers Sunderland

Wickers D (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 2 Sunday Times 57ndash510Wilkinson PF (1989) Strategies for tourism in islands microstates Annals of Tourism

Research 16 153ndash77XENIA (various issues) (Monthly bulletin of the Greek Hotel Chamber in Greek) AthensZacharatos G (1984) Tourismus und Wirtschafts-Struktur Dargestellt am Beispiel

Griechenlands Europaische Hochschulschriften Reihex Band 7 Frankfurt am MainZacharatos G (1986) Tourism consumption (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planning and

Economic ResearchZacharatos G (1988) The simplistic empiricism Tourism policy and the time of crisis

(1992) (in Greek) Sychrona Themata 11 (May) 21ndash6Zacharatos G (1989) The problems and perspectives of tourism in Greece (in Greek) In H

Katsoulis T Giannitsis and P Kazakos (eds) Politics and Society Economy and ForeignRelationships (pp 273ndash89) Athens Papazisis

Zacharatos G (1993) The necessity of multimedia use in the tourism education in Greece(in Greek) Paper presented at the international conference Overcomingisolation-telematics and regional development University of the Aegean Chios 30April ndash 2 May

480 Current Issues in Tourism

Page 3: Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challengescore.ac.uk/download/pdf/101686.pdf · Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challenges Dimitrios Buhalis School of Management

Following the introduction and the examination of the importance of tourismin the Greek economy (why is tourism important) the paper focuses on the stra-tegic position of Greek tourism A comprehensive auditing is undertaken inorder to assess the current situation and to illuminate the structural problems ofthe industry (where are we now) The analysis of the structural problemsdemonstrate several reasons which determine the strategic situation (why are wethere) while the effects on private sector profitability and the impacts of tour-ism on the host society are illustrated (what are the implications) A strategicframework is provided in order to formulate a grand strategy for Greek tourismand to demonstrate future direction (where do we want to go) Furthermore anumber of strategic directions objectives and tasks demonstrate how the grandstrategy can be implemented while the need for a Master Plan drawn up by thepublic sector and close cooperation of the private sector are prescribed in order tofacilitate the implementation of the strategy (how are we going there)

Why is Tourism Important The Contribution of Tourism to theGreek Economy

The Greek economy is often criticised for failing to develop strong industrialsectors and to establish suitable distribution channels for exporting agricultureTourism is a major contributor to the balance of payments while it is one of thefew activities which would enable Greece to achieve competitive advantagesthrough the redistribution of labour within Europe (Economist 1993 5ndash6) Thus itis a vital motivator of the Greek economy reducing the deficit of the balance ofpayments boosting employment generating income and contributing to regionaldevelopment (Zacharatos 1989 274 Truett amp Truett 1987 178)

Nobody knows the exact contribution of tourism to the Greek economy mainlybecause there is inadequate research on expenditure flows of income and nationalaccounts Tourism is a major export and contributor to both Gross National Product(GNP) and balance of payments The Greek National Tourism Organisation (GNTO)suggests that the tourism contribution to the GDP is estimated at up to 7 Thetourism receipts in 1998 were 5186 millions US covering 293 of the deficit in thebalance of payments and 3983 of the exports of services (wwwgntogr 12 Octo-ber 2000) Paulopoulos (1999) estimates that in 1994 the foreign currency earnedfrom incoming tourism was $9bn providing 18ndash20 of the GNP Tourism income is25 times more than the income generated by industrial products and 18 times morethan the total exports However these figures do not include pre-purchases ofdrachma by tourists abroad credit card payments payments for cruises and otherearnings which have been estimated to increase total receipts by up to 80 (EIU1994 42 and 1993 43 Papadopoulos amp Mirza 1985 133) Tourism is included in theGreek National Accounts as lsquoInvisible Receiptrsquo and since 1989 it has only beensecond to the lsquonet EU contributionsrsquo having overtaken both lsquoshippingrsquo and lsquoemi-grant remittancesrsquo contributions which used to dominate in the past (Epilogi 1994355 Papadopoulos amp Mirza 1985 131 EIU 1990 49)

Tourism is also increasingly recognised as an instrument for regional develop-ment policies especially for socioeconomically depressed and problematic areas(Konsolas amp Zacharatos 1993 57) It is instrumental in developing unfavouredregions and especially insular areas which have little potential to develop local

442 Current Issues in Tourism

handicraft and other industries without tourism demand Consequently in theperiod 1965ndash1980 the tourism output multiplier in Greece was estimated to be 152(Zacharatos 1989 281) Domestic tourism also facilitates a certain degree of redis-tribution of wealth between metropolitan and peripheral regions Not only wasthe emigration pace from the islands diminished especially of young people butalso a trend for rehabitation on the islands has been evident in the last decade asnew job opportunities have emerged (Panagiotopoulou 1990 10 Loukissas 1982537) Tourism also stimulates seasonal migration of professionals in several desti-nations who work at the region for several months every year (Logothetis 199023) Tourism is also a major employer as it is estimated that employment in the tour-ism sector is 10 (61 direct employment and 39 indirect) of the total employ-ment in Greece (wwwgntogr 12 October 2000) Paulopoulos (1999) estimates atotal of 690000 people to be employed in tourism if we include people indirectlyinvolved with tourism with 35 employed yearly 40 for 6ndash8 months and 25only during the peak season for 2ndash3 months About 74 of the labour is employedin accommodation establishments 21 in travel agencies transportation and thepublic sector while a further 5 is occupied in sea transportation (Stereopoulos1995 153) Job opportunities are provided mainly for young people and forwomen who are often self-employed within their household (Kassimati et al 1994Kousis 1989 328) However tourismrsquos contribution to employment is jeopar-dised as increasingly the industry is using self-catering and self-serviced accom-modation and catering (Zacharatos 1989 284)

In reality the contribution of tourism to the Greek economy is substantiallygreater as the official figures ignore the lsquopara-economyrsquo (black or parallel econ-omy) estimated to be as high as 28ndash50 of the official GDP (EIU 1993 25 EIU1990 47) Tourism being a seasonal activity often complements other economicactivities such as agriculture and education and therefore para-economy in tour-ism is even greater than other industries Para-economy includes both interna-tional transfers of funds for tourism products offered within the country as well asthe illegal export of tourism foreign exchange which is re-exported without beingprocessed through the Greek economic system As a result the real impacts oftourism in the economy are largely unknown (Zacharatos 1988 1989)

Where Are We Now Situation Analysis The Greek TourismIndustry and its Competitiveness

The contribution of Greek tourism to the national economy demonstrates themagnitude and complexity of the industry Following a brief demand analysisan examination of tourism supply is undertaken whilst a strengthsndashweak-nessesndashopportunitiesndashthreats (SWOT) analysis demonstrates the competitive-ness of both destination and its SMTEs In addition the paper elaborates on awide range of structural problems and illustrates their effects on the profitabilityof the private sector and on the impacts of tourism at the destination

Tourism demand for GreeceGreece has enjoyed a continuous growth in arrivals since the early 1950s

Despite the lack of any comprehensive tourism demand analysis undertaken bythe GNTO several research documents address the tourism-demand issue for

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 443

Greece (Psoinos 1994a 1994b GNTO 1985a Tourismos ke Oikonomia 1993NSSG 1983 1985 1987 1990 1993 Stavrou 1984 1986a 1986c) In 1950 33333foreign tourists passed the borders while this figure rose to almost 11 million in1999 as illustrated in Table 1 Greece comes in the 17th place in the world classifi-cation of tourist destinations There is a concentration in the summer months asin the last ten years in 375 of arrivals were in July and August while the periodMay to September attracted 74 of total arrivals This is clearly reflected on thebednights as illustrated on Table 2 Most visitors (932) originate from Europeand 702 from the EU especially British Germans Swedish Finnish Dutch andAustrians Hence these nationalities are the dominant markets with the Britishand Germans contributing almost half of all arrivals as illustrated in Table 3About 777 came by plane and 605 by chartered flights Although tourismarrivals in Greece were forecasted to reach 20 million by the year 2000 (Jenner ampSmith 1993 161) this was not achieved as a result of increasing competition andincompetent management in both the public and private sectors

In 1999 about 60 million bednights were recorded in all types of accommoda-tion establishments 75 of which were by international tourists Similar to arriv-als the vast majority of the bednights spent in the country were by Europeansespecially British Germans Swedish Finnish Dutch and Austrians Hence thesenationalities are the dominant markets accounting for more than three-quarters ofthe bednights with the British and Germans contributing almost half of allbednights Domestic tourism is also a significant contributor More than 75 oftourists arrived in Greece by air and 58 of the total arrived on charter flightsbecause of the distance from the country of departure In 1985 about 89 of tour-istsrsquo arrivals to Greece were holiday-makers while only 7 travelled for business2 for other reasons and 1 were in transit About 53 of the tourists arriving in1985 had bought an inclusive tour package (GNTO 1985a 8) The inconvenienceof indirect transportation schedules large differentials in charges for groups andindividual customers by accommodation establishments lack of informationabout the Greek tourism product as well as insufficient marketing by SMTEshave enabled tour operators to act as intermediates between consumers and prin-cipals and to play a dominant role in the tourism industry However the develop-ment of the Internet enables prospective visitors to pre-book their packagesindependently and to use cheaper non-frills airlines and leisure fares of scheduleairlines for their transportation

The country has cultural attractions and heritage few other destinations canequal and therefore it can respond to the lsquonew era of tourismrsquo where a greaterdegree of individuality and sophistication will be required by consumers In 1998the average length of stay in the country was 14 days while the average expendi-ture per capita reached a level of $456 Similar results emerged in recent researchalthough the location of the data collection produced a sample containing a higherpercentage of business travellers (Psoinos 1994a 62)

Despite research on motivation attitudes and satisfaction of tourists arriving inGreece being inadequate a few typologies have emerged Fotis (1992 83ndash86) classi-fied holiday-makers in Rhodes in four main categories lsquotranquillersrsquo seeking quietand relaxing holidays lsquoculturersrsquo who include a strong educational and historicalelement in their holidays lsquobudgetersrsquo who are predominately budget-constrainedfamilies and young lsquonightlifersrsquo enjoying nightlife entertainment Similarly

444 Current Issues in Tourism

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 445

Table 1 Tourism demand and supply figures for Greece during the period 1950ndash1995

Year Arrivals Bednights Bedcapacity

Expenditure(million $)

Expenditureper capita

1950 33333 ndash ndash 4735 1421951 40568 ndash ndash 5933 1461952 68184 ndash ndash 9583 1411953 94410 ndash ndash 22721 2411954 157618 1273105 ndash 25321 1611955 195852 1351312 ndash 29123 1491956 218301 1594088 ndash 31213 1521957 261738 2041096 ndash 41374 1661958 276534 2069722 ndash 36196 1421959 339802 2552271 ndash 41667 1381960 399438 2963478 ndash 49260 1411961 494191 3934522 57022 62469 1421962 597924 4921803 60945 75986 1401963 741193 6129500 65604 95415 1421964 757495 5102121 71741 90800 1351965 976125 6158300 78487 107575 1271966 1131730 8810300 85323 143458 1441967 996473 ndash 90362 126768 1491968 1017621 ndash 98631 120263 1371969 1305951 6212000 108180 140470 1311970 1609210 7683639 118859 193556 1551971 2257994 11224000 135103 305299 1711972 2731587 14687325 151420 392700 1761973 3177682 15698030 166552 514900 1971974 2188304 10214164 175161 436600 2531975 3172968 13574801 185275 643600 2441976 4243563 19202614 213431 823700 2251977 4597354 18714446 231797 980600 2481978 5081033 22259598 247040 1326300 2931979 5798360 26672482 265550 1662300 3181980 5271115 27170344 278045 1733500 3611981 5577109 28171610 285860 1881000 3691982 5463060 29954664 301230 1527200 3031983 5258372 27216605 317920 1175700 2461984 6027266 32821789 333820 1312800 2381985 7039428 35709851 348170 1428000 2171986 7339015 35450027 359380 1834200 2611987 8053052 35755308 375370 2268100 2971988 8351182 36000000 395810 2396100 3051989 8540962 34157667 423790 1976000 2451990 9310492 36289604 438360 2575000 2901991 8271258 29873046 459300 2566100 319

Wickens (1994 819 and 2000) classified tourists arriving in Pefkochori as lsquocul-tural heritagersquo type interested in the natural beauties of Greece as well as itsculture and history lsquoraversrsquo attracted by the cheapness of the resort particularlythe cheapness and availability of alcohol as well as the sun beach and nightlifelsquoShirley Valentinesrsquo who are women on a mono-gender holiday who hope forromance and sexual adventure with a lsquoGreek Godrsquo based on the Greek malestereotype which has been perpetuated by newspapers and the film ShirleyValentine lsquoheliolatrousrsquo tourists who are sun-worshippers trying indefatigablyto change their colour and finally lsquoLord Byronsrsquo who undertake an annual ritualreturn to the same destination and experience the real flavour of Greek hospital-ity and ambience Although these typologies provide an initial demand profilethe strategic analysis and the positioning of the Greek tourism product will beimpossible without further research undertaken on the characteristics needsmotivations and behaviour of tourists

446 Current Issues in Tourism

Year Arrivals Bednights Bedcapacity

Expenditure(million $)

Expenditureper capita

1992 9756012 36260299 475800 3268400 3501993 9913267 36747968 499606 3335200 3541994 11301722 40657544 486518 3904900 3461995 10658114 38889975 534703 4294000 4031996 9782061 47945506 550692 3723100 3811997 10588489 53364507 560957 3772200 3561998 11363822 56549442 577759 5186100 4561999 10970665 60256902 584714 NA NA

Source Adapted from the Greek National Tourism Organisation and National Statistical Service ofGreece

Table 2 Nights spent by foreign tourists and Greek nationals in hotels and similarestablishments by month

Month Year Variation

1996 1997 1998 1999 9796 9897 9998January 867638 946798 1005719 1066084 912 622 600February 928305 933592 998977 1060008 057 700 611March 1250226 1369751 1273310 1448624 956 ndash704 1377April 2766116 2822243 2905546 2864693 203 295 ndash141May 5258710 5923093 6229116 6617666 1263 517 624June 6405495 7075829 7530343 8342167 1046 642 1078July 7965179 9003064 9872757 10723835 1303 966 862August 9551439 10878827 11661790 11805077 1390 720 123September 6993686 7822329 8224367 8756290 1185 514 647October 4113665 4419861 4640619 5234218 744 499 1279November 1032350 1113342 1175950 1245219 785 562 589December 812697 1055778 1030948 1093021 2991 ndash235 602Total 47945506 53364507 56549442 60256902 1130 597 656

Source Greek National Tourism Organisation and National Statistical Service of Greece

Table 1 (cont) Tourism demand and supply figures for Greece during the period1950ndash1995

Tab

le 3

Arr

ival

s of

for

eign

tou

rist

s at

fron

tier

s by

cit

izen

ship

199

1ndash19

99

Cou

ntry

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

19

99

238

453

128

211

191

619

298

843

586

182

673

061

Au

stri

a28

831

734

525

928

863

634

809

134

730

135

960

438

811

845

019

550

160

2B

elgi

um

-Lu

xem

bou

rg17

975

422

509

922

403

626

514

824

557

221

356

722

931

027

367

433

291

3B

ulg

aria

157

910

140

725

144

534

133

764

136

504

154

765

182

338

197

347

202

848

Fran

ce47

094

554

222

255

464

461

856

555

179

846

273

242

667

848

620

154

598

1G

erm

any

156

111

31

944

704

206

937

92

404

628

227

291

11

907

863

199

467

02

136

515

245

013

7Fo

rmer

Yu

gosl

avia

518

644

934

1319

179

227

930

127

034

724

717

1Y

ugo

slav

ia27

089

426

076

423

149

619

899

920

163

310

307

7Fy

rom

37

809

586

911

128

051

Den

mar

k21

188

328

123

525

362

231

888

532

436

929

895

934

426

129

253

233

624

8Sw

itze

rlan

d12

624

116

312

616

499

919

332

725

907

225

642

529

573

128

938

730

813

8U

K1

674

875

215

485

02

191

347

241

862

82

224

885

168

799

91

711

942

204

424

32

433

033

Irel

and

440

8557

885

627

8069

928

622

5254

050

454

0944

524

486

49Sp

ain

104

655

119

964

118

967

122

773

949

2079

717

713

1496

905

992

88It

aly

517

145

622

619

625

509

722

652

643

473

491

081

533

303

659

688

745

915

Cyp

rus

104

041

107

029

904

1292

372

980

5985

893

131

441

126

992

139

386

Nor

way

683

9695

898

102

452

143

257

142

013

157

722

160

457

226

282

269

419

Net

herl

and

s45

006

554

618

751

087

255

659

350

561

645

217

946

414

454

833

961

680

7H

ung

ary

107

685

107

403

739

9910

510

291

170

113

657

145

192

186

147

123

280

Ukr

ain

e10

742

106

5212

942

270

1728

084

328

43R

uss

ia10

147

412

918

418

056

020

079

412

741

710

491

0P

olan

d47

535

437

8834

292

310

1849

665

889

4710

179

312

264

711

515

2P

ortu

gal

165

8626

245

209

1921

581

208

5815

856

131

2513

713

210

34R

oman

ia17

919

196

8318

862

254

7438

868

510

1251

854

634

3972

689

Swed

en26

194

631

425

131

703

038

763

945

927

644

825

747

248

146

761

746

879

3C

zech

oslo

vaki

a13

012

919

158

589

642

Cze

ch R

epu

blic

788

4610

788

217

708

717

406

817

809

417

450

8Sl

ovak

ia15

102

135

3628

431

303

8355

291

462

17

Current Issues in Tourism 447

Cou

ntry

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

19

99

Fin

lan

d21

613

117

209

911

651

813

743

410

255

312

083

714

846

114

933

718

897

1O

ther

Eu

rop

ean

809

9510

439

420

537

325

209

328

8280

128

575

4134

967

370

63T

otal

EU

485

017

46

521

010

663

629

17

519

381

785

578

46

592

701

684

321

67

663

483

878

937

1T

otal

Eu

rop

e7

356

995

841

966

38

470

616

986

5986

936

382

98

419

060

927

776

210

174

303

113

200

13Ja

pan

579

0210

968

089

907

953

6789

457

871

3585

029

871

3083

971

Isra

el36

989

350

6545

815

414

0554

264

749

8082

386

894

0215

498

7L

eban

on

Syri

a15

637

159

2214

924

139

7415

651

183

5716

165

177

9818

347

Tu

rkey

535

3173

650

149

390

733

8849

018

474

1644

741

698

7580

502

Iran

422

66

794

761

56

458

596

05

319

373

03

848

380

9O

ther

Mid

dle

Eas

t5

474

804

88

014

562

37

919

124

108

300

638

27

854

Oth

er A

sian

448

5955

467

545

0663

611

111

547

167

380

145

515

841

3984

806

Tot

al A

sia

218

618

304

626

370

171

998

2633

381

641

299

738

586

635

857

443

427

6E

gyp

tSu

dan

200

2019

525

196

0918

540

214

4919

865

193

6317

604

240

45So

uth

Afr

ica

135

2716

944

146

8712

559

120

628

909

874

87

339

101

96O

ther

Afr

ica

179

4814

660

142

4212

145

151

7514

797

143

2413

795

137

99T

otal

Afr

ica

514

9551

129

485

3843

244

486

8643

571

424

3538

738

480

40A

rgen

tina

509

28

655

879

411

530

970

38

176

440

84

238

508

9B

razi

l8

523

899

98

555

107

4410

851

966

18

062

629

94

531

Mex

ico

364

26

535

533

65

318

453

93

385

225

82

052

420

0U

SA80

429

278

941

256

719

270

777

239

684

222

130

240

555

219

362

229

314

Can

ada

471

0159

807

514

7256

650

503

0943

966

477

2250

512

516

80O

ther

Am

eric

an10

983

152

5412

468

904

38

694

108

2611

052

904

410

447

Tot

al A

mer

ica

255

770

378

191

343

344

364

062

323

780

298

144

314

057

291

507

305

261

Au

stra

lia66

566

696

5856

064

615

5654

453

543

1146

692

427

9650

516

Oth

er O

cean

ic8

489

803

56

930

726

85

613

521

23

513

101

285

982

Tot

al O

cean

ia75

055

776

9362

994

688

2460

066

595

2350

205

529

2456

498

Form

er U

SSR

781

9410

005

811

716

0T

otal

803

612

79

331

360

941

282

310

641

942

101

301

779

233

295

100

703

2510

916

046

216

408

8C

ruis

es23

513

142

465

250

044

458

891

258

196

854

876

651

816

444

777

644

184

0G

ran

d to

tal

827

125

89

756

012

991

326

711

230

854

107

121

459

782

061

105

884

8911

363

822

126

059

28

Fo

rmer

Yu

gosl

av R

epu

blic

of

Mac

edon

iaSo

urce

Gre

ek N

atio

nal

Tou

rism

Org

anis

atio

n a

nd N

atio

nal S

tati

stic

al S

ervi

ce o

f G

reec

e

448 Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges

Tourism supply in Greek tourismA modern industry has emerged since the 1950s to cater for the tourism

demand The Greek tourism product is an amalgam of natural cultural and heri-tage attractions spread throughout the country as well as a wide variety of servicesoffered predominantly by SMTEs Moreover 15000 miles of coastline 2500islands an average of 300 sunny days annually a unique fauna and flora as well asclimatic superiority with mild winters and warm summers are some of its naturalattractions The Greek civilisation of more than 3500 years also provides plentifulcultural heritage throughout the country Some rsquo25000 registered and protectedmonuments and archaeological sites numerous museums and about 500 charac-teristic traditional settlementsrsquo offer a unique blend of tourist attractions (Buckleyamp Papadopoulos 1986 96 EIU 1986) As far as amenities are concerned a plethoraof SMTEs provide the entire variety of services

In January 2000 a total of 8100 official accommodation establishments with atotal capacity of almost 600000 beds are provided in different categories asdemonstrated in Table 4 Another 450000 beds are provided by some 28000secondary accommodation establishments such as lsquorooms to letrsquo and self-cateringapartments often referred to as lsquoparahoteleriarsquo In addition 11000 beds in cruiseliners and 12000 in yachts as well as 329 camping sites with 30354 pitches and83000 camping spaces accommodate all types of demand (GNTO) Eurostat esti-mates that about 20000 restaurants operate in Greece while a countless number ofcatering and entertainment establishments are on offer Furthermore some 7000travel agencies 1500 coach rental and 4000 car rental firms are estimated to operatethroughout the country (EC 1993a)

Accessibility is facilitated through 32 airports most of which can receive directinternational charter flights An extensive domestic scheduled flights network isprovided by Olympic Airways as well as by newly established private carrierswhich take advantage of the increasingly deregulated skies The proliferation ofprivate airlines (eg Aegean Cronus Axon Air Greece) during the last five yearsand the price wars with the state-owned Olympic Airways have increased bothdomestic and international traffic Moreover a complex network of sea road andrail transport enables passenger transportation throughout the country(Briassoulis 1993 291) During the last decade there has been a remarkableimprovement to the quality and ability of vessels as the Greek shipping industryprepares for the lifting of cabotage in 2002 which will enable European shippinglines to operate on Greek routes However recent tragedies involving olderGreek ferries pressurised the Ministry of Merchant Marine to take action in orderto improve the safety and security of the vessels and to ensure the adequate train-ing of crews In addition Piraeus port needs the development of a modernpassenger terminal to provide adequate service

Unfortunately the Greek infrastructure is incapable of supporting the tourismsuperstructure growth of the last decades and thus telecommunications transpor-tation police and health services water supply and sewage systems are underextreme pressure in the summer peak months to satisfy the demand density(Konsolas amp Zacharatos 1993 63 and EIU 1990 61) Nevertheless during the lastdecade several major projects have been initiated including the Metro and the newairport in Athens a wide network of motorways and the gradual development of

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 449

Tab

le 4

Acc

omm

odat

ion

esta

blis

hm

ent b

y re

gion

and

cat

egor

y in

199

9

Tot

alLu

xury

A C

ateg

ory

B C

ateg

ory

Reg

ion

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Ster

ea1

236

493

9892

877

225

368

101

4480

780

514

644

191

120

5722

605

Pel

opon

isos

660

230

1043

846

466

11

377

554

889

925

012

96

825

130

22Io

nio

595

332

8663

683

61

340

255

378

930

817

911

139

894

617

107

Ipir

os24

24

868

938

51

5411

611

446

884

381

478

284

4N

orth

ern

Aeg

ean

550

108

7220

792

450

11

090

231

364

257

498

374

97

125

Cre

te1

214

604

8911

396

021

508

510

034

166

188

9335

608

263

139

9826

904

Dod

ekan

isa

887

545

0710

436

68

324

26

227

127

224

8442

924

201

106

0120

161

Cyc

lad

es73

718

406

352

483

176

341

963

108

587

014

03

824

731

7T

hes

saly

575

119

9522

939

439

978

150

150

52

980

672

626

494

9M

aced

onia

983

335

1372

943

41

046

184

255

231

913

698

168

100

3619

140

Th

race

702

470

467

50

00

418

134

522

110

22

103

Tot

al7

749

302

814

584

714

7717

872

345

0574

572

302

146

688

145

675

242

143

277

C C

ateg

ory

D C

ateg

ory

E C

ateg

ory

Reg

ion

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Ster

ea60

318

193

339

6519

43

712

703

814

62

263

448

1P

elop

onis

os32

68

818

166

4894

135

02

625

4246

792

4Io

nio

380

119

2822

722

571

114

212

136

650

126

9Ip

iros

992

362

451

519

356

682

1417

234

4N

orth

ern

Aeg

ean

199

442

78

400

2840

477

333

427

830

Cre

te67

820

123

369

0397

163

12

995

5175

91

516

Dod

ekan

isa

495

163

7530

686

611

076

293

956

729

142

9C

ycla

des

367

835

715

977

100

152

22

922

104

141

92

821

Th

essa

ly24

15

723

107

7853

962

186

159

780

159

0M

aced

onia

491

124

0723

497

351

687

013

066

6083

51

700

Th

race

2886

81

614

1125

949

35

6012

0T

otal

390

710

958

120

570

51

065

192

5637

515

606

856

117

024

Sour

ce G

NT

O D

ept o

f Acc

omm

odat

ion

Est

abli

shm

ents

450 Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges

the railtrack These developments will change the entire infrastructure of thecountry

The implementation of the Greek national tourism policy is supervised by theGreek National Tourism Organisation (GNTO) and the Ministry of TourismThe two organisations share the responsibilities for planning implementationand promotion of Greek tourism at national and regional level as well as coordi-nating the involvement of the public and private sectors in all tourism activitiesPublic investment in commercial facilities was utilised in the early days ofGreek tourism to stimulate both tourism demand and the private sectorrsquos confi-dence to invest The GNTO operates 21 regional and 25 overseas offices in 18countries worldwide (Konsolas amp Zacharatos 1993 59 Leontidou 1991Briassoulis 1993)

The Greek tourism product is distributed to the international market predomi-nantly through European tour operators which organise package holidays andinclude resorts in their programmes Some 800 tour operators distribute the Greektourism product More than 7000 incoming travel agencies often act as tour opera-torsrsquo handling agencies while providing a variety of tourism services such asorganisation of excursions currency exchange and accommodation bookingsdirectly to consumers They usually participate in negotiations between tour oper-ators and accommodation establishments as well as cooperate with tour operatorsrsquorepresentatives at destinations In addition the GNTO operates several informa-tion offices at major resorts whilst several local authorities provide tourist infor-mation as well as distribute promotional material and make local bookings Theglobal GNTO network distributes information material to potential tourists aswell as undertakes all the marketing and public relations functions both for indi-vidual and institutional customers

SWOT analysis for Greek tourism and small and medium-sized tourismenterprises

A SWOT analysis is undertaken for the Greek tourism as well as its SMTEs inorder to assess their present and projected competitiveness based on strategicmanagement research undertaken for the Aegean islands (Buhalis 1991 Cooperamp Buhalis 1992) The interrelations between SMTEs and destinations are quiteapparent illustrating that a destinationsrsquo weaknesses and threats are reflected inthe SMTEsrsquo competitiveness and vice versa As illustrated in Table 5 the SWOTanalysis concentrates on the strategic rather than operational strengths andweaknesses of SMTEs

As far as strengths of the Greek tourism and SMTEs are concerned their flexi-bility and ability to tailor products to consumersrsquo needs are of great importanceto their existence SMTEs can identify profitable niches in the market establishtheir requirements and attempt to satisfy specialised needs Direct control byentrepreneurs permits quick and efficient managerial reaction to external chal-lenges Fewer hierarchical levels facilitate closer and more effective control overthe service delivery process enabling personal services to customers In addi-tion archaeological heritage natural and cultural resources as well as the localcharacter are also significant assets As a result tourists benefit from localresources which are ideally situated to offer special-interest holidays SMTEsalso capitalise on personal relationships with consumers suppliers labour and

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 451

the entire tourism industry in general Their size enables the provision of apersonal finish to all products provided while it is not unusual for customers tobecome friends and to be treated accordingly Similarly strong relations withemployees support labour loyalty and low turnover The proprietorrsquos family isnormally directly involved with every aspect of the business reacting efficientlyand promptly to any problem arising Their involvement in running the enter-prise provides considerable benefits especially in having a very flexiblemulti-skilled and dedicated workforce which tolerates unsociable workingschedules Family members feel committed to the long-term prosperity of theenterprise and often do not distinguish between their professional and familylife Thus a better matching between tourism demand and SMTEsrsquo supply isachieved

A close-up of the weaknesses of Greek tourism and SMTEs is critical for under-standing the ability of the industry to compete in the global tourism arenaAlthough entrepreneurs are normally an asset it seems that a number of manage-

452 Current Issues in Tourism

Table 5 Greek tourism and SMTEsrsquo SWOT analysis

Strengths

Flexibility

Tailor-made product delivery

Entrepreneurial activity

Family involvement

Natural and cultural resources

Strong local character

Personalised relationships

Labour loyalty and low turnover

Weaknesses

Management

Marketing

Information technologies illiteracy

Dependence upon tour operators

Supporting markets

Lack of economies of scale

Human resources management

Education and training

Transportation and accessibility

Financial management and resources

Seasonality

Lack of standardisation

Lack of quality assurances

Opportunities

European Union support

European redistribution of labour

Increase in tourism demand size

Trends in tourism demand

Low cost of living in periphery

Information technology

Infrastructure development

Transportation

Olympic Games

Threats

Environmental degradation

Concentration and globalisation

Oversupply

Lack of visibility in CRSs

Infrastructure

Warsterrorism

Political intervention

Source Adapted from Buhalis 1991 60c and Cooper and Buhalis 1992 108

rial problems often arise Lack of strategic and operational managementknow-how generates inconsistency in the creation and delivery of tourism prod-ucts This has direct implications for consumersrsquo satisfaction and the projectedimage of the industry There is often a complete lack of strategic vision and enter-prises are often treated as an extension of proprietorsrsquo domestic environmentEntrepreneurs recruit family members and relatives as personnel and supplierseven though more appropriatequalified alternatives can be found in the market-place Therefore the management of SMTEs clearly projects the proprietorrsquosfamily life-style and decision-making processes onto an enterprise Marketing isanother significant weakness for most entrepreneurs and Greek resorts as they areoften completely unaware of the techniques available and thus follow a prod-uct-oriented rather than a consumer-orientated approach Consequently uncoor-dinated isolated trouble-shooting marketing activities are occasionallyundertaken rather than a consistent and well-planned marketing campaign Lackof marketing research debilitates knowledge of consumersrsquo needs and makes itdifficult to identify methods for improving services in order to meet consumersrsquoexpectations Inability to finance and execute advertising campaigns and otherpromotional techniques reduces their visibility in their markets These weak-nesses in combination with the fact that many entrepreneurs are unfamiliar withinformation technology (IT) add to the problems of SMTEs in promoting them-selves effectively Consequently both Greek SMTEs and destinations sufferfrom over-dependence on the tourism distribution channels to promote anddistribute their product In particular intermediaries and especially tour opera-tors have enormous power within the channel and are capable of determiningthe Greek tourism product marketing distribution and pricing mixes (Buhalis1995) Hence the marketing campaign and the visibility of Greek tourism to itsmain target markets are often determined by the coverage space photographsand description in tour operatorsrsquo brochures European tour operators alsocontrol accessibility to Mediterranean or long-haul destinations as they ownmost charter airlines which provide direct and inexpensive flights to these desti-nations

As most resorts are located in peripheral areas there is usually little economicdevelopment in the supplying sectors Therefore remote destinations have toimport essential raw and construction materials from elsewhere while SMTEsoften face transportation delivery and purchasing problems and excessivetransportation costs Moreover lack of economies of scale in purchasing rawmaterial low bargaining power and lack of advanced facilities are additionaloperational disadvantages This essentially means that SMTEs have to payhigher prices for products than their larger counterparts Lack of specialisedpersonnel and inadequate training procedures mean that human resourcesmanagement is a major weakness of Greek tourism In most SMTEs personnelhave to cover a wide range of positions a loose job description is usuallyprovided and multi-skilled personnel are required The labour turnover due tothe seasonality of the tourism industry reduces the availability of qualified andexperienced personnel and makes tourism product delivery not only variablebut also unprofessional The small size of operation provides little opportunityfor the division of tasks professional employees and proper training Since noquality standards are introduced service delivery varies according to the occu-

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 453

pancy service provider and timing Transportation and accessibility to remotedestinations may also be a weakness as most enterprises are located in periph-eral and often inaccessible regions SMTEs tend to feel frustrated because theyare unable to attract consumers simply because they cannot provide conve-nient reliable and affordable transportation The formulation of charter aircarriers by destination areas such as Turkey and Spain as well as the emergingderegulation policies in the European Union may diminish this problem in thenear future Moreover SMTEs face significant financial constraints as on theone hand they are required to invest in fixed assets at the beginning of theiroperations and on the other hand there is a discrimination against them byfinancial institutions since they normally have very few assets Consequentlythey are forced to accept unfavourable financial deals Finally the Greek tour-ism industry and SMTEs suffer from seasonality problems and have to produceadequate income within a limited period every year Lack of diversified invest-ment in other economic activities forces proprietors to work intensively in thepeak months and rest in the off-peak months while their pay-back period isinevitably unfavourable As the tourism industry becomes more professionalembraces quality management and responds to an increasingly discerningcustomer SMTEsrsquo typical lack of business expertise and minimal standardisa-tion may become an increasing liability especially for some target markets(Cooper amp Buhalis 1992 102)

Recent developments in the external environment present numerous opportu-nities for the Greek tourism industry and SMTEs Firstly the European Uniontakes several actions to support small and medium-sized enterprises (EC 1993b72) while it supports infrastructure development of peripheral regions andcontributes significantly to the prosperity of SMTEs The country is going througha major transformation as a result of several public projects supported by theEuropean Commission including the Attico Metro the new Athens Airport thedevelopment of the peripheral motorway Elefsina-Spata and the peripheralmotorway of Immitos The unification of the heritage sites and thepedestrianisation of the Athens city centre aims to develop an open archaeologi-cal park and deal with the traffic and pollution problems The Olympic Games in2004 provide a unique challenge and opportunity for the city and the country torebrand and redevelop itself and demonstrate its unparalleled heritage andcultural resources The Games also provide the resources and funding as well asa lsquodeadlinersquo for several infrastructural projects that were already scheduled butperhaps delayed In addition several projects are anticipated to improve thesuperstructure of the industry through both renovation of existing propertiesand through the development of new hotels and other facilities It is anticipatedthat the regeneration of the city and the country in general will provide majoropportunities for the attractiveness and competitiveness of the tourism industry(Buhalis 2000b Papanikos 1999 Romanos 1998)

It is anticipated that there will be a gradual redistribution of Europeanlabour providing support for each region to specialise in the production ofgoods and services where it can achieve competitive advantages Traditionallyremote and insular destinations where most Greek resorts and SMTEs arebased achieve a competitive advantage in tourism and therefore greatersupport is anticipated Greek tourism benefits from the continuous growth of

454 Current Issues in Tourism

global tourism demand as more people require holiday services while SMTEsare expected to increase their share as they tend to satisfy the emerging special-ised and sophisticated demand better than larger organisations Informationand telecommunication technologies can provide strategic tools for tourismdestinations and SMTEs enabling them to manage their product more effi-ciently disseminate information and establish a distribution mechanismthrough destination management systems (Buhalis 1994) New technologiesalso offer opportunities for developing innovative tourism products such asteleworking for tourists who would like to spend time working during theirstay at the destination Finally Greek tourism tends to achieve a cost advan-tage since it employs unpaid family members and operates in inexpensiveperipheral regions which often have a lower cost of living in comparison withmetropolitan areas

In terms of external threats environmental degradation through inappropriatewaste management and excessive usage of natural resources can be observedLack of know-how and funds effectively increases environmental problemsConsequently several resorts suffer severe damage while entrepreneurs and localauthorities feel powerless to take remedial measures Moreover oversupply oftourism service providers and lack of well-defined carrying capacity limits inseveral destinations have placed numerous Greek resorts and SMTEs in a disad-vantaged position as they cannot achieve sufficient income Similarly the concen-tration of power in fewer tourism industry enterprises through emergingglobalisation also threatens the ability of Greek SMTEs to survive as internationalvertically integrated tourism organisations acquire control over local enterprisesThe dependence upon channel partners for the promotion and distribution ofGreek tourism is exaggerated by the relatively low presence of Greek suppliers inthe major CRSs (Computer Reservation Systems) which is caused by the seasonal-ity and scale of the tourism production on the one hand and the tariffs of thesesystems on the other The issue of infrastructure is closely related to the oversup-ply which attracts higher demand than planned Destinations often have limitedinfrastructure provisions which fail to follow the pace of development generatingpressure on the existing inadequate facilities Finally the tourism industry suffersfrom its geographical proximity to the Balkans and the Middle East and as a conse-quence is often associated by consumers with wars and terrorism activities Greektourism and SMTEs have limited means of dealing with unfavourable situationsand thus are more vulnerable to their impacts Political intervention perhapsthrough the public sector decisions and the legislator framework often damagesthe prosperity of SMTEs As SMTEs have little lobbying power they have limitedinfluence over political decisions which determine their welfare

The SWOT analysis demonstrates quite clearly that the Greek tourism indus-try faces a wide range of problems and threats which will jeopardise its ability toprovide suitable tourism products in the future as well as its ability to make acontribution to the national welfare However several opportunities and chal-lenges emerge and they need to be addressed in order to strengthen the competi-tiveness of the industry Further analysis is therefore required in order to assessthe factors which generate these problems and also to identify ways to respond tothe challenges they present

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 455

Why Are We There and What Are the Implications StructuralProblems and Challenges

Despite its popularity and growth over the last 40 years the Greek tourismindustry has reached a stage where both its potential and competitiveness havebecome questionable

The seemingly unstoppable growth of this market contributed to a degreeof complacency which has led to Greece repeating some of the errors madein Spain Rapid price increases mean the country is no longer perceived bymass market clients as cheap in relation to comparable destinations in theMediterranean but much of the countryrsquos tourism infrastructure hastilybuilt in response to demand for cheap accommodation does not meet theneeds of a market less sensitive to price and more concerned with qualityand value for money (EIU 1990 45)

Richter-Papaconstantinou (1992 27) explains that tourism development inRhodes lsquotakes place without any Master Plan of the area respect of the landscapeand environment analysis whether there is demand and what the demand isafter regard to what is happening in similar situationsrsquo At the micro level theEuropean travel trade and intermediaries warn that the Greek tourism product isno longer competitive (Conway 1996 41 Touloupas 1996 Douvitsas 1994)whilst Chitiris (1991 148ndash150) outlines a range of managerial problems andmistakes in Greek resort hotels which diminish the quality of the tourismservices Hence unless the Greek tourism industry addresses a number of criticalissues immediately its future might be seriously jeopardised resulting in apotential catastrophe of the national economy The major structural problemsand challenges for the Greek tourism product can be summarised in Table 6

As a result Greece fails to attract the desired lsquohigh-quality high-expenditurersquotourists as it is increasingly unable to satisfy their requirements (Conway 199641) The deterioration of the tourism product and image leads to a lower willing-ness-to-pay by consumers which consequently leads to a further drop in qualityas the industry attempts to attract customers with lower prices This is a viciousspiral which has been destroying the essence of developing tourism in severalMediterranean destinations The concentration of bargaining power in Euro-pean distribution intermediaries and tour operators in particular in combina-tion with the inability of the Greek tourism industry to promote itself andestablish effective distribution mechanisms inevitably minimises the profitmargins of SMTEs and their ability to yield decent returns on their investmentAs a result touristsrsquo expenditure per capita in Greece gradually deteriorateswhile their volume increases (SETE 1993 35)

Thus the tourism policy often consisted in a lsquofreezingrsquo of the selling price ofthe tourist package abroad a measure which combined with the devalua-tion of the drachma and its continuous parity losses succeeded in securing alsquofictitious competitivenessrsquo for the Greek package This competitivenesshowever was seriously threatened each time there was an attempt at asubstantial increase because of important rises in cost elements(Kalogeropoulou 1993 2)

456 Current Issues in Tourism

The above issues illustrate that the Greek tourism product becomes increas-ingly incompetent Hence the inadequate lsquoproductrsquo lsquopromotionrsquo and lsquoplacersquo(distribution) elements of the tourism marketing mix reduce the willingness ofprospective consumers to pay and has disastrous implications for the pricingpolicies deteriorating the profitability of the SMTEs and the tourism economicimpacts on the destination

Ultimately the economic impacts of tourism in Greece become debatableespecially due to the inadequacy of tourism economic research and data whilethe destination has to bear the environmental social and cultural decay Encour-agingly articles in recent tourism industry publications acknowledge these chal-lenges and appreciate the dangers urging both the private and public sector totake action (Touristiki Agora Tourismos ke Oikonomia Travel News XENIA) as well

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 457

Table 6 Structural problems and challenges

Image of Greece as cheap simple unsophisticated undifferentiated sun-seadestination

Gradual deterioration of tourism product and lack of reinvestment in improvements

Increase of tourism arrivals but decrease of tourism expenditure per capita

Inadequacy of the Greek planning process

Dependence upon major tour operators for promotion and distribution

Plethora of anarchically developed and behaving SMTEs aiming at short-termprofitability

Inappropriate and ill-timed marketing campaign which has little effectiveness

Inadequacy of infrastructure to serve the ever-expanding demand

Lack of coordination at the destination and disrespect for touristsrsquo needs

Lack ofprofessionalism and training in both state andprivate tourism establishments

Individualistic behaviour by SMTEs and unwillingness to cooperate on adestination basis

Unsuccessful and inconsistent programmes of government intervention

Almost unregulated environment with nearly complete lack of control

Political intervention which allows exception policies and employment of unquali-fied staff

Development of tourism as a single regional development option

Oversupply of tourism amenities and fierce price competition

Failure of the private sector to invest in long-term projects

Deterioration of natural social and cultural resources

SMTEsrsquo inability to resist in global concentration of the tourism industry

Inadequate distribution mechanisms which generate overdependence onintermediaries

Failure of both the private and public sectors to learn from internationally gainedexperience in tourism development and marketing

Lack of tourism research to identify the impacts of tourism

Negligence with regard to new tourism demand challenges

as several influential members of the tourism industry (Josephides 1993 19941995 Skoulas 1994 Daskalantonakis 1994 Divanis 1994b Plevris 1995Papandropoulos 1995)

Political intervention limited research lack of tourism policy andplanning

Perhaps the largest obstacle in developing a competitive tourism industry inGreece has been the inconsistent and irrational political intervention Unfortunatelytourism has extensively been utilised as a political vehicle where each govern-ment uses it to gratify its political needs and friends This can be experienced in alllevels of recruitment in the public sector institutions as a change of government oreven minister results in immense changes throughout the GNTO as well as tomajor policies and regulations Thus in the last 35 years (since 1966) the leadershipof the GNTO has changed 28 times allowing each General Secretary to stay inoffice for an average of 138 months Political allies of each government use politi-cal pressure and intensive lobbying in order to achieve amendments in regula-tions incentive policies and business environment Hence the short-termprofitability and commercial interests of the friends and political allies of eachgovernment often overrule the long-term strategy and set an improper examplefor the entire industry These practices result in a great inconsistency in Greek tour-ism policy and disrupt its rationalisation Therefore a lsquodepolitisation of Greektourismrsquo towards a professionally managed public sector guided through acompromised strategic Master Plan is urgently required (Josephides 1995)

The limited existing scientific tourism research highlights the lack of comprehen-sive examination of tourism impacts in Greece while it illustrates that tourismpolicy is based on insufficient documentation (Zacharatos 1989 278 and 1988 22)Public sector research is almost non-existant while the authorities seem uninter-ested in consulting the Greek-tourism research produced by academics (for exam-ple Zacharatos 1984 1986 Komilis 1987 Loukissas 1977 Papadimitris 1988Papadopoulos 1985 Moore 1992 Tsartas 1989 Velissariou 1991 Fotis 1992Buhalis 1991 1995 2000c Buhalis amp Diamantis 2000) or the international tourismlsquobody of knowledgersquo (Zacharatos 1988 24) In addition tourism consumptionbeing characterised as a particular category of private consumption in the nationalaccounts it fails to reflect the real tourism impact on each economic sector Thusthe process of collecting information for tourism expenditure in Greece preventsthe assessment of tourism expenditure impacts on the national and regional econ-omy and therefore cannot be used in drawing scientifically founded tourismpolicy (Zacharatos 1989 277 Konsolas amp Zacharatos 1993 58) Consequentlytourism policy follows conventional wisdom and concentrates on attracting alarger volume of tourists ignoring scientific methods to assess the economicsocial cultural and environmental impacts of each tourism segment assumingthat the greater the tourism volume the better for the national economy

The lack of a comprehensive and rational tourism policy and planning or a MasterPlan for Greek tourism is primarily responsible for the aforementioned structuralproblems Policy is usually based on unsubstantiated statements published by theTourism Ministry or the GNTO (GNTO 1985b 1989a 1993) often as pre-electionpromotional material In essence Greek authorities attempt to intervene aiming tostimulate arrivals as well as to facilitate the operation and development of the

458 Current Issues in Tourism

tourism industry Based on the assumption that tourism arrivals to Greece wouldincrease indefinitely the general directions of the Greek tourism policy focusalmost invariably on the targets summarised in Table 7 (Euromonitor 1992 61GNTO 1989b 41 and 1993 1 OECD 1992 70 Skoulas 1985 194 Leontidou 199188ndash91 Apostolopoulos 1990 Zacharatos 1989 275 and 1988 21)

However as these tasks are not quantified and there is no time schedule orplanning process for their achievement it is inevitable that their implementationand assessment is subject to irrationalities and personal judgement Occa-sionally incentives for tourism development responses to lobbying from tour-ism-related associations and regions training programmes and generallegislation attempt to direct the Greek tourism industry towards the describedpolicy directions In addition an inconsistent and untargeted promotionalcampaign is implemented yearly (Touloupas 1996 130) The campaign attempts toachieve the above unspecified policy tasks while it is often a lsquolast minutersquo reactionmeasure to a forecasted decline of bookings for the current season rather than acoordinated long-term marketing policy (Jenner amp Smith 1993 143Papadopoulos 1989 304) Despite the advertising campaignrsquos positive impact onarrivals the feedback to the campaign is rather speculative as no formal researchis undertaken to identify the most cost-effective media and communication meth-ods for each target market (Papadopoulos 1989 311 and 1987 82)

Because the deficient scientific examination of Greek tourism and its impactsprevents the authorities from establishing quantifiable and measurable tourismpolicies their policies are based on subjective and personal judgements while feedbackpractices are rarely followed In addition the implementation of the vaguelydefined tourism policy as well as the targets regulations and standards are oftenbent to accommodate lobbying and political pressures (Zacharatos 1989 279)Komilis (1993 225) suggests that tourism planning in Greece is generally realisedand exercised within a socio-political environment characterised by severalfactors a limited degree of political commitment lack of social awareness andacceptability of planning actions inadequacy of scientific and technical founda-

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 459

Table 7 Greek tourism policy targets

Development of demand

Training of tourism employees

Increase arrivals and foreign exchange income

Increase competitiveness of tourism product

Improvement of services in the industry

Reduction of seasonality and expansion of tourism season

Attraction of high spenders and alternative types of tourism

Construction of facilities appealing to the upper end of the market such as luxuryhotels golf courses congress centres casinos and marinas

Development of tourism infrastructure with emphasis on transportation

Support of social tourism for low-income domestic tourists

Geographical redistribution of tourism

tion to support planning intervention and a centralised administrative-institu-tional system gathering a plethora of functions but failing to perform itscoordination and enforcing role When the conflicting interests and power of eachmember of the tourism industry are brought into the equation where differentpartners attempt to influence legislation in order to maximise their own short-termprofitability regardless of the impacts on the destination and other enterprises theplanning process becomes more complicated This results in an ineffective plan-ning system and process which produces policies unable to provide an appropri-ate balance between restrictive policies and control planning implementationMoreover the plethora of SMTEs in combination with inadequate legislationconcerning their establishment and operation seem to affect adversely thecompetitiveness of the industry and the ability to diversify and enrich local tour-ism products (Komilis 1992 11 EIU 1990 59)

Consequently several structural problems are originated jeopardising theprosperity of both SMTEs and destinations especially in overdeveloped regionsOn the supply side failure of the infrastructure to follow the dramatic expansionof the superstructure in combination with the lack of solid institutional context oftourism policy and long-term regulation result in the exploitation and inadequacyof environmental and socio-cultural resources as well as the inability of the indus-try to generate the level of economic benefits desired and expected On the tourismdemand side after the meteoric growth in the 1970s and 1980s the Greek tourismindustry has been trying to transform lsquothe country into a destination which cancompete not just on price but on value for moneyrsquo (EIU 1990 45) It is becomingapparent that the tourism population in not infinite and an adaptability andresponsiveness to touristsrsquo needs is ofgreat importance (Sezeramp Harrison 1994 83)

Structural problems jeopardise the profitability of the private sectorBecause of the aforementioned structural problems most tourism industry

enterprises are experiencing a decline in profitability Hotels in particular arebadly affected due to the high fixed assets as well as their immobility and inflexi-bility which prevents them from adjusting to demand fluctuation Several reasonsdetermine their low profitability and inability to increase prices in line with infla-tion The low occupancy levels achieved yearly is a key problem Smith and Jenner(1995 17) estimate that the lsquoyear-round bed occupancy over the range of licensedaccommodation is slightly under 30rsquo As most of the properties are closed duringthe winter months due to the seasonality problems they rely on three to six monthsto generate sufficient returns on their investment The occupancy levels of accom-modation establishments in Greek tourism are often determined by theirco-operation with travel intermediaries Based on the different seasonality patternsof different markets rooms are normally allocated a year before the summer seasonto tour operators on lsquoallotmentrsquo or lsquocommitmentrsquo contracts which effectively deter-mine the prices charged according to the security provided by tour operators forusing and paying for hoteliersrsquo rooms Once the contracts are signed hoteliers effec-tively lose their control on their inventory and their right to market their rooms toother business sources before the release period (typically 7ndash14 days before arrival)in order to avoid overbooking However should their bookings fail to match theirprogramme tour operators often utilise their buying power to cancel unwantedrooms at the beginning of the tourist season without paying compensation Smaller

460 Current Issues in Tourism

hoteliers are often left with unoccupied rooms they which are unable to promote atthe lsquolast minutersquo unless they drop their prices to unacceptable levels As a result oftheir deficient intra-channel power hotels often suffer a significant cut-back of theiroccupancy levels which has direct implications for their profitability (Buhalis 19952000c 460 Ktenas 1996)

Similarly the seasonality of the Mediterranean and Greek tourism industry hasalways been a problem for the profitability of SMTEs since enterprises operateonly for a limited period (Jenner amp Smith 1993 70 Drakatos 1987 Donatos ampZairis 1991) Attempts to promote winter tourism by developing cultural andspecial interest tourism in the islands and winter sports in several ski resorts inGreece have proved fairly unsuccessful (EIU 1986 56) This is attributed to theimage of Greece as an exclusively summer-sun destination as well as to the unco-ordinated attempts to maintain tourism enterprises active during the wintermonths (EIU 1990 57)

The average room rate is the second major determinant of hotel profitability It isbecoming apparent that employment costs and cost of capital in combination witha relatively strong currency policy reduce the ability of Greek accommodationestablishments to offer competitive pricing and maintain their profitabilityMarketing inadequacies and inability to promote the tourism product as a differ-entiated entity the rapid increase of supply in comparison to demand and theoverall dependence upon the oligopsonistic tour operators for the Greek tourismproduct promotion force hoteliers to accept contracts by tour operators whichminimise their profit margin and adversely effect the quality of their productIncreasing levels of pressure by tour operators prevent SMTEs from renovatingand investing in their properties and therefore a gradual deterioration of the prop-erties is inevitable (Richter-Papaconstantinou 1992 14 Skoulas 1985 189) Euro-pean tour operators faced with fierce competition in their markets are essentiallywilling to pay an annual price increase equal to little less than the depreciation ofthe drachma plus the inflation at the place of origin of the tourists (Ktenas 1994)This policy progressively deteriorates the profitability of the Greek tourism indus-try and has severe impacts for its prosperity The situation is worse for smalleraccommodation establishments which manage to negotiate even smaller priceincreases due to their exclusive dependence upon fewer intermediaries(Logothetis 1992 14)

The oversupply of tourism services both in Greece and worldwide also contributesto global competition for a less rapidly increasing demand (Josephides 1993 54)In Greece the average annual increase of the official hotel bed supply in 1983ndash1992was 47 while the annual average increase in international tourist bednights was27 (Epilogi 1994 271) The investment incentive Law 126282 boosted this over-supply as it generated small infeasible and uncontrollable accommodation unitsunable to offer high quality of services while it increased the concentration of tour-ism units in infrastructure-undersupplied resorts (Kriebardis amp Marmagiolis1990 51 Stavrou 1989b 5) The vast majority of the capacity growth is on the lsquoille-galrsquo unregistered self-catering and self-serviced lsquoparahoteleriarsquo sector whichprovide very low quality and priced accommodation and therefore appeal tomass tour operatorsrsquo clientele This not only increases unfair competition for theofficially registered hotels but also reduces both tax revenues and employment atthe macro level

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 461

Horwath (1994 3) concludes that

unfortunately the results in terms of return on investment in the tourismindustry are not very promising especially when compared with those ofother Greek economic sectors It is an undisputable fact that the averageGreek tourism entrepreneur is heavily dependent on the tourist packageprice which is strongly negotiated by the international tour operators It isan lsquounhealthyrsquo dependency as a result of the weak position of the Greektourist product in the international market In addition the aforemen-tioned dependency is the result of the lack of marketing activities in anaverage tourist enterprise As we all know effective marketing activitiesare based on the product place price promotion which all contribute toclient satisfaction and further to a bigger share in the international touristmarket Up to now three of the aforementioned important elements ofmarketing have been overlooked which determine the weak negotiationpower of the Greek entrepreneur

This situation has also resulted to several European companies expandingtheir operations into Greece or purchasing shares in Greek partners in order toimprove their vertical integration Should this vertical integration expand signif-icantly however lsquoGreek tourism will be in fact controlled by foreign deci-sion-making centres which will certainly operate on the basis of their owninterests and not according to the overall interests of our national economyrsquo(Kalogeropoulou 1993 2) Hence radical measures are required immediately inproduct formulation promotion strategy and distribution channels to supportboth Greek destinations and SMTEs to enhance their competitiveness profitabil-ity and prosperity Failure to react would have severe implications for the futureof the Greek tourism private sector as the essence of its existence would be jeop-ardised its costs may exceeding its returns

Structural problems generate negative tourism impactsIn addition to the profitability problems of the private sector the aforemen-

tioned structural problems have profound implications for the welfare of hostpopulations in various Greek destinations as their economic social cultural andenvironmental resources are exploited without ensuring their sustainabilityLack of comprehensive research and failure to initiate carrying-capacity limits orzoning systems contribute to the anarchic development of tourism as well asexpand negative impacts of tourism on local societies and environments Thefollowing section highlights some of the costs Greek destinations are called topay for their tourism activity whilst it suggests that these issues should beaddressed in the strategic planning process

Macro-economic negative impactsDespite the contribution of tourism to the Greek economy certain potential

risks can also be identified Not only is the competitiveness and profitability ofthe tourism industry jeopardised but also several destination regions seem tofollow a policy of developing tourism at the expense of industrial and agricul-tural growth (Stavrou 1989a 6 Vernicos 1987 105) Instead of tourism stimulat-ing agriculture it seems that it hastens its decline as the two economic activities

462 Current Issues in Tourism

compete for land and labour The lack of structural investments in industrial oragricultural sectors combined with the popularity of tourism professions in theworkforce endanger the balance of the regional economy while reducing thetourism multipliers (Briassoulis 1993 295) As a result the economic structure ofthe destination is jeopardised while a complete dependence upon tourismbecomes inevitable (Komilis 1992 7) Both opportunity costs and displacementeffects are therefore evident Moreover there is evidence that the progress ofdestinations through their life-cycle and especially the introduction of masstourism decreases their economic impacts while it makes local control of theindustry far more difficult (Loukissas 1982 537) lsquoBecause of the high degree ofdependence of Greek tourist enterprises on tour operators the actual amount oftourist spending remaining in the country is only the 40ndash50 of total touristspendingrsquo (Briassoulis 1993 296) Public-sector subsidies to the private sector invarious forms such as incentives cooperative marketing campaigns and unem-ployment benefits in the off-season as well as tax evasion and lsquoparaeconomyrsquo alsoreduce the real benefit at the macro level (Mourdoukoutas 1988 Drakatos 1987Leontidou 1991 102) Lack of scientific research on the economic impacts oftourism makes the real contribution of tourism in the economy speculativerather than based on hard evidence (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Konsolas ampZacharatos 1993)

Social and cultural negative impactsThe development of mass tourism and the lack of effective planning and

management are also responsible for a number of negative social and culturalimpacts observed in Greek host societies (Tsartas 1989 1992 Stavrou 19781979 1980 1986b) Although the degree of interaction of the population withtourists depends heavily on the geomorphology of destinations and the loca-tion of resorts (Loukissas 1982 538) touristsrsquo behaviour is often offensive tothe host population but tolerated due to the economic benefits (Castelberg-Koulma 1991 201 Kousis 1989 Wickens 1994 823) Most Greek tourismdestinations are almost crime-free zones during the winter due to the smallpopulation and personal relationships of locals Tourism however introducesseveral types of criminal activity often unknown to local people As policeforces are usually allocated according to needs of the permanent population ina destination they are often incapable of handling the demands of the summermonths and are unable to deal with visitorsrsquo misbehaviour such as hooliganismand lsquolager-lootingrsquo

The commercialisation of history cultural traditions and the Greek lifestyle isa phenomenon met in several destinations This regrettably affects the renownedGreek hospitality commercialises human relations with tourists and reduces theties of solidarity and cooperation between locals since they compete for the tour-ism market (Papadopoulos 1988b 24) As the average employee works 605hours weekly for 295 weeks a year there is little time left for social religious andcultural obligations during the season (Mourdoukoutas 1988 325) Although acertain degree of lsquodemonstration effectrsquo and lsquoxenomaniarsquo can be attributed totourism the country is equally influenced by the mass media as well as by theGreek students and professionals living abroad (Papadopoulos 1988a 30Wickens 1994 822) Moore (1995) also explains that tourism not only has had a

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 463

contribution to the increase of alcohol consumption by Greeks but has alsoshifted their taste away from locally produced wine to imported spirits and beerBriassoulis (1993 296) perhaps describes best the change in labour force valueswhen as she suggests that tourism has created a

peculiar parasitic group of tourist entrepreneurs operating tourist-servingenterprises like tavernas cafeterias etc the principal characteristics ofwhich are high profits and tax evasion Consequently a particular person-ality type is created the lsquosuccessfulrsquo entrepreneur who earns a lot with littlework has a rich erotic life and is professionally independent (in contrast topublic and private employees) This model is followed by many youngpeople who abandon other productive year-round occupations lsquoworkrsquoonly during the tourist season stay idle for the rest of the year and eventu-ally suffer from the volatility of the tourist market

The family relations and values are therefore under great transition andperhaps threat (Castelberg-Koulma 1991 201 Kousis 1989 Moore 1992)

Negative environmental impactsDespite environmental resources becoming central to destinationsrsquo competi-

tiveness most Greek destinations go through an unparalleled exploitation due toinadequate planning and reinvestment in their sustainability jeopardising theirfuture (Buhalis amp Fletcher 1995) Boniface and Cooper (1994 141) suggest thatgeographical concentration of tourism

has led to the view that Greece will become saturated with tourists and thatdamage will be done to the environment and cultural heritage in the morepopular areas Already the environment has suffered from haphazarduncontrolled building and pollution of the sea and the flora and fauna arebeing effected by waste disposal

Coastal pollution water shortages sewage treatment waste disposal trafficcongestion noise pollution overbuilding and aesthetic degradation are some ofthe impacts experienced already in a number of resorts (Briassoulis 1993 297Coccosis amp Parprairis 1992 Peterson 1990 Marinos 1983 Stavrou 1988 19 and1989a 5 Papadopoulos 1988b 24) Most of the islands also face water shortagedue to the inability of natural supplies to provide sufficient water for the tourismdemand Imported mineral water from the mainland is an expensive way tosolve this problem due to the transportation cost while it creates more waste andenvironmental damage In addition the destruction of endangered speciesrsquo habi-tats is another problem experienced on several islands (ZakynthosCaretta-Caretta and Allonissos monk-seals) (Ottaway 1992 Van Den Bergh1993 70 Prurier et al 1993) Urgent coordination with all tourism actors at thelocal level is essential while regulation is required to set objective and measurablelimits and targets in order to preserve local environmental resources Financialdifficulties in the industry only exacerbate these impacts as the private and publicsectors feel unable to reinvest in the conservation of resources

The aforementioned negative impacts emerge as a result of the structuralproblems of the Greek tourism industry and illustrate that the mass tourismorientation of the industry reduces the sovereignty of the host population over

464 Current Issues in Tourism

their land and resources whilst jeopardising their expected benefits and futurewelfare As these impacts are trade-offs for the economic gains of the tourismactivity it is important that consistent long-term strategic planning should beundertaken in order to enable the preservation of the local resources and achievesustainability at tourism destinations These tasks should all be reinforced byresearch political will and strategic planning

Where Do We Need to Go and How Are We Going ThereTowards Strengthening the Competitiveness of Greek Tourismand SMTEs

Based on the situation analysis as well as on the strategic weaknesses andstructural problems the paper attempts to provide a framework for strategicplanning which will enable the strengthening of the competitiveness of Greektourism and SMTEs Porter (1985 1) suggests that competitive strategy lsquois thesearch for a favourable competitive position in an industryrsquo which is a function ofthe attractiveness of the industry and the relative competitive position withinthat particular industry He also argues that lsquocompetitive strategy aims to estab-lish a profitable and sustainable position against the forces that determine indus-try competitionrsquo Competitiveness is therefore defined as the effort undertakenby organisations to maintain long-term profitability above the average of theparticular industry within which they operate or above alternative investmentopportunities in other industries

Traditionally the tourism industry in the majority of destinations worldwideis based on a network of SMTEs which provide all types of tourism products andservices while enabling closer interaction between the host population and visi-tors as well as facilitating a rapid infusion of tourism spending into the localeconomy As lsquotouristsrsquo overall experience is composed of numerous smallencounters with a variety of tourism service providersrsquo (Moutinho 1990 104)there is a great overlap between the customer perception of local SMTEs anddestinations which makes them almost indistinguishable Consequently thecompetitiveness and prosperity of destinations and SMTEs are closely interre-lated as the fortune of the one depends heavily upon the management andcompetitiveness of the other Therefore the generic strategy for destinationsinvolves SMTEs and vice versa

Grand strategy Strategy formulation for Greek tourism and SMTEsBased on the strategic analysis a grand strategy is proposed for the Greek

tourism industry and SMTEs in order to demonstrate the directions the destina-tions should follow in their attempt to increase their competitiveness and reducetheir vulnerability As different resorts destinations and SMTEs have dissimilarneeds only generic strategies can be drawn However these guidelines can beapplicable to destinations and SMTEs worldwide as they address strategic ratherthan operational issues The analysis is based on the assumption that SMTEsformulate leisure value-added chains or networks of wealth creation whichessentially comprise the entire destination Therefore an integrated approach isfollowed as there is a great complementarity between the strategies and strate-gic directions for both the Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 465

The grand strategy analysis is based on an examination of three general strat-egy models namely Porterrsquos generic strategies Gilbertrsquos proposition for lsquodiffer-entiation of the destinationrsquo and Poonrsquos analysis for lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo Agrand strategy is then proposed for both Greek tourism and SMTEs based oninference emerging from these three models Figure 1 illustrates the three maingeneric strategies proposed by Porter (1980 34ndash46) in order to lsquooutperform otherfirms in an industryrsquo overall cost leadership where the firm is required to minimiseits costs based on mass production and strict cost control of the main businessfunctions differentiation of products or services by lsquocreating something that isperceived industry-wide as being uniquersquo or focus on a lsquoparticular buyer groupsegment of the product line or geographical marketrsquo and achieve either cost leader-ship or product differentiation (Porter 1980 37ndash8)

Furthermore Gilbert (1984 1990) argues that destinations should differenti-ate their tourism products in order to be able to achieve a unique lsquotourist productbenefitrsquo which would enable them to establish their position in the internationaltourism market as well as to attract high spenders and loyal tourists Tourismdestinations therefore should attempt to achieve a lsquostatus arearsquo image ratherthan a lsquocommodity arearsquo one as illustrated in Figure 2 In the first case the desti-nation is heavily substitutable very sensitive to price and economic changeswhile consumers have a low awareness of any unique benefits or attributes of theregion Thus holidaymakers base their decision to visit the area merely on pricewhile the demand for the destination is incidental and destinations are unable toattract high spenders In contrast lsquostatus areasrsquo achieve intentional demand as aresult of the unique product attributes perceived by the tourism market Theseunique attributes may be genuine or imagined and thus a destination isregarded as irreplaceable increasing consumersrsquo loyalty and willingness to payGilbert (1990 24ndash5) asserts that destinations should attempt to become lsquostatusareasrsquo in order to improve their image loyalty and economic benefits

A third strategic approach is proposed by Poon (1987 1988 1989 1990 1993)based on the concept of lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo of the tourism business Inessence Poon examines the industry processes and proposes a strategy to enabletourism organisations to improve their competitiveness Poon argues that lsquoflexi-ble specialisationrsquo is a strategy of lsquopermanent innovationrsquo and lsquoceaseless changersquowhich provides for the lsquonew tourismrsquo This new tourism is flexible segmentedcustomised to the touristrsquos needs and diagonally integrated In contrast the oldtourism can be characterised as lsquomass standardised and rigidly packagedrsquo(Poon 1989 91ndash3)

466 Current Issues in Tourism

STRATEGIC ADVANTAGE

Perceived product uniqueness Cost advantage

TARGETMARKET

Industrywide Differentiation Cost Leadership

Particularsegmentsonly

Differentiation Focus Cost Focus

Figure 1 Porterrsquos three generic strategiesSource Porter 1980 39

The main sources of flexibility for service firms lie in the organisationmanagement marketing distribution and other forms of interaction andinterrelationships among guests hotels suppliers distributors What isimportant however is not each of these stand alone aspects but how theyare coupled to create competitive advantages and hence capabilities tomove with the market (Poon 1988 24)

Examination of these three main strategies illustrates that they share a similarbase Porterrsquos lsquodifferentiationrsquo Gilbertrsquos lsquostatus arearsquo and Poonrsquos lsquoflexiblespecialisationrsquo describe the attempt undertaken by firms and tourist destinationsto achieve value competitive advantages In contrast the lsquocost leadershiprsquo lsquocom-modity arearsquo and the lsquostandardisation or Fordism production modelrsquo describethe effort to achieve lsquocost competitive advantagersquo where destinations andSMTEs offer their products for less than their competitors In the first caseconsumers perceive the product as unique and are willing to pay a premiumwhile in the second case the decision is merely based on price Thus the classicalstrategic decision of lsquolow volume-high profit marginrsquo or lsquohigh volume-low profitmarginrsquo is the underlying concept of the two alternative strategies

Both Gilbert and Poon agree that destinations should aim to achieve lsquostatusarearsquo or niche orientation through differentiation in order to increase consumersatisfaction as well as to maximise the benefits for both regions and SMTEs As aresult Greek tourism and SMTEs need to focus towards the differentiation strat-egy define their niche markets and serve them accordingly This strategy isalready adopted in several resort areas such as Valencia in Spain where it isrecognised that the need for diversification and differentiation lsquohas now becomeessential owing to the level of competitiveness that has been attained (and can beforeseen) in the world tourist marketrsquo (Fayos-Sola 1992 49) Differentiation isalso particularly useful for insular destinations in microstates where a limitednumber of economic and financial resources are available (Wilkinson 1989 170)As most destinations consist of SMTEs networks there is an overlap betweentheir strategic orientations and therefore the above analysis is applicable to boththe Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Destinations implementing a lsquostatus arearsquo strategy can enhance the satisfac-tion of tourists as well as their competitiveness The formulation of unique and

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 467

CommodityArea

Statusarea

Willingness topay higher prices

StatusArea

Product attributes Product attributes

CommodityArea

Figure 2 Gilbertrsquos differentiation strategySource Adapted from Gilbert 1990 25

customised products by using flexibility and cooperation also increases touristsrsquowillingness to pay and wins their loyalty while it responds to the new tourismdemand trends However the proposed strategy should not be seen as an excusefor SMTEs and destinations not to attempt to improve their efficiency and mini-mise their production costs Although the unique service for touristsrsquo needs shouldbe their priority offering perceived value for money would determine theircompetitiveness in the marketplace As a result all Greek resorts and SMTEsshould assess their assets and strengths for serving specific target markets takingadvantage of their small size which facilitates flexibility and specialisation

It is quite apparent that the cost advantage strategy has to be avoided inmanagement of tourism destinations as regions need to preserve their scarceenvironmental and sociocultural resources and achieve sustainable develop-ment As cost advantage is based on mass production and consumption itassumes an unlimited production capacity which is inapplicable in the tourismindustry The inseparability of the tourism product determines that consumersshould be present at the time of product delivery and when combined with tour-ism seasonality it generates demand peaks which drain destinationsrsquo scarceenvironmental sociocultural resources The lsquohigh volume-low profit marginrsquostrategy has therefore harmful social and environmental impacts on destina-tions Destinations have maximum carrying capacities beyond which both thewelfare of local populations and the satisfaction of tourists are jeopardisedAlthough economic benefits can also be achieved by using the lsquocommodity arearsquoor the lsquostandard product modelrsquo it is argued that these approaches reduce tour-istsrsquo satisfaction and their willingness to pay and are opposed to the demandtrend towards individualisation

Unfortunately however some destinations can no longer be positioned asirreplaceable unique products due to their overdevelopment Tourism supplyhas exceeded the carrying capacity of these resorts and their product hasreached the saturation or decline phase of their life-cycle Several Spanish costasand some Greek resorts such as Benitses Kavos Faliraki Malia Hersonissos andNidri (Josephides 1994) have been overdeveloped to such an extent that only alsquohigh-volume low-profit marginrsquo strategy is feasible When resorts reach theirsaturation level only a lsquocost leadershiprsquo or lsquomass productionrsquo strategy can beproposed as they are unable to provide any specific lsquotourist product benefitrsquo Theattraction of the lower end of the market is inevitable and as a consequence thereare no alternative strategies The minimisation of further sociocultural and envi-ronmental damage as well as attempts to improve the surrounding environmentshould also be a primary objective of both tourism destinations and SMTEs in thiscase The ultimate aim should be to regenerate the resources of the area and torelaunch the tourism destination to attract specific markets which will be willing topay a higher price for the destination

Strategic directions objectives and tasks for Greek tourism and SMTEsTable 8 presents three pivotal strategic directions which are identified in order

to stimulate the competitiveness of both Greek tourism and SMTEs This sectionillustrates how the aforementioned grand strategy can be implemented for tour-ist destinations and SMTEs through a number of strategic directions objectivesand tasks as presented in Table 9

468 Current Issues in Tourism

Enhancing the satisfaction of tourists and delighting the customer are pivotalto ensuring the well-being of Greek destinations and SMTEs in the long term andthus the entire range of tourism service providers should aim to delight theirclients As a result of the tourism product integration consumer satisfactioncannot be achieved by independent businesses separately but by the entirenetwork of SMTEs in Greek destinations The improvement in services isperhaps the most important strategic objective Consistency of promises throughstandardisation of service delivery and implementation of a total qualitymanagement philosophy throughout the industry are essential strategic tasks forachieving this objective while flexibility in service delivery and improvementsin training are critical In line with the grand strategy the production oftailor-made tourism products should be ensured in order to satisfy the specificneeds of particular niches and the requirements of the emerging new tourismdemand Product augmentation would enable also the Greek tourism product toexceed the expectations of consumers and hence enhance their satisfaction Lifestyle segmentation would enable Greek tourism and SMTEs to design appropri-ate tourism products As tourist demand elasticity has increasingly becomedoubtful in recent years the price of the holiday is no longer considered to be themost important attribute in the decision-making process Consequently theGreek tourism industry should concentrate on providing value for money at allprice levels as well as offering at least whatever they have promised to theconsumer

Supporting the long-term competitiveness and profitability of Greek tour-ism and SMTEs is by far the most important strategic objective for the tourismindustry The first strategic objective for every SMTE has to be the increase inrevenue by maximising its occupancy or load factors and the rates it achievesThe lengthening of the operating season as well as the identification of newmarkets and the penetration into existing ones and the effective utilisation ofdistribution channels will contribute to this strategic direction Higher ratescan be achieved by targeting specialised and smaller tour operators attractingalternative types of tourists and expanding the distribution channels mix aswell as by attempting a certain degree of lsquodisintermediationrsquo by encouragingdirect sales to outgoing travel agencies or consumers Aggressive marketingand establishment of partnerships with other enterprises should be essentialfunctions of Greek tourism and SMTEs Motivation of lsquofront-of-housersquo employ-ees as salesmen and sale incentives would also increase average spending percustomer The use of CRSs and destination management systems may also bean appropriate method for achieving higher prices and better occupancy rates(Buhalis 1994) Finally yield management techniques should be utilised by alltypes of SMTEs to assist them in pricing and maximising revenue Cost control

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 469

Table 8 Pivotal strategic dimensions for Greek tourism

(1) Enhance the satisfaction of tourists and delight the customer(2) Strengthen the long-term profitability and competitiveness of Greek tourism and

SMTEs(3) Develop Greek destinations sustainably and ensure prosperity of host population

470 Current Issues in Tourism

Table 9 Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Strategic directions Strategic objectives Strategic tasks

1 Enhance the sat-isfaction of tour-ists and delightthe customer

11 Improvement of services a Standardisation of service de-livery

b Development of quality controlsystems

c Consistency of promisesd Improvements in operational

managemente Flexibility in services deliveryf Training and education im-

provementsg Smile and personal relation-

shipsh Augmentation of tourism

producti Total quality management

12 Specialisation of tourismproduct

a Niche marketingb Lifestyle targeting

13 Value for money a Quality at each price level

2 Strengthen thelong-term com-petitiveness andprofitability ofGreek tourismand SMTEs

21 Increase revenue a Increase tourist volumesb Target new markets and pene-

tration in existing marketsc Use yield managementd Expand distribution channel

mixe Aggressive marketingf Achieve high average spending

per customerg Select high-quality specialised

tour operatorsh Attract alternative types of

tourismi Use alternative distribution

channelsj Motivate front-of-house em-

ployees as salesmen

22 Cost control and rationalmanagement

a Standardise service deliveryb Increase productivityc Reduce labour costsd Rationalise supplies manage-

mente Educationtraining for manag-

ers and employeesf Use of new technologyg Integrate service delivery

within SMTEs

23 Human resources man-agement

a Internal marketingb Empowermentc Satisfactory salary and working

conditionsd Long-term relations with em-

ployeese Motivation and rewards

and rational management is the second strategic objective needed to increaseefficiency and profitability of both Greek destinations and SMTEs in the longterm Standardisation of the service delivery process and minimisation of thelabour cost through better operational management would be primary recom-mendations Managers and employees should improve their productivity andmarketing skills by intensive training In addition the rationalisation of supplymanagement and the use of new technology is expected to reduce operationalcosts Finally integration of service delivery enables SMTEs to provide comple-mentary services and achieve additional revenues without immense costs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 471

24 State and public tourismorganisation support

a Destination development andcontrol

b Incentives policies for improve-ment

c Attract European Union assis-tance

d Promotional activitye Provide financial resources

3 Develop Greekdestinationssustainably andensure prosper-ity of host popu-lation

31 Environmental protection a Carrying capacity identificationb Zoning system applicationc Architecture preservationd Installation of sewage treat-

ment systemse Reduction of noise pollutionf Natural supplies management

32 Infrastructure ameliora-tion

a Accessibility improvementsb Telecommunication improve-

mentsc Public facilities advancements

33 Transportation improve-ments

a Improvement of local timeta-bles

b Punctuality and reliabilityc Improvements of vehiclesd Flexibility to meet demand

needs

34 Economic integration a Integration with raw materialproduction

b Utilisation of local labour forcec Integration of tourism servicesd Diagonal integration of destina-

tionrsquos economy

35 Equitable return on re-sources utilised

a Establish mechanism forreinvestments

b Provide services for hostcommunity

c Invest in sustainability ofresources

d Ensure equity in distributionof wealth produced

Source Adapted from Buhalis 1991 83a

Table 9 (cont) Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Human resources management is crucial in the delivery process of tourismproducts The concept of lsquointernal marketingrsquo where employees are perceivedand treated as lsquointernal customersrsquo has to be utilised in order to ensure theirsatisfaction As Berry (1981 34) states lsquothe satisfaction of the needs and wants ofthe internal customers can upgrade their capacity for satisfying the needs andwants of their external customersrsquo and as a consequence it can contribute to thecompetitiveness and profitability of Greek tourism and SMTEs Satisfactorysalary and working conditions are prerequisites for the well-being of SMTEsrsquoemployees Long-term relationships between employees and SMTEs minimiseturnover enabling a better performance while they reduce recruitment andtraining costs Empowerment would enable employees to be involved in themanagement of SMTEs and authorise them to respond more efficiently toconsumer requests while contributing to their job satisfaction Finally thesupport of the GNTO is vital for the long-term survival of SMTEs Apart fromthe improvement in infrastructure the GNTO is expected to hold the strategicresponsibility of the destination as well as to regulate the competition in orderto enable smaller enterprises to survive Incentive policies need to reflect thespecific requirements of each resort and enable development or improvementof certain types of enterprises The GNTO is also instrumental in attractingassistance from European development funds while it should also coordinatethe majority of Greek tourism promotional activity A promotional mix whichmaximises the effectiveness of the communication message needs to be drawnwhile budgets need to be available at the time consumers go through their deci-sion-making process in order to influence their choice of destination Finally theneed for the public sector to provide affordable financial resources for SMTEs ishighlighted by the EU (EC 1993b 73)

The third strategic direction for Greek tourism and SMTEs should be thesustainable development of destinations and local areas not only for the hostpopulation but also because this is vital for both consumer satisfaction and theprofitability of SMTEs Although in most cases SMTEs are unable to incorporatethese types of strategic objectives and tasks on their own they can initiate aframework of necessary actions for sustainable destination developmentthrough their associations Environmental protection is naturally the mostimportant strategic objective as consumersrsquo environmental consciousness hasbeen raised recently Carrying capacity limits should be identified and strictregulations and guidelines for tourism development need to be drawn A zoningsystem should be implemented in order to locate tourism activities according tothe geographical morphology of the destination In addition natural resourcesmanagement is necessary as tourism demand may exhaust the resources andespecially the water supplies The installation of sewage treatment systems andthe reduction of noise pollution should be considered especially for resortswhich suffer the consequences of these problems In addition infrastructureamelioration must be one of the primary objectives as it is an essential prerequi-site for both consumersrsquo satisfaction and SMTEsrsquo development The improve-ment of accessibility public services as well as telecommunications facilities is acrucial factor Transportation is also significant in increasing both consumersatisfaction and profitability of SMTEs as it determines whether consumers canaccess the destination easily while it also provides the first impression to tour-

472 Current Issues in Tourism

ists Improvements of timetables and services reliability increasing transporta-tion capacity and an enhancement of the fleet in terms of speed cleanliness andleisure facilities are all required Furthermore greater flexibility is needed bytransportation operators in order to meet demand needs Economic integrationcan improve the economic and social benefits of tourism in the region and theefficiency of SMTEs Ultimately tourism should be utilised as the catalyst andmajor stimulant for regional development Tourism enterprises should makeevery effort to use local raw materials and labour in order to maximise the multi-plier effects within Greece Diagonal integration of destinationsrsquo economy can beachieved by rearranging the goods and service production in order to supportthe tourism industry demand and thus minimise imports Finally SMTEs andtourism organisations need to offer a fair return-on-resources utilised back to thehost community A mechanism should be established in order to reinvest part ofthe revenues in the sustainability of resources provide services for the hostcommunity such as education training health services and generally ensureequity in distribution of wealth produced from local resources As the privatesector cannot be expected to behave altruistically towards the host communitythe GNTO and other public-sector departments should probably utilise regula-tion and taxation for this purpose

Conclusion Greek Tourism Needs a Long Overdue Master Planand Comprehensive Policy

The emerging international tourism competition the hitherto mass tourismorientation of the industry the transformation of demand the development ofthe volume of tourists visiting the dependence upon intermediaries for thedistribution of the tourism product in the major target markets the lack of a widerange of managerial skills by Greek tourism entrepreneurs and the lack of acomprehensive tourism policy or Master Plan by the public sector has led thecompetitiveness of Greece tourism to decline This has several unfavourableimplications for the profitability of the private sector as well as numerous nega-tive economic sociocultural and environmental impacts for the host populationAs a result the return on resources utilised for the production of Greek tourismservices is inadequate and the sustainability of Greece as a major tourism desti-nation is rapidly becoming doubtful Based on a strategic analysis the paper illu-minates the strategic weaknesses and structural problems of both the private andpublic sectors and demonstrates that a rationalisation of the tourism industry isurgently required Consequently a grand strategy as well as a wide range of stra-tegic directions objectives and tasks are proposed for both Greece as an entityand its SMTEs Although no quantitative targets are set in this paper it isexpected that each destination will analyse its resources and adapt its strategicplanning accordingly

The GNTO is urged to rationalise its strategy and to draw up a Master Plan anda comprehensive strategy for the entire country and for each resort where a strategywould be adopted based on quantifiable objectives and tasks Extensive researchneeds to be undertaken by using credible measurement methodologies such asInput-Output models and multipliers analysis not only for the economic but alsofor the social cultural and environmental impacts (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Buhalis

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 473

amp Fletcher 1995) A holistic tourism management system is demanded to facilitatethe development and implementation of the tourism strategy through funds allo-cation and monitoring land use control and examination of tourism public- andprivate-sector practices A thorough examination of tourism impacts in eachregion would be a prerequisite for tourism planning as it will establish andprovide scientific backing to strategic targets Komilis (1994 71) explains thatalthough the various levels of planning (sectoral nationalEU spatial or regional)are not mutually exclusive but rather complementary the regional level planningis more suitable for drawing sustainable strategies especially for areas withdissimilar needs like the Greek destinations The regional planning should lsquocon-tribute to the maximisation of regional development benefits in a way that utilisesand mobilises the regional resource base realises regional inter-sectoral linkagesand is compatible with regional economic interests societal values and environ-mental assetsrsquo It should also take into consideration the uniqueness of insulareconomies as well as the cultural and environmental resources of each particularregion and the complexity of rural and urban functions The planning processshould encourage the complementarity and coexistence of economic activitiesrather than promote sectoral separation and single-sector developments In addi-tion it needs to improve the balance between regional self-sufficiency anddependence upon external inputs and finally it should promote integration withinthe European Union

The public sector has to play its long overdue role as regulator coordinatorinfrastructure provider and promoter of the destination while a multi-integrationof the tourism industry with all the involved bodies in the preparation distribu-tion and delivery of the tourism experience needs to be ensured (Wanhill 1993Hall 1994 Skoulas 1994 10 Stavrou 1988 46) The private sector also has an impor-tant role to play as it should improve the Greek tourism industry competitivenessby improving its managerial and labour force competencies enhancing the qualityof services designing appropriate marketing mixes to attract and satisfy targetmarkets and cooperating closely in order to achieve synergies and economies ofscale (Briassoulis 1993 300 Cooper amp Buhalis 1992) To reverse the vicious circleof decreasing quality is of critical importance for the Greek tourism industryBetter quality services would stimulate the competitiveness of the Greek tourismproduct strengthen its position in the international market provide principalswith distribution channel power enhance its customersrsquo willingness to pay andenable the industry to increase its prices improving the profitability at the microlevel and the economic impacts of tourism at the macrolevel Ultimately a diagonalintegration strategy for both Greek tourism and SMTEs should aim to delightconsumers enhance the long-term prosperity of SMTEs and improve the welfareof the host populations The Olympic Games in 2004 offer a unique opportunity toregenerate and rebrand Greek tourism a cause which the entire industry shouldchampion

The AuthorDimitrios Buhalis is Senior Lecturer and course leader MSc in tourism at theUniversity of Surrey He holds a BBA from the University of the Aegean as wellas an MSc and a PhD in tourism management from the University of Surrey Hisresearch interests focus on information systems and technology strategic

474 Current Issues in Tourism

management distribution channels of tourism destination management andplanning and destination integrated computer information reservation manage-ment systems

AcknowledgementsThe author would like to acknowledge Prof C Cooper and Prof J Fletcher for

their invaluable contribution to this research Financial support from the SurreyResearch Group ConTours Consultants as well as field research sponsorshipsby the University of Surrey the Greek National Tourism Organisation and theUniversity of the Aegean are gratefully appreciated

Note1 An earlier version of this paper was published as a monograph PlanningDevelop-

ment by the International Centre for Research and Studies in TourismAix-en-Provence France

CorrespondenceAny correspondence should be directed to Dr Dimitrios Buhalis Senior

Lecturer in Business Information Management SMSSS University of SurreyGuildford GU2 7XH UK (dbuhalissurreyacuk)

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Economy (November) 228ndash38Berry C (1981) The employee as customer Journal of Retail Banking 3 33ndash40Boniface B and Cooper C (1994) The Geography of Travel and Tourism (2nd edn) London

HeinemannBriassoulis H (1993) Tourism in Greece In W Pompl and P Lavery (eds) Tourism in

Europe Structures and Developments (pp285ndash301) Oxford CAB InternationalBuckley P and Papadopoulos S (1986) Marketing Greek tourism The planning process

Tourism Management 7 86ndash100Buhalis D (1991) Strategic marketing and management for the small and medium

tourism enterprises in the periphery of the European Community A case study for theAegean islands in Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Buhalis D (1994) Information and telecommunications technologies as a strategic tool forsmall and medium tourism enterprises in the contemporary business environment InA Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 254ndash75)England J Wiley and Sons

Buhalis D (1995) The impact of information telecommunications technologies on tourismdistribution channels Implications for the small and medium sized tourismenterprisesrsquo strategic management and marketing PhD Dissertation University ofSurrey Guildford

Buhalis D (2000a) Marketing the competitive destination of the future TourismManagement (Special Issue ndash The Competitive Destination) 21 (1) 97ndash116

Buhalis D (2000b) (forthcoming) Athens Tourism-Travel Intelligence LondonBuhalis D (2000c) Relationships in the distribution channel of tourism Conflicts between

hoteliers and tour operators in the Mediterranean region Journal of InternationalHospitality Leisure and Tourism Adminstration 1 (1) 113ndash39

Buhalis D and Diamantis D (2001 forthcoming) Tourism development andsustainability on the Greek archipelagos In G Apostolopoulos and D Ioannides (eds)Tourism in the Mediterranean Routledge

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 475

Buhalis D and Fletcher J (1995) Environmental impacts on tourism destinations Aneconomic analysis In H Coccosis and P Nijkamp (eds) Sustainable Tourism Development(pp 3ndash25) London Avebury

Camison C Bigne E and Monfort VM (1994) The Spanish tourism industry Analysisof its strategies and the efficacy and achievements gained from them In A Seaton et al(eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 442ndash52) England JWiley and Sons

Castelberg-Koulma M (1991) Greek women and tourism Womenrsquos co-operatives as analternative form of organisation In N Redclift and T Sinclair (eds) Working WomenInternational Perspectives on Labour and Gender Ideology (pp 197ndash223) LondonRoutledge

Chitiris L (1991) Hotel Management (in Greek) Athens InterbooksCoccosis H and Parprairis A (1992) Assessing the interactions between environment

and tourism Case study of the island of Mykonos Paper presented in the IV WorldCongress of Regional Science International University of Balearic Islands Palma deMallorca 26ndash9 May

Conway H (1996) Greece Travel Weekly 1308 39ndash43Cooper C and Buhalis D (1992) Strategic management and marketing of small and

medium sized tourism enterprises in the Greek Aegean islands In R Teare D Adamsand S Messenger (eds) Managing Projects in Hospitality Organisations (pp 101ndash25)London Cassell

Daskalantonakis N (1994) Quality ndash The future of tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (3 July)D9

Divanis A (1994b) Tourism policy Left on its own luck (in Greek) XENIA (October)4ndash5

Donatos G and Zairis P (1991) Seasonality of foreign tourism in the Greek islands ofCrete Annals of Tourism Research 18 515ndash19

Douvitsas P (1994) Marketing Greece through British tour operators A futureperspective MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Drakatos C (1987) Seasonal concentration of tourism in Greece Annals of Tourism Research14 582ndash6

EC (1993a) Microeconomic Analysis of the Tourism Sector A study by the pH Group forEuropean Commission DGXXIII (September) Report XXIII30394-EN BrusselsEuropean Commission

EC (1993b) Growth competitiveness employment The challenges and ways forward intothe 21st century Bulletin of the European Communities Supplement 693 (White Paper)Luxembourg

Economist (1993) Last Chance Sisyphus A survey of Greece Economist (22 May) 2ndash22EIU (1986) Greece (pp 45ndash60) International tourist reports National Report No 3EIU (1990) Greece (pp 45ndash62) International tourist reports National Report No 4EIU (1993) Greece ndash Country Profile 1992ndash1993 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEIU (1994) Greece ndash Country Profile 1994ndash1995 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEpilogi (1994) Economic review ndash The Greek Economy 1994 (in Greek) AthensEuromonitor (1992) Tourism in Greece Market Research Europe (25 May) 51ndash63Fayos-Sola E (1992) A Strategic Outlook for Regional Tourism Policy The White Paper

on Valencian Tourism Tourism Management 13 45ndash9Fotis J (1992) Vacational lifestyle segmentation of tourists on the island of Rhodes

Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey GuildfordGilbert D (1984) The need for countries to differentiate their tourist product and how to

do so Seminar papers for Ministers of Tourism and Directors of National TouristOrganisations Tourism Managing for Results University of Surrey Guildford

Gilbert D (1990) Strategic marketing planning for national tourism Tourist Review 45 (1)18ndash27

GNTO (1985a) Survey of attributes of foreign tourists 1984ndash1985 (in Greek) Greek NationalStatistical Services Athens GNTO

476 Current Issues in Tourism

GNTO (1985b) EOT-Tourism rsquo85 Development ndash Participation ndash Quality of Life (in Greek)Greek National Statistical Services Athens GNTO

GNTO (1989a) Annual report 1988 ndash Forecast 89 Towards Quality Athens GNTOGNTO (1989b) The study of tourism promotion With special reference to the measures to

increase Japanese tourists to Greece Draft final report Japan InternationalCooperation Agency

GNTO (1993) Tourism towards the 2000 (in Greek) Greek National Tourism OrganisationAthens GNTO

Hall M (1994) Tourism and Politics Policy Power and Place J Wiley and SonsHorwath (annual) The Greek Hotel Industry (in Greek) Annual reports Pireus HorwathJenner P and Smith C (1993) Tourism in the Mediterranean Research report London

Economist Intelligence UnitJosephides N (1993) Environmental Concern ndash Whatrsquos In It for the Tourism Industry (pp 51ndash6)

Proceedings of the conference Tourism and the environment Challenges and choicesfor the 1990rsquos 16ndash17 November 1992 Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre LondonBrussels European Union

Josephides N (1994) Tourism analysis Presentation in Philoxenia international tourismexhibition Thessaloniki Greece

Josephides N (1995) A sorry state for beautiful Greece Travel Weekly 1261 (5 April)11Kalogeropoulou H (1993) Greece ndash Prospects for the tourism industry within the context

of the European Single Market of 1993 Tourism Review 48 (1) 2ndash4Kassimati K Thanopoulou M and Tsartas P (1994) Womenrsquos Employment in the

Tourist Sector Study of the Greek Labour Market and Identification of Future ProspectsDGV Equal Opportunities Unit Document V40994-EN European CommissionBrussels

Komilis P (1987) Spatial analysis of tourism in Greece (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planningand Economic Research

Komilis P (1992) The spatial structure of tourism and physical planning practices inGreece Paper presented in conference Tourism and environment Issues ofpolicyplanningmanagement 23ndash4 October University of the Aegean Dept ofEnvironment Lesvos

Komilis P (1993) Values in the Tourism Planning and Policy Making Process (pp 224ndash9)Proceedings of the conference Values and the environment 23ndash4 September GuildfordUniversity of Surrey

Komilis P (1994) Tourism and sustainable regional development In A Seaton et al (eds)Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 65ndash73) England JWiley andSons

Konsolas N and Zacharatos G (1993) Regionalization of tourism activity in GreeceProblems and policies In H Briassoulis and J Van der Straaten (eds) Tourism andEnvironment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 57ndash65) Dordrecht Kluer AcademicPublisher

Kousis M (1989) Tourism and the family in a rural Cretan community Annals of TourismResearch 16 318ndash32

Kriebardis S and Marmagiolis I (1990) Tourism Activity in Greece Problems and Perspectives(pp 45ndash54) (in Greek) Economic Report of Commercial Bank AprilndashJune AthensCommercial Bank

Ktenas S (1994) Hoteliers ask for 15 to 20 increases for 1995 (in Greek) TO BHMA (3July) D9

Ktenas S (1996) Crisis in Greek tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (7 April) D16Leontidou L (1991) Greece Prospects and contradictions of tourism in the 1980rsquos In AM

Williams and GJ Shaw (eds) Tourism and Economic Development Western EuropeanExperiences (2nd edn) (pp 94ndash106) London Belhaven Press

Logothetis M (1990) The Economy of Dodekanisos During 1988ndash1989 Developments andPerspectives (in Greek) Rhodes Regional association of municipalities of Dodekanisos

Logothetis M (1992) Touristiki Sigkiria (in Greek) Rhodes Institute of Tourist and HotelResearch

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 477

Loukissas P (1977) The impact of tourism on regional development A comparativeanalysis of the Greek islands PhD Dissertation Cornell University USA

Loukissas P (1982) Tourismrsquos regional development impacts A comparative analysis ofthe Greek islands Annals of Tourism Research 9 523ndash43

Marinos P (1983) Small island tourism-the case of Zakynthos in Greece TourismManagement 4 212ndash15

Moore R (1992) From shepherds to shopkeepers The development of tourism in a centralGreek town PhD Dissertation University of California at Berkeley USA

Moore R (1995) Gender and alcohol use in a Greek tourist town Annals of Tourism Research22 300ndash13

Mourdoukoutas P (1988) Seasonal employment seasonal unemployment andunemployment compensation The case of the tourism industry of the Greek islandsAmerican Journal of Economics and Sociology 47 315ndash29

NSSG (l983) Tourism Statistics 1981 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (l985) Tourism Statistics 1982ndash1983 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1987) Tourism Statistics 1984ndash1985 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1990) Tourism Statistics 1986ndash1987 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1993) Tourism Statistics 1988ndash1990 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceOECD (1992) Greece Tourism Policy and International Tourism in OECD Member Countries (pp

70ndash8) Paris OECDOttaway M (1992) Turtle power Sunday Times Travel and Style (28 June)Ottaway M (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 1 Sunday Times (17 January)

57ndash59Panagiotopoulou R (1990) The problem and perspectives of the European insular regions

(in Greek) Working paper University of the Aegean ChiosPapadimitris G (1988) Short run and long run prospects of the Greek tourism industry

PhD Dissertation University of Manchester ManchesterPapadopoulos S (1985) An economic analysis of foreign tourism in Greece An

examination of the growth and structure of foreign tourism to Greece 1960ndash1984 with aplanning model and marketing policy recommendations PhD Thesis University ofBradford Management Centre Bradford

Papadopoulos S (1987) Strategic marketing techniques in international tourismInternational Marketing Review (summer) 71ndash84

Papadopoulos S (1988a) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (1) 29ndash30

Papadopoulos S (1988b) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (2) 24ndash7

Papadopoulos S (1989) Greek marketing strategies in the Europe tourism market ServiceIndustries Journal 9 297ndash314

Papadopoulos S and Mirza H (1985) Foreign tourism in Greece An economic analysisTourism Management 6 125ndash37

Papandropoulos A (1995) The crisis in tourism is evident (in Greek) OikonomikosTachydromos (29 June) 26ndash8

Papanikos G (1999) The year 2004 olympic games and their influence upon the Greektourism (in Greek) ITEP (Research Institute for Tourism) Athens

Paulopoulos P (1999) The Size and Dynamics of the Tourism Sector (in Greek) ResearchInstitute for Tourism Athens

Peterson C (1990) Greece tackles overbuilding in tourism areas EnvironmentalConservation 17 166ndash8

Plevris V (1995) Alarm bells from the Hellenic Federation of Hotels (in Greek) XENIA128 (May) 6ndash7

Poon A (1987) Information technology and innovation in international tourism ndashimplications for the Caribbean tourism industry PhD thesis Science Policy ResearchUnit University of Sussex Brighton

Poon A (1988) Flexible specialisation and small size ndash the case of Caribbean tourism DRCDiscussion Paper 57 SPRU Brighton University of Sussex

478 Current Issues in Tourism

Poon A (1989) Competitive strategies for new tourism In C Cooper (ed) Progress inTourism Recreation and Hospitality Management (vol 1) (pp 91ndash102) London BelhavenPress

Poon A (1990) Flexible specialisation at small size The case of Caribbean tourism WorldDevelopment 18 109ndash23

Poon A (1993) Tourism Technology and Competitive Strategies Oxford CAB InternationalPorter M (1980) Competitive Strategy Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors

New York Free PressPorter M (1985) Competitive Advantage Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance New

York Free PressPorter M (1990) The Competitive Advantage of Nations New York Free PressPrurier E Sweeney A and Geen A (1993) Tourism and the environment The case of

Zakynthos Tourism Management 14 137ndash9Psoinos P (1994a) Research on the foreign touristsrsquo attributes in Greece (in Greek) Athens

Greek National Tourism OrganisationPsoinos P (1994b) Research on the attributes of foreigners who have never visited Greece (in

Greek) Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationRichter-Papaconstantinou C (1992) Tourism development of Rhodes Cahiers du Tourisme

(Serie B) 67 Aix en Provence Centre des Hautes Eacutetudes TouristiquesRomanos A (1998) Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites (in Greek) Athens

Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites SASETE (1993) Tourism Developments and problems (in Greek) Athens Association of Greek

Tourism EnterprisesSezer H and Harrison A (1994) Tourism in Greece and Turkey An economic view for

planners In A Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposiumpp74ndash84 England Wiley and Sons

Skoulas N (1985) Holidays and travel in the year 2035 ndash Contribution of the NationalTourist Organisation of Greece SDI Schriftey Wirtschafts und Unternehmenspolitik 40181ndash99

Skoulas N (1994) Quality improvement of tourism services (in Greek) Paper presentedin the conference Competitiveness of tourism enterprises ndash the role of quality 1 AprilHoliday Inn Athens Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises

Smith C and Jenner P (1995) Greece International Tourism Reports 3 5ndash21Stavrou S (1978) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Kos Island (in Greek) Research and

Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationStavrou S (1979) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Mykonos and Naxos Islands (in

Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1980) Research on Tourism Awareness on the Islands Kalymnos and Leros (in Greek)Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1984) Tourism Development in Greece during 1969ndash1982 (in Greek) Research andDevelopment Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986a) Research for the Characteristics of Foreign Tourist Demand in Greece in theYears 8485 (in Greek) Research Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1986b) Research on the Tourism Awareness on Paros Santorini Kythira Islands (inGreek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986c) Critical Review of Tourism Activity in the Years 8385 (in Greek) Researchand Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1988) Tourism in the Northern Aegean Islands Presentation of GNTO for the TourismDevelopment of the Periphery (in Greek) Proceedings of the first conference for thedevelopment of the Northern Aegean islands Homereum cultural centre Chios 11November Chios Periphery of Northern Aegean islands

Stavrou S (1989a) GNTO Presentation for the Tourism Development Possibilities for theSouthern Aegean Islands (in Greek) Conference for the development of Southern Aegean

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 479

islands Syros 30 September ndash 2 OctoberStavrou S (1989b) The Contribution of the Development Law 126282 in the Development of the

Country (in Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A5 Athens GreekNational Tourism Organisation

Stereopoulos N (1995) It is regarded ideal it became problematic (in Greek) OikonomikosTachidromos (21 December) 151ndash3

Touloupas P (1996) Greece as a tourist destination for the British tour operators Ananalysis from a marketing perspective in the particular context of the United KingdomMSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Tourismos ke Oikonomia (1993) 20 years 1973ndash1993 (in Greek) Special Issue AthensTourismos ke Oikonomia (1994) ICAP tourism enterprises Drastic reduction of loses in 1993

(in Greek) December 14ndash15Touristiki Agora (various issues) (Monthly tourism industry periodical in Greek) Business

Press AthensTruett D and Truett L (1987) The response of tourism to international economic

conditions Greece Mexico and Spain Journal of Developing Areas 21 177ndash90Tsartas P (1989) Socioeconomic Impacts of Tourism Development in Cyclades Region with Special

Reference on Ios and Serifos Islands During 1950ndash1980 (in Greek) Athens National Centrefor Social Research

Tsartas P (1992) Socioeconomic impacts of tourism on two Greek isles Annals of TourismResearch 19 516ndash33

Van Den Bergh J (1993) Tourism development and natural environment Aneconomicndashecological model for the Sporades islands In H Briassoulis and J Van DerStraaten (eds) Tourism and Environment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 67ndash83)Dordrecht Kluer Academic Publishers

Velissariou E (1991) Die Wirtschaftlichen Effekte des Tourismus Dargestell am Beispiel Kretas(The Economic Impacts of Tourism on Crete) PhD Dissertation University of MunichFrankfurt Peter Lang

Vernikos N (1987) The study of Mediterranean small islands Emerging theoreticalissues Ekistics 54 (323ndash4) 101ndash9

Wanhill S (1993) Government organisations In C Cooper J Fletcher D Gilbert and SWanhill (eds) Tourism Principle and Practice (pp 145ndash60) London Pitman

Wickens D (1994) Consumption of the authentic The hedonistic tourist in Greece In ASeaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 819ndash25)England JWiley and Sons

Wickens E (2000) Rethinking touristsrsquo experiences In M Robinson et al (eds) MotivationsBehaviour and Tourist Types (pp 455ndash72) Business Education Publishers Sunderland

Wickers D (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 2 Sunday Times 57ndash510Wilkinson PF (1989) Strategies for tourism in islands microstates Annals of Tourism

Research 16 153ndash77XENIA (various issues) (Monthly bulletin of the Greek Hotel Chamber in Greek) AthensZacharatos G (1984) Tourismus und Wirtschafts-Struktur Dargestellt am Beispiel

Griechenlands Europaische Hochschulschriften Reihex Band 7 Frankfurt am MainZacharatos G (1986) Tourism consumption (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planning and

Economic ResearchZacharatos G (1988) The simplistic empiricism Tourism policy and the time of crisis

(1992) (in Greek) Sychrona Themata 11 (May) 21ndash6Zacharatos G (1989) The problems and perspectives of tourism in Greece (in Greek) In H

Katsoulis T Giannitsis and P Kazakos (eds) Politics and Society Economy and ForeignRelationships (pp 273ndash89) Athens Papazisis

Zacharatos G (1993) The necessity of multimedia use in the tourism education in Greece(in Greek) Paper presented at the international conference Overcomingisolation-telematics and regional development University of the Aegean Chios 30April ndash 2 May

480 Current Issues in Tourism

Page 4: Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challengescore.ac.uk/download/pdf/101686.pdf · Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challenges Dimitrios Buhalis School of Management

handicraft and other industries without tourism demand Consequently in theperiod 1965ndash1980 the tourism output multiplier in Greece was estimated to be 152(Zacharatos 1989 281) Domestic tourism also facilitates a certain degree of redis-tribution of wealth between metropolitan and peripheral regions Not only wasthe emigration pace from the islands diminished especially of young people butalso a trend for rehabitation on the islands has been evident in the last decade asnew job opportunities have emerged (Panagiotopoulou 1990 10 Loukissas 1982537) Tourism also stimulates seasonal migration of professionals in several desti-nations who work at the region for several months every year (Logothetis 199023) Tourism is also a major employer as it is estimated that employment in the tour-ism sector is 10 (61 direct employment and 39 indirect) of the total employ-ment in Greece (wwwgntogr 12 October 2000) Paulopoulos (1999) estimates atotal of 690000 people to be employed in tourism if we include people indirectlyinvolved with tourism with 35 employed yearly 40 for 6ndash8 months and 25only during the peak season for 2ndash3 months About 74 of the labour is employedin accommodation establishments 21 in travel agencies transportation and thepublic sector while a further 5 is occupied in sea transportation (Stereopoulos1995 153) Job opportunities are provided mainly for young people and forwomen who are often self-employed within their household (Kassimati et al 1994Kousis 1989 328) However tourismrsquos contribution to employment is jeopar-dised as increasingly the industry is using self-catering and self-serviced accom-modation and catering (Zacharatos 1989 284)

In reality the contribution of tourism to the Greek economy is substantiallygreater as the official figures ignore the lsquopara-economyrsquo (black or parallel econ-omy) estimated to be as high as 28ndash50 of the official GDP (EIU 1993 25 EIU1990 47) Tourism being a seasonal activity often complements other economicactivities such as agriculture and education and therefore para-economy in tour-ism is even greater than other industries Para-economy includes both interna-tional transfers of funds for tourism products offered within the country as well asthe illegal export of tourism foreign exchange which is re-exported without beingprocessed through the Greek economic system As a result the real impacts oftourism in the economy are largely unknown (Zacharatos 1988 1989)

Where Are We Now Situation Analysis The Greek TourismIndustry and its Competitiveness

The contribution of Greek tourism to the national economy demonstrates themagnitude and complexity of the industry Following a brief demand analysisan examination of tourism supply is undertaken whilst a strengthsndashweak-nessesndashopportunitiesndashthreats (SWOT) analysis demonstrates the competitive-ness of both destination and its SMTEs In addition the paper elaborates on awide range of structural problems and illustrates their effects on the profitabilityof the private sector and on the impacts of tourism at the destination

Tourism demand for GreeceGreece has enjoyed a continuous growth in arrivals since the early 1950s

Despite the lack of any comprehensive tourism demand analysis undertaken bythe GNTO several research documents address the tourism-demand issue for

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 443

Greece (Psoinos 1994a 1994b GNTO 1985a Tourismos ke Oikonomia 1993NSSG 1983 1985 1987 1990 1993 Stavrou 1984 1986a 1986c) In 1950 33333foreign tourists passed the borders while this figure rose to almost 11 million in1999 as illustrated in Table 1 Greece comes in the 17th place in the world classifi-cation of tourist destinations There is a concentration in the summer months asin the last ten years in 375 of arrivals were in July and August while the periodMay to September attracted 74 of total arrivals This is clearly reflected on thebednights as illustrated on Table 2 Most visitors (932) originate from Europeand 702 from the EU especially British Germans Swedish Finnish Dutch andAustrians Hence these nationalities are the dominant markets with the Britishand Germans contributing almost half of all arrivals as illustrated in Table 3About 777 came by plane and 605 by chartered flights Although tourismarrivals in Greece were forecasted to reach 20 million by the year 2000 (Jenner ampSmith 1993 161) this was not achieved as a result of increasing competition andincompetent management in both the public and private sectors

In 1999 about 60 million bednights were recorded in all types of accommoda-tion establishments 75 of which were by international tourists Similar to arriv-als the vast majority of the bednights spent in the country were by Europeansespecially British Germans Swedish Finnish Dutch and Austrians Hence thesenationalities are the dominant markets accounting for more than three-quarters ofthe bednights with the British and Germans contributing almost half of allbednights Domestic tourism is also a significant contributor More than 75 oftourists arrived in Greece by air and 58 of the total arrived on charter flightsbecause of the distance from the country of departure In 1985 about 89 of tour-istsrsquo arrivals to Greece were holiday-makers while only 7 travelled for business2 for other reasons and 1 were in transit About 53 of the tourists arriving in1985 had bought an inclusive tour package (GNTO 1985a 8) The inconvenienceof indirect transportation schedules large differentials in charges for groups andindividual customers by accommodation establishments lack of informationabout the Greek tourism product as well as insufficient marketing by SMTEshave enabled tour operators to act as intermediates between consumers and prin-cipals and to play a dominant role in the tourism industry However the develop-ment of the Internet enables prospective visitors to pre-book their packagesindependently and to use cheaper non-frills airlines and leisure fares of scheduleairlines for their transportation

The country has cultural attractions and heritage few other destinations canequal and therefore it can respond to the lsquonew era of tourismrsquo where a greaterdegree of individuality and sophistication will be required by consumers In 1998the average length of stay in the country was 14 days while the average expendi-ture per capita reached a level of $456 Similar results emerged in recent researchalthough the location of the data collection produced a sample containing a higherpercentage of business travellers (Psoinos 1994a 62)

Despite research on motivation attitudes and satisfaction of tourists arriving inGreece being inadequate a few typologies have emerged Fotis (1992 83ndash86) classi-fied holiday-makers in Rhodes in four main categories lsquotranquillersrsquo seeking quietand relaxing holidays lsquoculturersrsquo who include a strong educational and historicalelement in their holidays lsquobudgetersrsquo who are predominately budget-constrainedfamilies and young lsquonightlifersrsquo enjoying nightlife entertainment Similarly

444 Current Issues in Tourism

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 445

Table 1 Tourism demand and supply figures for Greece during the period 1950ndash1995

Year Arrivals Bednights Bedcapacity

Expenditure(million $)

Expenditureper capita

1950 33333 ndash ndash 4735 1421951 40568 ndash ndash 5933 1461952 68184 ndash ndash 9583 1411953 94410 ndash ndash 22721 2411954 157618 1273105 ndash 25321 1611955 195852 1351312 ndash 29123 1491956 218301 1594088 ndash 31213 1521957 261738 2041096 ndash 41374 1661958 276534 2069722 ndash 36196 1421959 339802 2552271 ndash 41667 1381960 399438 2963478 ndash 49260 1411961 494191 3934522 57022 62469 1421962 597924 4921803 60945 75986 1401963 741193 6129500 65604 95415 1421964 757495 5102121 71741 90800 1351965 976125 6158300 78487 107575 1271966 1131730 8810300 85323 143458 1441967 996473 ndash 90362 126768 1491968 1017621 ndash 98631 120263 1371969 1305951 6212000 108180 140470 1311970 1609210 7683639 118859 193556 1551971 2257994 11224000 135103 305299 1711972 2731587 14687325 151420 392700 1761973 3177682 15698030 166552 514900 1971974 2188304 10214164 175161 436600 2531975 3172968 13574801 185275 643600 2441976 4243563 19202614 213431 823700 2251977 4597354 18714446 231797 980600 2481978 5081033 22259598 247040 1326300 2931979 5798360 26672482 265550 1662300 3181980 5271115 27170344 278045 1733500 3611981 5577109 28171610 285860 1881000 3691982 5463060 29954664 301230 1527200 3031983 5258372 27216605 317920 1175700 2461984 6027266 32821789 333820 1312800 2381985 7039428 35709851 348170 1428000 2171986 7339015 35450027 359380 1834200 2611987 8053052 35755308 375370 2268100 2971988 8351182 36000000 395810 2396100 3051989 8540962 34157667 423790 1976000 2451990 9310492 36289604 438360 2575000 2901991 8271258 29873046 459300 2566100 319

Wickens (1994 819 and 2000) classified tourists arriving in Pefkochori as lsquocul-tural heritagersquo type interested in the natural beauties of Greece as well as itsculture and history lsquoraversrsquo attracted by the cheapness of the resort particularlythe cheapness and availability of alcohol as well as the sun beach and nightlifelsquoShirley Valentinesrsquo who are women on a mono-gender holiday who hope forromance and sexual adventure with a lsquoGreek Godrsquo based on the Greek malestereotype which has been perpetuated by newspapers and the film ShirleyValentine lsquoheliolatrousrsquo tourists who are sun-worshippers trying indefatigablyto change their colour and finally lsquoLord Byronsrsquo who undertake an annual ritualreturn to the same destination and experience the real flavour of Greek hospital-ity and ambience Although these typologies provide an initial demand profilethe strategic analysis and the positioning of the Greek tourism product will beimpossible without further research undertaken on the characteristics needsmotivations and behaviour of tourists

446 Current Issues in Tourism

Year Arrivals Bednights Bedcapacity

Expenditure(million $)

Expenditureper capita

1992 9756012 36260299 475800 3268400 3501993 9913267 36747968 499606 3335200 3541994 11301722 40657544 486518 3904900 3461995 10658114 38889975 534703 4294000 4031996 9782061 47945506 550692 3723100 3811997 10588489 53364507 560957 3772200 3561998 11363822 56549442 577759 5186100 4561999 10970665 60256902 584714 NA NA

Source Adapted from the Greek National Tourism Organisation and National Statistical Service ofGreece

Table 2 Nights spent by foreign tourists and Greek nationals in hotels and similarestablishments by month

Month Year Variation

1996 1997 1998 1999 9796 9897 9998January 867638 946798 1005719 1066084 912 622 600February 928305 933592 998977 1060008 057 700 611March 1250226 1369751 1273310 1448624 956 ndash704 1377April 2766116 2822243 2905546 2864693 203 295 ndash141May 5258710 5923093 6229116 6617666 1263 517 624June 6405495 7075829 7530343 8342167 1046 642 1078July 7965179 9003064 9872757 10723835 1303 966 862August 9551439 10878827 11661790 11805077 1390 720 123September 6993686 7822329 8224367 8756290 1185 514 647October 4113665 4419861 4640619 5234218 744 499 1279November 1032350 1113342 1175950 1245219 785 562 589December 812697 1055778 1030948 1093021 2991 ndash235 602Total 47945506 53364507 56549442 60256902 1130 597 656

Source Greek National Tourism Organisation and National Statistical Service of Greece

Table 1 (cont) Tourism demand and supply figures for Greece during the period1950ndash1995

Tab

le 3

Arr

ival

s of

for

eign

tou

rist

s at

fron

tier

s by

cit

izen

ship

199

1ndash19

99

Cou

ntry

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

19

99

238

453

128

211

191

619

298

843

586

182

673

061

Au

stri

a28

831

734

525

928

863

634

809

134

730

135

960

438

811

845

019

550

160

2B

elgi

um

-Lu

xem

bou

rg17

975

422

509

922

403

626

514

824

557

221

356

722

931

027

367

433

291

3B

ulg

aria

157

910

140

725

144

534

133

764

136

504

154

765

182

338

197

347

202

848

Fran

ce47

094

554

222

255

464

461

856

555

179

846

273

242

667

848

620

154

598

1G

erm

any

156

111

31

944

704

206

937

92

404

628

227

291

11

907

863

199

467

02

136

515

245

013

7Fo

rmer

Yu

gosl

avia

518

644

934

1319

179

227

930

127

034

724

717

1Y

ugo

slav

ia27

089

426

076

423

149

619

899

920

163

310

307

7Fy

rom

37

809

586

911

128

051

Den

mar

k21

188

328

123

525

362

231

888

532

436

929

895

934

426

129

253

233

624

8Sw

itze

rlan

d12

624

116

312

616

499

919

332

725

907

225

642

529

573

128

938

730

813

8U

K1

674

875

215

485

02

191

347

241

862

82

224

885

168

799

91

711

942

204

424

32

433

033

Irel

and

440

8557

885

627

8069

928

622

5254

050

454

0944

524

486

49Sp

ain

104

655

119

964

118

967

122

773

949

2079

717

713

1496

905

992

88It

aly

517

145

622

619

625

509

722

652

643

473

491

081

533

303

659

688

745

915

Cyp

rus

104

041

107

029

904

1292

372

980

5985

893

131

441

126

992

139

386

Nor

way

683

9695

898

102

452

143

257

142

013

157

722

160

457

226

282

269

419

Net

herl

and

s45

006

554

618

751

087

255

659

350

561

645

217

946

414

454

833

961

680

7H

ung

ary

107

685

107

403

739

9910

510

291

170

113

657

145

192

186

147

123

280

Ukr

ain

e10

742

106

5212

942

270

1728

084

328

43R

uss

ia10

147

412

918

418

056

020

079

412

741

710

491

0P

olan

d47

535

437

8834

292

310

1849

665

889

4710

179

312

264

711

515

2P

ortu

gal

165

8626

245

209

1921

581

208

5815

856

131

2513

713

210

34R

oman

ia17

919

196

8318

862

254

7438

868

510

1251

854

634

3972

689

Swed

en26

194

631

425

131

703

038

763

945

927

644

825

747

248

146

761

746

879

3C

zech

oslo

vaki

a13

012

919

158

589

642

Cze

ch R

epu

blic

788

4610

788

217

708

717

406

817

809

417

450

8Sl

ovak

ia15

102

135

3628

431

303

8355

291

462

17

Current Issues in Tourism 447

Cou

ntry

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

19

99

Fin

lan

d21

613

117

209

911

651

813

743

410

255

312

083

714

846

114

933

718

897

1O

ther

Eu

rop

ean

809

9510

439

420

537

325

209

328

8280

128

575

4134

967

370

63T

otal

EU

485

017

46

521

010

663

629

17

519

381

785

578

46

592

701

684

321

67

663

483

878

937

1T

otal

Eu

rop

e7

356

995

841

966

38

470

616

986

5986

936

382

98

419

060

927

776

210

174

303

113

200

13Ja

pan

579

0210

968

089

907

953

6789

457

871

3585

029

871

3083

971

Isra

el36

989

350

6545

815

414

0554

264

749

8082

386

894

0215

498

7L

eban

on

Syri

a15

637

159

2214

924

139

7415

651

183

5716

165

177

9818

347

Tu

rkey

535

3173

650

149

390

733

8849

018

474

1644

741

698

7580

502

Iran

422

66

794

761

56

458

596

05

319

373

03

848

380

9O

ther

Mid

dle

Eas

t5

474

804

88

014

562

37

919

124

108

300

638

27

854

Oth

er A

sian

448

5955

467

545

0663

611

111

547

167

380

145

515

841

3984

806

Tot

al A

sia

218

618

304

626

370

171

998

2633

381

641

299

738

586

635

857

443

427

6E

gyp

tSu

dan

200

2019

525

196

0918

540

214

4919

865

193

6317

604

240

45So

uth

Afr

ica

135

2716

944

146

8712

559

120

628

909

874

87

339

101

96O

ther

Afr

ica

179

4814

660

142

4212

145

151

7514

797

143

2413

795

137

99T

otal

Afr

ica

514

9551

129

485

3843

244

486

8643

571

424

3538

738

480

40A

rgen

tina

509

28

655

879

411

530

970

38

176

440

84

238

508

9B

razi

l8

523

899

98

555

107

4410

851

966

18

062

629

94

531

Mex

ico

364

26

535

533

65

318

453

93

385

225

82

052

420

0U

SA80

429

278

941

256

719

270

777

239

684

222

130

240

555

219

362

229

314

Can

ada

471

0159

807

514

7256

650

503

0943

966

477

2250

512

516

80O

ther

Am

eric

an10

983

152

5412

468

904

38

694

108

2611

052

904

410

447

Tot

al A

mer

ica

255

770

378

191

343

344

364

062

323

780

298

144

314

057

291

507

305

261

Au

stra

lia66

566

696

5856

064

615

5654

453

543

1146

692

427

9650

516

Oth

er O

cean

ic8

489

803

56

930

726

85

613

521

23

513

101

285

982

Tot

al O

cean

ia75

055

776

9362

994

688

2460

066

595

2350

205

529

2456

498

Form

er U

SSR

781

9410

005

811

716

0T

otal

803

612

79

331

360

941

282

310

641

942

101

301

779

233

295

100

703

2510

916

046

216

408

8C

ruis

es23

513

142

465

250

044

458

891

258

196

854

876

651

816

444

777

644

184

0G

ran

d to

tal

827

125

89

756

012

991

326

711

230

854

107

121

459

782

061

105

884

8911

363

822

126

059

28

Fo

rmer

Yu

gosl

av R

epu

blic

of

Mac

edon

iaSo

urce

Gre

ek N

atio

nal

Tou

rism

Org

anis

atio

n a

nd N

atio

nal S

tati

stic

al S

ervi

ce o

f G

reec

e

448 Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges

Tourism supply in Greek tourismA modern industry has emerged since the 1950s to cater for the tourism

demand The Greek tourism product is an amalgam of natural cultural and heri-tage attractions spread throughout the country as well as a wide variety of servicesoffered predominantly by SMTEs Moreover 15000 miles of coastline 2500islands an average of 300 sunny days annually a unique fauna and flora as well asclimatic superiority with mild winters and warm summers are some of its naturalattractions The Greek civilisation of more than 3500 years also provides plentifulcultural heritage throughout the country Some rsquo25000 registered and protectedmonuments and archaeological sites numerous museums and about 500 charac-teristic traditional settlementsrsquo offer a unique blend of tourist attractions (Buckleyamp Papadopoulos 1986 96 EIU 1986) As far as amenities are concerned a plethoraof SMTEs provide the entire variety of services

In January 2000 a total of 8100 official accommodation establishments with atotal capacity of almost 600000 beds are provided in different categories asdemonstrated in Table 4 Another 450000 beds are provided by some 28000secondary accommodation establishments such as lsquorooms to letrsquo and self-cateringapartments often referred to as lsquoparahoteleriarsquo In addition 11000 beds in cruiseliners and 12000 in yachts as well as 329 camping sites with 30354 pitches and83000 camping spaces accommodate all types of demand (GNTO) Eurostat esti-mates that about 20000 restaurants operate in Greece while a countless number ofcatering and entertainment establishments are on offer Furthermore some 7000travel agencies 1500 coach rental and 4000 car rental firms are estimated to operatethroughout the country (EC 1993a)

Accessibility is facilitated through 32 airports most of which can receive directinternational charter flights An extensive domestic scheduled flights network isprovided by Olympic Airways as well as by newly established private carrierswhich take advantage of the increasingly deregulated skies The proliferation ofprivate airlines (eg Aegean Cronus Axon Air Greece) during the last five yearsand the price wars with the state-owned Olympic Airways have increased bothdomestic and international traffic Moreover a complex network of sea road andrail transport enables passenger transportation throughout the country(Briassoulis 1993 291) During the last decade there has been a remarkableimprovement to the quality and ability of vessels as the Greek shipping industryprepares for the lifting of cabotage in 2002 which will enable European shippinglines to operate on Greek routes However recent tragedies involving olderGreek ferries pressurised the Ministry of Merchant Marine to take action in orderto improve the safety and security of the vessels and to ensure the adequate train-ing of crews In addition Piraeus port needs the development of a modernpassenger terminal to provide adequate service

Unfortunately the Greek infrastructure is incapable of supporting the tourismsuperstructure growth of the last decades and thus telecommunications transpor-tation police and health services water supply and sewage systems are underextreme pressure in the summer peak months to satisfy the demand density(Konsolas amp Zacharatos 1993 63 and EIU 1990 61) Nevertheless during the lastdecade several major projects have been initiated including the Metro and the newairport in Athens a wide network of motorways and the gradual development of

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 449

Tab

le 4

Acc

omm

odat

ion

esta

blis

hm

ent b

y re

gion

and

cat

egor

y in

199

9

Tot

alLu

xury

A C

ateg

ory

B C

ateg

ory

Reg

ion

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Ster

ea1

236

493

9892

877

225

368

101

4480

780

514

644

191

120

5722

605

Pel

opon

isos

660

230

1043

846

466

11

377

554

889

925

012

96

825

130

22Io

nio

595

332

8663

683

61

340

255

378

930

817

911

139

894

617

107

Ipir

os24

24

868

938

51

5411

611

446

884

381

478

284

4N

orth

ern

Aeg

ean

550

108

7220

792

450

11

090

231

364

257

498

374

97

125

Cre

te1

214

604

8911

396

021

508

510

034

166

188

9335

608

263

139

9826

904

Dod

ekan

isa

887

545

0710

436

68

324

26

227

127

224

8442

924

201

106

0120

161

Cyc

lad

es73

718

406

352

483

176

341

963

108

587

014

03

824

731

7T

hes

saly

575

119

9522

939

439

978

150

150

52

980

672

626

494

9M

aced

onia

983

335

1372

943

41

046

184

255

231

913

698

168

100

3619

140

Th

race

702

470

467

50

00

418

134

522

110

22

103

Tot

al7

749

302

814

584

714

7717

872

345

0574

572

302

146

688

145

675

242

143

277

C C

ateg

ory

D C

ateg

ory

E C

ateg

ory

Reg

ion

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Ster

ea60

318

193

339

6519

43

712

703

814

62

263

448

1P

elop

onis

os32

68

818

166

4894

135

02

625

4246

792

4Io

nio

380

119

2822

722

571

114

212

136

650

126

9Ip

iros

992

362

451

519

356

682

1417

234

4N

orth

ern

Aeg

ean

199

442

78

400

2840

477

333

427

830

Cre

te67

820

123

369

0397

163

12

995

5175

91

516

Dod

ekan

isa

495

163

7530

686

611

076

293

956

729

142

9C

ycla

des

367

835

715

977

100

152

22

922

104

141

92

821

Th

essa

ly24

15

723

107

7853

962

186

159

780

159

0M

aced

onia

491

124

0723

497

351

687

013

066

6083

51

700

Th

race

2886

81

614

1125

949

35

6012

0T

otal

390

710

958

120

570

51

065

192

5637

515

606

856

117

024

Sour

ce G

NT

O D

ept o

f Acc

omm

odat

ion

Est

abli

shm

ents

450 Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges

the railtrack These developments will change the entire infrastructure of thecountry

The implementation of the Greek national tourism policy is supervised by theGreek National Tourism Organisation (GNTO) and the Ministry of TourismThe two organisations share the responsibilities for planning implementationand promotion of Greek tourism at national and regional level as well as coordi-nating the involvement of the public and private sectors in all tourism activitiesPublic investment in commercial facilities was utilised in the early days ofGreek tourism to stimulate both tourism demand and the private sectorrsquos confi-dence to invest The GNTO operates 21 regional and 25 overseas offices in 18countries worldwide (Konsolas amp Zacharatos 1993 59 Leontidou 1991Briassoulis 1993)

The Greek tourism product is distributed to the international market predomi-nantly through European tour operators which organise package holidays andinclude resorts in their programmes Some 800 tour operators distribute the Greektourism product More than 7000 incoming travel agencies often act as tour opera-torsrsquo handling agencies while providing a variety of tourism services such asorganisation of excursions currency exchange and accommodation bookingsdirectly to consumers They usually participate in negotiations between tour oper-ators and accommodation establishments as well as cooperate with tour operatorsrsquorepresentatives at destinations In addition the GNTO operates several informa-tion offices at major resorts whilst several local authorities provide tourist infor-mation as well as distribute promotional material and make local bookings Theglobal GNTO network distributes information material to potential tourists aswell as undertakes all the marketing and public relations functions both for indi-vidual and institutional customers

SWOT analysis for Greek tourism and small and medium-sized tourismenterprises

A SWOT analysis is undertaken for the Greek tourism as well as its SMTEs inorder to assess their present and projected competitiveness based on strategicmanagement research undertaken for the Aegean islands (Buhalis 1991 Cooperamp Buhalis 1992) The interrelations between SMTEs and destinations are quiteapparent illustrating that a destinationsrsquo weaknesses and threats are reflected inthe SMTEsrsquo competitiveness and vice versa As illustrated in Table 5 the SWOTanalysis concentrates on the strategic rather than operational strengths andweaknesses of SMTEs

As far as strengths of the Greek tourism and SMTEs are concerned their flexi-bility and ability to tailor products to consumersrsquo needs are of great importanceto their existence SMTEs can identify profitable niches in the market establishtheir requirements and attempt to satisfy specialised needs Direct control byentrepreneurs permits quick and efficient managerial reaction to external chal-lenges Fewer hierarchical levels facilitate closer and more effective control overthe service delivery process enabling personal services to customers In addi-tion archaeological heritage natural and cultural resources as well as the localcharacter are also significant assets As a result tourists benefit from localresources which are ideally situated to offer special-interest holidays SMTEsalso capitalise on personal relationships with consumers suppliers labour and

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 451

the entire tourism industry in general Their size enables the provision of apersonal finish to all products provided while it is not unusual for customers tobecome friends and to be treated accordingly Similarly strong relations withemployees support labour loyalty and low turnover The proprietorrsquos family isnormally directly involved with every aspect of the business reacting efficientlyand promptly to any problem arising Their involvement in running the enter-prise provides considerable benefits especially in having a very flexiblemulti-skilled and dedicated workforce which tolerates unsociable workingschedules Family members feel committed to the long-term prosperity of theenterprise and often do not distinguish between their professional and familylife Thus a better matching between tourism demand and SMTEsrsquo supply isachieved

A close-up of the weaknesses of Greek tourism and SMTEs is critical for under-standing the ability of the industry to compete in the global tourism arenaAlthough entrepreneurs are normally an asset it seems that a number of manage-

452 Current Issues in Tourism

Table 5 Greek tourism and SMTEsrsquo SWOT analysis

Strengths

Flexibility

Tailor-made product delivery

Entrepreneurial activity

Family involvement

Natural and cultural resources

Strong local character

Personalised relationships

Labour loyalty and low turnover

Weaknesses

Management

Marketing

Information technologies illiteracy

Dependence upon tour operators

Supporting markets

Lack of economies of scale

Human resources management

Education and training

Transportation and accessibility

Financial management and resources

Seasonality

Lack of standardisation

Lack of quality assurances

Opportunities

European Union support

European redistribution of labour

Increase in tourism demand size

Trends in tourism demand

Low cost of living in periphery

Information technology

Infrastructure development

Transportation

Olympic Games

Threats

Environmental degradation

Concentration and globalisation

Oversupply

Lack of visibility in CRSs

Infrastructure

Warsterrorism

Political intervention

Source Adapted from Buhalis 1991 60c and Cooper and Buhalis 1992 108

rial problems often arise Lack of strategic and operational managementknow-how generates inconsistency in the creation and delivery of tourism prod-ucts This has direct implications for consumersrsquo satisfaction and the projectedimage of the industry There is often a complete lack of strategic vision and enter-prises are often treated as an extension of proprietorsrsquo domestic environmentEntrepreneurs recruit family members and relatives as personnel and supplierseven though more appropriatequalified alternatives can be found in the market-place Therefore the management of SMTEs clearly projects the proprietorrsquosfamily life-style and decision-making processes onto an enterprise Marketing isanother significant weakness for most entrepreneurs and Greek resorts as they areoften completely unaware of the techniques available and thus follow a prod-uct-oriented rather than a consumer-orientated approach Consequently uncoor-dinated isolated trouble-shooting marketing activities are occasionallyundertaken rather than a consistent and well-planned marketing campaign Lackof marketing research debilitates knowledge of consumersrsquo needs and makes itdifficult to identify methods for improving services in order to meet consumersrsquoexpectations Inability to finance and execute advertising campaigns and otherpromotional techniques reduces their visibility in their markets These weak-nesses in combination with the fact that many entrepreneurs are unfamiliar withinformation technology (IT) add to the problems of SMTEs in promoting them-selves effectively Consequently both Greek SMTEs and destinations sufferfrom over-dependence on the tourism distribution channels to promote anddistribute their product In particular intermediaries and especially tour opera-tors have enormous power within the channel and are capable of determiningthe Greek tourism product marketing distribution and pricing mixes (Buhalis1995) Hence the marketing campaign and the visibility of Greek tourism to itsmain target markets are often determined by the coverage space photographsand description in tour operatorsrsquo brochures European tour operators alsocontrol accessibility to Mediterranean or long-haul destinations as they ownmost charter airlines which provide direct and inexpensive flights to these desti-nations

As most resorts are located in peripheral areas there is usually little economicdevelopment in the supplying sectors Therefore remote destinations have toimport essential raw and construction materials from elsewhere while SMTEsoften face transportation delivery and purchasing problems and excessivetransportation costs Moreover lack of economies of scale in purchasing rawmaterial low bargaining power and lack of advanced facilities are additionaloperational disadvantages This essentially means that SMTEs have to payhigher prices for products than their larger counterparts Lack of specialisedpersonnel and inadequate training procedures mean that human resourcesmanagement is a major weakness of Greek tourism In most SMTEs personnelhave to cover a wide range of positions a loose job description is usuallyprovided and multi-skilled personnel are required The labour turnover due tothe seasonality of the tourism industry reduces the availability of qualified andexperienced personnel and makes tourism product delivery not only variablebut also unprofessional The small size of operation provides little opportunityfor the division of tasks professional employees and proper training Since noquality standards are introduced service delivery varies according to the occu-

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 453

pancy service provider and timing Transportation and accessibility to remotedestinations may also be a weakness as most enterprises are located in periph-eral and often inaccessible regions SMTEs tend to feel frustrated because theyare unable to attract consumers simply because they cannot provide conve-nient reliable and affordable transportation The formulation of charter aircarriers by destination areas such as Turkey and Spain as well as the emergingderegulation policies in the European Union may diminish this problem in thenear future Moreover SMTEs face significant financial constraints as on theone hand they are required to invest in fixed assets at the beginning of theiroperations and on the other hand there is a discrimination against them byfinancial institutions since they normally have very few assets Consequentlythey are forced to accept unfavourable financial deals Finally the Greek tour-ism industry and SMTEs suffer from seasonality problems and have to produceadequate income within a limited period every year Lack of diversified invest-ment in other economic activities forces proprietors to work intensively in thepeak months and rest in the off-peak months while their pay-back period isinevitably unfavourable As the tourism industry becomes more professionalembraces quality management and responds to an increasingly discerningcustomer SMTEsrsquo typical lack of business expertise and minimal standardisa-tion may become an increasing liability especially for some target markets(Cooper amp Buhalis 1992 102)

Recent developments in the external environment present numerous opportu-nities for the Greek tourism industry and SMTEs Firstly the European Uniontakes several actions to support small and medium-sized enterprises (EC 1993b72) while it supports infrastructure development of peripheral regions andcontributes significantly to the prosperity of SMTEs The country is going througha major transformation as a result of several public projects supported by theEuropean Commission including the Attico Metro the new Athens Airport thedevelopment of the peripheral motorway Elefsina-Spata and the peripheralmotorway of Immitos The unification of the heritage sites and thepedestrianisation of the Athens city centre aims to develop an open archaeologi-cal park and deal with the traffic and pollution problems The Olympic Games in2004 provide a unique challenge and opportunity for the city and the country torebrand and redevelop itself and demonstrate its unparalleled heritage andcultural resources The Games also provide the resources and funding as well asa lsquodeadlinersquo for several infrastructural projects that were already scheduled butperhaps delayed In addition several projects are anticipated to improve thesuperstructure of the industry through both renovation of existing propertiesand through the development of new hotels and other facilities It is anticipatedthat the regeneration of the city and the country in general will provide majoropportunities for the attractiveness and competitiveness of the tourism industry(Buhalis 2000b Papanikos 1999 Romanos 1998)

It is anticipated that there will be a gradual redistribution of Europeanlabour providing support for each region to specialise in the production ofgoods and services where it can achieve competitive advantages Traditionallyremote and insular destinations where most Greek resorts and SMTEs arebased achieve a competitive advantage in tourism and therefore greatersupport is anticipated Greek tourism benefits from the continuous growth of

454 Current Issues in Tourism

global tourism demand as more people require holiday services while SMTEsare expected to increase their share as they tend to satisfy the emerging special-ised and sophisticated demand better than larger organisations Informationand telecommunication technologies can provide strategic tools for tourismdestinations and SMTEs enabling them to manage their product more effi-ciently disseminate information and establish a distribution mechanismthrough destination management systems (Buhalis 1994) New technologiesalso offer opportunities for developing innovative tourism products such asteleworking for tourists who would like to spend time working during theirstay at the destination Finally Greek tourism tends to achieve a cost advan-tage since it employs unpaid family members and operates in inexpensiveperipheral regions which often have a lower cost of living in comparison withmetropolitan areas

In terms of external threats environmental degradation through inappropriatewaste management and excessive usage of natural resources can be observedLack of know-how and funds effectively increases environmental problemsConsequently several resorts suffer severe damage while entrepreneurs and localauthorities feel powerless to take remedial measures Moreover oversupply oftourism service providers and lack of well-defined carrying capacity limits inseveral destinations have placed numerous Greek resorts and SMTEs in a disad-vantaged position as they cannot achieve sufficient income Similarly the concen-tration of power in fewer tourism industry enterprises through emergingglobalisation also threatens the ability of Greek SMTEs to survive as internationalvertically integrated tourism organisations acquire control over local enterprisesThe dependence upon channel partners for the promotion and distribution ofGreek tourism is exaggerated by the relatively low presence of Greek suppliers inthe major CRSs (Computer Reservation Systems) which is caused by the seasonal-ity and scale of the tourism production on the one hand and the tariffs of thesesystems on the other The issue of infrastructure is closely related to the oversup-ply which attracts higher demand than planned Destinations often have limitedinfrastructure provisions which fail to follow the pace of development generatingpressure on the existing inadequate facilities Finally the tourism industry suffersfrom its geographical proximity to the Balkans and the Middle East and as a conse-quence is often associated by consumers with wars and terrorism activities Greektourism and SMTEs have limited means of dealing with unfavourable situationsand thus are more vulnerable to their impacts Political intervention perhapsthrough the public sector decisions and the legislator framework often damagesthe prosperity of SMTEs As SMTEs have little lobbying power they have limitedinfluence over political decisions which determine their welfare

The SWOT analysis demonstrates quite clearly that the Greek tourism indus-try faces a wide range of problems and threats which will jeopardise its ability toprovide suitable tourism products in the future as well as its ability to make acontribution to the national welfare However several opportunities and chal-lenges emerge and they need to be addressed in order to strengthen the competi-tiveness of the industry Further analysis is therefore required in order to assessthe factors which generate these problems and also to identify ways to respond tothe challenges they present

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 455

Why Are We There and What Are the Implications StructuralProblems and Challenges

Despite its popularity and growth over the last 40 years the Greek tourismindustry has reached a stage where both its potential and competitiveness havebecome questionable

The seemingly unstoppable growth of this market contributed to a degreeof complacency which has led to Greece repeating some of the errors madein Spain Rapid price increases mean the country is no longer perceived bymass market clients as cheap in relation to comparable destinations in theMediterranean but much of the countryrsquos tourism infrastructure hastilybuilt in response to demand for cheap accommodation does not meet theneeds of a market less sensitive to price and more concerned with qualityand value for money (EIU 1990 45)

Richter-Papaconstantinou (1992 27) explains that tourism development inRhodes lsquotakes place without any Master Plan of the area respect of the landscapeand environment analysis whether there is demand and what the demand isafter regard to what is happening in similar situationsrsquo At the micro level theEuropean travel trade and intermediaries warn that the Greek tourism product isno longer competitive (Conway 1996 41 Touloupas 1996 Douvitsas 1994)whilst Chitiris (1991 148ndash150) outlines a range of managerial problems andmistakes in Greek resort hotels which diminish the quality of the tourismservices Hence unless the Greek tourism industry addresses a number of criticalissues immediately its future might be seriously jeopardised resulting in apotential catastrophe of the national economy The major structural problemsand challenges for the Greek tourism product can be summarised in Table 6

As a result Greece fails to attract the desired lsquohigh-quality high-expenditurersquotourists as it is increasingly unable to satisfy their requirements (Conway 199641) The deterioration of the tourism product and image leads to a lower willing-ness-to-pay by consumers which consequently leads to a further drop in qualityas the industry attempts to attract customers with lower prices This is a viciousspiral which has been destroying the essence of developing tourism in severalMediterranean destinations The concentration of bargaining power in Euro-pean distribution intermediaries and tour operators in particular in combina-tion with the inability of the Greek tourism industry to promote itself andestablish effective distribution mechanisms inevitably minimises the profitmargins of SMTEs and their ability to yield decent returns on their investmentAs a result touristsrsquo expenditure per capita in Greece gradually deteriorateswhile their volume increases (SETE 1993 35)

Thus the tourism policy often consisted in a lsquofreezingrsquo of the selling price ofthe tourist package abroad a measure which combined with the devalua-tion of the drachma and its continuous parity losses succeeded in securing alsquofictitious competitivenessrsquo for the Greek package This competitivenesshowever was seriously threatened each time there was an attempt at asubstantial increase because of important rises in cost elements(Kalogeropoulou 1993 2)

456 Current Issues in Tourism

The above issues illustrate that the Greek tourism product becomes increas-ingly incompetent Hence the inadequate lsquoproductrsquo lsquopromotionrsquo and lsquoplacersquo(distribution) elements of the tourism marketing mix reduce the willingness ofprospective consumers to pay and has disastrous implications for the pricingpolicies deteriorating the profitability of the SMTEs and the tourism economicimpacts on the destination

Ultimately the economic impacts of tourism in Greece become debatableespecially due to the inadequacy of tourism economic research and data whilethe destination has to bear the environmental social and cultural decay Encour-agingly articles in recent tourism industry publications acknowledge these chal-lenges and appreciate the dangers urging both the private and public sector totake action (Touristiki Agora Tourismos ke Oikonomia Travel News XENIA) as well

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 457

Table 6 Structural problems and challenges

Image of Greece as cheap simple unsophisticated undifferentiated sun-seadestination

Gradual deterioration of tourism product and lack of reinvestment in improvements

Increase of tourism arrivals but decrease of tourism expenditure per capita

Inadequacy of the Greek planning process

Dependence upon major tour operators for promotion and distribution

Plethora of anarchically developed and behaving SMTEs aiming at short-termprofitability

Inappropriate and ill-timed marketing campaign which has little effectiveness

Inadequacy of infrastructure to serve the ever-expanding demand

Lack of coordination at the destination and disrespect for touristsrsquo needs

Lack ofprofessionalism and training in both state andprivate tourism establishments

Individualistic behaviour by SMTEs and unwillingness to cooperate on adestination basis

Unsuccessful and inconsistent programmes of government intervention

Almost unregulated environment with nearly complete lack of control

Political intervention which allows exception policies and employment of unquali-fied staff

Development of tourism as a single regional development option

Oversupply of tourism amenities and fierce price competition

Failure of the private sector to invest in long-term projects

Deterioration of natural social and cultural resources

SMTEsrsquo inability to resist in global concentration of the tourism industry

Inadequate distribution mechanisms which generate overdependence onintermediaries

Failure of both the private and public sectors to learn from internationally gainedexperience in tourism development and marketing

Lack of tourism research to identify the impacts of tourism

Negligence with regard to new tourism demand challenges

as several influential members of the tourism industry (Josephides 1993 19941995 Skoulas 1994 Daskalantonakis 1994 Divanis 1994b Plevris 1995Papandropoulos 1995)

Political intervention limited research lack of tourism policy andplanning

Perhaps the largest obstacle in developing a competitive tourism industry inGreece has been the inconsistent and irrational political intervention Unfortunatelytourism has extensively been utilised as a political vehicle where each govern-ment uses it to gratify its political needs and friends This can be experienced in alllevels of recruitment in the public sector institutions as a change of government oreven minister results in immense changes throughout the GNTO as well as tomajor policies and regulations Thus in the last 35 years (since 1966) the leadershipof the GNTO has changed 28 times allowing each General Secretary to stay inoffice for an average of 138 months Political allies of each government use politi-cal pressure and intensive lobbying in order to achieve amendments in regula-tions incentive policies and business environment Hence the short-termprofitability and commercial interests of the friends and political allies of eachgovernment often overrule the long-term strategy and set an improper examplefor the entire industry These practices result in a great inconsistency in Greek tour-ism policy and disrupt its rationalisation Therefore a lsquodepolitisation of Greektourismrsquo towards a professionally managed public sector guided through acompromised strategic Master Plan is urgently required (Josephides 1995)

The limited existing scientific tourism research highlights the lack of comprehen-sive examination of tourism impacts in Greece while it illustrates that tourismpolicy is based on insufficient documentation (Zacharatos 1989 278 and 1988 22)Public sector research is almost non-existant while the authorities seem uninter-ested in consulting the Greek-tourism research produced by academics (for exam-ple Zacharatos 1984 1986 Komilis 1987 Loukissas 1977 Papadimitris 1988Papadopoulos 1985 Moore 1992 Tsartas 1989 Velissariou 1991 Fotis 1992Buhalis 1991 1995 2000c Buhalis amp Diamantis 2000) or the international tourismlsquobody of knowledgersquo (Zacharatos 1988 24) In addition tourism consumptionbeing characterised as a particular category of private consumption in the nationalaccounts it fails to reflect the real tourism impact on each economic sector Thusthe process of collecting information for tourism expenditure in Greece preventsthe assessment of tourism expenditure impacts on the national and regional econ-omy and therefore cannot be used in drawing scientifically founded tourismpolicy (Zacharatos 1989 277 Konsolas amp Zacharatos 1993 58) Consequentlytourism policy follows conventional wisdom and concentrates on attracting alarger volume of tourists ignoring scientific methods to assess the economicsocial cultural and environmental impacts of each tourism segment assumingthat the greater the tourism volume the better for the national economy

The lack of a comprehensive and rational tourism policy and planning or a MasterPlan for Greek tourism is primarily responsible for the aforementioned structuralproblems Policy is usually based on unsubstantiated statements published by theTourism Ministry or the GNTO (GNTO 1985b 1989a 1993) often as pre-electionpromotional material In essence Greek authorities attempt to intervene aiming tostimulate arrivals as well as to facilitate the operation and development of the

458 Current Issues in Tourism

tourism industry Based on the assumption that tourism arrivals to Greece wouldincrease indefinitely the general directions of the Greek tourism policy focusalmost invariably on the targets summarised in Table 7 (Euromonitor 1992 61GNTO 1989b 41 and 1993 1 OECD 1992 70 Skoulas 1985 194 Leontidou 199188ndash91 Apostolopoulos 1990 Zacharatos 1989 275 and 1988 21)

However as these tasks are not quantified and there is no time schedule orplanning process for their achievement it is inevitable that their implementationand assessment is subject to irrationalities and personal judgement Occa-sionally incentives for tourism development responses to lobbying from tour-ism-related associations and regions training programmes and generallegislation attempt to direct the Greek tourism industry towards the describedpolicy directions In addition an inconsistent and untargeted promotionalcampaign is implemented yearly (Touloupas 1996 130) The campaign attempts toachieve the above unspecified policy tasks while it is often a lsquolast minutersquo reactionmeasure to a forecasted decline of bookings for the current season rather than acoordinated long-term marketing policy (Jenner amp Smith 1993 143Papadopoulos 1989 304) Despite the advertising campaignrsquos positive impact onarrivals the feedback to the campaign is rather speculative as no formal researchis undertaken to identify the most cost-effective media and communication meth-ods for each target market (Papadopoulos 1989 311 and 1987 82)

Because the deficient scientific examination of Greek tourism and its impactsprevents the authorities from establishing quantifiable and measurable tourismpolicies their policies are based on subjective and personal judgements while feedbackpractices are rarely followed In addition the implementation of the vaguelydefined tourism policy as well as the targets regulations and standards are oftenbent to accommodate lobbying and political pressures (Zacharatos 1989 279)Komilis (1993 225) suggests that tourism planning in Greece is generally realisedand exercised within a socio-political environment characterised by severalfactors a limited degree of political commitment lack of social awareness andacceptability of planning actions inadequacy of scientific and technical founda-

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 459

Table 7 Greek tourism policy targets

Development of demand

Training of tourism employees

Increase arrivals and foreign exchange income

Increase competitiveness of tourism product

Improvement of services in the industry

Reduction of seasonality and expansion of tourism season

Attraction of high spenders and alternative types of tourism

Construction of facilities appealing to the upper end of the market such as luxuryhotels golf courses congress centres casinos and marinas

Development of tourism infrastructure with emphasis on transportation

Support of social tourism for low-income domestic tourists

Geographical redistribution of tourism

tion to support planning intervention and a centralised administrative-institu-tional system gathering a plethora of functions but failing to perform itscoordination and enforcing role When the conflicting interests and power of eachmember of the tourism industry are brought into the equation where differentpartners attempt to influence legislation in order to maximise their own short-termprofitability regardless of the impacts on the destination and other enterprises theplanning process becomes more complicated This results in an ineffective plan-ning system and process which produces policies unable to provide an appropri-ate balance between restrictive policies and control planning implementationMoreover the plethora of SMTEs in combination with inadequate legislationconcerning their establishment and operation seem to affect adversely thecompetitiveness of the industry and the ability to diversify and enrich local tour-ism products (Komilis 1992 11 EIU 1990 59)

Consequently several structural problems are originated jeopardising theprosperity of both SMTEs and destinations especially in overdeveloped regionsOn the supply side failure of the infrastructure to follow the dramatic expansionof the superstructure in combination with the lack of solid institutional context oftourism policy and long-term regulation result in the exploitation and inadequacyof environmental and socio-cultural resources as well as the inability of the indus-try to generate the level of economic benefits desired and expected On the tourismdemand side after the meteoric growth in the 1970s and 1980s the Greek tourismindustry has been trying to transform lsquothe country into a destination which cancompete not just on price but on value for moneyrsquo (EIU 1990 45) It is becomingapparent that the tourism population in not infinite and an adaptability andresponsiveness to touristsrsquo needs is ofgreat importance (Sezeramp Harrison 1994 83)

Structural problems jeopardise the profitability of the private sectorBecause of the aforementioned structural problems most tourism industry

enterprises are experiencing a decline in profitability Hotels in particular arebadly affected due to the high fixed assets as well as their immobility and inflexi-bility which prevents them from adjusting to demand fluctuation Several reasonsdetermine their low profitability and inability to increase prices in line with infla-tion The low occupancy levels achieved yearly is a key problem Smith and Jenner(1995 17) estimate that the lsquoyear-round bed occupancy over the range of licensedaccommodation is slightly under 30rsquo As most of the properties are closed duringthe winter months due to the seasonality problems they rely on three to six monthsto generate sufficient returns on their investment The occupancy levels of accom-modation establishments in Greek tourism are often determined by theirco-operation with travel intermediaries Based on the different seasonality patternsof different markets rooms are normally allocated a year before the summer seasonto tour operators on lsquoallotmentrsquo or lsquocommitmentrsquo contracts which effectively deter-mine the prices charged according to the security provided by tour operators forusing and paying for hoteliersrsquo rooms Once the contracts are signed hoteliers effec-tively lose their control on their inventory and their right to market their rooms toother business sources before the release period (typically 7ndash14 days before arrival)in order to avoid overbooking However should their bookings fail to match theirprogramme tour operators often utilise their buying power to cancel unwantedrooms at the beginning of the tourist season without paying compensation Smaller

460 Current Issues in Tourism

hoteliers are often left with unoccupied rooms they which are unable to promote atthe lsquolast minutersquo unless they drop their prices to unacceptable levels As a result oftheir deficient intra-channel power hotels often suffer a significant cut-back of theiroccupancy levels which has direct implications for their profitability (Buhalis 19952000c 460 Ktenas 1996)

Similarly the seasonality of the Mediterranean and Greek tourism industry hasalways been a problem for the profitability of SMTEs since enterprises operateonly for a limited period (Jenner amp Smith 1993 70 Drakatos 1987 Donatos ampZairis 1991) Attempts to promote winter tourism by developing cultural andspecial interest tourism in the islands and winter sports in several ski resorts inGreece have proved fairly unsuccessful (EIU 1986 56) This is attributed to theimage of Greece as an exclusively summer-sun destination as well as to the unco-ordinated attempts to maintain tourism enterprises active during the wintermonths (EIU 1990 57)

The average room rate is the second major determinant of hotel profitability It isbecoming apparent that employment costs and cost of capital in combination witha relatively strong currency policy reduce the ability of Greek accommodationestablishments to offer competitive pricing and maintain their profitabilityMarketing inadequacies and inability to promote the tourism product as a differ-entiated entity the rapid increase of supply in comparison to demand and theoverall dependence upon the oligopsonistic tour operators for the Greek tourismproduct promotion force hoteliers to accept contracts by tour operators whichminimise their profit margin and adversely effect the quality of their productIncreasing levels of pressure by tour operators prevent SMTEs from renovatingand investing in their properties and therefore a gradual deterioration of the prop-erties is inevitable (Richter-Papaconstantinou 1992 14 Skoulas 1985 189) Euro-pean tour operators faced with fierce competition in their markets are essentiallywilling to pay an annual price increase equal to little less than the depreciation ofthe drachma plus the inflation at the place of origin of the tourists (Ktenas 1994)This policy progressively deteriorates the profitability of the Greek tourism indus-try and has severe impacts for its prosperity The situation is worse for smalleraccommodation establishments which manage to negotiate even smaller priceincreases due to their exclusive dependence upon fewer intermediaries(Logothetis 1992 14)

The oversupply of tourism services both in Greece and worldwide also contributesto global competition for a less rapidly increasing demand (Josephides 1993 54)In Greece the average annual increase of the official hotel bed supply in 1983ndash1992was 47 while the annual average increase in international tourist bednights was27 (Epilogi 1994 271) The investment incentive Law 126282 boosted this over-supply as it generated small infeasible and uncontrollable accommodation unitsunable to offer high quality of services while it increased the concentration of tour-ism units in infrastructure-undersupplied resorts (Kriebardis amp Marmagiolis1990 51 Stavrou 1989b 5) The vast majority of the capacity growth is on the lsquoille-galrsquo unregistered self-catering and self-serviced lsquoparahoteleriarsquo sector whichprovide very low quality and priced accommodation and therefore appeal tomass tour operatorsrsquo clientele This not only increases unfair competition for theofficially registered hotels but also reduces both tax revenues and employment atthe macro level

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 461

Horwath (1994 3) concludes that

unfortunately the results in terms of return on investment in the tourismindustry are not very promising especially when compared with those ofother Greek economic sectors It is an undisputable fact that the averageGreek tourism entrepreneur is heavily dependent on the tourist packageprice which is strongly negotiated by the international tour operators It isan lsquounhealthyrsquo dependency as a result of the weak position of the Greektourist product in the international market In addition the aforemen-tioned dependency is the result of the lack of marketing activities in anaverage tourist enterprise As we all know effective marketing activitiesare based on the product place price promotion which all contribute toclient satisfaction and further to a bigger share in the international touristmarket Up to now three of the aforementioned important elements ofmarketing have been overlooked which determine the weak negotiationpower of the Greek entrepreneur

This situation has also resulted to several European companies expandingtheir operations into Greece or purchasing shares in Greek partners in order toimprove their vertical integration Should this vertical integration expand signif-icantly however lsquoGreek tourism will be in fact controlled by foreign deci-sion-making centres which will certainly operate on the basis of their owninterests and not according to the overall interests of our national economyrsquo(Kalogeropoulou 1993 2) Hence radical measures are required immediately inproduct formulation promotion strategy and distribution channels to supportboth Greek destinations and SMTEs to enhance their competitiveness profitabil-ity and prosperity Failure to react would have severe implications for the futureof the Greek tourism private sector as the essence of its existence would be jeop-ardised its costs may exceeding its returns

Structural problems generate negative tourism impactsIn addition to the profitability problems of the private sector the aforemen-

tioned structural problems have profound implications for the welfare of hostpopulations in various Greek destinations as their economic social cultural andenvironmental resources are exploited without ensuring their sustainabilityLack of comprehensive research and failure to initiate carrying-capacity limits orzoning systems contribute to the anarchic development of tourism as well asexpand negative impacts of tourism on local societies and environments Thefollowing section highlights some of the costs Greek destinations are called topay for their tourism activity whilst it suggests that these issues should beaddressed in the strategic planning process

Macro-economic negative impactsDespite the contribution of tourism to the Greek economy certain potential

risks can also be identified Not only is the competitiveness and profitability ofthe tourism industry jeopardised but also several destination regions seem tofollow a policy of developing tourism at the expense of industrial and agricul-tural growth (Stavrou 1989a 6 Vernicos 1987 105) Instead of tourism stimulat-ing agriculture it seems that it hastens its decline as the two economic activities

462 Current Issues in Tourism

compete for land and labour The lack of structural investments in industrial oragricultural sectors combined with the popularity of tourism professions in theworkforce endanger the balance of the regional economy while reducing thetourism multipliers (Briassoulis 1993 295) As a result the economic structure ofthe destination is jeopardised while a complete dependence upon tourismbecomes inevitable (Komilis 1992 7) Both opportunity costs and displacementeffects are therefore evident Moreover there is evidence that the progress ofdestinations through their life-cycle and especially the introduction of masstourism decreases their economic impacts while it makes local control of theindustry far more difficult (Loukissas 1982 537) lsquoBecause of the high degree ofdependence of Greek tourist enterprises on tour operators the actual amount oftourist spending remaining in the country is only the 40ndash50 of total touristspendingrsquo (Briassoulis 1993 296) Public-sector subsidies to the private sector invarious forms such as incentives cooperative marketing campaigns and unem-ployment benefits in the off-season as well as tax evasion and lsquoparaeconomyrsquo alsoreduce the real benefit at the macro level (Mourdoukoutas 1988 Drakatos 1987Leontidou 1991 102) Lack of scientific research on the economic impacts oftourism makes the real contribution of tourism in the economy speculativerather than based on hard evidence (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Konsolas ampZacharatos 1993)

Social and cultural negative impactsThe development of mass tourism and the lack of effective planning and

management are also responsible for a number of negative social and culturalimpacts observed in Greek host societies (Tsartas 1989 1992 Stavrou 19781979 1980 1986b) Although the degree of interaction of the population withtourists depends heavily on the geomorphology of destinations and the loca-tion of resorts (Loukissas 1982 538) touristsrsquo behaviour is often offensive tothe host population but tolerated due to the economic benefits (Castelberg-Koulma 1991 201 Kousis 1989 Wickens 1994 823) Most Greek tourismdestinations are almost crime-free zones during the winter due to the smallpopulation and personal relationships of locals Tourism however introducesseveral types of criminal activity often unknown to local people As policeforces are usually allocated according to needs of the permanent population ina destination they are often incapable of handling the demands of the summermonths and are unable to deal with visitorsrsquo misbehaviour such as hooliganismand lsquolager-lootingrsquo

The commercialisation of history cultural traditions and the Greek lifestyle isa phenomenon met in several destinations This regrettably affects the renownedGreek hospitality commercialises human relations with tourists and reduces theties of solidarity and cooperation between locals since they compete for the tour-ism market (Papadopoulos 1988b 24) As the average employee works 605hours weekly for 295 weeks a year there is little time left for social religious andcultural obligations during the season (Mourdoukoutas 1988 325) Although acertain degree of lsquodemonstration effectrsquo and lsquoxenomaniarsquo can be attributed totourism the country is equally influenced by the mass media as well as by theGreek students and professionals living abroad (Papadopoulos 1988a 30Wickens 1994 822) Moore (1995) also explains that tourism not only has had a

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 463

contribution to the increase of alcohol consumption by Greeks but has alsoshifted their taste away from locally produced wine to imported spirits and beerBriassoulis (1993 296) perhaps describes best the change in labour force valueswhen as she suggests that tourism has created a

peculiar parasitic group of tourist entrepreneurs operating tourist-servingenterprises like tavernas cafeterias etc the principal characteristics ofwhich are high profits and tax evasion Consequently a particular person-ality type is created the lsquosuccessfulrsquo entrepreneur who earns a lot with littlework has a rich erotic life and is professionally independent (in contrast topublic and private employees) This model is followed by many youngpeople who abandon other productive year-round occupations lsquoworkrsquoonly during the tourist season stay idle for the rest of the year and eventu-ally suffer from the volatility of the tourist market

The family relations and values are therefore under great transition andperhaps threat (Castelberg-Koulma 1991 201 Kousis 1989 Moore 1992)

Negative environmental impactsDespite environmental resources becoming central to destinationsrsquo competi-

tiveness most Greek destinations go through an unparalleled exploitation due toinadequate planning and reinvestment in their sustainability jeopardising theirfuture (Buhalis amp Fletcher 1995) Boniface and Cooper (1994 141) suggest thatgeographical concentration of tourism

has led to the view that Greece will become saturated with tourists and thatdamage will be done to the environment and cultural heritage in the morepopular areas Already the environment has suffered from haphazarduncontrolled building and pollution of the sea and the flora and fauna arebeing effected by waste disposal

Coastal pollution water shortages sewage treatment waste disposal trafficcongestion noise pollution overbuilding and aesthetic degradation are some ofthe impacts experienced already in a number of resorts (Briassoulis 1993 297Coccosis amp Parprairis 1992 Peterson 1990 Marinos 1983 Stavrou 1988 19 and1989a 5 Papadopoulos 1988b 24) Most of the islands also face water shortagedue to the inability of natural supplies to provide sufficient water for the tourismdemand Imported mineral water from the mainland is an expensive way tosolve this problem due to the transportation cost while it creates more waste andenvironmental damage In addition the destruction of endangered speciesrsquo habi-tats is another problem experienced on several islands (ZakynthosCaretta-Caretta and Allonissos monk-seals) (Ottaway 1992 Van Den Bergh1993 70 Prurier et al 1993) Urgent coordination with all tourism actors at thelocal level is essential while regulation is required to set objective and measurablelimits and targets in order to preserve local environmental resources Financialdifficulties in the industry only exacerbate these impacts as the private and publicsectors feel unable to reinvest in the conservation of resources

The aforementioned negative impacts emerge as a result of the structuralproblems of the Greek tourism industry and illustrate that the mass tourismorientation of the industry reduces the sovereignty of the host population over

464 Current Issues in Tourism

their land and resources whilst jeopardising their expected benefits and futurewelfare As these impacts are trade-offs for the economic gains of the tourismactivity it is important that consistent long-term strategic planning should beundertaken in order to enable the preservation of the local resources and achievesustainability at tourism destinations These tasks should all be reinforced byresearch political will and strategic planning

Where Do We Need to Go and How Are We Going ThereTowards Strengthening the Competitiveness of Greek Tourismand SMTEs

Based on the situation analysis as well as on the strategic weaknesses andstructural problems the paper attempts to provide a framework for strategicplanning which will enable the strengthening of the competitiveness of Greektourism and SMTEs Porter (1985 1) suggests that competitive strategy lsquois thesearch for a favourable competitive position in an industryrsquo which is a function ofthe attractiveness of the industry and the relative competitive position withinthat particular industry He also argues that lsquocompetitive strategy aims to estab-lish a profitable and sustainable position against the forces that determine indus-try competitionrsquo Competitiveness is therefore defined as the effort undertakenby organisations to maintain long-term profitability above the average of theparticular industry within which they operate or above alternative investmentopportunities in other industries

Traditionally the tourism industry in the majority of destinations worldwideis based on a network of SMTEs which provide all types of tourism products andservices while enabling closer interaction between the host population and visi-tors as well as facilitating a rapid infusion of tourism spending into the localeconomy As lsquotouristsrsquo overall experience is composed of numerous smallencounters with a variety of tourism service providersrsquo (Moutinho 1990 104)there is a great overlap between the customer perception of local SMTEs anddestinations which makes them almost indistinguishable Consequently thecompetitiveness and prosperity of destinations and SMTEs are closely interre-lated as the fortune of the one depends heavily upon the management andcompetitiveness of the other Therefore the generic strategy for destinationsinvolves SMTEs and vice versa

Grand strategy Strategy formulation for Greek tourism and SMTEsBased on the strategic analysis a grand strategy is proposed for the Greek

tourism industry and SMTEs in order to demonstrate the directions the destina-tions should follow in their attempt to increase their competitiveness and reducetheir vulnerability As different resorts destinations and SMTEs have dissimilarneeds only generic strategies can be drawn However these guidelines can beapplicable to destinations and SMTEs worldwide as they address strategic ratherthan operational issues The analysis is based on the assumption that SMTEsformulate leisure value-added chains or networks of wealth creation whichessentially comprise the entire destination Therefore an integrated approach isfollowed as there is a great complementarity between the strategies and strate-gic directions for both the Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 465

The grand strategy analysis is based on an examination of three general strat-egy models namely Porterrsquos generic strategies Gilbertrsquos proposition for lsquodiffer-entiation of the destinationrsquo and Poonrsquos analysis for lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo Agrand strategy is then proposed for both Greek tourism and SMTEs based oninference emerging from these three models Figure 1 illustrates the three maingeneric strategies proposed by Porter (1980 34ndash46) in order to lsquooutperform otherfirms in an industryrsquo overall cost leadership where the firm is required to minimiseits costs based on mass production and strict cost control of the main businessfunctions differentiation of products or services by lsquocreating something that isperceived industry-wide as being uniquersquo or focus on a lsquoparticular buyer groupsegment of the product line or geographical marketrsquo and achieve either cost leader-ship or product differentiation (Porter 1980 37ndash8)

Furthermore Gilbert (1984 1990) argues that destinations should differenti-ate their tourism products in order to be able to achieve a unique lsquotourist productbenefitrsquo which would enable them to establish their position in the internationaltourism market as well as to attract high spenders and loyal tourists Tourismdestinations therefore should attempt to achieve a lsquostatus arearsquo image ratherthan a lsquocommodity arearsquo one as illustrated in Figure 2 In the first case the desti-nation is heavily substitutable very sensitive to price and economic changeswhile consumers have a low awareness of any unique benefits or attributes of theregion Thus holidaymakers base their decision to visit the area merely on pricewhile the demand for the destination is incidental and destinations are unable toattract high spenders In contrast lsquostatus areasrsquo achieve intentional demand as aresult of the unique product attributes perceived by the tourism market Theseunique attributes may be genuine or imagined and thus a destination isregarded as irreplaceable increasing consumersrsquo loyalty and willingness to payGilbert (1990 24ndash5) asserts that destinations should attempt to become lsquostatusareasrsquo in order to improve their image loyalty and economic benefits

A third strategic approach is proposed by Poon (1987 1988 1989 1990 1993)based on the concept of lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo of the tourism business Inessence Poon examines the industry processes and proposes a strategy to enabletourism organisations to improve their competitiveness Poon argues that lsquoflexi-ble specialisationrsquo is a strategy of lsquopermanent innovationrsquo and lsquoceaseless changersquowhich provides for the lsquonew tourismrsquo This new tourism is flexible segmentedcustomised to the touristrsquos needs and diagonally integrated In contrast the oldtourism can be characterised as lsquomass standardised and rigidly packagedrsquo(Poon 1989 91ndash3)

466 Current Issues in Tourism

STRATEGIC ADVANTAGE

Perceived product uniqueness Cost advantage

TARGETMARKET

Industrywide Differentiation Cost Leadership

Particularsegmentsonly

Differentiation Focus Cost Focus

Figure 1 Porterrsquos three generic strategiesSource Porter 1980 39

The main sources of flexibility for service firms lie in the organisationmanagement marketing distribution and other forms of interaction andinterrelationships among guests hotels suppliers distributors What isimportant however is not each of these stand alone aspects but how theyare coupled to create competitive advantages and hence capabilities tomove with the market (Poon 1988 24)

Examination of these three main strategies illustrates that they share a similarbase Porterrsquos lsquodifferentiationrsquo Gilbertrsquos lsquostatus arearsquo and Poonrsquos lsquoflexiblespecialisationrsquo describe the attempt undertaken by firms and tourist destinationsto achieve value competitive advantages In contrast the lsquocost leadershiprsquo lsquocom-modity arearsquo and the lsquostandardisation or Fordism production modelrsquo describethe effort to achieve lsquocost competitive advantagersquo where destinations andSMTEs offer their products for less than their competitors In the first caseconsumers perceive the product as unique and are willing to pay a premiumwhile in the second case the decision is merely based on price Thus the classicalstrategic decision of lsquolow volume-high profit marginrsquo or lsquohigh volume-low profitmarginrsquo is the underlying concept of the two alternative strategies

Both Gilbert and Poon agree that destinations should aim to achieve lsquostatusarearsquo or niche orientation through differentiation in order to increase consumersatisfaction as well as to maximise the benefits for both regions and SMTEs As aresult Greek tourism and SMTEs need to focus towards the differentiation strat-egy define their niche markets and serve them accordingly This strategy isalready adopted in several resort areas such as Valencia in Spain where it isrecognised that the need for diversification and differentiation lsquohas now becomeessential owing to the level of competitiveness that has been attained (and can beforeseen) in the world tourist marketrsquo (Fayos-Sola 1992 49) Differentiation isalso particularly useful for insular destinations in microstates where a limitednumber of economic and financial resources are available (Wilkinson 1989 170)As most destinations consist of SMTEs networks there is an overlap betweentheir strategic orientations and therefore the above analysis is applicable to boththe Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Destinations implementing a lsquostatus arearsquo strategy can enhance the satisfac-tion of tourists as well as their competitiveness The formulation of unique and

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 467

CommodityArea

Statusarea

Willingness topay higher prices

StatusArea

Product attributes Product attributes

CommodityArea

Figure 2 Gilbertrsquos differentiation strategySource Adapted from Gilbert 1990 25

customised products by using flexibility and cooperation also increases touristsrsquowillingness to pay and wins their loyalty while it responds to the new tourismdemand trends However the proposed strategy should not be seen as an excusefor SMTEs and destinations not to attempt to improve their efficiency and mini-mise their production costs Although the unique service for touristsrsquo needs shouldbe their priority offering perceived value for money would determine theircompetitiveness in the marketplace As a result all Greek resorts and SMTEsshould assess their assets and strengths for serving specific target markets takingadvantage of their small size which facilitates flexibility and specialisation

It is quite apparent that the cost advantage strategy has to be avoided inmanagement of tourism destinations as regions need to preserve their scarceenvironmental and sociocultural resources and achieve sustainable develop-ment As cost advantage is based on mass production and consumption itassumes an unlimited production capacity which is inapplicable in the tourismindustry The inseparability of the tourism product determines that consumersshould be present at the time of product delivery and when combined with tour-ism seasonality it generates demand peaks which drain destinationsrsquo scarceenvironmental sociocultural resources The lsquohigh volume-low profit marginrsquostrategy has therefore harmful social and environmental impacts on destina-tions Destinations have maximum carrying capacities beyond which both thewelfare of local populations and the satisfaction of tourists are jeopardisedAlthough economic benefits can also be achieved by using the lsquocommodity arearsquoor the lsquostandard product modelrsquo it is argued that these approaches reduce tour-istsrsquo satisfaction and their willingness to pay and are opposed to the demandtrend towards individualisation

Unfortunately however some destinations can no longer be positioned asirreplaceable unique products due to their overdevelopment Tourism supplyhas exceeded the carrying capacity of these resorts and their product hasreached the saturation or decline phase of their life-cycle Several Spanish costasand some Greek resorts such as Benitses Kavos Faliraki Malia Hersonissos andNidri (Josephides 1994) have been overdeveloped to such an extent that only alsquohigh-volume low-profit marginrsquo strategy is feasible When resorts reach theirsaturation level only a lsquocost leadershiprsquo or lsquomass productionrsquo strategy can beproposed as they are unable to provide any specific lsquotourist product benefitrsquo Theattraction of the lower end of the market is inevitable and as a consequence thereare no alternative strategies The minimisation of further sociocultural and envi-ronmental damage as well as attempts to improve the surrounding environmentshould also be a primary objective of both tourism destinations and SMTEs in thiscase The ultimate aim should be to regenerate the resources of the area and torelaunch the tourism destination to attract specific markets which will be willing topay a higher price for the destination

Strategic directions objectives and tasks for Greek tourism and SMTEsTable 8 presents three pivotal strategic directions which are identified in order

to stimulate the competitiveness of both Greek tourism and SMTEs This sectionillustrates how the aforementioned grand strategy can be implemented for tour-ist destinations and SMTEs through a number of strategic directions objectivesand tasks as presented in Table 9

468 Current Issues in Tourism

Enhancing the satisfaction of tourists and delighting the customer are pivotalto ensuring the well-being of Greek destinations and SMTEs in the long term andthus the entire range of tourism service providers should aim to delight theirclients As a result of the tourism product integration consumer satisfactioncannot be achieved by independent businesses separately but by the entirenetwork of SMTEs in Greek destinations The improvement in services isperhaps the most important strategic objective Consistency of promises throughstandardisation of service delivery and implementation of a total qualitymanagement philosophy throughout the industry are essential strategic tasks forachieving this objective while flexibility in service delivery and improvementsin training are critical In line with the grand strategy the production oftailor-made tourism products should be ensured in order to satisfy the specificneeds of particular niches and the requirements of the emerging new tourismdemand Product augmentation would enable also the Greek tourism product toexceed the expectations of consumers and hence enhance their satisfaction Lifestyle segmentation would enable Greek tourism and SMTEs to design appropri-ate tourism products As tourist demand elasticity has increasingly becomedoubtful in recent years the price of the holiday is no longer considered to be themost important attribute in the decision-making process Consequently theGreek tourism industry should concentrate on providing value for money at allprice levels as well as offering at least whatever they have promised to theconsumer

Supporting the long-term competitiveness and profitability of Greek tour-ism and SMTEs is by far the most important strategic objective for the tourismindustry The first strategic objective for every SMTE has to be the increase inrevenue by maximising its occupancy or load factors and the rates it achievesThe lengthening of the operating season as well as the identification of newmarkets and the penetration into existing ones and the effective utilisation ofdistribution channels will contribute to this strategic direction Higher ratescan be achieved by targeting specialised and smaller tour operators attractingalternative types of tourists and expanding the distribution channels mix aswell as by attempting a certain degree of lsquodisintermediationrsquo by encouragingdirect sales to outgoing travel agencies or consumers Aggressive marketingand establishment of partnerships with other enterprises should be essentialfunctions of Greek tourism and SMTEs Motivation of lsquofront-of-housersquo employ-ees as salesmen and sale incentives would also increase average spending percustomer The use of CRSs and destination management systems may also bean appropriate method for achieving higher prices and better occupancy rates(Buhalis 1994) Finally yield management techniques should be utilised by alltypes of SMTEs to assist them in pricing and maximising revenue Cost control

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 469

Table 8 Pivotal strategic dimensions for Greek tourism

(1) Enhance the satisfaction of tourists and delight the customer(2) Strengthen the long-term profitability and competitiveness of Greek tourism and

SMTEs(3) Develop Greek destinations sustainably and ensure prosperity of host population

470 Current Issues in Tourism

Table 9 Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Strategic directions Strategic objectives Strategic tasks

1 Enhance the sat-isfaction of tour-ists and delightthe customer

11 Improvement of services a Standardisation of service de-livery

b Development of quality controlsystems

c Consistency of promisesd Improvements in operational

managemente Flexibility in services deliveryf Training and education im-

provementsg Smile and personal relation-

shipsh Augmentation of tourism

producti Total quality management

12 Specialisation of tourismproduct

a Niche marketingb Lifestyle targeting

13 Value for money a Quality at each price level

2 Strengthen thelong-term com-petitiveness andprofitability ofGreek tourismand SMTEs

21 Increase revenue a Increase tourist volumesb Target new markets and pene-

tration in existing marketsc Use yield managementd Expand distribution channel

mixe Aggressive marketingf Achieve high average spending

per customerg Select high-quality specialised

tour operatorsh Attract alternative types of

tourismi Use alternative distribution

channelsj Motivate front-of-house em-

ployees as salesmen

22 Cost control and rationalmanagement

a Standardise service deliveryb Increase productivityc Reduce labour costsd Rationalise supplies manage-

mente Educationtraining for manag-

ers and employeesf Use of new technologyg Integrate service delivery

within SMTEs

23 Human resources man-agement

a Internal marketingb Empowermentc Satisfactory salary and working

conditionsd Long-term relations with em-

ployeese Motivation and rewards

and rational management is the second strategic objective needed to increaseefficiency and profitability of both Greek destinations and SMTEs in the longterm Standardisation of the service delivery process and minimisation of thelabour cost through better operational management would be primary recom-mendations Managers and employees should improve their productivity andmarketing skills by intensive training In addition the rationalisation of supplymanagement and the use of new technology is expected to reduce operationalcosts Finally integration of service delivery enables SMTEs to provide comple-mentary services and achieve additional revenues without immense costs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 471

24 State and public tourismorganisation support

a Destination development andcontrol

b Incentives policies for improve-ment

c Attract European Union assis-tance

d Promotional activitye Provide financial resources

3 Develop Greekdestinationssustainably andensure prosper-ity of host popu-lation

31 Environmental protection a Carrying capacity identificationb Zoning system applicationc Architecture preservationd Installation of sewage treat-

ment systemse Reduction of noise pollutionf Natural supplies management

32 Infrastructure ameliora-tion

a Accessibility improvementsb Telecommunication improve-

mentsc Public facilities advancements

33 Transportation improve-ments

a Improvement of local timeta-bles

b Punctuality and reliabilityc Improvements of vehiclesd Flexibility to meet demand

needs

34 Economic integration a Integration with raw materialproduction

b Utilisation of local labour forcec Integration of tourism servicesd Diagonal integration of destina-

tionrsquos economy

35 Equitable return on re-sources utilised

a Establish mechanism forreinvestments

b Provide services for hostcommunity

c Invest in sustainability ofresources

d Ensure equity in distributionof wealth produced

Source Adapted from Buhalis 1991 83a

Table 9 (cont) Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Human resources management is crucial in the delivery process of tourismproducts The concept of lsquointernal marketingrsquo where employees are perceivedand treated as lsquointernal customersrsquo has to be utilised in order to ensure theirsatisfaction As Berry (1981 34) states lsquothe satisfaction of the needs and wants ofthe internal customers can upgrade their capacity for satisfying the needs andwants of their external customersrsquo and as a consequence it can contribute to thecompetitiveness and profitability of Greek tourism and SMTEs Satisfactorysalary and working conditions are prerequisites for the well-being of SMTEsrsquoemployees Long-term relationships between employees and SMTEs minimiseturnover enabling a better performance while they reduce recruitment andtraining costs Empowerment would enable employees to be involved in themanagement of SMTEs and authorise them to respond more efficiently toconsumer requests while contributing to their job satisfaction Finally thesupport of the GNTO is vital for the long-term survival of SMTEs Apart fromthe improvement in infrastructure the GNTO is expected to hold the strategicresponsibility of the destination as well as to regulate the competition in orderto enable smaller enterprises to survive Incentive policies need to reflect thespecific requirements of each resort and enable development or improvementof certain types of enterprises The GNTO is also instrumental in attractingassistance from European development funds while it should also coordinatethe majority of Greek tourism promotional activity A promotional mix whichmaximises the effectiveness of the communication message needs to be drawnwhile budgets need to be available at the time consumers go through their deci-sion-making process in order to influence their choice of destination Finally theneed for the public sector to provide affordable financial resources for SMTEs ishighlighted by the EU (EC 1993b 73)

The third strategic direction for Greek tourism and SMTEs should be thesustainable development of destinations and local areas not only for the hostpopulation but also because this is vital for both consumer satisfaction and theprofitability of SMTEs Although in most cases SMTEs are unable to incorporatethese types of strategic objectives and tasks on their own they can initiate aframework of necessary actions for sustainable destination developmentthrough their associations Environmental protection is naturally the mostimportant strategic objective as consumersrsquo environmental consciousness hasbeen raised recently Carrying capacity limits should be identified and strictregulations and guidelines for tourism development need to be drawn A zoningsystem should be implemented in order to locate tourism activities according tothe geographical morphology of the destination In addition natural resourcesmanagement is necessary as tourism demand may exhaust the resources andespecially the water supplies The installation of sewage treatment systems andthe reduction of noise pollution should be considered especially for resortswhich suffer the consequences of these problems In addition infrastructureamelioration must be one of the primary objectives as it is an essential prerequi-site for both consumersrsquo satisfaction and SMTEsrsquo development The improve-ment of accessibility public services as well as telecommunications facilities is acrucial factor Transportation is also significant in increasing both consumersatisfaction and profitability of SMTEs as it determines whether consumers canaccess the destination easily while it also provides the first impression to tour-

472 Current Issues in Tourism

ists Improvements of timetables and services reliability increasing transporta-tion capacity and an enhancement of the fleet in terms of speed cleanliness andleisure facilities are all required Furthermore greater flexibility is needed bytransportation operators in order to meet demand needs Economic integrationcan improve the economic and social benefits of tourism in the region and theefficiency of SMTEs Ultimately tourism should be utilised as the catalyst andmajor stimulant for regional development Tourism enterprises should makeevery effort to use local raw materials and labour in order to maximise the multi-plier effects within Greece Diagonal integration of destinationsrsquo economy can beachieved by rearranging the goods and service production in order to supportthe tourism industry demand and thus minimise imports Finally SMTEs andtourism organisations need to offer a fair return-on-resources utilised back to thehost community A mechanism should be established in order to reinvest part ofthe revenues in the sustainability of resources provide services for the hostcommunity such as education training health services and generally ensureequity in distribution of wealth produced from local resources As the privatesector cannot be expected to behave altruistically towards the host communitythe GNTO and other public-sector departments should probably utilise regula-tion and taxation for this purpose

Conclusion Greek Tourism Needs a Long Overdue Master Planand Comprehensive Policy

The emerging international tourism competition the hitherto mass tourismorientation of the industry the transformation of demand the development ofthe volume of tourists visiting the dependence upon intermediaries for thedistribution of the tourism product in the major target markets the lack of a widerange of managerial skills by Greek tourism entrepreneurs and the lack of acomprehensive tourism policy or Master Plan by the public sector has led thecompetitiveness of Greece tourism to decline This has several unfavourableimplications for the profitability of the private sector as well as numerous nega-tive economic sociocultural and environmental impacts for the host populationAs a result the return on resources utilised for the production of Greek tourismservices is inadequate and the sustainability of Greece as a major tourism desti-nation is rapidly becoming doubtful Based on a strategic analysis the paper illu-minates the strategic weaknesses and structural problems of both the private andpublic sectors and demonstrates that a rationalisation of the tourism industry isurgently required Consequently a grand strategy as well as a wide range of stra-tegic directions objectives and tasks are proposed for both Greece as an entityand its SMTEs Although no quantitative targets are set in this paper it isexpected that each destination will analyse its resources and adapt its strategicplanning accordingly

The GNTO is urged to rationalise its strategy and to draw up a Master Plan anda comprehensive strategy for the entire country and for each resort where a strategywould be adopted based on quantifiable objectives and tasks Extensive researchneeds to be undertaken by using credible measurement methodologies such asInput-Output models and multipliers analysis not only for the economic but alsofor the social cultural and environmental impacts (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Buhalis

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 473

amp Fletcher 1995) A holistic tourism management system is demanded to facilitatethe development and implementation of the tourism strategy through funds allo-cation and monitoring land use control and examination of tourism public- andprivate-sector practices A thorough examination of tourism impacts in eachregion would be a prerequisite for tourism planning as it will establish andprovide scientific backing to strategic targets Komilis (1994 71) explains thatalthough the various levels of planning (sectoral nationalEU spatial or regional)are not mutually exclusive but rather complementary the regional level planningis more suitable for drawing sustainable strategies especially for areas withdissimilar needs like the Greek destinations The regional planning should lsquocon-tribute to the maximisation of regional development benefits in a way that utilisesand mobilises the regional resource base realises regional inter-sectoral linkagesand is compatible with regional economic interests societal values and environ-mental assetsrsquo It should also take into consideration the uniqueness of insulareconomies as well as the cultural and environmental resources of each particularregion and the complexity of rural and urban functions The planning processshould encourage the complementarity and coexistence of economic activitiesrather than promote sectoral separation and single-sector developments In addi-tion it needs to improve the balance between regional self-sufficiency anddependence upon external inputs and finally it should promote integration withinthe European Union

The public sector has to play its long overdue role as regulator coordinatorinfrastructure provider and promoter of the destination while a multi-integrationof the tourism industry with all the involved bodies in the preparation distribu-tion and delivery of the tourism experience needs to be ensured (Wanhill 1993Hall 1994 Skoulas 1994 10 Stavrou 1988 46) The private sector also has an impor-tant role to play as it should improve the Greek tourism industry competitivenessby improving its managerial and labour force competencies enhancing the qualityof services designing appropriate marketing mixes to attract and satisfy targetmarkets and cooperating closely in order to achieve synergies and economies ofscale (Briassoulis 1993 300 Cooper amp Buhalis 1992) To reverse the vicious circleof decreasing quality is of critical importance for the Greek tourism industryBetter quality services would stimulate the competitiveness of the Greek tourismproduct strengthen its position in the international market provide principalswith distribution channel power enhance its customersrsquo willingness to pay andenable the industry to increase its prices improving the profitability at the microlevel and the economic impacts of tourism at the macrolevel Ultimately a diagonalintegration strategy for both Greek tourism and SMTEs should aim to delightconsumers enhance the long-term prosperity of SMTEs and improve the welfareof the host populations The Olympic Games in 2004 offer a unique opportunity toregenerate and rebrand Greek tourism a cause which the entire industry shouldchampion

The AuthorDimitrios Buhalis is Senior Lecturer and course leader MSc in tourism at theUniversity of Surrey He holds a BBA from the University of the Aegean as wellas an MSc and a PhD in tourism management from the University of Surrey Hisresearch interests focus on information systems and technology strategic

474 Current Issues in Tourism

management distribution channels of tourism destination management andplanning and destination integrated computer information reservation manage-ment systems

AcknowledgementsThe author would like to acknowledge Prof C Cooper and Prof J Fletcher for

their invaluable contribution to this research Financial support from the SurreyResearch Group ConTours Consultants as well as field research sponsorshipsby the University of Surrey the Greek National Tourism Organisation and theUniversity of the Aegean are gratefully appreciated

Note1 An earlier version of this paper was published as a monograph PlanningDevelop-

ment by the International Centre for Research and Studies in TourismAix-en-Provence France

CorrespondenceAny correspondence should be directed to Dr Dimitrios Buhalis Senior

Lecturer in Business Information Management SMSSS University of SurreyGuildford GU2 7XH UK (dbuhalissurreyacuk)

ReferencesApostolopoulos T (1990) New strategy of tourism development (in Greek) Tourism and

Economy (November) 228ndash38Berry C (1981) The employee as customer Journal of Retail Banking 3 33ndash40Boniface B and Cooper C (1994) The Geography of Travel and Tourism (2nd edn) London

HeinemannBriassoulis H (1993) Tourism in Greece In W Pompl and P Lavery (eds) Tourism in

Europe Structures and Developments (pp285ndash301) Oxford CAB InternationalBuckley P and Papadopoulos S (1986) Marketing Greek tourism The planning process

Tourism Management 7 86ndash100Buhalis D (1991) Strategic marketing and management for the small and medium

tourism enterprises in the periphery of the European Community A case study for theAegean islands in Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Buhalis D (1994) Information and telecommunications technologies as a strategic tool forsmall and medium tourism enterprises in the contemporary business environment InA Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 254ndash75)England J Wiley and Sons

Buhalis D (1995) The impact of information telecommunications technologies on tourismdistribution channels Implications for the small and medium sized tourismenterprisesrsquo strategic management and marketing PhD Dissertation University ofSurrey Guildford

Buhalis D (2000a) Marketing the competitive destination of the future TourismManagement (Special Issue ndash The Competitive Destination) 21 (1) 97ndash116

Buhalis D (2000b) (forthcoming) Athens Tourism-Travel Intelligence LondonBuhalis D (2000c) Relationships in the distribution channel of tourism Conflicts between

hoteliers and tour operators in the Mediterranean region Journal of InternationalHospitality Leisure and Tourism Adminstration 1 (1) 113ndash39

Buhalis D and Diamantis D (2001 forthcoming) Tourism development andsustainability on the Greek archipelagos In G Apostolopoulos and D Ioannides (eds)Tourism in the Mediterranean Routledge

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 475

Buhalis D and Fletcher J (1995) Environmental impacts on tourism destinations Aneconomic analysis In H Coccosis and P Nijkamp (eds) Sustainable Tourism Development(pp 3ndash25) London Avebury

Camison C Bigne E and Monfort VM (1994) The Spanish tourism industry Analysisof its strategies and the efficacy and achievements gained from them In A Seaton et al(eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 442ndash52) England JWiley and Sons

Castelberg-Koulma M (1991) Greek women and tourism Womenrsquos co-operatives as analternative form of organisation In N Redclift and T Sinclair (eds) Working WomenInternational Perspectives on Labour and Gender Ideology (pp 197ndash223) LondonRoutledge

Chitiris L (1991) Hotel Management (in Greek) Athens InterbooksCoccosis H and Parprairis A (1992) Assessing the interactions between environment

and tourism Case study of the island of Mykonos Paper presented in the IV WorldCongress of Regional Science International University of Balearic Islands Palma deMallorca 26ndash9 May

Conway H (1996) Greece Travel Weekly 1308 39ndash43Cooper C and Buhalis D (1992) Strategic management and marketing of small and

medium sized tourism enterprises in the Greek Aegean islands In R Teare D Adamsand S Messenger (eds) Managing Projects in Hospitality Organisations (pp 101ndash25)London Cassell

Daskalantonakis N (1994) Quality ndash The future of tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (3 July)D9

Divanis A (1994b) Tourism policy Left on its own luck (in Greek) XENIA (October)4ndash5

Donatos G and Zairis P (1991) Seasonality of foreign tourism in the Greek islands ofCrete Annals of Tourism Research 18 515ndash19

Douvitsas P (1994) Marketing Greece through British tour operators A futureperspective MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Drakatos C (1987) Seasonal concentration of tourism in Greece Annals of Tourism Research14 582ndash6

EC (1993a) Microeconomic Analysis of the Tourism Sector A study by the pH Group forEuropean Commission DGXXIII (September) Report XXIII30394-EN BrusselsEuropean Commission

EC (1993b) Growth competitiveness employment The challenges and ways forward intothe 21st century Bulletin of the European Communities Supplement 693 (White Paper)Luxembourg

Economist (1993) Last Chance Sisyphus A survey of Greece Economist (22 May) 2ndash22EIU (1986) Greece (pp 45ndash60) International tourist reports National Report No 3EIU (1990) Greece (pp 45ndash62) International tourist reports National Report No 4EIU (1993) Greece ndash Country Profile 1992ndash1993 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEIU (1994) Greece ndash Country Profile 1994ndash1995 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEpilogi (1994) Economic review ndash The Greek Economy 1994 (in Greek) AthensEuromonitor (1992) Tourism in Greece Market Research Europe (25 May) 51ndash63Fayos-Sola E (1992) A Strategic Outlook for Regional Tourism Policy The White Paper

on Valencian Tourism Tourism Management 13 45ndash9Fotis J (1992) Vacational lifestyle segmentation of tourists on the island of Rhodes

Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey GuildfordGilbert D (1984) The need for countries to differentiate their tourist product and how to

do so Seminar papers for Ministers of Tourism and Directors of National TouristOrganisations Tourism Managing for Results University of Surrey Guildford

Gilbert D (1990) Strategic marketing planning for national tourism Tourist Review 45 (1)18ndash27

GNTO (1985a) Survey of attributes of foreign tourists 1984ndash1985 (in Greek) Greek NationalStatistical Services Athens GNTO

476 Current Issues in Tourism

GNTO (1985b) EOT-Tourism rsquo85 Development ndash Participation ndash Quality of Life (in Greek)Greek National Statistical Services Athens GNTO

GNTO (1989a) Annual report 1988 ndash Forecast 89 Towards Quality Athens GNTOGNTO (1989b) The study of tourism promotion With special reference to the measures to

increase Japanese tourists to Greece Draft final report Japan InternationalCooperation Agency

GNTO (1993) Tourism towards the 2000 (in Greek) Greek National Tourism OrganisationAthens GNTO

Hall M (1994) Tourism and Politics Policy Power and Place J Wiley and SonsHorwath (annual) The Greek Hotel Industry (in Greek) Annual reports Pireus HorwathJenner P and Smith C (1993) Tourism in the Mediterranean Research report London

Economist Intelligence UnitJosephides N (1993) Environmental Concern ndash Whatrsquos In It for the Tourism Industry (pp 51ndash6)

Proceedings of the conference Tourism and the environment Challenges and choicesfor the 1990rsquos 16ndash17 November 1992 Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre LondonBrussels European Union

Josephides N (1994) Tourism analysis Presentation in Philoxenia international tourismexhibition Thessaloniki Greece

Josephides N (1995) A sorry state for beautiful Greece Travel Weekly 1261 (5 April)11Kalogeropoulou H (1993) Greece ndash Prospects for the tourism industry within the context

of the European Single Market of 1993 Tourism Review 48 (1) 2ndash4Kassimati K Thanopoulou M and Tsartas P (1994) Womenrsquos Employment in the

Tourist Sector Study of the Greek Labour Market and Identification of Future ProspectsDGV Equal Opportunities Unit Document V40994-EN European CommissionBrussels

Komilis P (1987) Spatial analysis of tourism in Greece (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planningand Economic Research

Komilis P (1992) The spatial structure of tourism and physical planning practices inGreece Paper presented in conference Tourism and environment Issues ofpolicyplanningmanagement 23ndash4 October University of the Aegean Dept ofEnvironment Lesvos

Komilis P (1993) Values in the Tourism Planning and Policy Making Process (pp 224ndash9)Proceedings of the conference Values and the environment 23ndash4 September GuildfordUniversity of Surrey

Komilis P (1994) Tourism and sustainable regional development In A Seaton et al (eds)Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 65ndash73) England JWiley andSons

Konsolas N and Zacharatos G (1993) Regionalization of tourism activity in GreeceProblems and policies In H Briassoulis and J Van der Straaten (eds) Tourism andEnvironment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 57ndash65) Dordrecht Kluer AcademicPublisher

Kousis M (1989) Tourism and the family in a rural Cretan community Annals of TourismResearch 16 318ndash32

Kriebardis S and Marmagiolis I (1990) Tourism Activity in Greece Problems and Perspectives(pp 45ndash54) (in Greek) Economic Report of Commercial Bank AprilndashJune AthensCommercial Bank

Ktenas S (1994) Hoteliers ask for 15 to 20 increases for 1995 (in Greek) TO BHMA (3July) D9

Ktenas S (1996) Crisis in Greek tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (7 April) D16Leontidou L (1991) Greece Prospects and contradictions of tourism in the 1980rsquos In AM

Williams and GJ Shaw (eds) Tourism and Economic Development Western EuropeanExperiences (2nd edn) (pp 94ndash106) London Belhaven Press

Logothetis M (1990) The Economy of Dodekanisos During 1988ndash1989 Developments andPerspectives (in Greek) Rhodes Regional association of municipalities of Dodekanisos

Logothetis M (1992) Touristiki Sigkiria (in Greek) Rhodes Institute of Tourist and HotelResearch

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 477

Loukissas P (1977) The impact of tourism on regional development A comparativeanalysis of the Greek islands PhD Dissertation Cornell University USA

Loukissas P (1982) Tourismrsquos regional development impacts A comparative analysis ofthe Greek islands Annals of Tourism Research 9 523ndash43

Marinos P (1983) Small island tourism-the case of Zakynthos in Greece TourismManagement 4 212ndash15

Moore R (1992) From shepherds to shopkeepers The development of tourism in a centralGreek town PhD Dissertation University of California at Berkeley USA

Moore R (1995) Gender and alcohol use in a Greek tourist town Annals of Tourism Research22 300ndash13

Mourdoukoutas P (1988) Seasonal employment seasonal unemployment andunemployment compensation The case of the tourism industry of the Greek islandsAmerican Journal of Economics and Sociology 47 315ndash29

NSSG (l983) Tourism Statistics 1981 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (l985) Tourism Statistics 1982ndash1983 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1987) Tourism Statistics 1984ndash1985 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1990) Tourism Statistics 1986ndash1987 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1993) Tourism Statistics 1988ndash1990 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceOECD (1992) Greece Tourism Policy and International Tourism in OECD Member Countries (pp

70ndash8) Paris OECDOttaway M (1992) Turtle power Sunday Times Travel and Style (28 June)Ottaway M (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 1 Sunday Times (17 January)

57ndash59Panagiotopoulou R (1990) The problem and perspectives of the European insular regions

(in Greek) Working paper University of the Aegean ChiosPapadimitris G (1988) Short run and long run prospects of the Greek tourism industry

PhD Dissertation University of Manchester ManchesterPapadopoulos S (1985) An economic analysis of foreign tourism in Greece An

examination of the growth and structure of foreign tourism to Greece 1960ndash1984 with aplanning model and marketing policy recommendations PhD Thesis University ofBradford Management Centre Bradford

Papadopoulos S (1987) Strategic marketing techniques in international tourismInternational Marketing Review (summer) 71ndash84

Papadopoulos S (1988a) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (1) 29ndash30

Papadopoulos S (1988b) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (2) 24ndash7

Papadopoulos S (1989) Greek marketing strategies in the Europe tourism market ServiceIndustries Journal 9 297ndash314

Papadopoulos S and Mirza H (1985) Foreign tourism in Greece An economic analysisTourism Management 6 125ndash37

Papandropoulos A (1995) The crisis in tourism is evident (in Greek) OikonomikosTachydromos (29 June) 26ndash8

Papanikos G (1999) The year 2004 olympic games and their influence upon the Greektourism (in Greek) ITEP (Research Institute for Tourism) Athens

Paulopoulos P (1999) The Size and Dynamics of the Tourism Sector (in Greek) ResearchInstitute for Tourism Athens

Peterson C (1990) Greece tackles overbuilding in tourism areas EnvironmentalConservation 17 166ndash8

Plevris V (1995) Alarm bells from the Hellenic Federation of Hotels (in Greek) XENIA128 (May) 6ndash7

Poon A (1987) Information technology and innovation in international tourism ndashimplications for the Caribbean tourism industry PhD thesis Science Policy ResearchUnit University of Sussex Brighton

Poon A (1988) Flexible specialisation and small size ndash the case of Caribbean tourism DRCDiscussion Paper 57 SPRU Brighton University of Sussex

478 Current Issues in Tourism

Poon A (1989) Competitive strategies for new tourism In C Cooper (ed) Progress inTourism Recreation and Hospitality Management (vol 1) (pp 91ndash102) London BelhavenPress

Poon A (1990) Flexible specialisation at small size The case of Caribbean tourism WorldDevelopment 18 109ndash23

Poon A (1993) Tourism Technology and Competitive Strategies Oxford CAB InternationalPorter M (1980) Competitive Strategy Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors

New York Free PressPorter M (1985) Competitive Advantage Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance New

York Free PressPorter M (1990) The Competitive Advantage of Nations New York Free PressPrurier E Sweeney A and Geen A (1993) Tourism and the environment The case of

Zakynthos Tourism Management 14 137ndash9Psoinos P (1994a) Research on the foreign touristsrsquo attributes in Greece (in Greek) Athens

Greek National Tourism OrganisationPsoinos P (1994b) Research on the attributes of foreigners who have never visited Greece (in

Greek) Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationRichter-Papaconstantinou C (1992) Tourism development of Rhodes Cahiers du Tourisme

(Serie B) 67 Aix en Provence Centre des Hautes Eacutetudes TouristiquesRomanos A (1998) Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites (in Greek) Athens

Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites SASETE (1993) Tourism Developments and problems (in Greek) Athens Association of Greek

Tourism EnterprisesSezer H and Harrison A (1994) Tourism in Greece and Turkey An economic view for

planners In A Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposiumpp74ndash84 England Wiley and Sons

Skoulas N (1985) Holidays and travel in the year 2035 ndash Contribution of the NationalTourist Organisation of Greece SDI Schriftey Wirtschafts und Unternehmenspolitik 40181ndash99

Skoulas N (1994) Quality improvement of tourism services (in Greek) Paper presentedin the conference Competitiveness of tourism enterprises ndash the role of quality 1 AprilHoliday Inn Athens Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises

Smith C and Jenner P (1995) Greece International Tourism Reports 3 5ndash21Stavrou S (1978) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Kos Island (in Greek) Research and

Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationStavrou S (1979) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Mykonos and Naxos Islands (in

Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1980) Research on Tourism Awareness on the Islands Kalymnos and Leros (in Greek)Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1984) Tourism Development in Greece during 1969ndash1982 (in Greek) Research andDevelopment Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986a) Research for the Characteristics of Foreign Tourist Demand in Greece in theYears 8485 (in Greek) Research Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1986b) Research on the Tourism Awareness on Paros Santorini Kythira Islands (inGreek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986c) Critical Review of Tourism Activity in the Years 8385 (in Greek) Researchand Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1988) Tourism in the Northern Aegean Islands Presentation of GNTO for the TourismDevelopment of the Periphery (in Greek) Proceedings of the first conference for thedevelopment of the Northern Aegean islands Homereum cultural centre Chios 11November Chios Periphery of Northern Aegean islands

Stavrou S (1989a) GNTO Presentation for the Tourism Development Possibilities for theSouthern Aegean Islands (in Greek) Conference for the development of Southern Aegean

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 479

islands Syros 30 September ndash 2 OctoberStavrou S (1989b) The Contribution of the Development Law 126282 in the Development of the

Country (in Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A5 Athens GreekNational Tourism Organisation

Stereopoulos N (1995) It is regarded ideal it became problematic (in Greek) OikonomikosTachidromos (21 December) 151ndash3

Touloupas P (1996) Greece as a tourist destination for the British tour operators Ananalysis from a marketing perspective in the particular context of the United KingdomMSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Tourismos ke Oikonomia (1993) 20 years 1973ndash1993 (in Greek) Special Issue AthensTourismos ke Oikonomia (1994) ICAP tourism enterprises Drastic reduction of loses in 1993

(in Greek) December 14ndash15Touristiki Agora (various issues) (Monthly tourism industry periodical in Greek) Business

Press AthensTruett D and Truett L (1987) The response of tourism to international economic

conditions Greece Mexico and Spain Journal of Developing Areas 21 177ndash90Tsartas P (1989) Socioeconomic Impacts of Tourism Development in Cyclades Region with Special

Reference on Ios and Serifos Islands During 1950ndash1980 (in Greek) Athens National Centrefor Social Research

Tsartas P (1992) Socioeconomic impacts of tourism on two Greek isles Annals of TourismResearch 19 516ndash33

Van Den Bergh J (1993) Tourism development and natural environment Aneconomicndashecological model for the Sporades islands In H Briassoulis and J Van DerStraaten (eds) Tourism and Environment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 67ndash83)Dordrecht Kluer Academic Publishers

Velissariou E (1991) Die Wirtschaftlichen Effekte des Tourismus Dargestell am Beispiel Kretas(The Economic Impacts of Tourism on Crete) PhD Dissertation University of MunichFrankfurt Peter Lang

Vernikos N (1987) The study of Mediterranean small islands Emerging theoreticalissues Ekistics 54 (323ndash4) 101ndash9

Wanhill S (1993) Government organisations In C Cooper J Fletcher D Gilbert and SWanhill (eds) Tourism Principle and Practice (pp 145ndash60) London Pitman

Wickens D (1994) Consumption of the authentic The hedonistic tourist in Greece In ASeaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 819ndash25)England JWiley and Sons

Wickens E (2000) Rethinking touristsrsquo experiences In M Robinson et al (eds) MotivationsBehaviour and Tourist Types (pp 455ndash72) Business Education Publishers Sunderland

Wickers D (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 2 Sunday Times 57ndash510Wilkinson PF (1989) Strategies for tourism in islands microstates Annals of Tourism

Research 16 153ndash77XENIA (various issues) (Monthly bulletin of the Greek Hotel Chamber in Greek) AthensZacharatos G (1984) Tourismus und Wirtschafts-Struktur Dargestellt am Beispiel

Griechenlands Europaische Hochschulschriften Reihex Band 7 Frankfurt am MainZacharatos G (1986) Tourism consumption (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planning and

Economic ResearchZacharatos G (1988) The simplistic empiricism Tourism policy and the time of crisis

(1992) (in Greek) Sychrona Themata 11 (May) 21ndash6Zacharatos G (1989) The problems and perspectives of tourism in Greece (in Greek) In H

Katsoulis T Giannitsis and P Kazakos (eds) Politics and Society Economy and ForeignRelationships (pp 273ndash89) Athens Papazisis

Zacharatos G (1993) The necessity of multimedia use in the tourism education in Greece(in Greek) Paper presented at the international conference Overcomingisolation-telematics and regional development University of the Aegean Chios 30April ndash 2 May

480 Current Issues in Tourism

Page 5: Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challengescore.ac.uk/download/pdf/101686.pdf · Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challenges Dimitrios Buhalis School of Management

Greece (Psoinos 1994a 1994b GNTO 1985a Tourismos ke Oikonomia 1993NSSG 1983 1985 1987 1990 1993 Stavrou 1984 1986a 1986c) In 1950 33333foreign tourists passed the borders while this figure rose to almost 11 million in1999 as illustrated in Table 1 Greece comes in the 17th place in the world classifi-cation of tourist destinations There is a concentration in the summer months asin the last ten years in 375 of arrivals were in July and August while the periodMay to September attracted 74 of total arrivals This is clearly reflected on thebednights as illustrated on Table 2 Most visitors (932) originate from Europeand 702 from the EU especially British Germans Swedish Finnish Dutch andAustrians Hence these nationalities are the dominant markets with the Britishand Germans contributing almost half of all arrivals as illustrated in Table 3About 777 came by plane and 605 by chartered flights Although tourismarrivals in Greece were forecasted to reach 20 million by the year 2000 (Jenner ampSmith 1993 161) this was not achieved as a result of increasing competition andincompetent management in both the public and private sectors

In 1999 about 60 million bednights were recorded in all types of accommoda-tion establishments 75 of which were by international tourists Similar to arriv-als the vast majority of the bednights spent in the country were by Europeansespecially British Germans Swedish Finnish Dutch and Austrians Hence thesenationalities are the dominant markets accounting for more than three-quarters ofthe bednights with the British and Germans contributing almost half of allbednights Domestic tourism is also a significant contributor More than 75 oftourists arrived in Greece by air and 58 of the total arrived on charter flightsbecause of the distance from the country of departure In 1985 about 89 of tour-istsrsquo arrivals to Greece were holiday-makers while only 7 travelled for business2 for other reasons and 1 were in transit About 53 of the tourists arriving in1985 had bought an inclusive tour package (GNTO 1985a 8) The inconvenienceof indirect transportation schedules large differentials in charges for groups andindividual customers by accommodation establishments lack of informationabout the Greek tourism product as well as insufficient marketing by SMTEshave enabled tour operators to act as intermediates between consumers and prin-cipals and to play a dominant role in the tourism industry However the develop-ment of the Internet enables prospective visitors to pre-book their packagesindependently and to use cheaper non-frills airlines and leisure fares of scheduleairlines for their transportation

The country has cultural attractions and heritage few other destinations canequal and therefore it can respond to the lsquonew era of tourismrsquo where a greaterdegree of individuality and sophistication will be required by consumers In 1998the average length of stay in the country was 14 days while the average expendi-ture per capita reached a level of $456 Similar results emerged in recent researchalthough the location of the data collection produced a sample containing a higherpercentage of business travellers (Psoinos 1994a 62)

Despite research on motivation attitudes and satisfaction of tourists arriving inGreece being inadequate a few typologies have emerged Fotis (1992 83ndash86) classi-fied holiday-makers in Rhodes in four main categories lsquotranquillersrsquo seeking quietand relaxing holidays lsquoculturersrsquo who include a strong educational and historicalelement in their holidays lsquobudgetersrsquo who are predominately budget-constrainedfamilies and young lsquonightlifersrsquo enjoying nightlife entertainment Similarly

444 Current Issues in Tourism

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 445

Table 1 Tourism demand and supply figures for Greece during the period 1950ndash1995

Year Arrivals Bednights Bedcapacity

Expenditure(million $)

Expenditureper capita

1950 33333 ndash ndash 4735 1421951 40568 ndash ndash 5933 1461952 68184 ndash ndash 9583 1411953 94410 ndash ndash 22721 2411954 157618 1273105 ndash 25321 1611955 195852 1351312 ndash 29123 1491956 218301 1594088 ndash 31213 1521957 261738 2041096 ndash 41374 1661958 276534 2069722 ndash 36196 1421959 339802 2552271 ndash 41667 1381960 399438 2963478 ndash 49260 1411961 494191 3934522 57022 62469 1421962 597924 4921803 60945 75986 1401963 741193 6129500 65604 95415 1421964 757495 5102121 71741 90800 1351965 976125 6158300 78487 107575 1271966 1131730 8810300 85323 143458 1441967 996473 ndash 90362 126768 1491968 1017621 ndash 98631 120263 1371969 1305951 6212000 108180 140470 1311970 1609210 7683639 118859 193556 1551971 2257994 11224000 135103 305299 1711972 2731587 14687325 151420 392700 1761973 3177682 15698030 166552 514900 1971974 2188304 10214164 175161 436600 2531975 3172968 13574801 185275 643600 2441976 4243563 19202614 213431 823700 2251977 4597354 18714446 231797 980600 2481978 5081033 22259598 247040 1326300 2931979 5798360 26672482 265550 1662300 3181980 5271115 27170344 278045 1733500 3611981 5577109 28171610 285860 1881000 3691982 5463060 29954664 301230 1527200 3031983 5258372 27216605 317920 1175700 2461984 6027266 32821789 333820 1312800 2381985 7039428 35709851 348170 1428000 2171986 7339015 35450027 359380 1834200 2611987 8053052 35755308 375370 2268100 2971988 8351182 36000000 395810 2396100 3051989 8540962 34157667 423790 1976000 2451990 9310492 36289604 438360 2575000 2901991 8271258 29873046 459300 2566100 319

Wickens (1994 819 and 2000) classified tourists arriving in Pefkochori as lsquocul-tural heritagersquo type interested in the natural beauties of Greece as well as itsculture and history lsquoraversrsquo attracted by the cheapness of the resort particularlythe cheapness and availability of alcohol as well as the sun beach and nightlifelsquoShirley Valentinesrsquo who are women on a mono-gender holiday who hope forromance and sexual adventure with a lsquoGreek Godrsquo based on the Greek malestereotype which has been perpetuated by newspapers and the film ShirleyValentine lsquoheliolatrousrsquo tourists who are sun-worshippers trying indefatigablyto change their colour and finally lsquoLord Byronsrsquo who undertake an annual ritualreturn to the same destination and experience the real flavour of Greek hospital-ity and ambience Although these typologies provide an initial demand profilethe strategic analysis and the positioning of the Greek tourism product will beimpossible without further research undertaken on the characteristics needsmotivations and behaviour of tourists

446 Current Issues in Tourism

Year Arrivals Bednights Bedcapacity

Expenditure(million $)

Expenditureper capita

1992 9756012 36260299 475800 3268400 3501993 9913267 36747968 499606 3335200 3541994 11301722 40657544 486518 3904900 3461995 10658114 38889975 534703 4294000 4031996 9782061 47945506 550692 3723100 3811997 10588489 53364507 560957 3772200 3561998 11363822 56549442 577759 5186100 4561999 10970665 60256902 584714 NA NA

Source Adapted from the Greek National Tourism Organisation and National Statistical Service ofGreece

Table 2 Nights spent by foreign tourists and Greek nationals in hotels and similarestablishments by month

Month Year Variation

1996 1997 1998 1999 9796 9897 9998January 867638 946798 1005719 1066084 912 622 600February 928305 933592 998977 1060008 057 700 611March 1250226 1369751 1273310 1448624 956 ndash704 1377April 2766116 2822243 2905546 2864693 203 295 ndash141May 5258710 5923093 6229116 6617666 1263 517 624June 6405495 7075829 7530343 8342167 1046 642 1078July 7965179 9003064 9872757 10723835 1303 966 862August 9551439 10878827 11661790 11805077 1390 720 123September 6993686 7822329 8224367 8756290 1185 514 647October 4113665 4419861 4640619 5234218 744 499 1279November 1032350 1113342 1175950 1245219 785 562 589December 812697 1055778 1030948 1093021 2991 ndash235 602Total 47945506 53364507 56549442 60256902 1130 597 656

Source Greek National Tourism Organisation and National Statistical Service of Greece

Table 1 (cont) Tourism demand and supply figures for Greece during the period1950ndash1995

Tab

le 3

Arr

ival

s of

for

eign

tou

rist

s at

fron

tier

s by

cit

izen

ship

199

1ndash19

99

Cou

ntry

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

19

99

238

453

128

211

191

619

298

843

586

182

673

061

Au

stri

a28

831

734

525

928

863

634

809

134

730

135

960

438

811

845

019

550

160

2B

elgi

um

-Lu

xem

bou

rg17

975

422

509

922

403

626

514

824

557

221

356

722

931

027

367

433

291

3B

ulg

aria

157

910

140

725

144

534

133

764

136

504

154

765

182

338

197

347

202

848

Fran

ce47

094

554

222

255

464

461

856

555

179

846

273

242

667

848

620

154

598

1G

erm

any

156

111

31

944

704

206

937

92

404

628

227

291

11

907

863

199

467

02

136

515

245

013

7Fo

rmer

Yu

gosl

avia

518

644

934

1319

179

227

930

127

034

724

717

1Y

ugo

slav

ia27

089

426

076

423

149

619

899

920

163

310

307

7Fy

rom

37

809

586

911

128

051

Den

mar

k21

188

328

123

525

362

231

888

532

436

929

895

934

426

129

253

233

624

8Sw

itze

rlan

d12

624

116

312

616

499

919

332

725

907

225

642

529

573

128

938

730

813

8U

K1

674

875

215

485

02

191

347

241

862

82

224

885

168

799

91

711

942

204

424

32

433

033

Irel

and

440

8557

885

627

8069

928

622

5254

050

454

0944

524

486

49Sp

ain

104

655

119

964

118

967

122

773

949

2079

717

713

1496

905

992

88It

aly

517

145

622

619

625

509

722

652

643

473

491

081

533

303

659

688

745

915

Cyp

rus

104

041

107

029

904

1292

372

980

5985

893

131

441

126

992

139

386

Nor

way

683

9695

898

102

452

143

257

142

013

157

722

160

457

226

282

269

419

Net

herl

and

s45

006

554

618

751

087

255

659

350

561

645

217

946

414

454

833

961

680

7H

ung

ary

107

685

107

403

739

9910

510

291

170

113

657

145

192

186

147

123

280

Ukr

ain

e10

742

106

5212

942

270

1728

084

328

43R

uss

ia10

147

412

918

418

056

020

079

412

741

710

491

0P

olan

d47

535

437

8834

292

310

1849

665

889

4710

179

312

264

711

515

2P

ortu

gal

165

8626

245

209

1921

581

208

5815

856

131

2513

713

210

34R

oman

ia17

919

196

8318

862

254

7438

868

510

1251

854

634

3972

689

Swed

en26

194

631

425

131

703

038

763

945

927

644

825

747

248

146

761

746

879

3C

zech

oslo

vaki

a13

012

919

158

589

642

Cze

ch R

epu

blic

788

4610

788

217

708

717

406

817

809

417

450

8Sl

ovak

ia15

102

135

3628

431

303

8355

291

462

17

Current Issues in Tourism 447

Cou

ntry

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

19

99

Fin

lan

d21

613

117

209

911

651

813

743

410

255

312

083

714

846

114

933

718

897

1O

ther

Eu

rop

ean

809

9510

439

420

537

325

209

328

8280

128

575

4134

967

370

63T

otal

EU

485

017

46

521

010

663

629

17

519

381

785

578

46

592

701

684

321

67

663

483

878

937

1T

otal

Eu

rop

e7

356

995

841

966

38

470

616

986

5986

936

382

98

419

060

927

776

210

174

303

113

200

13Ja

pan

579

0210

968

089

907

953

6789

457

871

3585

029

871

3083

971

Isra

el36

989

350

6545

815

414

0554

264

749

8082

386

894

0215

498

7L

eban

on

Syri

a15

637

159

2214

924

139

7415

651

183

5716

165

177

9818

347

Tu

rkey

535

3173

650

149

390

733

8849

018

474

1644

741

698

7580

502

Iran

422

66

794

761

56

458

596

05

319

373

03

848

380

9O

ther

Mid

dle

Eas

t5

474

804

88

014

562

37

919

124

108

300

638

27

854

Oth

er A

sian

448

5955

467

545

0663

611

111

547

167

380

145

515

841

3984

806

Tot

al A

sia

218

618

304

626

370

171

998

2633

381

641

299

738

586

635

857

443

427

6E

gyp

tSu

dan

200

2019

525

196

0918

540

214

4919

865

193

6317

604

240

45So

uth

Afr

ica

135

2716

944

146

8712

559

120

628

909

874

87

339

101

96O

ther

Afr

ica

179

4814

660

142

4212

145

151

7514

797

143

2413

795

137

99T

otal

Afr

ica

514

9551

129

485

3843

244

486

8643

571

424

3538

738

480

40A

rgen

tina

509

28

655

879

411

530

970

38

176

440

84

238

508

9B

razi

l8

523

899

98

555

107

4410

851

966

18

062

629

94

531

Mex

ico

364

26

535

533

65

318

453

93

385

225

82

052

420

0U

SA80

429

278

941

256

719

270

777

239

684

222

130

240

555

219

362

229

314

Can

ada

471

0159

807

514

7256

650

503

0943

966

477

2250

512

516

80O

ther

Am

eric

an10

983

152

5412

468

904

38

694

108

2611

052

904

410

447

Tot

al A

mer

ica

255

770

378

191

343

344

364

062

323

780

298

144

314

057

291

507

305

261

Au

stra

lia66

566

696

5856

064

615

5654

453

543

1146

692

427

9650

516

Oth

er O

cean

ic8

489

803

56

930

726

85

613

521

23

513

101

285

982

Tot

al O

cean

ia75

055

776

9362

994

688

2460

066

595

2350

205

529

2456

498

Form

er U

SSR

781

9410

005

811

716

0T

otal

803

612

79

331

360

941

282

310

641

942

101

301

779

233

295

100

703

2510

916

046

216

408

8C

ruis

es23

513

142

465

250

044

458

891

258

196

854

876

651

816

444

777

644

184

0G

ran

d to

tal

827

125

89

756

012

991

326

711

230

854

107

121

459

782

061

105

884

8911

363

822

126

059

28

Fo

rmer

Yu

gosl

av R

epu

blic

of

Mac

edon

iaSo

urce

Gre

ek N

atio

nal

Tou

rism

Org

anis

atio

n a

nd N

atio

nal S

tati

stic

al S

ervi

ce o

f G

reec

e

448 Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges

Tourism supply in Greek tourismA modern industry has emerged since the 1950s to cater for the tourism

demand The Greek tourism product is an amalgam of natural cultural and heri-tage attractions spread throughout the country as well as a wide variety of servicesoffered predominantly by SMTEs Moreover 15000 miles of coastline 2500islands an average of 300 sunny days annually a unique fauna and flora as well asclimatic superiority with mild winters and warm summers are some of its naturalattractions The Greek civilisation of more than 3500 years also provides plentifulcultural heritage throughout the country Some rsquo25000 registered and protectedmonuments and archaeological sites numerous museums and about 500 charac-teristic traditional settlementsrsquo offer a unique blend of tourist attractions (Buckleyamp Papadopoulos 1986 96 EIU 1986) As far as amenities are concerned a plethoraof SMTEs provide the entire variety of services

In January 2000 a total of 8100 official accommodation establishments with atotal capacity of almost 600000 beds are provided in different categories asdemonstrated in Table 4 Another 450000 beds are provided by some 28000secondary accommodation establishments such as lsquorooms to letrsquo and self-cateringapartments often referred to as lsquoparahoteleriarsquo In addition 11000 beds in cruiseliners and 12000 in yachts as well as 329 camping sites with 30354 pitches and83000 camping spaces accommodate all types of demand (GNTO) Eurostat esti-mates that about 20000 restaurants operate in Greece while a countless number ofcatering and entertainment establishments are on offer Furthermore some 7000travel agencies 1500 coach rental and 4000 car rental firms are estimated to operatethroughout the country (EC 1993a)

Accessibility is facilitated through 32 airports most of which can receive directinternational charter flights An extensive domestic scheduled flights network isprovided by Olympic Airways as well as by newly established private carrierswhich take advantage of the increasingly deregulated skies The proliferation ofprivate airlines (eg Aegean Cronus Axon Air Greece) during the last five yearsand the price wars with the state-owned Olympic Airways have increased bothdomestic and international traffic Moreover a complex network of sea road andrail transport enables passenger transportation throughout the country(Briassoulis 1993 291) During the last decade there has been a remarkableimprovement to the quality and ability of vessels as the Greek shipping industryprepares for the lifting of cabotage in 2002 which will enable European shippinglines to operate on Greek routes However recent tragedies involving olderGreek ferries pressurised the Ministry of Merchant Marine to take action in orderto improve the safety and security of the vessels and to ensure the adequate train-ing of crews In addition Piraeus port needs the development of a modernpassenger terminal to provide adequate service

Unfortunately the Greek infrastructure is incapable of supporting the tourismsuperstructure growth of the last decades and thus telecommunications transpor-tation police and health services water supply and sewage systems are underextreme pressure in the summer peak months to satisfy the demand density(Konsolas amp Zacharatos 1993 63 and EIU 1990 61) Nevertheless during the lastdecade several major projects have been initiated including the Metro and the newairport in Athens a wide network of motorways and the gradual development of

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 449

Tab

le 4

Acc

omm

odat

ion

esta

blis

hm

ent b

y re

gion

and

cat

egor

y in

199

9

Tot

alLu

xury

A C

ateg

ory

B C

ateg

ory

Reg

ion

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Ster

ea1

236

493

9892

877

225

368

101

4480

780

514

644

191

120

5722

605

Pel

opon

isos

660

230

1043

846

466

11

377

554

889

925

012

96

825

130

22Io

nio

595

332

8663

683

61

340

255

378

930

817

911

139

894

617

107

Ipir

os24

24

868

938

51

5411

611

446

884

381

478

284

4N

orth

ern

Aeg

ean

550

108

7220

792

450

11

090

231

364

257

498

374

97

125

Cre

te1

214

604

8911

396

021

508

510

034

166

188

9335

608

263

139

9826

904

Dod

ekan

isa

887

545

0710

436

68

324

26

227

127

224

8442

924

201

106

0120

161

Cyc

lad

es73

718

406

352

483

176

341

963

108

587

014

03

824

731

7T

hes

saly

575

119

9522

939

439

978

150

150

52

980

672

626

494

9M

aced

onia

983

335

1372

943

41

046

184

255

231

913

698

168

100

3619

140

Th

race

702

470

467

50

00

418

134

522

110

22

103

Tot

al7

749

302

814

584

714

7717

872

345

0574

572

302

146

688

145

675

242

143

277

C C

ateg

ory

D C

ateg

ory

E C

ateg

ory

Reg

ion

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Ster

ea60

318

193

339

6519

43

712

703

814

62

263

448

1P

elop

onis

os32

68

818

166

4894

135

02

625

4246

792

4Io

nio

380

119

2822

722

571

114

212

136

650

126

9Ip

iros

992

362

451

519

356

682

1417

234

4N

orth

ern

Aeg

ean

199

442

78

400

2840

477

333

427

830

Cre

te67

820

123

369

0397

163

12

995

5175

91

516

Dod

ekan

isa

495

163

7530

686

611

076

293

956

729

142

9C

ycla

des

367

835

715

977

100

152

22

922

104

141

92

821

Th

essa

ly24

15

723

107

7853

962

186

159

780

159

0M

aced

onia

491

124

0723

497

351

687

013

066

6083

51

700

Th

race

2886

81

614

1125

949

35

6012

0T

otal

390

710

958

120

570

51

065

192

5637

515

606

856

117

024

Sour

ce G

NT

O D

ept o

f Acc

omm

odat

ion

Est

abli

shm

ents

450 Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges

the railtrack These developments will change the entire infrastructure of thecountry

The implementation of the Greek national tourism policy is supervised by theGreek National Tourism Organisation (GNTO) and the Ministry of TourismThe two organisations share the responsibilities for planning implementationand promotion of Greek tourism at national and regional level as well as coordi-nating the involvement of the public and private sectors in all tourism activitiesPublic investment in commercial facilities was utilised in the early days ofGreek tourism to stimulate both tourism demand and the private sectorrsquos confi-dence to invest The GNTO operates 21 regional and 25 overseas offices in 18countries worldwide (Konsolas amp Zacharatos 1993 59 Leontidou 1991Briassoulis 1993)

The Greek tourism product is distributed to the international market predomi-nantly through European tour operators which organise package holidays andinclude resorts in their programmes Some 800 tour operators distribute the Greektourism product More than 7000 incoming travel agencies often act as tour opera-torsrsquo handling agencies while providing a variety of tourism services such asorganisation of excursions currency exchange and accommodation bookingsdirectly to consumers They usually participate in negotiations between tour oper-ators and accommodation establishments as well as cooperate with tour operatorsrsquorepresentatives at destinations In addition the GNTO operates several informa-tion offices at major resorts whilst several local authorities provide tourist infor-mation as well as distribute promotional material and make local bookings Theglobal GNTO network distributes information material to potential tourists aswell as undertakes all the marketing and public relations functions both for indi-vidual and institutional customers

SWOT analysis for Greek tourism and small and medium-sized tourismenterprises

A SWOT analysis is undertaken for the Greek tourism as well as its SMTEs inorder to assess their present and projected competitiveness based on strategicmanagement research undertaken for the Aegean islands (Buhalis 1991 Cooperamp Buhalis 1992) The interrelations between SMTEs and destinations are quiteapparent illustrating that a destinationsrsquo weaknesses and threats are reflected inthe SMTEsrsquo competitiveness and vice versa As illustrated in Table 5 the SWOTanalysis concentrates on the strategic rather than operational strengths andweaknesses of SMTEs

As far as strengths of the Greek tourism and SMTEs are concerned their flexi-bility and ability to tailor products to consumersrsquo needs are of great importanceto their existence SMTEs can identify profitable niches in the market establishtheir requirements and attempt to satisfy specialised needs Direct control byentrepreneurs permits quick and efficient managerial reaction to external chal-lenges Fewer hierarchical levels facilitate closer and more effective control overthe service delivery process enabling personal services to customers In addi-tion archaeological heritage natural and cultural resources as well as the localcharacter are also significant assets As a result tourists benefit from localresources which are ideally situated to offer special-interest holidays SMTEsalso capitalise on personal relationships with consumers suppliers labour and

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 451

the entire tourism industry in general Their size enables the provision of apersonal finish to all products provided while it is not unusual for customers tobecome friends and to be treated accordingly Similarly strong relations withemployees support labour loyalty and low turnover The proprietorrsquos family isnormally directly involved with every aspect of the business reacting efficientlyand promptly to any problem arising Their involvement in running the enter-prise provides considerable benefits especially in having a very flexiblemulti-skilled and dedicated workforce which tolerates unsociable workingschedules Family members feel committed to the long-term prosperity of theenterprise and often do not distinguish between their professional and familylife Thus a better matching between tourism demand and SMTEsrsquo supply isachieved

A close-up of the weaknesses of Greek tourism and SMTEs is critical for under-standing the ability of the industry to compete in the global tourism arenaAlthough entrepreneurs are normally an asset it seems that a number of manage-

452 Current Issues in Tourism

Table 5 Greek tourism and SMTEsrsquo SWOT analysis

Strengths

Flexibility

Tailor-made product delivery

Entrepreneurial activity

Family involvement

Natural and cultural resources

Strong local character

Personalised relationships

Labour loyalty and low turnover

Weaknesses

Management

Marketing

Information technologies illiteracy

Dependence upon tour operators

Supporting markets

Lack of economies of scale

Human resources management

Education and training

Transportation and accessibility

Financial management and resources

Seasonality

Lack of standardisation

Lack of quality assurances

Opportunities

European Union support

European redistribution of labour

Increase in tourism demand size

Trends in tourism demand

Low cost of living in periphery

Information technology

Infrastructure development

Transportation

Olympic Games

Threats

Environmental degradation

Concentration and globalisation

Oversupply

Lack of visibility in CRSs

Infrastructure

Warsterrorism

Political intervention

Source Adapted from Buhalis 1991 60c and Cooper and Buhalis 1992 108

rial problems often arise Lack of strategic and operational managementknow-how generates inconsistency in the creation and delivery of tourism prod-ucts This has direct implications for consumersrsquo satisfaction and the projectedimage of the industry There is often a complete lack of strategic vision and enter-prises are often treated as an extension of proprietorsrsquo domestic environmentEntrepreneurs recruit family members and relatives as personnel and supplierseven though more appropriatequalified alternatives can be found in the market-place Therefore the management of SMTEs clearly projects the proprietorrsquosfamily life-style and decision-making processes onto an enterprise Marketing isanother significant weakness for most entrepreneurs and Greek resorts as they areoften completely unaware of the techniques available and thus follow a prod-uct-oriented rather than a consumer-orientated approach Consequently uncoor-dinated isolated trouble-shooting marketing activities are occasionallyundertaken rather than a consistent and well-planned marketing campaign Lackof marketing research debilitates knowledge of consumersrsquo needs and makes itdifficult to identify methods for improving services in order to meet consumersrsquoexpectations Inability to finance and execute advertising campaigns and otherpromotional techniques reduces their visibility in their markets These weak-nesses in combination with the fact that many entrepreneurs are unfamiliar withinformation technology (IT) add to the problems of SMTEs in promoting them-selves effectively Consequently both Greek SMTEs and destinations sufferfrom over-dependence on the tourism distribution channels to promote anddistribute their product In particular intermediaries and especially tour opera-tors have enormous power within the channel and are capable of determiningthe Greek tourism product marketing distribution and pricing mixes (Buhalis1995) Hence the marketing campaign and the visibility of Greek tourism to itsmain target markets are often determined by the coverage space photographsand description in tour operatorsrsquo brochures European tour operators alsocontrol accessibility to Mediterranean or long-haul destinations as they ownmost charter airlines which provide direct and inexpensive flights to these desti-nations

As most resorts are located in peripheral areas there is usually little economicdevelopment in the supplying sectors Therefore remote destinations have toimport essential raw and construction materials from elsewhere while SMTEsoften face transportation delivery and purchasing problems and excessivetransportation costs Moreover lack of economies of scale in purchasing rawmaterial low bargaining power and lack of advanced facilities are additionaloperational disadvantages This essentially means that SMTEs have to payhigher prices for products than their larger counterparts Lack of specialisedpersonnel and inadequate training procedures mean that human resourcesmanagement is a major weakness of Greek tourism In most SMTEs personnelhave to cover a wide range of positions a loose job description is usuallyprovided and multi-skilled personnel are required The labour turnover due tothe seasonality of the tourism industry reduces the availability of qualified andexperienced personnel and makes tourism product delivery not only variablebut also unprofessional The small size of operation provides little opportunityfor the division of tasks professional employees and proper training Since noquality standards are introduced service delivery varies according to the occu-

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 453

pancy service provider and timing Transportation and accessibility to remotedestinations may also be a weakness as most enterprises are located in periph-eral and often inaccessible regions SMTEs tend to feel frustrated because theyare unable to attract consumers simply because they cannot provide conve-nient reliable and affordable transportation The formulation of charter aircarriers by destination areas such as Turkey and Spain as well as the emergingderegulation policies in the European Union may diminish this problem in thenear future Moreover SMTEs face significant financial constraints as on theone hand they are required to invest in fixed assets at the beginning of theiroperations and on the other hand there is a discrimination against them byfinancial institutions since they normally have very few assets Consequentlythey are forced to accept unfavourable financial deals Finally the Greek tour-ism industry and SMTEs suffer from seasonality problems and have to produceadequate income within a limited period every year Lack of diversified invest-ment in other economic activities forces proprietors to work intensively in thepeak months and rest in the off-peak months while their pay-back period isinevitably unfavourable As the tourism industry becomes more professionalembraces quality management and responds to an increasingly discerningcustomer SMTEsrsquo typical lack of business expertise and minimal standardisa-tion may become an increasing liability especially for some target markets(Cooper amp Buhalis 1992 102)

Recent developments in the external environment present numerous opportu-nities for the Greek tourism industry and SMTEs Firstly the European Uniontakes several actions to support small and medium-sized enterprises (EC 1993b72) while it supports infrastructure development of peripheral regions andcontributes significantly to the prosperity of SMTEs The country is going througha major transformation as a result of several public projects supported by theEuropean Commission including the Attico Metro the new Athens Airport thedevelopment of the peripheral motorway Elefsina-Spata and the peripheralmotorway of Immitos The unification of the heritage sites and thepedestrianisation of the Athens city centre aims to develop an open archaeologi-cal park and deal with the traffic and pollution problems The Olympic Games in2004 provide a unique challenge and opportunity for the city and the country torebrand and redevelop itself and demonstrate its unparalleled heritage andcultural resources The Games also provide the resources and funding as well asa lsquodeadlinersquo for several infrastructural projects that were already scheduled butperhaps delayed In addition several projects are anticipated to improve thesuperstructure of the industry through both renovation of existing propertiesand through the development of new hotels and other facilities It is anticipatedthat the regeneration of the city and the country in general will provide majoropportunities for the attractiveness and competitiveness of the tourism industry(Buhalis 2000b Papanikos 1999 Romanos 1998)

It is anticipated that there will be a gradual redistribution of Europeanlabour providing support for each region to specialise in the production ofgoods and services where it can achieve competitive advantages Traditionallyremote and insular destinations where most Greek resorts and SMTEs arebased achieve a competitive advantage in tourism and therefore greatersupport is anticipated Greek tourism benefits from the continuous growth of

454 Current Issues in Tourism

global tourism demand as more people require holiday services while SMTEsare expected to increase their share as they tend to satisfy the emerging special-ised and sophisticated demand better than larger organisations Informationand telecommunication technologies can provide strategic tools for tourismdestinations and SMTEs enabling them to manage their product more effi-ciently disseminate information and establish a distribution mechanismthrough destination management systems (Buhalis 1994) New technologiesalso offer opportunities for developing innovative tourism products such asteleworking for tourists who would like to spend time working during theirstay at the destination Finally Greek tourism tends to achieve a cost advan-tage since it employs unpaid family members and operates in inexpensiveperipheral regions which often have a lower cost of living in comparison withmetropolitan areas

In terms of external threats environmental degradation through inappropriatewaste management and excessive usage of natural resources can be observedLack of know-how and funds effectively increases environmental problemsConsequently several resorts suffer severe damage while entrepreneurs and localauthorities feel powerless to take remedial measures Moreover oversupply oftourism service providers and lack of well-defined carrying capacity limits inseveral destinations have placed numerous Greek resorts and SMTEs in a disad-vantaged position as they cannot achieve sufficient income Similarly the concen-tration of power in fewer tourism industry enterprises through emergingglobalisation also threatens the ability of Greek SMTEs to survive as internationalvertically integrated tourism organisations acquire control over local enterprisesThe dependence upon channel partners for the promotion and distribution ofGreek tourism is exaggerated by the relatively low presence of Greek suppliers inthe major CRSs (Computer Reservation Systems) which is caused by the seasonal-ity and scale of the tourism production on the one hand and the tariffs of thesesystems on the other The issue of infrastructure is closely related to the oversup-ply which attracts higher demand than planned Destinations often have limitedinfrastructure provisions which fail to follow the pace of development generatingpressure on the existing inadequate facilities Finally the tourism industry suffersfrom its geographical proximity to the Balkans and the Middle East and as a conse-quence is often associated by consumers with wars and terrorism activities Greektourism and SMTEs have limited means of dealing with unfavourable situationsand thus are more vulnerable to their impacts Political intervention perhapsthrough the public sector decisions and the legislator framework often damagesthe prosperity of SMTEs As SMTEs have little lobbying power they have limitedinfluence over political decisions which determine their welfare

The SWOT analysis demonstrates quite clearly that the Greek tourism indus-try faces a wide range of problems and threats which will jeopardise its ability toprovide suitable tourism products in the future as well as its ability to make acontribution to the national welfare However several opportunities and chal-lenges emerge and they need to be addressed in order to strengthen the competi-tiveness of the industry Further analysis is therefore required in order to assessthe factors which generate these problems and also to identify ways to respond tothe challenges they present

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 455

Why Are We There and What Are the Implications StructuralProblems and Challenges

Despite its popularity and growth over the last 40 years the Greek tourismindustry has reached a stage where both its potential and competitiveness havebecome questionable

The seemingly unstoppable growth of this market contributed to a degreeof complacency which has led to Greece repeating some of the errors madein Spain Rapid price increases mean the country is no longer perceived bymass market clients as cheap in relation to comparable destinations in theMediterranean but much of the countryrsquos tourism infrastructure hastilybuilt in response to demand for cheap accommodation does not meet theneeds of a market less sensitive to price and more concerned with qualityand value for money (EIU 1990 45)

Richter-Papaconstantinou (1992 27) explains that tourism development inRhodes lsquotakes place without any Master Plan of the area respect of the landscapeand environment analysis whether there is demand and what the demand isafter regard to what is happening in similar situationsrsquo At the micro level theEuropean travel trade and intermediaries warn that the Greek tourism product isno longer competitive (Conway 1996 41 Touloupas 1996 Douvitsas 1994)whilst Chitiris (1991 148ndash150) outlines a range of managerial problems andmistakes in Greek resort hotels which diminish the quality of the tourismservices Hence unless the Greek tourism industry addresses a number of criticalissues immediately its future might be seriously jeopardised resulting in apotential catastrophe of the national economy The major structural problemsand challenges for the Greek tourism product can be summarised in Table 6

As a result Greece fails to attract the desired lsquohigh-quality high-expenditurersquotourists as it is increasingly unable to satisfy their requirements (Conway 199641) The deterioration of the tourism product and image leads to a lower willing-ness-to-pay by consumers which consequently leads to a further drop in qualityas the industry attempts to attract customers with lower prices This is a viciousspiral which has been destroying the essence of developing tourism in severalMediterranean destinations The concentration of bargaining power in Euro-pean distribution intermediaries and tour operators in particular in combina-tion with the inability of the Greek tourism industry to promote itself andestablish effective distribution mechanisms inevitably minimises the profitmargins of SMTEs and their ability to yield decent returns on their investmentAs a result touristsrsquo expenditure per capita in Greece gradually deteriorateswhile their volume increases (SETE 1993 35)

Thus the tourism policy often consisted in a lsquofreezingrsquo of the selling price ofthe tourist package abroad a measure which combined with the devalua-tion of the drachma and its continuous parity losses succeeded in securing alsquofictitious competitivenessrsquo for the Greek package This competitivenesshowever was seriously threatened each time there was an attempt at asubstantial increase because of important rises in cost elements(Kalogeropoulou 1993 2)

456 Current Issues in Tourism

The above issues illustrate that the Greek tourism product becomes increas-ingly incompetent Hence the inadequate lsquoproductrsquo lsquopromotionrsquo and lsquoplacersquo(distribution) elements of the tourism marketing mix reduce the willingness ofprospective consumers to pay and has disastrous implications for the pricingpolicies deteriorating the profitability of the SMTEs and the tourism economicimpacts on the destination

Ultimately the economic impacts of tourism in Greece become debatableespecially due to the inadequacy of tourism economic research and data whilethe destination has to bear the environmental social and cultural decay Encour-agingly articles in recent tourism industry publications acknowledge these chal-lenges and appreciate the dangers urging both the private and public sector totake action (Touristiki Agora Tourismos ke Oikonomia Travel News XENIA) as well

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 457

Table 6 Structural problems and challenges

Image of Greece as cheap simple unsophisticated undifferentiated sun-seadestination

Gradual deterioration of tourism product and lack of reinvestment in improvements

Increase of tourism arrivals but decrease of tourism expenditure per capita

Inadequacy of the Greek planning process

Dependence upon major tour operators for promotion and distribution

Plethora of anarchically developed and behaving SMTEs aiming at short-termprofitability

Inappropriate and ill-timed marketing campaign which has little effectiveness

Inadequacy of infrastructure to serve the ever-expanding demand

Lack of coordination at the destination and disrespect for touristsrsquo needs

Lack ofprofessionalism and training in both state andprivate tourism establishments

Individualistic behaviour by SMTEs and unwillingness to cooperate on adestination basis

Unsuccessful and inconsistent programmes of government intervention

Almost unregulated environment with nearly complete lack of control

Political intervention which allows exception policies and employment of unquali-fied staff

Development of tourism as a single regional development option

Oversupply of tourism amenities and fierce price competition

Failure of the private sector to invest in long-term projects

Deterioration of natural social and cultural resources

SMTEsrsquo inability to resist in global concentration of the tourism industry

Inadequate distribution mechanisms which generate overdependence onintermediaries

Failure of both the private and public sectors to learn from internationally gainedexperience in tourism development and marketing

Lack of tourism research to identify the impacts of tourism

Negligence with regard to new tourism demand challenges

as several influential members of the tourism industry (Josephides 1993 19941995 Skoulas 1994 Daskalantonakis 1994 Divanis 1994b Plevris 1995Papandropoulos 1995)

Political intervention limited research lack of tourism policy andplanning

Perhaps the largest obstacle in developing a competitive tourism industry inGreece has been the inconsistent and irrational political intervention Unfortunatelytourism has extensively been utilised as a political vehicle where each govern-ment uses it to gratify its political needs and friends This can be experienced in alllevels of recruitment in the public sector institutions as a change of government oreven minister results in immense changes throughout the GNTO as well as tomajor policies and regulations Thus in the last 35 years (since 1966) the leadershipof the GNTO has changed 28 times allowing each General Secretary to stay inoffice for an average of 138 months Political allies of each government use politi-cal pressure and intensive lobbying in order to achieve amendments in regula-tions incentive policies and business environment Hence the short-termprofitability and commercial interests of the friends and political allies of eachgovernment often overrule the long-term strategy and set an improper examplefor the entire industry These practices result in a great inconsistency in Greek tour-ism policy and disrupt its rationalisation Therefore a lsquodepolitisation of Greektourismrsquo towards a professionally managed public sector guided through acompromised strategic Master Plan is urgently required (Josephides 1995)

The limited existing scientific tourism research highlights the lack of comprehen-sive examination of tourism impacts in Greece while it illustrates that tourismpolicy is based on insufficient documentation (Zacharatos 1989 278 and 1988 22)Public sector research is almost non-existant while the authorities seem uninter-ested in consulting the Greek-tourism research produced by academics (for exam-ple Zacharatos 1984 1986 Komilis 1987 Loukissas 1977 Papadimitris 1988Papadopoulos 1985 Moore 1992 Tsartas 1989 Velissariou 1991 Fotis 1992Buhalis 1991 1995 2000c Buhalis amp Diamantis 2000) or the international tourismlsquobody of knowledgersquo (Zacharatos 1988 24) In addition tourism consumptionbeing characterised as a particular category of private consumption in the nationalaccounts it fails to reflect the real tourism impact on each economic sector Thusthe process of collecting information for tourism expenditure in Greece preventsthe assessment of tourism expenditure impacts on the national and regional econ-omy and therefore cannot be used in drawing scientifically founded tourismpolicy (Zacharatos 1989 277 Konsolas amp Zacharatos 1993 58) Consequentlytourism policy follows conventional wisdom and concentrates on attracting alarger volume of tourists ignoring scientific methods to assess the economicsocial cultural and environmental impacts of each tourism segment assumingthat the greater the tourism volume the better for the national economy

The lack of a comprehensive and rational tourism policy and planning or a MasterPlan for Greek tourism is primarily responsible for the aforementioned structuralproblems Policy is usually based on unsubstantiated statements published by theTourism Ministry or the GNTO (GNTO 1985b 1989a 1993) often as pre-electionpromotional material In essence Greek authorities attempt to intervene aiming tostimulate arrivals as well as to facilitate the operation and development of the

458 Current Issues in Tourism

tourism industry Based on the assumption that tourism arrivals to Greece wouldincrease indefinitely the general directions of the Greek tourism policy focusalmost invariably on the targets summarised in Table 7 (Euromonitor 1992 61GNTO 1989b 41 and 1993 1 OECD 1992 70 Skoulas 1985 194 Leontidou 199188ndash91 Apostolopoulos 1990 Zacharatos 1989 275 and 1988 21)

However as these tasks are not quantified and there is no time schedule orplanning process for their achievement it is inevitable that their implementationand assessment is subject to irrationalities and personal judgement Occa-sionally incentives for tourism development responses to lobbying from tour-ism-related associations and regions training programmes and generallegislation attempt to direct the Greek tourism industry towards the describedpolicy directions In addition an inconsistent and untargeted promotionalcampaign is implemented yearly (Touloupas 1996 130) The campaign attempts toachieve the above unspecified policy tasks while it is often a lsquolast minutersquo reactionmeasure to a forecasted decline of bookings for the current season rather than acoordinated long-term marketing policy (Jenner amp Smith 1993 143Papadopoulos 1989 304) Despite the advertising campaignrsquos positive impact onarrivals the feedback to the campaign is rather speculative as no formal researchis undertaken to identify the most cost-effective media and communication meth-ods for each target market (Papadopoulos 1989 311 and 1987 82)

Because the deficient scientific examination of Greek tourism and its impactsprevents the authorities from establishing quantifiable and measurable tourismpolicies their policies are based on subjective and personal judgements while feedbackpractices are rarely followed In addition the implementation of the vaguelydefined tourism policy as well as the targets regulations and standards are oftenbent to accommodate lobbying and political pressures (Zacharatos 1989 279)Komilis (1993 225) suggests that tourism planning in Greece is generally realisedand exercised within a socio-political environment characterised by severalfactors a limited degree of political commitment lack of social awareness andacceptability of planning actions inadequacy of scientific and technical founda-

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 459

Table 7 Greek tourism policy targets

Development of demand

Training of tourism employees

Increase arrivals and foreign exchange income

Increase competitiveness of tourism product

Improvement of services in the industry

Reduction of seasonality and expansion of tourism season

Attraction of high spenders and alternative types of tourism

Construction of facilities appealing to the upper end of the market such as luxuryhotels golf courses congress centres casinos and marinas

Development of tourism infrastructure with emphasis on transportation

Support of social tourism for low-income domestic tourists

Geographical redistribution of tourism

tion to support planning intervention and a centralised administrative-institu-tional system gathering a plethora of functions but failing to perform itscoordination and enforcing role When the conflicting interests and power of eachmember of the tourism industry are brought into the equation where differentpartners attempt to influence legislation in order to maximise their own short-termprofitability regardless of the impacts on the destination and other enterprises theplanning process becomes more complicated This results in an ineffective plan-ning system and process which produces policies unable to provide an appropri-ate balance between restrictive policies and control planning implementationMoreover the plethora of SMTEs in combination with inadequate legislationconcerning their establishment and operation seem to affect adversely thecompetitiveness of the industry and the ability to diversify and enrich local tour-ism products (Komilis 1992 11 EIU 1990 59)

Consequently several structural problems are originated jeopardising theprosperity of both SMTEs and destinations especially in overdeveloped regionsOn the supply side failure of the infrastructure to follow the dramatic expansionof the superstructure in combination with the lack of solid institutional context oftourism policy and long-term regulation result in the exploitation and inadequacyof environmental and socio-cultural resources as well as the inability of the indus-try to generate the level of economic benefits desired and expected On the tourismdemand side after the meteoric growth in the 1970s and 1980s the Greek tourismindustry has been trying to transform lsquothe country into a destination which cancompete not just on price but on value for moneyrsquo (EIU 1990 45) It is becomingapparent that the tourism population in not infinite and an adaptability andresponsiveness to touristsrsquo needs is ofgreat importance (Sezeramp Harrison 1994 83)

Structural problems jeopardise the profitability of the private sectorBecause of the aforementioned structural problems most tourism industry

enterprises are experiencing a decline in profitability Hotels in particular arebadly affected due to the high fixed assets as well as their immobility and inflexi-bility which prevents them from adjusting to demand fluctuation Several reasonsdetermine their low profitability and inability to increase prices in line with infla-tion The low occupancy levels achieved yearly is a key problem Smith and Jenner(1995 17) estimate that the lsquoyear-round bed occupancy over the range of licensedaccommodation is slightly under 30rsquo As most of the properties are closed duringthe winter months due to the seasonality problems they rely on three to six monthsto generate sufficient returns on their investment The occupancy levels of accom-modation establishments in Greek tourism are often determined by theirco-operation with travel intermediaries Based on the different seasonality patternsof different markets rooms are normally allocated a year before the summer seasonto tour operators on lsquoallotmentrsquo or lsquocommitmentrsquo contracts which effectively deter-mine the prices charged according to the security provided by tour operators forusing and paying for hoteliersrsquo rooms Once the contracts are signed hoteliers effec-tively lose their control on their inventory and their right to market their rooms toother business sources before the release period (typically 7ndash14 days before arrival)in order to avoid overbooking However should their bookings fail to match theirprogramme tour operators often utilise their buying power to cancel unwantedrooms at the beginning of the tourist season without paying compensation Smaller

460 Current Issues in Tourism

hoteliers are often left with unoccupied rooms they which are unable to promote atthe lsquolast minutersquo unless they drop their prices to unacceptable levels As a result oftheir deficient intra-channel power hotels often suffer a significant cut-back of theiroccupancy levels which has direct implications for their profitability (Buhalis 19952000c 460 Ktenas 1996)

Similarly the seasonality of the Mediterranean and Greek tourism industry hasalways been a problem for the profitability of SMTEs since enterprises operateonly for a limited period (Jenner amp Smith 1993 70 Drakatos 1987 Donatos ampZairis 1991) Attempts to promote winter tourism by developing cultural andspecial interest tourism in the islands and winter sports in several ski resorts inGreece have proved fairly unsuccessful (EIU 1986 56) This is attributed to theimage of Greece as an exclusively summer-sun destination as well as to the unco-ordinated attempts to maintain tourism enterprises active during the wintermonths (EIU 1990 57)

The average room rate is the second major determinant of hotel profitability It isbecoming apparent that employment costs and cost of capital in combination witha relatively strong currency policy reduce the ability of Greek accommodationestablishments to offer competitive pricing and maintain their profitabilityMarketing inadequacies and inability to promote the tourism product as a differ-entiated entity the rapid increase of supply in comparison to demand and theoverall dependence upon the oligopsonistic tour operators for the Greek tourismproduct promotion force hoteliers to accept contracts by tour operators whichminimise their profit margin and adversely effect the quality of their productIncreasing levels of pressure by tour operators prevent SMTEs from renovatingand investing in their properties and therefore a gradual deterioration of the prop-erties is inevitable (Richter-Papaconstantinou 1992 14 Skoulas 1985 189) Euro-pean tour operators faced with fierce competition in their markets are essentiallywilling to pay an annual price increase equal to little less than the depreciation ofthe drachma plus the inflation at the place of origin of the tourists (Ktenas 1994)This policy progressively deteriorates the profitability of the Greek tourism indus-try and has severe impacts for its prosperity The situation is worse for smalleraccommodation establishments which manage to negotiate even smaller priceincreases due to their exclusive dependence upon fewer intermediaries(Logothetis 1992 14)

The oversupply of tourism services both in Greece and worldwide also contributesto global competition for a less rapidly increasing demand (Josephides 1993 54)In Greece the average annual increase of the official hotel bed supply in 1983ndash1992was 47 while the annual average increase in international tourist bednights was27 (Epilogi 1994 271) The investment incentive Law 126282 boosted this over-supply as it generated small infeasible and uncontrollable accommodation unitsunable to offer high quality of services while it increased the concentration of tour-ism units in infrastructure-undersupplied resorts (Kriebardis amp Marmagiolis1990 51 Stavrou 1989b 5) The vast majority of the capacity growth is on the lsquoille-galrsquo unregistered self-catering and self-serviced lsquoparahoteleriarsquo sector whichprovide very low quality and priced accommodation and therefore appeal tomass tour operatorsrsquo clientele This not only increases unfair competition for theofficially registered hotels but also reduces both tax revenues and employment atthe macro level

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 461

Horwath (1994 3) concludes that

unfortunately the results in terms of return on investment in the tourismindustry are not very promising especially when compared with those ofother Greek economic sectors It is an undisputable fact that the averageGreek tourism entrepreneur is heavily dependent on the tourist packageprice which is strongly negotiated by the international tour operators It isan lsquounhealthyrsquo dependency as a result of the weak position of the Greektourist product in the international market In addition the aforemen-tioned dependency is the result of the lack of marketing activities in anaverage tourist enterprise As we all know effective marketing activitiesare based on the product place price promotion which all contribute toclient satisfaction and further to a bigger share in the international touristmarket Up to now three of the aforementioned important elements ofmarketing have been overlooked which determine the weak negotiationpower of the Greek entrepreneur

This situation has also resulted to several European companies expandingtheir operations into Greece or purchasing shares in Greek partners in order toimprove their vertical integration Should this vertical integration expand signif-icantly however lsquoGreek tourism will be in fact controlled by foreign deci-sion-making centres which will certainly operate on the basis of their owninterests and not according to the overall interests of our national economyrsquo(Kalogeropoulou 1993 2) Hence radical measures are required immediately inproduct formulation promotion strategy and distribution channels to supportboth Greek destinations and SMTEs to enhance their competitiveness profitabil-ity and prosperity Failure to react would have severe implications for the futureof the Greek tourism private sector as the essence of its existence would be jeop-ardised its costs may exceeding its returns

Structural problems generate negative tourism impactsIn addition to the profitability problems of the private sector the aforemen-

tioned structural problems have profound implications for the welfare of hostpopulations in various Greek destinations as their economic social cultural andenvironmental resources are exploited without ensuring their sustainabilityLack of comprehensive research and failure to initiate carrying-capacity limits orzoning systems contribute to the anarchic development of tourism as well asexpand negative impacts of tourism on local societies and environments Thefollowing section highlights some of the costs Greek destinations are called topay for their tourism activity whilst it suggests that these issues should beaddressed in the strategic planning process

Macro-economic negative impactsDespite the contribution of tourism to the Greek economy certain potential

risks can also be identified Not only is the competitiveness and profitability ofthe tourism industry jeopardised but also several destination regions seem tofollow a policy of developing tourism at the expense of industrial and agricul-tural growth (Stavrou 1989a 6 Vernicos 1987 105) Instead of tourism stimulat-ing agriculture it seems that it hastens its decline as the two economic activities

462 Current Issues in Tourism

compete for land and labour The lack of structural investments in industrial oragricultural sectors combined with the popularity of tourism professions in theworkforce endanger the balance of the regional economy while reducing thetourism multipliers (Briassoulis 1993 295) As a result the economic structure ofthe destination is jeopardised while a complete dependence upon tourismbecomes inevitable (Komilis 1992 7) Both opportunity costs and displacementeffects are therefore evident Moreover there is evidence that the progress ofdestinations through their life-cycle and especially the introduction of masstourism decreases their economic impacts while it makes local control of theindustry far more difficult (Loukissas 1982 537) lsquoBecause of the high degree ofdependence of Greek tourist enterprises on tour operators the actual amount oftourist spending remaining in the country is only the 40ndash50 of total touristspendingrsquo (Briassoulis 1993 296) Public-sector subsidies to the private sector invarious forms such as incentives cooperative marketing campaigns and unem-ployment benefits in the off-season as well as tax evasion and lsquoparaeconomyrsquo alsoreduce the real benefit at the macro level (Mourdoukoutas 1988 Drakatos 1987Leontidou 1991 102) Lack of scientific research on the economic impacts oftourism makes the real contribution of tourism in the economy speculativerather than based on hard evidence (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Konsolas ampZacharatos 1993)

Social and cultural negative impactsThe development of mass tourism and the lack of effective planning and

management are also responsible for a number of negative social and culturalimpacts observed in Greek host societies (Tsartas 1989 1992 Stavrou 19781979 1980 1986b) Although the degree of interaction of the population withtourists depends heavily on the geomorphology of destinations and the loca-tion of resorts (Loukissas 1982 538) touristsrsquo behaviour is often offensive tothe host population but tolerated due to the economic benefits (Castelberg-Koulma 1991 201 Kousis 1989 Wickens 1994 823) Most Greek tourismdestinations are almost crime-free zones during the winter due to the smallpopulation and personal relationships of locals Tourism however introducesseveral types of criminal activity often unknown to local people As policeforces are usually allocated according to needs of the permanent population ina destination they are often incapable of handling the demands of the summermonths and are unable to deal with visitorsrsquo misbehaviour such as hooliganismand lsquolager-lootingrsquo

The commercialisation of history cultural traditions and the Greek lifestyle isa phenomenon met in several destinations This regrettably affects the renownedGreek hospitality commercialises human relations with tourists and reduces theties of solidarity and cooperation between locals since they compete for the tour-ism market (Papadopoulos 1988b 24) As the average employee works 605hours weekly for 295 weeks a year there is little time left for social religious andcultural obligations during the season (Mourdoukoutas 1988 325) Although acertain degree of lsquodemonstration effectrsquo and lsquoxenomaniarsquo can be attributed totourism the country is equally influenced by the mass media as well as by theGreek students and professionals living abroad (Papadopoulos 1988a 30Wickens 1994 822) Moore (1995) also explains that tourism not only has had a

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 463

contribution to the increase of alcohol consumption by Greeks but has alsoshifted their taste away from locally produced wine to imported spirits and beerBriassoulis (1993 296) perhaps describes best the change in labour force valueswhen as she suggests that tourism has created a

peculiar parasitic group of tourist entrepreneurs operating tourist-servingenterprises like tavernas cafeterias etc the principal characteristics ofwhich are high profits and tax evasion Consequently a particular person-ality type is created the lsquosuccessfulrsquo entrepreneur who earns a lot with littlework has a rich erotic life and is professionally independent (in contrast topublic and private employees) This model is followed by many youngpeople who abandon other productive year-round occupations lsquoworkrsquoonly during the tourist season stay idle for the rest of the year and eventu-ally suffer from the volatility of the tourist market

The family relations and values are therefore under great transition andperhaps threat (Castelberg-Koulma 1991 201 Kousis 1989 Moore 1992)

Negative environmental impactsDespite environmental resources becoming central to destinationsrsquo competi-

tiveness most Greek destinations go through an unparalleled exploitation due toinadequate planning and reinvestment in their sustainability jeopardising theirfuture (Buhalis amp Fletcher 1995) Boniface and Cooper (1994 141) suggest thatgeographical concentration of tourism

has led to the view that Greece will become saturated with tourists and thatdamage will be done to the environment and cultural heritage in the morepopular areas Already the environment has suffered from haphazarduncontrolled building and pollution of the sea and the flora and fauna arebeing effected by waste disposal

Coastal pollution water shortages sewage treatment waste disposal trafficcongestion noise pollution overbuilding and aesthetic degradation are some ofthe impacts experienced already in a number of resorts (Briassoulis 1993 297Coccosis amp Parprairis 1992 Peterson 1990 Marinos 1983 Stavrou 1988 19 and1989a 5 Papadopoulos 1988b 24) Most of the islands also face water shortagedue to the inability of natural supplies to provide sufficient water for the tourismdemand Imported mineral water from the mainland is an expensive way tosolve this problem due to the transportation cost while it creates more waste andenvironmental damage In addition the destruction of endangered speciesrsquo habi-tats is another problem experienced on several islands (ZakynthosCaretta-Caretta and Allonissos monk-seals) (Ottaway 1992 Van Den Bergh1993 70 Prurier et al 1993) Urgent coordination with all tourism actors at thelocal level is essential while regulation is required to set objective and measurablelimits and targets in order to preserve local environmental resources Financialdifficulties in the industry only exacerbate these impacts as the private and publicsectors feel unable to reinvest in the conservation of resources

The aforementioned negative impacts emerge as a result of the structuralproblems of the Greek tourism industry and illustrate that the mass tourismorientation of the industry reduces the sovereignty of the host population over

464 Current Issues in Tourism

their land and resources whilst jeopardising their expected benefits and futurewelfare As these impacts are trade-offs for the economic gains of the tourismactivity it is important that consistent long-term strategic planning should beundertaken in order to enable the preservation of the local resources and achievesustainability at tourism destinations These tasks should all be reinforced byresearch political will and strategic planning

Where Do We Need to Go and How Are We Going ThereTowards Strengthening the Competitiveness of Greek Tourismand SMTEs

Based on the situation analysis as well as on the strategic weaknesses andstructural problems the paper attempts to provide a framework for strategicplanning which will enable the strengthening of the competitiveness of Greektourism and SMTEs Porter (1985 1) suggests that competitive strategy lsquois thesearch for a favourable competitive position in an industryrsquo which is a function ofthe attractiveness of the industry and the relative competitive position withinthat particular industry He also argues that lsquocompetitive strategy aims to estab-lish a profitable and sustainable position against the forces that determine indus-try competitionrsquo Competitiveness is therefore defined as the effort undertakenby organisations to maintain long-term profitability above the average of theparticular industry within which they operate or above alternative investmentopportunities in other industries

Traditionally the tourism industry in the majority of destinations worldwideis based on a network of SMTEs which provide all types of tourism products andservices while enabling closer interaction between the host population and visi-tors as well as facilitating a rapid infusion of tourism spending into the localeconomy As lsquotouristsrsquo overall experience is composed of numerous smallencounters with a variety of tourism service providersrsquo (Moutinho 1990 104)there is a great overlap between the customer perception of local SMTEs anddestinations which makes them almost indistinguishable Consequently thecompetitiveness and prosperity of destinations and SMTEs are closely interre-lated as the fortune of the one depends heavily upon the management andcompetitiveness of the other Therefore the generic strategy for destinationsinvolves SMTEs and vice versa

Grand strategy Strategy formulation for Greek tourism and SMTEsBased on the strategic analysis a grand strategy is proposed for the Greek

tourism industry and SMTEs in order to demonstrate the directions the destina-tions should follow in their attempt to increase their competitiveness and reducetheir vulnerability As different resorts destinations and SMTEs have dissimilarneeds only generic strategies can be drawn However these guidelines can beapplicable to destinations and SMTEs worldwide as they address strategic ratherthan operational issues The analysis is based on the assumption that SMTEsformulate leisure value-added chains or networks of wealth creation whichessentially comprise the entire destination Therefore an integrated approach isfollowed as there is a great complementarity between the strategies and strate-gic directions for both the Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 465

The grand strategy analysis is based on an examination of three general strat-egy models namely Porterrsquos generic strategies Gilbertrsquos proposition for lsquodiffer-entiation of the destinationrsquo and Poonrsquos analysis for lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo Agrand strategy is then proposed for both Greek tourism and SMTEs based oninference emerging from these three models Figure 1 illustrates the three maingeneric strategies proposed by Porter (1980 34ndash46) in order to lsquooutperform otherfirms in an industryrsquo overall cost leadership where the firm is required to minimiseits costs based on mass production and strict cost control of the main businessfunctions differentiation of products or services by lsquocreating something that isperceived industry-wide as being uniquersquo or focus on a lsquoparticular buyer groupsegment of the product line or geographical marketrsquo and achieve either cost leader-ship or product differentiation (Porter 1980 37ndash8)

Furthermore Gilbert (1984 1990) argues that destinations should differenti-ate their tourism products in order to be able to achieve a unique lsquotourist productbenefitrsquo which would enable them to establish their position in the internationaltourism market as well as to attract high spenders and loyal tourists Tourismdestinations therefore should attempt to achieve a lsquostatus arearsquo image ratherthan a lsquocommodity arearsquo one as illustrated in Figure 2 In the first case the desti-nation is heavily substitutable very sensitive to price and economic changeswhile consumers have a low awareness of any unique benefits or attributes of theregion Thus holidaymakers base their decision to visit the area merely on pricewhile the demand for the destination is incidental and destinations are unable toattract high spenders In contrast lsquostatus areasrsquo achieve intentional demand as aresult of the unique product attributes perceived by the tourism market Theseunique attributes may be genuine or imagined and thus a destination isregarded as irreplaceable increasing consumersrsquo loyalty and willingness to payGilbert (1990 24ndash5) asserts that destinations should attempt to become lsquostatusareasrsquo in order to improve their image loyalty and economic benefits

A third strategic approach is proposed by Poon (1987 1988 1989 1990 1993)based on the concept of lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo of the tourism business Inessence Poon examines the industry processes and proposes a strategy to enabletourism organisations to improve their competitiveness Poon argues that lsquoflexi-ble specialisationrsquo is a strategy of lsquopermanent innovationrsquo and lsquoceaseless changersquowhich provides for the lsquonew tourismrsquo This new tourism is flexible segmentedcustomised to the touristrsquos needs and diagonally integrated In contrast the oldtourism can be characterised as lsquomass standardised and rigidly packagedrsquo(Poon 1989 91ndash3)

466 Current Issues in Tourism

STRATEGIC ADVANTAGE

Perceived product uniqueness Cost advantage

TARGETMARKET

Industrywide Differentiation Cost Leadership

Particularsegmentsonly

Differentiation Focus Cost Focus

Figure 1 Porterrsquos three generic strategiesSource Porter 1980 39

The main sources of flexibility for service firms lie in the organisationmanagement marketing distribution and other forms of interaction andinterrelationships among guests hotels suppliers distributors What isimportant however is not each of these stand alone aspects but how theyare coupled to create competitive advantages and hence capabilities tomove with the market (Poon 1988 24)

Examination of these three main strategies illustrates that they share a similarbase Porterrsquos lsquodifferentiationrsquo Gilbertrsquos lsquostatus arearsquo and Poonrsquos lsquoflexiblespecialisationrsquo describe the attempt undertaken by firms and tourist destinationsto achieve value competitive advantages In contrast the lsquocost leadershiprsquo lsquocom-modity arearsquo and the lsquostandardisation or Fordism production modelrsquo describethe effort to achieve lsquocost competitive advantagersquo where destinations andSMTEs offer their products for less than their competitors In the first caseconsumers perceive the product as unique and are willing to pay a premiumwhile in the second case the decision is merely based on price Thus the classicalstrategic decision of lsquolow volume-high profit marginrsquo or lsquohigh volume-low profitmarginrsquo is the underlying concept of the two alternative strategies

Both Gilbert and Poon agree that destinations should aim to achieve lsquostatusarearsquo or niche orientation through differentiation in order to increase consumersatisfaction as well as to maximise the benefits for both regions and SMTEs As aresult Greek tourism and SMTEs need to focus towards the differentiation strat-egy define their niche markets and serve them accordingly This strategy isalready adopted in several resort areas such as Valencia in Spain where it isrecognised that the need for diversification and differentiation lsquohas now becomeessential owing to the level of competitiveness that has been attained (and can beforeseen) in the world tourist marketrsquo (Fayos-Sola 1992 49) Differentiation isalso particularly useful for insular destinations in microstates where a limitednumber of economic and financial resources are available (Wilkinson 1989 170)As most destinations consist of SMTEs networks there is an overlap betweentheir strategic orientations and therefore the above analysis is applicable to boththe Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Destinations implementing a lsquostatus arearsquo strategy can enhance the satisfac-tion of tourists as well as their competitiveness The formulation of unique and

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 467

CommodityArea

Statusarea

Willingness topay higher prices

StatusArea

Product attributes Product attributes

CommodityArea

Figure 2 Gilbertrsquos differentiation strategySource Adapted from Gilbert 1990 25

customised products by using flexibility and cooperation also increases touristsrsquowillingness to pay and wins their loyalty while it responds to the new tourismdemand trends However the proposed strategy should not be seen as an excusefor SMTEs and destinations not to attempt to improve their efficiency and mini-mise their production costs Although the unique service for touristsrsquo needs shouldbe their priority offering perceived value for money would determine theircompetitiveness in the marketplace As a result all Greek resorts and SMTEsshould assess their assets and strengths for serving specific target markets takingadvantage of their small size which facilitates flexibility and specialisation

It is quite apparent that the cost advantage strategy has to be avoided inmanagement of tourism destinations as regions need to preserve their scarceenvironmental and sociocultural resources and achieve sustainable develop-ment As cost advantage is based on mass production and consumption itassumes an unlimited production capacity which is inapplicable in the tourismindustry The inseparability of the tourism product determines that consumersshould be present at the time of product delivery and when combined with tour-ism seasonality it generates demand peaks which drain destinationsrsquo scarceenvironmental sociocultural resources The lsquohigh volume-low profit marginrsquostrategy has therefore harmful social and environmental impacts on destina-tions Destinations have maximum carrying capacities beyond which both thewelfare of local populations and the satisfaction of tourists are jeopardisedAlthough economic benefits can also be achieved by using the lsquocommodity arearsquoor the lsquostandard product modelrsquo it is argued that these approaches reduce tour-istsrsquo satisfaction and their willingness to pay and are opposed to the demandtrend towards individualisation

Unfortunately however some destinations can no longer be positioned asirreplaceable unique products due to their overdevelopment Tourism supplyhas exceeded the carrying capacity of these resorts and their product hasreached the saturation or decline phase of their life-cycle Several Spanish costasand some Greek resorts such as Benitses Kavos Faliraki Malia Hersonissos andNidri (Josephides 1994) have been overdeveloped to such an extent that only alsquohigh-volume low-profit marginrsquo strategy is feasible When resorts reach theirsaturation level only a lsquocost leadershiprsquo or lsquomass productionrsquo strategy can beproposed as they are unable to provide any specific lsquotourist product benefitrsquo Theattraction of the lower end of the market is inevitable and as a consequence thereare no alternative strategies The minimisation of further sociocultural and envi-ronmental damage as well as attempts to improve the surrounding environmentshould also be a primary objective of both tourism destinations and SMTEs in thiscase The ultimate aim should be to regenerate the resources of the area and torelaunch the tourism destination to attract specific markets which will be willing topay a higher price for the destination

Strategic directions objectives and tasks for Greek tourism and SMTEsTable 8 presents three pivotal strategic directions which are identified in order

to stimulate the competitiveness of both Greek tourism and SMTEs This sectionillustrates how the aforementioned grand strategy can be implemented for tour-ist destinations and SMTEs through a number of strategic directions objectivesand tasks as presented in Table 9

468 Current Issues in Tourism

Enhancing the satisfaction of tourists and delighting the customer are pivotalto ensuring the well-being of Greek destinations and SMTEs in the long term andthus the entire range of tourism service providers should aim to delight theirclients As a result of the tourism product integration consumer satisfactioncannot be achieved by independent businesses separately but by the entirenetwork of SMTEs in Greek destinations The improvement in services isperhaps the most important strategic objective Consistency of promises throughstandardisation of service delivery and implementation of a total qualitymanagement philosophy throughout the industry are essential strategic tasks forachieving this objective while flexibility in service delivery and improvementsin training are critical In line with the grand strategy the production oftailor-made tourism products should be ensured in order to satisfy the specificneeds of particular niches and the requirements of the emerging new tourismdemand Product augmentation would enable also the Greek tourism product toexceed the expectations of consumers and hence enhance their satisfaction Lifestyle segmentation would enable Greek tourism and SMTEs to design appropri-ate tourism products As tourist demand elasticity has increasingly becomedoubtful in recent years the price of the holiday is no longer considered to be themost important attribute in the decision-making process Consequently theGreek tourism industry should concentrate on providing value for money at allprice levels as well as offering at least whatever they have promised to theconsumer

Supporting the long-term competitiveness and profitability of Greek tour-ism and SMTEs is by far the most important strategic objective for the tourismindustry The first strategic objective for every SMTE has to be the increase inrevenue by maximising its occupancy or load factors and the rates it achievesThe lengthening of the operating season as well as the identification of newmarkets and the penetration into existing ones and the effective utilisation ofdistribution channels will contribute to this strategic direction Higher ratescan be achieved by targeting specialised and smaller tour operators attractingalternative types of tourists and expanding the distribution channels mix aswell as by attempting a certain degree of lsquodisintermediationrsquo by encouragingdirect sales to outgoing travel agencies or consumers Aggressive marketingand establishment of partnerships with other enterprises should be essentialfunctions of Greek tourism and SMTEs Motivation of lsquofront-of-housersquo employ-ees as salesmen and sale incentives would also increase average spending percustomer The use of CRSs and destination management systems may also bean appropriate method for achieving higher prices and better occupancy rates(Buhalis 1994) Finally yield management techniques should be utilised by alltypes of SMTEs to assist them in pricing and maximising revenue Cost control

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 469

Table 8 Pivotal strategic dimensions for Greek tourism

(1) Enhance the satisfaction of tourists and delight the customer(2) Strengthen the long-term profitability and competitiveness of Greek tourism and

SMTEs(3) Develop Greek destinations sustainably and ensure prosperity of host population

470 Current Issues in Tourism

Table 9 Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Strategic directions Strategic objectives Strategic tasks

1 Enhance the sat-isfaction of tour-ists and delightthe customer

11 Improvement of services a Standardisation of service de-livery

b Development of quality controlsystems

c Consistency of promisesd Improvements in operational

managemente Flexibility in services deliveryf Training and education im-

provementsg Smile and personal relation-

shipsh Augmentation of tourism

producti Total quality management

12 Specialisation of tourismproduct

a Niche marketingb Lifestyle targeting

13 Value for money a Quality at each price level

2 Strengthen thelong-term com-petitiveness andprofitability ofGreek tourismand SMTEs

21 Increase revenue a Increase tourist volumesb Target new markets and pene-

tration in existing marketsc Use yield managementd Expand distribution channel

mixe Aggressive marketingf Achieve high average spending

per customerg Select high-quality specialised

tour operatorsh Attract alternative types of

tourismi Use alternative distribution

channelsj Motivate front-of-house em-

ployees as salesmen

22 Cost control and rationalmanagement

a Standardise service deliveryb Increase productivityc Reduce labour costsd Rationalise supplies manage-

mente Educationtraining for manag-

ers and employeesf Use of new technologyg Integrate service delivery

within SMTEs

23 Human resources man-agement

a Internal marketingb Empowermentc Satisfactory salary and working

conditionsd Long-term relations with em-

ployeese Motivation and rewards

and rational management is the second strategic objective needed to increaseefficiency and profitability of both Greek destinations and SMTEs in the longterm Standardisation of the service delivery process and minimisation of thelabour cost through better operational management would be primary recom-mendations Managers and employees should improve their productivity andmarketing skills by intensive training In addition the rationalisation of supplymanagement and the use of new technology is expected to reduce operationalcosts Finally integration of service delivery enables SMTEs to provide comple-mentary services and achieve additional revenues without immense costs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 471

24 State and public tourismorganisation support

a Destination development andcontrol

b Incentives policies for improve-ment

c Attract European Union assis-tance

d Promotional activitye Provide financial resources

3 Develop Greekdestinationssustainably andensure prosper-ity of host popu-lation

31 Environmental protection a Carrying capacity identificationb Zoning system applicationc Architecture preservationd Installation of sewage treat-

ment systemse Reduction of noise pollutionf Natural supplies management

32 Infrastructure ameliora-tion

a Accessibility improvementsb Telecommunication improve-

mentsc Public facilities advancements

33 Transportation improve-ments

a Improvement of local timeta-bles

b Punctuality and reliabilityc Improvements of vehiclesd Flexibility to meet demand

needs

34 Economic integration a Integration with raw materialproduction

b Utilisation of local labour forcec Integration of tourism servicesd Diagonal integration of destina-

tionrsquos economy

35 Equitable return on re-sources utilised

a Establish mechanism forreinvestments

b Provide services for hostcommunity

c Invest in sustainability ofresources

d Ensure equity in distributionof wealth produced

Source Adapted from Buhalis 1991 83a

Table 9 (cont) Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Human resources management is crucial in the delivery process of tourismproducts The concept of lsquointernal marketingrsquo where employees are perceivedand treated as lsquointernal customersrsquo has to be utilised in order to ensure theirsatisfaction As Berry (1981 34) states lsquothe satisfaction of the needs and wants ofthe internal customers can upgrade their capacity for satisfying the needs andwants of their external customersrsquo and as a consequence it can contribute to thecompetitiveness and profitability of Greek tourism and SMTEs Satisfactorysalary and working conditions are prerequisites for the well-being of SMTEsrsquoemployees Long-term relationships between employees and SMTEs minimiseturnover enabling a better performance while they reduce recruitment andtraining costs Empowerment would enable employees to be involved in themanagement of SMTEs and authorise them to respond more efficiently toconsumer requests while contributing to their job satisfaction Finally thesupport of the GNTO is vital for the long-term survival of SMTEs Apart fromthe improvement in infrastructure the GNTO is expected to hold the strategicresponsibility of the destination as well as to regulate the competition in orderto enable smaller enterprises to survive Incentive policies need to reflect thespecific requirements of each resort and enable development or improvementof certain types of enterprises The GNTO is also instrumental in attractingassistance from European development funds while it should also coordinatethe majority of Greek tourism promotional activity A promotional mix whichmaximises the effectiveness of the communication message needs to be drawnwhile budgets need to be available at the time consumers go through their deci-sion-making process in order to influence their choice of destination Finally theneed for the public sector to provide affordable financial resources for SMTEs ishighlighted by the EU (EC 1993b 73)

The third strategic direction for Greek tourism and SMTEs should be thesustainable development of destinations and local areas not only for the hostpopulation but also because this is vital for both consumer satisfaction and theprofitability of SMTEs Although in most cases SMTEs are unable to incorporatethese types of strategic objectives and tasks on their own they can initiate aframework of necessary actions for sustainable destination developmentthrough their associations Environmental protection is naturally the mostimportant strategic objective as consumersrsquo environmental consciousness hasbeen raised recently Carrying capacity limits should be identified and strictregulations and guidelines for tourism development need to be drawn A zoningsystem should be implemented in order to locate tourism activities according tothe geographical morphology of the destination In addition natural resourcesmanagement is necessary as tourism demand may exhaust the resources andespecially the water supplies The installation of sewage treatment systems andthe reduction of noise pollution should be considered especially for resortswhich suffer the consequences of these problems In addition infrastructureamelioration must be one of the primary objectives as it is an essential prerequi-site for both consumersrsquo satisfaction and SMTEsrsquo development The improve-ment of accessibility public services as well as telecommunications facilities is acrucial factor Transportation is also significant in increasing both consumersatisfaction and profitability of SMTEs as it determines whether consumers canaccess the destination easily while it also provides the first impression to tour-

472 Current Issues in Tourism

ists Improvements of timetables and services reliability increasing transporta-tion capacity and an enhancement of the fleet in terms of speed cleanliness andleisure facilities are all required Furthermore greater flexibility is needed bytransportation operators in order to meet demand needs Economic integrationcan improve the economic and social benefits of tourism in the region and theefficiency of SMTEs Ultimately tourism should be utilised as the catalyst andmajor stimulant for regional development Tourism enterprises should makeevery effort to use local raw materials and labour in order to maximise the multi-plier effects within Greece Diagonal integration of destinationsrsquo economy can beachieved by rearranging the goods and service production in order to supportthe tourism industry demand and thus minimise imports Finally SMTEs andtourism organisations need to offer a fair return-on-resources utilised back to thehost community A mechanism should be established in order to reinvest part ofthe revenues in the sustainability of resources provide services for the hostcommunity such as education training health services and generally ensureequity in distribution of wealth produced from local resources As the privatesector cannot be expected to behave altruistically towards the host communitythe GNTO and other public-sector departments should probably utilise regula-tion and taxation for this purpose

Conclusion Greek Tourism Needs a Long Overdue Master Planand Comprehensive Policy

The emerging international tourism competition the hitherto mass tourismorientation of the industry the transformation of demand the development ofthe volume of tourists visiting the dependence upon intermediaries for thedistribution of the tourism product in the major target markets the lack of a widerange of managerial skills by Greek tourism entrepreneurs and the lack of acomprehensive tourism policy or Master Plan by the public sector has led thecompetitiveness of Greece tourism to decline This has several unfavourableimplications for the profitability of the private sector as well as numerous nega-tive economic sociocultural and environmental impacts for the host populationAs a result the return on resources utilised for the production of Greek tourismservices is inadequate and the sustainability of Greece as a major tourism desti-nation is rapidly becoming doubtful Based on a strategic analysis the paper illu-minates the strategic weaknesses and structural problems of both the private andpublic sectors and demonstrates that a rationalisation of the tourism industry isurgently required Consequently a grand strategy as well as a wide range of stra-tegic directions objectives and tasks are proposed for both Greece as an entityand its SMTEs Although no quantitative targets are set in this paper it isexpected that each destination will analyse its resources and adapt its strategicplanning accordingly

The GNTO is urged to rationalise its strategy and to draw up a Master Plan anda comprehensive strategy for the entire country and for each resort where a strategywould be adopted based on quantifiable objectives and tasks Extensive researchneeds to be undertaken by using credible measurement methodologies such asInput-Output models and multipliers analysis not only for the economic but alsofor the social cultural and environmental impacts (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Buhalis

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 473

amp Fletcher 1995) A holistic tourism management system is demanded to facilitatethe development and implementation of the tourism strategy through funds allo-cation and monitoring land use control and examination of tourism public- andprivate-sector practices A thorough examination of tourism impacts in eachregion would be a prerequisite for tourism planning as it will establish andprovide scientific backing to strategic targets Komilis (1994 71) explains thatalthough the various levels of planning (sectoral nationalEU spatial or regional)are not mutually exclusive but rather complementary the regional level planningis more suitable for drawing sustainable strategies especially for areas withdissimilar needs like the Greek destinations The regional planning should lsquocon-tribute to the maximisation of regional development benefits in a way that utilisesand mobilises the regional resource base realises regional inter-sectoral linkagesand is compatible with regional economic interests societal values and environ-mental assetsrsquo It should also take into consideration the uniqueness of insulareconomies as well as the cultural and environmental resources of each particularregion and the complexity of rural and urban functions The planning processshould encourage the complementarity and coexistence of economic activitiesrather than promote sectoral separation and single-sector developments In addi-tion it needs to improve the balance between regional self-sufficiency anddependence upon external inputs and finally it should promote integration withinthe European Union

The public sector has to play its long overdue role as regulator coordinatorinfrastructure provider and promoter of the destination while a multi-integrationof the tourism industry with all the involved bodies in the preparation distribu-tion and delivery of the tourism experience needs to be ensured (Wanhill 1993Hall 1994 Skoulas 1994 10 Stavrou 1988 46) The private sector also has an impor-tant role to play as it should improve the Greek tourism industry competitivenessby improving its managerial and labour force competencies enhancing the qualityof services designing appropriate marketing mixes to attract and satisfy targetmarkets and cooperating closely in order to achieve synergies and economies ofscale (Briassoulis 1993 300 Cooper amp Buhalis 1992) To reverse the vicious circleof decreasing quality is of critical importance for the Greek tourism industryBetter quality services would stimulate the competitiveness of the Greek tourismproduct strengthen its position in the international market provide principalswith distribution channel power enhance its customersrsquo willingness to pay andenable the industry to increase its prices improving the profitability at the microlevel and the economic impacts of tourism at the macrolevel Ultimately a diagonalintegration strategy for both Greek tourism and SMTEs should aim to delightconsumers enhance the long-term prosperity of SMTEs and improve the welfareof the host populations The Olympic Games in 2004 offer a unique opportunity toregenerate and rebrand Greek tourism a cause which the entire industry shouldchampion

The AuthorDimitrios Buhalis is Senior Lecturer and course leader MSc in tourism at theUniversity of Surrey He holds a BBA from the University of the Aegean as wellas an MSc and a PhD in tourism management from the University of Surrey Hisresearch interests focus on information systems and technology strategic

474 Current Issues in Tourism

management distribution channels of tourism destination management andplanning and destination integrated computer information reservation manage-ment systems

AcknowledgementsThe author would like to acknowledge Prof C Cooper and Prof J Fletcher for

their invaluable contribution to this research Financial support from the SurreyResearch Group ConTours Consultants as well as field research sponsorshipsby the University of Surrey the Greek National Tourism Organisation and theUniversity of the Aegean are gratefully appreciated

Note1 An earlier version of this paper was published as a monograph PlanningDevelop-

ment by the International Centre for Research and Studies in TourismAix-en-Provence France

CorrespondenceAny correspondence should be directed to Dr Dimitrios Buhalis Senior

Lecturer in Business Information Management SMSSS University of SurreyGuildford GU2 7XH UK (dbuhalissurreyacuk)

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Economy (November) 228ndash38Berry C (1981) The employee as customer Journal of Retail Banking 3 33ndash40Boniface B and Cooper C (1994) The Geography of Travel and Tourism (2nd edn) London

HeinemannBriassoulis H (1993) Tourism in Greece In W Pompl and P Lavery (eds) Tourism in

Europe Structures and Developments (pp285ndash301) Oxford CAB InternationalBuckley P and Papadopoulos S (1986) Marketing Greek tourism The planning process

Tourism Management 7 86ndash100Buhalis D (1991) Strategic marketing and management for the small and medium

tourism enterprises in the periphery of the European Community A case study for theAegean islands in Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Buhalis D (1994) Information and telecommunications technologies as a strategic tool forsmall and medium tourism enterprises in the contemporary business environment InA Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 254ndash75)England J Wiley and Sons

Buhalis D (1995) The impact of information telecommunications technologies on tourismdistribution channels Implications for the small and medium sized tourismenterprisesrsquo strategic management and marketing PhD Dissertation University ofSurrey Guildford

Buhalis D (2000a) Marketing the competitive destination of the future TourismManagement (Special Issue ndash The Competitive Destination) 21 (1) 97ndash116

Buhalis D (2000b) (forthcoming) Athens Tourism-Travel Intelligence LondonBuhalis D (2000c) Relationships in the distribution channel of tourism Conflicts between

hoteliers and tour operators in the Mediterranean region Journal of InternationalHospitality Leisure and Tourism Adminstration 1 (1) 113ndash39

Buhalis D and Diamantis D (2001 forthcoming) Tourism development andsustainability on the Greek archipelagos In G Apostolopoulos and D Ioannides (eds)Tourism in the Mediterranean Routledge

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 475

Buhalis D and Fletcher J (1995) Environmental impacts on tourism destinations Aneconomic analysis In H Coccosis and P Nijkamp (eds) Sustainable Tourism Development(pp 3ndash25) London Avebury

Camison C Bigne E and Monfort VM (1994) The Spanish tourism industry Analysisof its strategies and the efficacy and achievements gained from them In A Seaton et al(eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 442ndash52) England JWiley and Sons

Castelberg-Koulma M (1991) Greek women and tourism Womenrsquos co-operatives as analternative form of organisation In N Redclift and T Sinclair (eds) Working WomenInternational Perspectives on Labour and Gender Ideology (pp 197ndash223) LondonRoutledge

Chitiris L (1991) Hotel Management (in Greek) Athens InterbooksCoccosis H and Parprairis A (1992) Assessing the interactions between environment

and tourism Case study of the island of Mykonos Paper presented in the IV WorldCongress of Regional Science International University of Balearic Islands Palma deMallorca 26ndash9 May

Conway H (1996) Greece Travel Weekly 1308 39ndash43Cooper C and Buhalis D (1992) Strategic management and marketing of small and

medium sized tourism enterprises in the Greek Aegean islands In R Teare D Adamsand S Messenger (eds) Managing Projects in Hospitality Organisations (pp 101ndash25)London Cassell

Daskalantonakis N (1994) Quality ndash The future of tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (3 July)D9

Divanis A (1994b) Tourism policy Left on its own luck (in Greek) XENIA (October)4ndash5

Donatos G and Zairis P (1991) Seasonality of foreign tourism in the Greek islands ofCrete Annals of Tourism Research 18 515ndash19

Douvitsas P (1994) Marketing Greece through British tour operators A futureperspective MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Drakatos C (1987) Seasonal concentration of tourism in Greece Annals of Tourism Research14 582ndash6

EC (1993a) Microeconomic Analysis of the Tourism Sector A study by the pH Group forEuropean Commission DGXXIII (September) Report XXIII30394-EN BrusselsEuropean Commission

EC (1993b) Growth competitiveness employment The challenges and ways forward intothe 21st century Bulletin of the European Communities Supplement 693 (White Paper)Luxembourg

Economist (1993) Last Chance Sisyphus A survey of Greece Economist (22 May) 2ndash22EIU (1986) Greece (pp 45ndash60) International tourist reports National Report No 3EIU (1990) Greece (pp 45ndash62) International tourist reports National Report No 4EIU (1993) Greece ndash Country Profile 1992ndash1993 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEIU (1994) Greece ndash Country Profile 1994ndash1995 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEpilogi (1994) Economic review ndash The Greek Economy 1994 (in Greek) AthensEuromonitor (1992) Tourism in Greece Market Research Europe (25 May) 51ndash63Fayos-Sola E (1992) A Strategic Outlook for Regional Tourism Policy The White Paper

on Valencian Tourism Tourism Management 13 45ndash9Fotis J (1992) Vacational lifestyle segmentation of tourists on the island of Rhodes

Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey GuildfordGilbert D (1984) The need for countries to differentiate their tourist product and how to

do so Seminar papers for Ministers of Tourism and Directors of National TouristOrganisations Tourism Managing for Results University of Surrey Guildford

Gilbert D (1990) Strategic marketing planning for national tourism Tourist Review 45 (1)18ndash27

GNTO (1985a) Survey of attributes of foreign tourists 1984ndash1985 (in Greek) Greek NationalStatistical Services Athens GNTO

476 Current Issues in Tourism

GNTO (1985b) EOT-Tourism rsquo85 Development ndash Participation ndash Quality of Life (in Greek)Greek National Statistical Services Athens GNTO

GNTO (1989a) Annual report 1988 ndash Forecast 89 Towards Quality Athens GNTOGNTO (1989b) The study of tourism promotion With special reference to the measures to

increase Japanese tourists to Greece Draft final report Japan InternationalCooperation Agency

GNTO (1993) Tourism towards the 2000 (in Greek) Greek National Tourism OrganisationAthens GNTO

Hall M (1994) Tourism and Politics Policy Power and Place J Wiley and SonsHorwath (annual) The Greek Hotel Industry (in Greek) Annual reports Pireus HorwathJenner P and Smith C (1993) Tourism in the Mediterranean Research report London

Economist Intelligence UnitJosephides N (1993) Environmental Concern ndash Whatrsquos In It for the Tourism Industry (pp 51ndash6)

Proceedings of the conference Tourism and the environment Challenges and choicesfor the 1990rsquos 16ndash17 November 1992 Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre LondonBrussels European Union

Josephides N (1994) Tourism analysis Presentation in Philoxenia international tourismexhibition Thessaloniki Greece

Josephides N (1995) A sorry state for beautiful Greece Travel Weekly 1261 (5 April)11Kalogeropoulou H (1993) Greece ndash Prospects for the tourism industry within the context

of the European Single Market of 1993 Tourism Review 48 (1) 2ndash4Kassimati K Thanopoulou M and Tsartas P (1994) Womenrsquos Employment in the

Tourist Sector Study of the Greek Labour Market and Identification of Future ProspectsDGV Equal Opportunities Unit Document V40994-EN European CommissionBrussels

Komilis P (1987) Spatial analysis of tourism in Greece (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planningand Economic Research

Komilis P (1992) The spatial structure of tourism and physical planning practices inGreece Paper presented in conference Tourism and environment Issues ofpolicyplanningmanagement 23ndash4 October University of the Aegean Dept ofEnvironment Lesvos

Komilis P (1993) Values in the Tourism Planning and Policy Making Process (pp 224ndash9)Proceedings of the conference Values and the environment 23ndash4 September GuildfordUniversity of Surrey

Komilis P (1994) Tourism and sustainable regional development In A Seaton et al (eds)Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 65ndash73) England JWiley andSons

Konsolas N and Zacharatos G (1993) Regionalization of tourism activity in GreeceProblems and policies In H Briassoulis and J Van der Straaten (eds) Tourism andEnvironment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 57ndash65) Dordrecht Kluer AcademicPublisher

Kousis M (1989) Tourism and the family in a rural Cretan community Annals of TourismResearch 16 318ndash32

Kriebardis S and Marmagiolis I (1990) Tourism Activity in Greece Problems and Perspectives(pp 45ndash54) (in Greek) Economic Report of Commercial Bank AprilndashJune AthensCommercial Bank

Ktenas S (1994) Hoteliers ask for 15 to 20 increases for 1995 (in Greek) TO BHMA (3July) D9

Ktenas S (1996) Crisis in Greek tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (7 April) D16Leontidou L (1991) Greece Prospects and contradictions of tourism in the 1980rsquos In AM

Williams and GJ Shaw (eds) Tourism and Economic Development Western EuropeanExperiences (2nd edn) (pp 94ndash106) London Belhaven Press

Logothetis M (1990) The Economy of Dodekanisos During 1988ndash1989 Developments andPerspectives (in Greek) Rhodes Regional association of municipalities of Dodekanisos

Logothetis M (1992) Touristiki Sigkiria (in Greek) Rhodes Institute of Tourist and HotelResearch

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 477

Loukissas P (1977) The impact of tourism on regional development A comparativeanalysis of the Greek islands PhD Dissertation Cornell University USA

Loukissas P (1982) Tourismrsquos regional development impacts A comparative analysis ofthe Greek islands Annals of Tourism Research 9 523ndash43

Marinos P (1983) Small island tourism-the case of Zakynthos in Greece TourismManagement 4 212ndash15

Moore R (1992) From shepherds to shopkeepers The development of tourism in a centralGreek town PhD Dissertation University of California at Berkeley USA

Moore R (1995) Gender and alcohol use in a Greek tourist town Annals of Tourism Research22 300ndash13

Mourdoukoutas P (1988) Seasonal employment seasonal unemployment andunemployment compensation The case of the tourism industry of the Greek islandsAmerican Journal of Economics and Sociology 47 315ndash29

NSSG (l983) Tourism Statistics 1981 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (l985) Tourism Statistics 1982ndash1983 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1987) Tourism Statistics 1984ndash1985 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1990) Tourism Statistics 1986ndash1987 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1993) Tourism Statistics 1988ndash1990 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceOECD (1992) Greece Tourism Policy and International Tourism in OECD Member Countries (pp

70ndash8) Paris OECDOttaway M (1992) Turtle power Sunday Times Travel and Style (28 June)Ottaway M (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 1 Sunday Times (17 January)

57ndash59Panagiotopoulou R (1990) The problem and perspectives of the European insular regions

(in Greek) Working paper University of the Aegean ChiosPapadimitris G (1988) Short run and long run prospects of the Greek tourism industry

PhD Dissertation University of Manchester ManchesterPapadopoulos S (1985) An economic analysis of foreign tourism in Greece An

examination of the growth and structure of foreign tourism to Greece 1960ndash1984 with aplanning model and marketing policy recommendations PhD Thesis University ofBradford Management Centre Bradford

Papadopoulos S (1987) Strategic marketing techniques in international tourismInternational Marketing Review (summer) 71ndash84

Papadopoulos S (1988a) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (1) 29ndash30

Papadopoulos S (1988b) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (2) 24ndash7

Papadopoulos S (1989) Greek marketing strategies in the Europe tourism market ServiceIndustries Journal 9 297ndash314

Papadopoulos S and Mirza H (1985) Foreign tourism in Greece An economic analysisTourism Management 6 125ndash37

Papandropoulos A (1995) The crisis in tourism is evident (in Greek) OikonomikosTachydromos (29 June) 26ndash8

Papanikos G (1999) The year 2004 olympic games and their influence upon the Greektourism (in Greek) ITEP (Research Institute for Tourism) Athens

Paulopoulos P (1999) The Size and Dynamics of the Tourism Sector (in Greek) ResearchInstitute for Tourism Athens

Peterson C (1990) Greece tackles overbuilding in tourism areas EnvironmentalConservation 17 166ndash8

Plevris V (1995) Alarm bells from the Hellenic Federation of Hotels (in Greek) XENIA128 (May) 6ndash7

Poon A (1987) Information technology and innovation in international tourism ndashimplications for the Caribbean tourism industry PhD thesis Science Policy ResearchUnit University of Sussex Brighton

Poon A (1988) Flexible specialisation and small size ndash the case of Caribbean tourism DRCDiscussion Paper 57 SPRU Brighton University of Sussex

478 Current Issues in Tourism

Poon A (1989) Competitive strategies for new tourism In C Cooper (ed) Progress inTourism Recreation and Hospitality Management (vol 1) (pp 91ndash102) London BelhavenPress

Poon A (1990) Flexible specialisation at small size The case of Caribbean tourism WorldDevelopment 18 109ndash23

Poon A (1993) Tourism Technology and Competitive Strategies Oxford CAB InternationalPorter M (1980) Competitive Strategy Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors

New York Free PressPorter M (1985) Competitive Advantage Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance New

York Free PressPorter M (1990) The Competitive Advantage of Nations New York Free PressPrurier E Sweeney A and Geen A (1993) Tourism and the environment The case of

Zakynthos Tourism Management 14 137ndash9Psoinos P (1994a) Research on the foreign touristsrsquo attributes in Greece (in Greek) Athens

Greek National Tourism OrganisationPsoinos P (1994b) Research on the attributes of foreigners who have never visited Greece (in

Greek) Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationRichter-Papaconstantinou C (1992) Tourism development of Rhodes Cahiers du Tourisme

(Serie B) 67 Aix en Provence Centre des Hautes Eacutetudes TouristiquesRomanos A (1998) Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites (in Greek) Athens

Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites SASETE (1993) Tourism Developments and problems (in Greek) Athens Association of Greek

Tourism EnterprisesSezer H and Harrison A (1994) Tourism in Greece and Turkey An economic view for

planners In A Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposiumpp74ndash84 England Wiley and Sons

Skoulas N (1985) Holidays and travel in the year 2035 ndash Contribution of the NationalTourist Organisation of Greece SDI Schriftey Wirtschafts und Unternehmenspolitik 40181ndash99

Skoulas N (1994) Quality improvement of tourism services (in Greek) Paper presentedin the conference Competitiveness of tourism enterprises ndash the role of quality 1 AprilHoliday Inn Athens Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises

Smith C and Jenner P (1995) Greece International Tourism Reports 3 5ndash21Stavrou S (1978) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Kos Island (in Greek) Research and

Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationStavrou S (1979) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Mykonos and Naxos Islands (in

Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1980) Research on Tourism Awareness on the Islands Kalymnos and Leros (in Greek)Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1984) Tourism Development in Greece during 1969ndash1982 (in Greek) Research andDevelopment Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986a) Research for the Characteristics of Foreign Tourist Demand in Greece in theYears 8485 (in Greek) Research Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1986b) Research on the Tourism Awareness on Paros Santorini Kythira Islands (inGreek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986c) Critical Review of Tourism Activity in the Years 8385 (in Greek) Researchand Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1988) Tourism in the Northern Aegean Islands Presentation of GNTO for the TourismDevelopment of the Periphery (in Greek) Proceedings of the first conference for thedevelopment of the Northern Aegean islands Homereum cultural centre Chios 11November Chios Periphery of Northern Aegean islands

Stavrou S (1989a) GNTO Presentation for the Tourism Development Possibilities for theSouthern Aegean Islands (in Greek) Conference for the development of Southern Aegean

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 479

islands Syros 30 September ndash 2 OctoberStavrou S (1989b) The Contribution of the Development Law 126282 in the Development of the

Country (in Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A5 Athens GreekNational Tourism Organisation

Stereopoulos N (1995) It is regarded ideal it became problematic (in Greek) OikonomikosTachidromos (21 December) 151ndash3

Touloupas P (1996) Greece as a tourist destination for the British tour operators Ananalysis from a marketing perspective in the particular context of the United KingdomMSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Tourismos ke Oikonomia (1993) 20 years 1973ndash1993 (in Greek) Special Issue AthensTourismos ke Oikonomia (1994) ICAP tourism enterprises Drastic reduction of loses in 1993

(in Greek) December 14ndash15Touristiki Agora (various issues) (Monthly tourism industry periodical in Greek) Business

Press AthensTruett D and Truett L (1987) The response of tourism to international economic

conditions Greece Mexico and Spain Journal of Developing Areas 21 177ndash90Tsartas P (1989) Socioeconomic Impacts of Tourism Development in Cyclades Region with Special

Reference on Ios and Serifos Islands During 1950ndash1980 (in Greek) Athens National Centrefor Social Research

Tsartas P (1992) Socioeconomic impacts of tourism on two Greek isles Annals of TourismResearch 19 516ndash33

Van Den Bergh J (1993) Tourism development and natural environment Aneconomicndashecological model for the Sporades islands In H Briassoulis and J Van DerStraaten (eds) Tourism and Environment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 67ndash83)Dordrecht Kluer Academic Publishers

Velissariou E (1991) Die Wirtschaftlichen Effekte des Tourismus Dargestell am Beispiel Kretas(The Economic Impacts of Tourism on Crete) PhD Dissertation University of MunichFrankfurt Peter Lang

Vernikos N (1987) The study of Mediterranean small islands Emerging theoreticalissues Ekistics 54 (323ndash4) 101ndash9

Wanhill S (1993) Government organisations In C Cooper J Fletcher D Gilbert and SWanhill (eds) Tourism Principle and Practice (pp 145ndash60) London Pitman

Wickens D (1994) Consumption of the authentic The hedonistic tourist in Greece In ASeaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 819ndash25)England JWiley and Sons

Wickens E (2000) Rethinking touristsrsquo experiences In M Robinson et al (eds) MotivationsBehaviour and Tourist Types (pp 455ndash72) Business Education Publishers Sunderland

Wickers D (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 2 Sunday Times 57ndash510Wilkinson PF (1989) Strategies for tourism in islands microstates Annals of Tourism

Research 16 153ndash77XENIA (various issues) (Monthly bulletin of the Greek Hotel Chamber in Greek) AthensZacharatos G (1984) Tourismus und Wirtschafts-Struktur Dargestellt am Beispiel

Griechenlands Europaische Hochschulschriften Reihex Band 7 Frankfurt am MainZacharatos G (1986) Tourism consumption (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planning and

Economic ResearchZacharatos G (1988) The simplistic empiricism Tourism policy and the time of crisis

(1992) (in Greek) Sychrona Themata 11 (May) 21ndash6Zacharatos G (1989) The problems and perspectives of tourism in Greece (in Greek) In H

Katsoulis T Giannitsis and P Kazakos (eds) Politics and Society Economy and ForeignRelationships (pp 273ndash89) Athens Papazisis

Zacharatos G (1993) The necessity of multimedia use in the tourism education in Greece(in Greek) Paper presented at the international conference Overcomingisolation-telematics and regional development University of the Aegean Chios 30April ndash 2 May

480 Current Issues in Tourism

Page 6: Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challengescore.ac.uk/download/pdf/101686.pdf · Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challenges Dimitrios Buhalis School of Management

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 445

Table 1 Tourism demand and supply figures for Greece during the period 1950ndash1995

Year Arrivals Bednights Bedcapacity

Expenditure(million $)

Expenditureper capita

1950 33333 ndash ndash 4735 1421951 40568 ndash ndash 5933 1461952 68184 ndash ndash 9583 1411953 94410 ndash ndash 22721 2411954 157618 1273105 ndash 25321 1611955 195852 1351312 ndash 29123 1491956 218301 1594088 ndash 31213 1521957 261738 2041096 ndash 41374 1661958 276534 2069722 ndash 36196 1421959 339802 2552271 ndash 41667 1381960 399438 2963478 ndash 49260 1411961 494191 3934522 57022 62469 1421962 597924 4921803 60945 75986 1401963 741193 6129500 65604 95415 1421964 757495 5102121 71741 90800 1351965 976125 6158300 78487 107575 1271966 1131730 8810300 85323 143458 1441967 996473 ndash 90362 126768 1491968 1017621 ndash 98631 120263 1371969 1305951 6212000 108180 140470 1311970 1609210 7683639 118859 193556 1551971 2257994 11224000 135103 305299 1711972 2731587 14687325 151420 392700 1761973 3177682 15698030 166552 514900 1971974 2188304 10214164 175161 436600 2531975 3172968 13574801 185275 643600 2441976 4243563 19202614 213431 823700 2251977 4597354 18714446 231797 980600 2481978 5081033 22259598 247040 1326300 2931979 5798360 26672482 265550 1662300 3181980 5271115 27170344 278045 1733500 3611981 5577109 28171610 285860 1881000 3691982 5463060 29954664 301230 1527200 3031983 5258372 27216605 317920 1175700 2461984 6027266 32821789 333820 1312800 2381985 7039428 35709851 348170 1428000 2171986 7339015 35450027 359380 1834200 2611987 8053052 35755308 375370 2268100 2971988 8351182 36000000 395810 2396100 3051989 8540962 34157667 423790 1976000 2451990 9310492 36289604 438360 2575000 2901991 8271258 29873046 459300 2566100 319

Wickens (1994 819 and 2000) classified tourists arriving in Pefkochori as lsquocul-tural heritagersquo type interested in the natural beauties of Greece as well as itsculture and history lsquoraversrsquo attracted by the cheapness of the resort particularlythe cheapness and availability of alcohol as well as the sun beach and nightlifelsquoShirley Valentinesrsquo who are women on a mono-gender holiday who hope forromance and sexual adventure with a lsquoGreek Godrsquo based on the Greek malestereotype which has been perpetuated by newspapers and the film ShirleyValentine lsquoheliolatrousrsquo tourists who are sun-worshippers trying indefatigablyto change their colour and finally lsquoLord Byronsrsquo who undertake an annual ritualreturn to the same destination and experience the real flavour of Greek hospital-ity and ambience Although these typologies provide an initial demand profilethe strategic analysis and the positioning of the Greek tourism product will beimpossible without further research undertaken on the characteristics needsmotivations and behaviour of tourists

446 Current Issues in Tourism

Year Arrivals Bednights Bedcapacity

Expenditure(million $)

Expenditureper capita

1992 9756012 36260299 475800 3268400 3501993 9913267 36747968 499606 3335200 3541994 11301722 40657544 486518 3904900 3461995 10658114 38889975 534703 4294000 4031996 9782061 47945506 550692 3723100 3811997 10588489 53364507 560957 3772200 3561998 11363822 56549442 577759 5186100 4561999 10970665 60256902 584714 NA NA

Source Adapted from the Greek National Tourism Organisation and National Statistical Service ofGreece

Table 2 Nights spent by foreign tourists and Greek nationals in hotels and similarestablishments by month

Month Year Variation

1996 1997 1998 1999 9796 9897 9998January 867638 946798 1005719 1066084 912 622 600February 928305 933592 998977 1060008 057 700 611March 1250226 1369751 1273310 1448624 956 ndash704 1377April 2766116 2822243 2905546 2864693 203 295 ndash141May 5258710 5923093 6229116 6617666 1263 517 624June 6405495 7075829 7530343 8342167 1046 642 1078July 7965179 9003064 9872757 10723835 1303 966 862August 9551439 10878827 11661790 11805077 1390 720 123September 6993686 7822329 8224367 8756290 1185 514 647October 4113665 4419861 4640619 5234218 744 499 1279November 1032350 1113342 1175950 1245219 785 562 589December 812697 1055778 1030948 1093021 2991 ndash235 602Total 47945506 53364507 56549442 60256902 1130 597 656

Source Greek National Tourism Organisation and National Statistical Service of Greece

Table 1 (cont) Tourism demand and supply figures for Greece during the period1950ndash1995

Tab

le 3

Arr

ival

s of

for

eign

tou

rist

s at

fron

tier

s by

cit

izen

ship

199

1ndash19

99

Cou

ntry

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

19

99

238

453

128

211

191

619

298

843

586

182

673

061

Au

stri

a28

831

734

525

928

863

634

809

134

730

135

960

438

811

845

019

550

160

2B

elgi

um

-Lu

xem

bou

rg17

975

422

509

922

403

626

514

824

557

221

356

722

931

027

367

433

291

3B

ulg

aria

157

910

140

725

144

534

133

764

136

504

154

765

182

338

197

347

202

848

Fran

ce47

094

554

222

255

464

461

856

555

179

846

273

242

667

848

620

154

598

1G

erm

any

156

111

31

944

704

206

937

92

404

628

227

291

11

907

863

199

467

02

136

515

245

013

7Fo

rmer

Yu

gosl

avia

518

644

934

1319

179

227

930

127

034

724

717

1Y

ugo

slav

ia27

089

426

076

423

149

619

899

920

163

310

307

7Fy

rom

37

809

586

911

128

051

Den

mar

k21

188

328

123

525

362

231

888

532

436

929

895

934

426

129

253

233

624

8Sw

itze

rlan

d12

624

116

312

616

499

919

332

725

907

225

642

529

573

128

938

730

813

8U

K1

674

875

215

485

02

191

347

241

862

82

224

885

168

799

91

711

942

204

424

32

433

033

Irel

and

440

8557

885

627

8069

928

622

5254

050

454

0944

524

486

49Sp

ain

104

655

119

964

118

967

122

773

949

2079

717

713

1496

905

992

88It

aly

517

145

622

619

625

509

722

652

643

473

491

081

533

303

659

688

745

915

Cyp

rus

104

041

107

029

904

1292

372

980

5985

893

131

441

126

992

139

386

Nor

way

683

9695

898

102

452

143

257

142

013

157

722

160

457

226

282

269

419

Net

herl

and

s45

006

554

618

751

087

255

659

350

561

645

217

946

414

454

833

961

680

7H

ung

ary

107

685

107

403

739

9910

510

291

170

113

657

145

192

186

147

123

280

Ukr

ain

e10

742

106

5212

942

270

1728

084

328

43R

uss

ia10

147

412

918

418

056

020

079

412

741

710

491

0P

olan

d47

535

437

8834

292

310

1849

665

889

4710

179

312

264

711

515

2P

ortu

gal

165

8626

245

209

1921

581

208

5815

856

131

2513

713

210

34R

oman

ia17

919

196

8318

862

254

7438

868

510

1251

854

634

3972

689

Swed

en26

194

631

425

131

703

038

763

945

927

644

825

747

248

146

761

746

879

3C

zech

oslo

vaki

a13

012

919

158

589

642

Cze

ch R

epu

blic

788

4610

788

217

708

717

406

817

809

417

450

8Sl

ovak

ia15

102

135

3628

431

303

8355

291

462

17

Current Issues in Tourism 447

Cou

ntry

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

19

99

Fin

lan

d21

613

117

209

911

651

813

743

410

255

312

083

714

846

114

933

718

897

1O

ther

Eu

rop

ean

809

9510

439

420

537

325

209

328

8280

128

575

4134

967

370

63T

otal

EU

485

017

46

521

010

663

629

17

519

381

785

578

46

592

701

684

321

67

663

483

878

937

1T

otal

Eu

rop

e7

356

995

841

966

38

470

616

986

5986

936

382

98

419

060

927

776

210

174

303

113

200

13Ja

pan

579

0210

968

089

907

953

6789

457

871

3585

029

871

3083

971

Isra

el36

989

350

6545

815

414

0554

264

749

8082

386

894

0215

498

7L

eban

on

Syri

a15

637

159

2214

924

139

7415

651

183

5716

165

177

9818

347

Tu

rkey

535

3173

650

149

390

733

8849

018

474

1644

741

698

7580

502

Iran

422

66

794

761

56

458

596

05

319

373

03

848

380

9O

ther

Mid

dle

Eas

t5

474

804

88

014

562

37

919

124

108

300

638

27

854

Oth

er A

sian

448

5955

467

545

0663

611

111

547

167

380

145

515

841

3984

806

Tot

al A

sia

218

618

304

626

370

171

998

2633

381

641

299

738

586

635

857

443

427

6E

gyp

tSu

dan

200

2019

525

196

0918

540

214

4919

865

193

6317

604

240

45So

uth

Afr

ica

135

2716

944

146

8712

559

120

628

909

874

87

339

101

96O

ther

Afr

ica

179

4814

660

142

4212

145

151

7514

797

143

2413

795

137

99T

otal

Afr

ica

514

9551

129

485

3843

244

486

8643

571

424

3538

738

480

40A

rgen

tina

509

28

655

879

411

530

970

38

176

440

84

238

508

9B

razi

l8

523

899

98

555

107

4410

851

966

18

062

629

94

531

Mex

ico

364

26

535

533

65

318

453

93

385

225

82

052

420

0U

SA80

429

278

941

256

719

270

777

239

684

222

130

240

555

219

362

229

314

Can

ada

471

0159

807

514

7256

650

503

0943

966

477

2250

512

516

80O

ther

Am

eric

an10

983

152

5412

468

904

38

694

108

2611

052

904

410

447

Tot

al A

mer

ica

255

770

378

191

343

344

364

062

323

780

298

144

314

057

291

507

305

261

Au

stra

lia66

566

696

5856

064

615

5654

453

543

1146

692

427

9650

516

Oth

er O

cean

ic8

489

803

56

930

726

85

613

521

23

513

101

285

982

Tot

al O

cean

ia75

055

776

9362

994

688

2460

066

595

2350

205

529

2456

498

Form

er U

SSR

781

9410

005

811

716

0T

otal

803

612

79

331

360

941

282

310

641

942

101

301

779

233

295

100

703

2510

916

046

216

408

8C

ruis

es23

513

142

465

250

044

458

891

258

196

854

876

651

816

444

777

644

184

0G

ran

d to

tal

827

125

89

756

012

991

326

711

230

854

107

121

459

782

061

105

884

8911

363

822

126

059

28

Fo

rmer

Yu

gosl

av R

epu

blic

of

Mac

edon

iaSo

urce

Gre

ek N

atio

nal

Tou

rism

Org

anis

atio

n a

nd N

atio

nal S

tati

stic

al S

ervi

ce o

f G

reec

e

448 Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges

Tourism supply in Greek tourismA modern industry has emerged since the 1950s to cater for the tourism

demand The Greek tourism product is an amalgam of natural cultural and heri-tage attractions spread throughout the country as well as a wide variety of servicesoffered predominantly by SMTEs Moreover 15000 miles of coastline 2500islands an average of 300 sunny days annually a unique fauna and flora as well asclimatic superiority with mild winters and warm summers are some of its naturalattractions The Greek civilisation of more than 3500 years also provides plentifulcultural heritage throughout the country Some rsquo25000 registered and protectedmonuments and archaeological sites numerous museums and about 500 charac-teristic traditional settlementsrsquo offer a unique blend of tourist attractions (Buckleyamp Papadopoulos 1986 96 EIU 1986) As far as amenities are concerned a plethoraof SMTEs provide the entire variety of services

In January 2000 a total of 8100 official accommodation establishments with atotal capacity of almost 600000 beds are provided in different categories asdemonstrated in Table 4 Another 450000 beds are provided by some 28000secondary accommodation establishments such as lsquorooms to letrsquo and self-cateringapartments often referred to as lsquoparahoteleriarsquo In addition 11000 beds in cruiseliners and 12000 in yachts as well as 329 camping sites with 30354 pitches and83000 camping spaces accommodate all types of demand (GNTO) Eurostat esti-mates that about 20000 restaurants operate in Greece while a countless number ofcatering and entertainment establishments are on offer Furthermore some 7000travel agencies 1500 coach rental and 4000 car rental firms are estimated to operatethroughout the country (EC 1993a)

Accessibility is facilitated through 32 airports most of which can receive directinternational charter flights An extensive domestic scheduled flights network isprovided by Olympic Airways as well as by newly established private carrierswhich take advantage of the increasingly deregulated skies The proliferation ofprivate airlines (eg Aegean Cronus Axon Air Greece) during the last five yearsand the price wars with the state-owned Olympic Airways have increased bothdomestic and international traffic Moreover a complex network of sea road andrail transport enables passenger transportation throughout the country(Briassoulis 1993 291) During the last decade there has been a remarkableimprovement to the quality and ability of vessels as the Greek shipping industryprepares for the lifting of cabotage in 2002 which will enable European shippinglines to operate on Greek routes However recent tragedies involving olderGreek ferries pressurised the Ministry of Merchant Marine to take action in orderto improve the safety and security of the vessels and to ensure the adequate train-ing of crews In addition Piraeus port needs the development of a modernpassenger terminal to provide adequate service

Unfortunately the Greek infrastructure is incapable of supporting the tourismsuperstructure growth of the last decades and thus telecommunications transpor-tation police and health services water supply and sewage systems are underextreme pressure in the summer peak months to satisfy the demand density(Konsolas amp Zacharatos 1993 63 and EIU 1990 61) Nevertheless during the lastdecade several major projects have been initiated including the Metro and the newairport in Athens a wide network of motorways and the gradual development of

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 449

Tab

le 4

Acc

omm

odat

ion

esta

blis

hm

ent b

y re

gion

and

cat

egor

y in

199

9

Tot

alLu

xury

A C

ateg

ory

B C

ateg

ory

Reg

ion

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Ster

ea1

236

493

9892

877

225

368

101

4480

780

514

644

191

120

5722

605

Pel

opon

isos

660

230

1043

846

466

11

377

554

889

925

012

96

825

130

22Io

nio

595

332

8663

683

61

340

255

378

930

817

911

139

894

617

107

Ipir

os24

24

868

938

51

5411

611

446

884

381

478

284

4N

orth

ern

Aeg

ean

550

108

7220

792

450

11

090

231

364

257

498

374

97

125

Cre

te1

214

604

8911

396

021

508

510

034

166

188

9335

608

263

139

9826

904

Dod

ekan

isa

887

545

0710

436

68

324

26

227

127

224

8442

924

201

106

0120

161

Cyc

lad

es73

718

406

352

483

176

341

963

108

587

014

03

824

731

7T

hes

saly

575

119

9522

939

439

978

150

150

52

980

672

626

494

9M

aced

onia

983

335

1372

943

41

046

184

255

231

913

698

168

100

3619

140

Th

race

702

470

467

50

00

418

134

522

110

22

103

Tot

al7

749

302

814

584

714

7717

872

345

0574

572

302

146

688

145

675

242

143

277

C C

ateg

ory

D C

ateg

ory

E C

ateg

ory

Reg

ion

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Ster

ea60

318

193

339

6519

43

712

703

814

62

263

448

1P

elop

onis

os32

68

818

166

4894

135

02

625

4246

792

4Io

nio

380

119

2822

722

571

114

212

136

650

126

9Ip

iros

992

362

451

519

356

682

1417

234

4N

orth

ern

Aeg

ean

199

442

78

400

2840

477

333

427

830

Cre

te67

820

123

369

0397

163

12

995

5175

91

516

Dod

ekan

isa

495

163

7530

686

611

076

293

956

729

142

9C

ycla

des

367

835

715

977

100

152

22

922

104

141

92

821

Th

essa

ly24

15

723

107

7853

962

186

159

780

159

0M

aced

onia

491

124

0723

497

351

687

013

066

6083

51

700

Th

race

2886

81

614

1125

949

35

6012

0T

otal

390

710

958

120

570

51

065

192

5637

515

606

856

117

024

Sour

ce G

NT

O D

ept o

f Acc

omm

odat

ion

Est

abli

shm

ents

450 Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges

the railtrack These developments will change the entire infrastructure of thecountry

The implementation of the Greek national tourism policy is supervised by theGreek National Tourism Organisation (GNTO) and the Ministry of TourismThe two organisations share the responsibilities for planning implementationand promotion of Greek tourism at national and regional level as well as coordi-nating the involvement of the public and private sectors in all tourism activitiesPublic investment in commercial facilities was utilised in the early days ofGreek tourism to stimulate both tourism demand and the private sectorrsquos confi-dence to invest The GNTO operates 21 regional and 25 overseas offices in 18countries worldwide (Konsolas amp Zacharatos 1993 59 Leontidou 1991Briassoulis 1993)

The Greek tourism product is distributed to the international market predomi-nantly through European tour operators which organise package holidays andinclude resorts in their programmes Some 800 tour operators distribute the Greektourism product More than 7000 incoming travel agencies often act as tour opera-torsrsquo handling agencies while providing a variety of tourism services such asorganisation of excursions currency exchange and accommodation bookingsdirectly to consumers They usually participate in negotiations between tour oper-ators and accommodation establishments as well as cooperate with tour operatorsrsquorepresentatives at destinations In addition the GNTO operates several informa-tion offices at major resorts whilst several local authorities provide tourist infor-mation as well as distribute promotional material and make local bookings Theglobal GNTO network distributes information material to potential tourists aswell as undertakes all the marketing and public relations functions both for indi-vidual and institutional customers

SWOT analysis for Greek tourism and small and medium-sized tourismenterprises

A SWOT analysis is undertaken for the Greek tourism as well as its SMTEs inorder to assess their present and projected competitiveness based on strategicmanagement research undertaken for the Aegean islands (Buhalis 1991 Cooperamp Buhalis 1992) The interrelations between SMTEs and destinations are quiteapparent illustrating that a destinationsrsquo weaknesses and threats are reflected inthe SMTEsrsquo competitiveness and vice versa As illustrated in Table 5 the SWOTanalysis concentrates on the strategic rather than operational strengths andweaknesses of SMTEs

As far as strengths of the Greek tourism and SMTEs are concerned their flexi-bility and ability to tailor products to consumersrsquo needs are of great importanceto their existence SMTEs can identify profitable niches in the market establishtheir requirements and attempt to satisfy specialised needs Direct control byentrepreneurs permits quick and efficient managerial reaction to external chal-lenges Fewer hierarchical levels facilitate closer and more effective control overthe service delivery process enabling personal services to customers In addi-tion archaeological heritage natural and cultural resources as well as the localcharacter are also significant assets As a result tourists benefit from localresources which are ideally situated to offer special-interest holidays SMTEsalso capitalise on personal relationships with consumers suppliers labour and

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 451

the entire tourism industry in general Their size enables the provision of apersonal finish to all products provided while it is not unusual for customers tobecome friends and to be treated accordingly Similarly strong relations withemployees support labour loyalty and low turnover The proprietorrsquos family isnormally directly involved with every aspect of the business reacting efficientlyand promptly to any problem arising Their involvement in running the enter-prise provides considerable benefits especially in having a very flexiblemulti-skilled and dedicated workforce which tolerates unsociable workingschedules Family members feel committed to the long-term prosperity of theenterprise and often do not distinguish between their professional and familylife Thus a better matching between tourism demand and SMTEsrsquo supply isachieved

A close-up of the weaknesses of Greek tourism and SMTEs is critical for under-standing the ability of the industry to compete in the global tourism arenaAlthough entrepreneurs are normally an asset it seems that a number of manage-

452 Current Issues in Tourism

Table 5 Greek tourism and SMTEsrsquo SWOT analysis

Strengths

Flexibility

Tailor-made product delivery

Entrepreneurial activity

Family involvement

Natural and cultural resources

Strong local character

Personalised relationships

Labour loyalty and low turnover

Weaknesses

Management

Marketing

Information technologies illiteracy

Dependence upon tour operators

Supporting markets

Lack of economies of scale

Human resources management

Education and training

Transportation and accessibility

Financial management and resources

Seasonality

Lack of standardisation

Lack of quality assurances

Opportunities

European Union support

European redistribution of labour

Increase in tourism demand size

Trends in tourism demand

Low cost of living in periphery

Information technology

Infrastructure development

Transportation

Olympic Games

Threats

Environmental degradation

Concentration and globalisation

Oversupply

Lack of visibility in CRSs

Infrastructure

Warsterrorism

Political intervention

Source Adapted from Buhalis 1991 60c and Cooper and Buhalis 1992 108

rial problems often arise Lack of strategic and operational managementknow-how generates inconsistency in the creation and delivery of tourism prod-ucts This has direct implications for consumersrsquo satisfaction and the projectedimage of the industry There is often a complete lack of strategic vision and enter-prises are often treated as an extension of proprietorsrsquo domestic environmentEntrepreneurs recruit family members and relatives as personnel and supplierseven though more appropriatequalified alternatives can be found in the market-place Therefore the management of SMTEs clearly projects the proprietorrsquosfamily life-style and decision-making processes onto an enterprise Marketing isanother significant weakness for most entrepreneurs and Greek resorts as they areoften completely unaware of the techniques available and thus follow a prod-uct-oriented rather than a consumer-orientated approach Consequently uncoor-dinated isolated trouble-shooting marketing activities are occasionallyundertaken rather than a consistent and well-planned marketing campaign Lackof marketing research debilitates knowledge of consumersrsquo needs and makes itdifficult to identify methods for improving services in order to meet consumersrsquoexpectations Inability to finance and execute advertising campaigns and otherpromotional techniques reduces their visibility in their markets These weak-nesses in combination with the fact that many entrepreneurs are unfamiliar withinformation technology (IT) add to the problems of SMTEs in promoting them-selves effectively Consequently both Greek SMTEs and destinations sufferfrom over-dependence on the tourism distribution channels to promote anddistribute their product In particular intermediaries and especially tour opera-tors have enormous power within the channel and are capable of determiningthe Greek tourism product marketing distribution and pricing mixes (Buhalis1995) Hence the marketing campaign and the visibility of Greek tourism to itsmain target markets are often determined by the coverage space photographsand description in tour operatorsrsquo brochures European tour operators alsocontrol accessibility to Mediterranean or long-haul destinations as they ownmost charter airlines which provide direct and inexpensive flights to these desti-nations

As most resorts are located in peripheral areas there is usually little economicdevelopment in the supplying sectors Therefore remote destinations have toimport essential raw and construction materials from elsewhere while SMTEsoften face transportation delivery and purchasing problems and excessivetransportation costs Moreover lack of economies of scale in purchasing rawmaterial low bargaining power and lack of advanced facilities are additionaloperational disadvantages This essentially means that SMTEs have to payhigher prices for products than their larger counterparts Lack of specialisedpersonnel and inadequate training procedures mean that human resourcesmanagement is a major weakness of Greek tourism In most SMTEs personnelhave to cover a wide range of positions a loose job description is usuallyprovided and multi-skilled personnel are required The labour turnover due tothe seasonality of the tourism industry reduces the availability of qualified andexperienced personnel and makes tourism product delivery not only variablebut also unprofessional The small size of operation provides little opportunityfor the division of tasks professional employees and proper training Since noquality standards are introduced service delivery varies according to the occu-

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 453

pancy service provider and timing Transportation and accessibility to remotedestinations may also be a weakness as most enterprises are located in periph-eral and often inaccessible regions SMTEs tend to feel frustrated because theyare unable to attract consumers simply because they cannot provide conve-nient reliable and affordable transportation The formulation of charter aircarriers by destination areas such as Turkey and Spain as well as the emergingderegulation policies in the European Union may diminish this problem in thenear future Moreover SMTEs face significant financial constraints as on theone hand they are required to invest in fixed assets at the beginning of theiroperations and on the other hand there is a discrimination against them byfinancial institutions since they normally have very few assets Consequentlythey are forced to accept unfavourable financial deals Finally the Greek tour-ism industry and SMTEs suffer from seasonality problems and have to produceadequate income within a limited period every year Lack of diversified invest-ment in other economic activities forces proprietors to work intensively in thepeak months and rest in the off-peak months while their pay-back period isinevitably unfavourable As the tourism industry becomes more professionalembraces quality management and responds to an increasingly discerningcustomer SMTEsrsquo typical lack of business expertise and minimal standardisa-tion may become an increasing liability especially for some target markets(Cooper amp Buhalis 1992 102)

Recent developments in the external environment present numerous opportu-nities for the Greek tourism industry and SMTEs Firstly the European Uniontakes several actions to support small and medium-sized enterprises (EC 1993b72) while it supports infrastructure development of peripheral regions andcontributes significantly to the prosperity of SMTEs The country is going througha major transformation as a result of several public projects supported by theEuropean Commission including the Attico Metro the new Athens Airport thedevelopment of the peripheral motorway Elefsina-Spata and the peripheralmotorway of Immitos The unification of the heritage sites and thepedestrianisation of the Athens city centre aims to develop an open archaeologi-cal park and deal with the traffic and pollution problems The Olympic Games in2004 provide a unique challenge and opportunity for the city and the country torebrand and redevelop itself and demonstrate its unparalleled heritage andcultural resources The Games also provide the resources and funding as well asa lsquodeadlinersquo for several infrastructural projects that were already scheduled butperhaps delayed In addition several projects are anticipated to improve thesuperstructure of the industry through both renovation of existing propertiesand through the development of new hotels and other facilities It is anticipatedthat the regeneration of the city and the country in general will provide majoropportunities for the attractiveness and competitiveness of the tourism industry(Buhalis 2000b Papanikos 1999 Romanos 1998)

It is anticipated that there will be a gradual redistribution of Europeanlabour providing support for each region to specialise in the production ofgoods and services where it can achieve competitive advantages Traditionallyremote and insular destinations where most Greek resorts and SMTEs arebased achieve a competitive advantage in tourism and therefore greatersupport is anticipated Greek tourism benefits from the continuous growth of

454 Current Issues in Tourism

global tourism demand as more people require holiday services while SMTEsare expected to increase their share as they tend to satisfy the emerging special-ised and sophisticated demand better than larger organisations Informationand telecommunication technologies can provide strategic tools for tourismdestinations and SMTEs enabling them to manage their product more effi-ciently disseminate information and establish a distribution mechanismthrough destination management systems (Buhalis 1994) New technologiesalso offer opportunities for developing innovative tourism products such asteleworking for tourists who would like to spend time working during theirstay at the destination Finally Greek tourism tends to achieve a cost advan-tage since it employs unpaid family members and operates in inexpensiveperipheral regions which often have a lower cost of living in comparison withmetropolitan areas

In terms of external threats environmental degradation through inappropriatewaste management and excessive usage of natural resources can be observedLack of know-how and funds effectively increases environmental problemsConsequently several resorts suffer severe damage while entrepreneurs and localauthorities feel powerless to take remedial measures Moreover oversupply oftourism service providers and lack of well-defined carrying capacity limits inseveral destinations have placed numerous Greek resorts and SMTEs in a disad-vantaged position as they cannot achieve sufficient income Similarly the concen-tration of power in fewer tourism industry enterprises through emergingglobalisation also threatens the ability of Greek SMTEs to survive as internationalvertically integrated tourism organisations acquire control over local enterprisesThe dependence upon channel partners for the promotion and distribution ofGreek tourism is exaggerated by the relatively low presence of Greek suppliers inthe major CRSs (Computer Reservation Systems) which is caused by the seasonal-ity and scale of the tourism production on the one hand and the tariffs of thesesystems on the other The issue of infrastructure is closely related to the oversup-ply which attracts higher demand than planned Destinations often have limitedinfrastructure provisions which fail to follow the pace of development generatingpressure on the existing inadequate facilities Finally the tourism industry suffersfrom its geographical proximity to the Balkans and the Middle East and as a conse-quence is often associated by consumers with wars and terrorism activities Greektourism and SMTEs have limited means of dealing with unfavourable situationsand thus are more vulnerable to their impacts Political intervention perhapsthrough the public sector decisions and the legislator framework often damagesthe prosperity of SMTEs As SMTEs have little lobbying power they have limitedinfluence over political decisions which determine their welfare

The SWOT analysis demonstrates quite clearly that the Greek tourism indus-try faces a wide range of problems and threats which will jeopardise its ability toprovide suitable tourism products in the future as well as its ability to make acontribution to the national welfare However several opportunities and chal-lenges emerge and they need to be addressed in order to strengthen the competi-tiveness of the industry Further analysis is therefore required in order to assessthe factors which generate these problems and also to identify ways to respond tothe challenges they present

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 455

Why Are We There and What Are the Implications StructuralProblems and Challenges

Despite its popularity and growth over the last 40 years the Greek tourismindustry has reached a stage where both its potential and competitiveness havebecome questionable

The seemingly unstoppable growth of this market contributed to a degreeof complacency which has led to Greece repeating some of the errors madein Spain Rapid price increases mean the country is no longer perceived bymass market clients as cheap in relation to comparable destinations in theMediterranean but much of the countryrsquos tourism infrastructure hastilybuilt in response to demand for cheap accommodation does not meet theneeds of a market less sensitive to price and more concerned with qualityand value for money (EIU 1990 45)

Richter-Papaconstantinou (1992 27) explains that tourism development inRhodes lsquotakes place without any Master Plan of the area respect of the landscapeand environment analysis whether there is demand and what the demand isafter regard to what is happening in similar situationsrsquo At the micro level theEuropean travel trade and intermediaries warn that the Greek tourism product isno longer competitive (Conway 1996 41 Touloupas 1996 Douvitsas 1994)whilst Chitiris (1991 148ndash150) outlines a range of managerial problems andmistakes in Greek resort hotels which diminish the quality of the tourismservices Hence unless the Greek tourism industry addresses a number of criticalissues immediately its future might be seriously jeopardised resulting in apotential catastrophe of the national economy The major structural problemsand challenges for the Greek tourism product can be summarised in Table 6

As a result Greece fails to attract the desired lsquohigh-quality high-expenditurersquotourists as it is increasingly unable to satisfy their requirements (Conway 199641) The deterioration of the tourism product and image leads to a lower willing-ness-to-pay by consumers which consequently leads to a further drop in qualityas the industry attempts to attract customers with lower prices This is a viciousspiral which has been destroying the essence of developing tourism in severalMediterranean destinations The concentration of bargaining power in Euro-pean distribution intermediaries and tour operators in particular in combina-tion with the inability of the Greek tourism industry to promote itself andestablish effective distribution mechanisms inevitably minimises the profitmargins of SMTEs and their ability to yield decent returns on their investmentAs a result touristsrsquo expenditure per capita in Greece gradually deteriorateswhile their volume increases (SETE 1993 35)

Thus the tourism policy often consisted in a lsquofreezingrsquo of the selling price ofthe tourist package abroad a measure which combined with the devalua-tion of the drachma and its continuous parity losses succeeded in securing alsquofictitious competitivenessrsquo for the Greek package This competitivenesshowever was seriously threatened each time there was an attempt at asubstantial increase because of important rises in cost elements(Kalogeropoulou 1993 2)

456 Current Issues in Tourism

The above issues illustrate that the Greek tourism product becomes increas-ingly incompetent Hence the inadequate lsquoproductrsquo lsquopromotionrsquo and lsquoplacersquo(distribution) elements of the tourism marketing mix reduce the willingness ofprospective consumers to pay and has disastrous implications for the pricingpolicies deteriorating the profitability of the SMTEs and the tourism economicimpacts on the destination

Ultimately the economic impacts of tourism in Greece become debatableespecially due to the inadequacy of tourism economic research and data whilethe destination has to bear the environmental social and cultural decay Encour-agingly articles in recent tourism industry publications acknowledge these chal-lenges and appreciate the dangers urging both the private and public sector totake action (Touristiki Agora Tourismos ke Oikonomia Travel News XENIA) as well

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 457

Table 6 Structural problems and challenges

Image of Greece as cheap simple unsophisticated undifferentiated sun-seadestination

Gradual deterioration of tourism product and lack of reinvestment in improvements

Increase of tourism arrivals but decrease of tourism expenditure per capita

Inadequacy of the Greek planning process

Dependence upon major tour operators for promotion and distribution

Plethora of anarchically developed and behaving SMTEs aiming at short-termprofitability

Inappropriate and ill-timed marketing campaign which has little effectiveness

Inadequacy of infrastructure to serve the ever-expanding demand

Lack of coordination at the destination and disrespect for touristsrsquo needs

Lack ofprofessionalism and training in both state andprivate tourism establishments

Individualistic behaviour by SMTEs and unwillingness to cooperate on adestination basis

Unsuccessful and inconsistent programmes of government intervention

Almost unregulated environment with nearly complete lack of control

Political intervention which allows exception policies and employment of unquali-fied staff

Development of tourism as a single regional development option

Oversupply of tourism amenities and fierce price competition

Failure of the private sector to invest in long-term projects

Deterioration of natural social and cultural resources

SMTEsrsquo inability to resist in global concentration of the tourism industry

Inadequate distribution mechanisms which generate overdependence onintermediaries

Failure of both the private and public sectors to learn from internationally gainedexperience in tourism development and marketing

Lack of tourism research to identify the impacts of tourism

Negligence with regard to new tourism demand challenges

as several influential members of the tourism industry (Josephides 1993 19941995 Skoulas 1994 Daskalantonakis 1994 Divanis 1994b Plevris 1995Papandropoulos 1995)

Political intervention limited research lack of tourism policy andplanning

Perhaps the largest obstacle in developing a competitive tourism industry inGreece has been the inconsistent and irrational political intervention Unfortunatelytourism has extensively been utilised as a political vehicle where each govern-ment uses it to gratify its political needs and friends This can be experienced in alllevels of recruitment in the public sector institutions as a change of government oreven minister results in immense changes throughout the GNTO as well as tomajor policies and regulations Thus in the last 35 years (since 1966) the leadershipof the GNTO has changed 28 times allowing each General Secretary to stay inoffice for an average of 138 months Political allies of each government use politi-cal pressure and intensive lobbying in order to achieve amendments in regula-tions incentive policies and business environment Hence the short-termprofitability and commercial interests of the friends and political allies of eachgovernment often overrule the long-term strategy and set an improper examplefor the entire industry These practices result in a great inconsistency in Greek tour-ism policy and disrupt its rationalisation Therefore a lsquodepolitisation of Greektourismrsquo towards a professionally managed public sector guided through acompromised strategic Master Plan is urgently required (Josephides 1995)

The limited existing scientific tourism research highlights the lack of comprehen-sive examination of tourism impacts in Greece while it illustrates that tourismpolicy is based on insufficient documentation (Zacharatos 1989 278 and 1988 22)Public sector research is almost non-existant while the authorities seem uninter-ested in consulting the Greek-tourism research produced by academics (for exam-ple Zacharatos 1984 1986 Komilis 1987 Loukissas 1977 Papadimitris 1988Papadopoulos 1985 Moore 1992 Tsartas 1989 Velissariou 1991 Fotis 1992Buhalis 1991 1995 2000c Buhalis amp Diamantis 2000) or the international tourismlsquobody of knowledgersquo (Zacharatos 1988 24) In addition tourism consumptionbeing characterised as a particular category of private consumption in the nationalaccounts it fails to reflect the real tourism impact on each economic sector Thusthe process of collecting information for tourism expenditure in Greece preventsthe assessment of tourism expenditure impacts on the national and regional econ-omy and therefore cannot be used in drawing scientifically founded tourismpolicy (Zacharatos 1989 277 Konsolas amp Zacharatos 1993 58) Consequentlytourism policy follows conventional wisdom and concentrates on attracting alarger volume of tourists ignoring scientific methods to assess the economicsocial cultural and environmental impacts of each tourism segment assumingthat the greater the tourism volume the better for the national economy

The lack of a comprehensive and rational tourism policy and planning or a MasterPlan for Greek tourism is primarily responsible for the aforementioned structuralproblems Policy is usually based on unsubstantiated statements published by theTourism Ministry or the GNTO (GNTO 1985b 1989a 1993) often as pre-electionpromotional material In essence Greek authorities attempt to intervene aiming tostimulate arrivals as well as to facilitate the operation and development of the

458 Current Issues in Tourism

tourism industry Based on the assumption that tourism arrivals to Greece wouldincrease indefinitely the general directions of the Greek tourism policy focusalmost invariably on the targets summarised in Table 7 (Euromonitor 1992 61GNTO 1989b 41 and 1993 1 OECD 1992 70 Skoulas 1985 194 Leontidou 199188ndash91 Apostolopoulos 1990 Zacharatos 1989 275 and 1988 21)

However as these tasks are not quantified and there is no time schedule orplanning process for their achievement it is inevitable that their implementationand assessment is subject to irrationalities and personal judgement Occa-sionally incentives for tourism development responses to lobbying from tour-ism-related associations and regions training programmes and generallegislation attempt to direct the Greek tourism industry towards the describedpolicy directions In addition an inconsistent and untargeted promotionalcampaign is implemented yearly (Touloupas 1996 130) The campaign attempts toachieve the above unspecified policy tasks while it is often a lsquolast minutersquo reactionmeasure to a forecasted decline of bookings for the current season rather than acoordinated long-term marketing policy (Jenner amp Smith 1993 143Papadopoulos 1989 304) Despite the advertising campaignrsquos positive impact onarrivals the feedback to the campaign is rather speculative as no formal researchis undertaken to identify the most cost-effective media and communication meth-ods for each target market (Papadopoulos 1989 311 and 1987 82)

Because the deficient scientific examination of Greek tourism and its impactsprevents the authorities from establishing quantifiable and measurable tourismpolicies their policies are based on subjective and personal judgements while feedbackpractices are rarely followed In addition the implementation of the vaguelydefined tourism policy as well as the targets regulations and standards are oftenbent to accommodate lobbying and political pressures (Zacharatos 1989 279)Komilis (1993 225) suggests that tourism planning in Greece is generally realisedand exercised within a socio-political environment characterised by severalfactors a limited degree of political commitment lack of social awareness andacceptability of planning actions inadequacy of scientific and technical founda-

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 459

Table 7 Greek tourism policy targets

Development of demand

Training of tourism employees

Increase arrivals and foreign exchange income

Increase competitiveness of tourism product

Improvement of services in the industry

Reduction of seasonality and expansion of tourism season

Attraction of high spenders and alternative types of tourism

Construction of facilities appealing to the upper end of the market such as luxuryhotels golf courses congress centres casinos and marinas

Development of tourism infrastructure with emphasis on transportation

Support of social tourism for low-income domestic tourists

Geographical redistribution of tourism

tion to support planning intervention and a centralised administrative-institu-tional system gathering a plethora of functions but failing to perform itscoordination and enforcing role When the conflicting interests and power of eachmember of the tourism industry are brought into the equation where differentpartners attempt to influence legislation in order to maximise their own short-termprofitability regardless of the impacts on the destination and other enterprises theplanning process becomes more complicated This results in an ineffective plan-ning system and process which produces policies unable to provide an appropri-ate balance between restrictive policies and control planning implementationMoreover the plethora of SMTEs in combination with inadequate legislationconcerning their establishment and operation seem to affect adversely thecompetitiveness of the industry and the ability to diversify and enrich local tour-ism products (Komilis 1992 11 EIU 1990 59)

Consequently several structural problems are originated jeopardising theprosperity of both SMTEs and destinations especially in overdeveloped regionsOn the supply side failure of the infrastructure to follow the dramatic expansionof the superstructure in combination with the lack of solid institutional context oftourism policy and long-term regulation result in the exploitation and inadequacyof environmental and socio-cultural resources as well as the inability of the indus-try to generate the level of economic benefits desired and expected On the tourismdemand side after the meteoric growth in the 1970s and 1980s the Greek tourismindustry has been trying to transform lsquothe country into a destination which cancompete not just on price but on value for moneyrsquo (EIU 1990 45) It is becomingapparent that the tourism population in not infinite and an adaptability andresponsiveness to touristsrsquo needs is ofgreat importance (Sezeramp Harrison 1994 83)

Structural problems jeopardise the profitability of the private sectorBecause of the aforementioned structural problems most tourism industry

enterprises are experiencing a decline in profitability Hotels in particular arebadly affected due to the high fixed assets as well as their immobility and inflexi-bility which prevents them from adjusting to demand fluctuation Several reasonsdetermine their low profitability and inability to increase prices in line with infla-tion The low occupancy levels achieved yearly is a key problem Smith and Jenner(1995 17) estimate that the lsquoyear-round bed occupancy over the range of licensedaccommodation is slightly under 30rsquo As most of the properties are closed duringthe winter months due to the seasonality problems they rely on three to six monthsto generate sufficient returns on their investment The occupancy levels of accom-modation establishments in Greek tourism are often determined by theirco-operation with travel intermediaries Based on the different seasonality patternsof different markets rooms are normally allocated a year before the summer seasonto tour operators on lsquoallotmentrsquo or lsquocommitmentrsquo contracts which effectively deter-mine the prices charged according to the security provided by tour operators forusing and paying for hoteliersrsquo rooms Once the contracts are signed hoteliers effec-tively lose their control on their inventory and their right to market their rooms toother business sources before the release period (typically 7ndash14 days before arrival)in order to avoid overbooking However should their bookings fail to match theirprogramme tour operators often utilise their buying power to cancel unwantedrooms at the beginning of the tourist season without paying compensation Smaller

460 Current Issues in Tourism

hoteliers are often left with unoccupied rooms they which are unable to promote atthe lsquolast minutersquo unless they drop their prices to unacceptable levels As a result oftheir deficient intra-channel power hotels often suffer a significant cut-back of theiroccupancy levels which has direct implications for their profitability (Buhalis 19952000c 460 Ktenas 1996)

Similarly the seasonality of the Mediterranean and Greek tourism industry hasalways been a problem for the profitability of SMTEs since enterprises operateonly for a limited period (Jenner amp Smith 1993 70 Drakatos 1987 Donatos ampZairis 1991) Attempts to promote winter tourism by developing cultural andspecial interest tourism in the islands and winter sports in several ski resorts inGreece have proved fairly unsuccessful (EIU 1986 56) This is attributed to theimage of Greece as an exclusively summer-sun destination as well as to the unco-ordinated attempts to maintain tourism enterprises active during the wintermonths (EIU 1990 57)

The average room rate is the second major determinant of hotel profitability It isbecoming apparent that employment costs and cost of capital in combination witha relatively strong currency policy reduce the ability of Greek accommodationestablishments to offer competitive pricing and maintain their profitabilityMarketing inadequacies and inability to promote the tourism product as a differ-entiated entity the rapid increase of supply in comparison to demand and theoverall dependence upon the oligopsonistic tour operators for the Greek tourismproduct promotion force hoteliers to accept contracts by tour operators whichminimise their profit margin and adversely effect the quality of their productIncreasing levels of pressure by tour operators prevent SMTEs from renovatingand investing in their properties and therefore a gradual deterioration of the prop-erties is inevitable (Richter-Papaconstantinou 1992 14 Skoulas 1985 189) Euro-pean tour operators faced with fierce competition in their markets are essentiallywilling to pay an annual price increase equal to little less than the depreciation ofthe drachma plus the inflation at the place of origin of the tourists (Ktenas 1994)This policy progressively deteriorates the profitability of the Greek tourism indus-try and has severe impacts for its prosperity The situation is worse for smalleraccommodation establishments which manage to negotiate even smaller priceincreases due to their exclusive dependence upon fewer intermediaries(Logothetis 1992 14)

The oversupply of tourism services both in Greece and worldwide also contributesto global competition for a less rapidly increasing demand (Josephides 1993 54)In Greece the average annual increase of the official hotel bed supply in 1983ndash1992was 47 while the annual average increase in international tourist bednights was27 (Epilogi 1994 271) The investment incentive Law 126282 boosted this over-supply as it generated small infeasible and uncontrollable accommodation unitsunable to offer high quality of services while it increased the concentration of tour-ism units in infrastructure-undersupplied resorts (Kriebardis amp Marmagiolis1990 51 Stavrou 1989b 5) The vast majority of the capacity growth is on the lsquoille-galrsquo unregistered self-catering and self-serviced lsquoparahoteleriarsquo sector whichprovide very low quality and priced accommodation and therefore appeal tomass tour operatorsrsquo clientele This not only increases unfair competition for theofficially registered hotels but also reduces both tax revenues and employment atthe macro level

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 461

Horwath (1994 3) concludes that

unfortunately the results in terms of return on investment in the tourismindustry are not very promising especially when compared with those ofother Greek economic sectors It is an undisputable fact that the averageGreek tourism entrepreneur is heavily dependent on the tourist packageprice which is strongly negotiated by the international tour operators It isan lsquounhealthyrsquo dependency as a result of the weak position of the Greektourist product in the international market In addition the aforemen-tioned dependency is the result of the lack of marketing activities in anaverage tourist enterprise As we all know effective marketing activitiesare based on the product place price promotion which all contribute toclient satisfaction and further to a bigger share in the international touristmarket Up to now three of the aforementioned important elements ofmarketing have been overlooked which determine the weak negotiationpower of the Greek entrepreneur

This situation has also resulted to several European companies expandingtheir operations into Greece or purchasing shares in Greek partners in order toimprove their vertical integration Should this vertical integration expand signif-icantly however lsquoGreek tourism will be in fact controlled by foreign deci-sion-making centres which will certainly operate on the basis of their owninterests and not according to the overall interests of our national economyrsquo(Kalogeropoulou 1993 2) Hence radical measures are required immediately inproduct formulation promotion strategy and distribution channels to supportboth Greek destinations and SMTEs to enhance their competitiveness profitabil-ity and prosperity Failure to react would have severe implications for the futureof the Greek tourism private sector as the essence of its existence would be jeop-ardised its costs may exceeding its returns

Structural problems generate negative tourism impactsIn addition to the profitability problems of the private sector the aforemen-

tioned structural problems have profound implications for the welfare of hostpopulations in various Greek destinations as their economic social cultural andenvironmental resources are exploited without ensuring their sustainabilityLack of comprehensive research and failure to initiate carrying-capacity limits orzoning systems contribute to the anarchic development of tourism as well asexpand negative impacts of tourism on local societies and environments Thefollowing section highlights some of the costs Greek destinations are called topay for their tourism activity whilst it suggests that these issues should beaddressed in the strategic planning process

Macro-economic negative impactsDespite the contribution of tourism to the Greek economy certain potential

risks can also be identified Not only is the competitiveness and profitability ofthe tourism industry jeopardised but also several destination regions seem tofollow a policy of developing tourism at the expense of industrial and agricul-tural growth (Stavrou 1989a 6 Vernicos 1987 105) Instead of tourism stimulat-ing agriculture it seems that it hastens its decline as the two economic activities

462 Current Issues in Tourism

compete for land and labour The lack of structural investments in industrial oragricultural sectors combined with the popularity of tourism professions in theworkforce endanger the balance of the regional economy while reducing thetourism multipliers (Briassoulis 1993 295) As a result the economic structure ofthe destination is jeopardised while a complete dependence upon tourismbecomes inevitable (Komilis 1992 7) Both opportunity costs and displacementeffects are therefore evident Moreover there is evidence that the progress ofdestinations through their life-cycle and especially the introduction of masstourism decreases their economic impacts while it makes local control of theindustry far more difficult (Loukissas 1982 537) lsquoBecause of the high degree ofdependence of Greek tourist enterprises on tour operators the actual amount oftourist spending remaining in the country is only the 40ndash50 of total touristspendingrsquo (Briassoulis 1993 296) Public-sector subsidies to the private sector invarious forms such as incentives cooperative marketing campaigns and unem-ployment benefits in the off-season as well as tax evasion and lsquoparaeconomyrsquo alsoreduce the real benefit at the macro level (Mourdoukoutas 1988 Drakatos 1987Leontidou 1991 102) Lack of scientific research on the economic impacts oftourism makes the real contribution of tourism in the economy speculativerather than based on hard evidence (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Konsolas ampZacharatos 1993)

Social and cultural negative impactsThe development of mass tourism and the lack of effective planning and

management are also responsible for a number of negative social and culturalimpacts observed in Greek host societies (Tsartas 1989 1992 Stavrou 19781979 1980 1986b) Although the degree of interaction of the population withtourists depends heavily on the geomorphology of destinations and the loca-tion of resorts (Loukissas 1982 538) touristsrsquo behaviour is often offensive tothe host population but tolerated due to the economic benefits (Castelberg-Koulma 1991 201 Kousis 1989 Wickens 1994 823) Most Greek tourismdestinations are almost crime-free zones during the winter due to the smallpopulation and personal relationships of locals Tourism however introducesseveral types of criminal activity often unknown to local people As policeforces are usually allocated according to needs of the permanent population ina destination they are often incapable of handling the demands of the summermonths and are unable to deal with visitorsrsquo misbehaviour such as hooliganismand lsquolager-lootingrsquo

The commercialisation of history cultural traditions and the Greek lifestyle isa phenomenon met in several destinations This regrettably affects the renownedGreek hospitality commercialises human relations with tourists and reduces theties of solidarity and cooperation between locals since they compete for the tour-ism market (Papadopoulos 1988b 24) As the average employee works 605hours weekly for 295 weeks a year there is little time left for social religious andcultural obligations during the season (Mourdoukoutas 1988 325) Although acertain degree of lsquodemonstration effectrsquo and lsquoxenomaniarsquo can be attributed totourism the country is equally influenced by the mass media as well as by theGreek students and professionals living abroad (Papadopoulos 1988a 30Wickens 1994 822) Moore (1995) also explains that tourism not only has had a

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 463

contribution to the increase of alcohol consumption by Greeks but has alsoshifted their taste away from locally produced wine to imported spirits and beerBriassoulis (1993 296) perhaps describes best the change in labour force valueswhen as she suggests that tourism has created a

peculiar parasitic group of tourist entrepreneurs operating tourist-servingenterprises like tavernas cafeterias etc the principal characteristics ofwhich are high profits and tax evasion Consequently a particular person-ality type is created the lsquosuccessfulrsquo entrepreneur who earns a lot with littlework has a rich erotic life and is professionally independent (in contrast topublic and private employees) This model is followed by many youngpeople who abandon other productive year-round occupations lsquoworkrsquoonly during the tourist season stay idle for the rest of the year and eventu-ally suffer from the volatility of the tourist market

The family relations and values are therefore under great transition andperhaps threat (Castelberg-Koulma 1991 201 Kousis 1989 Moore 1992)

Negative environmental impactsDespite environmental resources becoming central to destinationsrsquo competi-

tiveness most Greek destinations go through an unparalleled exploitation due toinadequate planning and reinvestment in their sustainability jeopardising theirfuture (Buhalis amp Fletcher 1995) Boniface and Cooper (1994 141) suggest thatgeographical concentration of tourism

has led to the view that Greece will become saturated with tourists and thatdamage will be done to the environment and cultural heritage in the morepopular areas Already the environment has suffered from haphazarduncontrolled building and pollution of the sea and the flora and fauna arebeing effected by waste disposal

Coastal pollution water shortages sewage treatment waste disposal trafficcongestion noise pollution overbuilding and aesthetic degradation are some ofthe impacts experienced already in a number of resorts (Briassoulis 1993 297Coccosis amp Parprairis 1992 Peterson 1990 Marinos 1983 Stavrou 1988 19 and1989a 5 Papadopoulos 1988b 24) Most of the islands also face water shortagedue to the inability of natural supplies to provide sufficient water for the tourismdemand Imported mineral water from the mainland is an expensive way tosolve this problem due to the transportation cost while it creates more waste andenvironmental damage In addition the destruction of endangered speciesrsquo habi-tats is another problem experienced on several islands (ZakynthosCaretta-Caretta and Allonissos monk-seals) (Ottaway 1992 Van Den Bergh1993 70 Prurier et al 1993) Urgent coordination with all tourism actors at thelocal level is essential while regulation is required to set objective and measurablelimits and targets in order to preserve local environmental resources Financialdifficulties in the industry only exacerbate these impacts as the private and publicsectors feel unable to reinvest in the conservation of resources

The aforementioned negative impacts emerge as a result of the structuralproblems of the Greek tourism industry and illustrate that the mass tourismorientation of the industry reduces the sovereignty of the host population over

464 Current Issues in Tourism

their land and resources whilst jeopardising their expected benefits and futurewelfare As these impacts are trade-offs for the economic gains of the tourismactivity it is important that consistent long-term strategic planning should beundertaken in order to enable the preservation of the local resources and achievesustainability at tourism destinations These tasks should all be reinforced byresearch political will and strategic planning

Where Do We Need to Go and How Are We Going ThereTowards Strengthening the Competitiveness of Greek Tourismand SMTEs

Based on the situation analysis as well as on the strategic weaknesses andstructural problems the paper attempts to provide a framework for strategicplanning which will enable the strengthening of the competitiveness of Greektourism and SMTEs Porter (1985 1) suggests that competitive strategy lsquois thesearch for a favourable competitive position in an industryrsquo which is a function ofthe attractiveness of the industry and the relative competitive position withinthat particular industry He also argues that lsquocompetitive strategy aims to estab-lish a profitable and sustainable position against the forces that determine indus-try competitionrsquo Competitiveness is therefore defined as the effort undertakenby organisations to maintain long-term profitability above the average of theparticular industry within which they operate or above alternative investmentopportunities in other industries

Traditionally the tourism industry in the majority of destinations worldwideis based on a network of SMTEs which provide all types of tourism products andservices while enabling closer interaction between the host population and visi-tors as well as facilitating a rapid infusion of tourism spending into the localeconomy As lsquotouristsrsquo overall experience is composed of numerous smallencounters with a variety of tourism service providersrsquo (Moutinho 1990 104)there is a great overlap between the customer perception of local SMTEs anddestinations which makes them almost indistinguishable Consequently thecompetitiveness and prosperity of destinations and SMTEs are closely interre-lated as the fortune of the one depends heavily upon the management andcompetitiveness of the other Therefore the generic strategy for destinationsinvolves SMTEs and vice versa

Grand strategy Strategy formulation for Greek tourism and SMTEsBased on the strategic analysis a grand strategy is proposed for the Greek

tourism industry and SMTEs in order to demonstrate the directions the destina-tions should follow in their attempt to increase their competitiveness and reducetheir vulnerability As different resorts destinations and SMTEs have dissimilarneeds only generic strategies can be drawn However these guidelines can beapplicable to destinations and SMTEs worldwide as they address strategic ratherthan operational issues The analysis is based on the assumption that SMTEsformulate leisure value-added chains or networks of wealth creation whichessentially comprise the entire destination Therefore an integrated approach isfollowed as there is a great complementarity between the strategies and strate-gic directions for both the Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 465

The grand strategy analysis is based on an examination of three general strat-egy models namely Porterrsquos generic strategies Gilbertrsquos proposition for lsquodiffer-entiation of the destinationrsquo and Poonrsquos analysis for lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo Agrand strategy is then proposed for both Greek tourism and SMTEs based oninference emerging from these three models Figure 1 illustrates the three maingeneric strategies proposed by Porter (1980 34ndash46) in order to lsquooutperform otherfirms in an industryrsquo overall cost leadership where the firm is required to minimiseits costs based on mass production and strict cost control of the main businessfunctions differentiation of products or services by lsquocreating something that isperceived industry-wide as being uniquersquo or focus on a lsquoparticular buyer groupsegment of the product line or geographical marketrsquo and achieve either cost leader-ship or product differentiation (Porter 1980 37ndash8)

Furthermore Gilbert (1984 1990) argues that destinations should differenti-ate their tourism products in order to be able to achieve a unique lsquotourist productbenefitrsquo which would enable them to establish their position in the internationaltourism market as well as to attract high spenders and loyal tourists Tourismdestinations therefore should attempt to achieve a lsquostatus arearsquo image ratherthan a lsquocommodity arearsquo one as illustrated in Figure 2 In the first case the desti-nation is heavily substitutable very sensitive to price and economic changeswhile consumers have a low awareness of any unique benefits or attributes of theregion Thus holidaymakers base their decision to visit the area merely on pricewhile the demand for the destination is incidental and destinations are unable toattract high spenders In contrast lsquostatus areasrsquo achieve intentional demand as aresult of the unique product attributes perceived by the tourism market Theseunique attributes may be genuine or imagined and thus a destination isregarded as irreplaceable increasing consumersrsquo loyalty and willingness to payGilbert (1990 24ndash5) asserts that destinations should attempt to become lsquostatusareasrsquo in order to improve their image loyalty and economic benefits

A third strategic approach is proposed by Poon (1987 1988 1989 1990 1993)based on the concept of lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo of the tourism business Inessence Poon examines the industry processes and proposes a strategy to enabletourism organisations to improve their competitiveness Poon argues that lsquoflexi-ble specialisationrsquo is a strategy of lsquopermanent innovationrsquo and lsquoceaseless changersquowhich provides for the lsquonew tourismrsquo This new tourism is flexible segmentedcustomised to the touristrsquos needs and diagonally integrated In contrast the oldtourism can be characterised as lsquomass standardised and rigidly packagedrsquo(Poon 1989 91ndash3)

466 Current Issues in Tourism

STRATEGIC ADVANTAGE

Perceived product uniqueness Cost advantage

TARGETMARKET

Industrywide Differentiation Cost Leadership

Particularsegmentsonly

Differentiation Focus Cost Focus

Figure 1 Porterrsquos three generic strategiesSource Porter 1980 39

The main sources of flexibility for service firms lie in the organisationmanagement marketing distribution and other forms of interaction andinterrelationships among guests hotels suppliers distributors What isimportant however is not each of these stand alone aspects but how theyare coupled to create competitive advantages and hence capabilities tomove with the market (Poon 1988 24)

Examination of these three main strategies illustrates that they share a similarbase Porterrsquos lsquodifferentiationrsquo Gilbertrsquos lsquostatus arearsquo and Poonrsquos lsquoflexiblespecialisationrsquo describe the attempt undertaken by firms and tourist destinationsto achieve value competitive advantages In contrast the lsquocost leadershiprsquo lsquocom-modity arearsquo and the lsquostandardisation or Fordism production modelrsquo describethe effort to achieve lsquocost competitive advantagersquo where destinations andSMTEs offer their products for less than their competitors In the first caseconsumers perceive the product as unique and are willing to pay a premiumwhile in the second case the decision is merely based on price Thus the classicalstrategic decision of lsquolow volume-high profit marginrsquo or lsquohigh volume-low profitmarginrsquo is the underlying concept of the two alternative strategies

Both Gilbert and Poon agree that destinations should aim to achieve lsquostatusarearsquo or niche orientation through differentiation in order to increase consumersatisfaction as well as to maximise the benefits for both regions and SMTEs As aresult Greek tourism and SMTEs need to focus towards the differentiation strat-egy define their niche markets and serve them accordingly This strategy isalready adopted in several resort areas such as Valencia in Spain where it isrecognised that the need for diversification and differentiation lsquohas now becomeessential owing to the level of competitiveness that has been attained (and can beforeseen) in the world tourist marketrsquo (Fayos-Sola 1992 49) Differentiation isalso particularly useful for insular destinations in microstates where a limitednumber of economic and financial resources are available (Wilkinson 1989 170)As most destinations consist of SMTEs networks there is an overlap betweentheir strategic orientations and therefore the above analysis is applicable to boththe Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Destinations implementing a lsquostatus arearsquo strategy can enhance the satisfac-tion of tourists as well as their competitiveness The formulation of unique and

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 467

CommodityArea

Statusarea

Willingness topay higher prices

StatusArea

Product attributes Product attributes

CommodityArea

Figure 2 Gilbertrsquos differentiation strategySource Adapted from Gilbert 1990 25

customised products by using flexibility and cooperation also increases touristsrsquowillingness to pay and wins their loyalty while it responds to the new tourismdemand trends However the proposed strategy should not be seen as an excusefor SMTEs and destinations not to attempt to improve their efficiency and mini-mise their production costs Although the unique service for touristsrsquo needs shouldbe their priority offering perceived value for money would determine theircompetitiveness in the marketplace As a result all Greek resorts and SMTEsshould assess their assets and strengths for serving specific target markets takingadvantage of their small size which facilitates flexibility and specialisation

It is quite apparent that the cost advantage strategy has to be avoided inmanagement of tourism destinations as regions need to preserve their scarceenvironmental and sociocultural resources and achieve sustainable develop-ment As cost advantage is based on mass production and consumption itassumes an unlimited production capacity which is inapplicable in the tourismindustry The inseparability of the tourism product determines that consumersshould be present at the time of product delivery and when combined with tour-ism seasonality it generates demand peaks which drain destinationsrsquo scarceenvironmental sociocultural resources The lsquohigh volume-low profit marginrsquostrategy has therefore harmful social and environmental impacts on destina-tions Destinations have maximum carrying capacities beyond which both thewelfare of local populations and the satisfaction of tourists are jeopardisedAlthough economic benefits can also be achieved by using the lsquocommodity arearsquoor the lsquostandard product modelrsquo it is argued that these approaches reduce tour-istsrsquo satisfaction and their willingness to pay and are opposed to the demandtrend towards individualisation

Unfortunately however some destinations can no longer be positioned asirreplaceable unique products due to their overdevelopment Tourism supplyhas exceeded the carrying capacity of these resorts and their product hasreached the saturation or decline phase of their life-cycle Several Spanish costasand some Greek resorts such as Benitses Kavos Faliraki Malia Hersonissos andNidri (Josephides 1994) have been overdeveloped to such an extent that only alsquohigh-volume low-profit marginrsquo strategy is feasible When resorts reach theirsaturation level only a lsquocost leadershiprsquo or lsquomass productionrsquo strategy can beproposed as they are unable to provide any specific lsquotourist product benefitrsquo Theattraction of the lower end of the market is inevitable and as a consequence thereare no alternative strategies The minimisation of further sociocultural and envi-ronmental damage as well as attempts to improve the surrounding environmentshould also be a primary objective of both tourism destinations and SMTEs in thiscase The ultimate aim should be to regenerate the resources of the area and torelaunch the tourism destination to attract specific markets which will be willing topay a higher price for the destination

Strategic directions objectives and tasks for Greek tourism and SMTEsTable 8 presents three pivotal strategic directions which are identified in order

to stimulate the competitiveness of both Greek tourism and SMTEs This sectionillustrates how the aforementioned grand strategy can be implemented for tour-ist destinations and SMTEs through a number of strategic directions objectivesand tasks as presented in Table 9

468 Current Issues in Tourism

Enhancing the satisfaction of tourists and delighting the customer are pivotalto ensuring the well-being of Greek destinations and SMTEs in the long term andthus the entire range of tourism service providers should aim to delight theirclients As a result of the tourism product integration consumer satisfactioncannot be achieved by independent businesses separately but by the entirenetwork of SMTEs in Greek destinations The improvement in services isperhaps the most important strategic objective Consistency of promises throughstandardisation of service delivery and implementation of a total qualitymanagement philosophy throughout the industry are essential strategic tasks forachieving this objective while flexibility in service delivery and improvementsin training are critical In line with the grand strategy the production oftailor-made tourism products should be ensured in order to satisfy the specificneeds of particular niches and the requirements of the emerging new tourismdemand Product augmentation would enable also the Greek tourism product toexceed the expectations of consumers and hence enhance their satisfaction Lifestyle segmentation would enable Greek tourism and SMTEs to design appropri-ate tourism products As tourist demand elasticity has increasingly becomedoubtful in recent years the price of the holiday is no longer considered to be themost important attribute in the decision-making process Consequently theGreek tourism industry should concentrate on providing value for money at allprice levels as well as offering at least whatever they have promised to theconsumer

Supporting the long-term competitiveness and profitability of Greek tour-ism and SMTEs is by far the most important strategic objective for the tourismindustry The first strategic objective for every SMTE has to be the increase inrevenue by maximising its occupancy or load factors and the rates it achievesThe lengthening of the operating season as well as the identification of newmarkets and the penetration into existing ones and the effective utilisation ofdistribution channels will contribute to this strategic direction Higher ratescan be achieved by targeting specialised and smaller tour operators attractingalternative types of tourists and expanding the distribution channels mix aswell as by attempting a certain degree of lsquodisintermediationrsquo by encouragingdirect sales to outgoing travel agencies or consumers Aggressive marketingand establishment of partnerships with other enterprises should be essentialfunctions of Greek tourism and SMTEs Motivation of lsquofront-of-housersquo employ-ees as salesmen and sale incentives would also increase average spending percustomer The use of CRSs and destination management systems may also bean appropriate method for achieving higher prices and better occupancy rates(Buhalis 1994) Finally yield management techniques should be utilised by alltypes of SMTEs to assist them in pricing and maximising revenue Cost control

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 469

Table 8 Pivotal strategic dimensions for Greek tourism

(1) Enhance the satisfaction of tourists and delight the customer(2) Strengthen the long-term profitability and competitiveness of Greek tourism and

SMTEs(3) Develop Greek destinations sustainably and ensure prosperity of host population

470 Current Issues in Tourism

Table 9 Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Strategic directions Strategic objectives Strategic tasks

1 Enhance the sat-isfaction of tour-ists and delightthe customer

11 Improvement of services a Standardisation of service de-livery

b Development of quality controlsystems

c Consistency of promisesd Improvements in operational

managemente Flexibility in services deliveryf Training and education im-

provementsg Smile and personal relation-

shipsh Augmentation of tourism

producti Total quality management

12 Specialisation of tourismproduct

a Niche marketingb Lifestyle targeting

13 Value for money a Quality at each price level

2 Strengthen thelong-term com-petitiveness andprofitability ofGreek tourismand SMTEs

21 Increase revenue a Increase tourist volumesb Target new markets and pene-

tration in existing marketsc Use yield managementd Expand distribution channel

mixe Aggressive marketingf Achieve high average spending

per customerg Select high-quality specialised

tour operatorsh Attract alternative types of

tourismi Use alternative distribution

channelsj Motivate front-of-house em-

ployees as salesmen

22 Cost control and rationalmanagement

a Standardise service deliveryb Increase productivityc Reduce labour costsd Rationalise supplies manage-

mente Educationtraining for manag-

ers and employeesf Use of new technologyg Integrate service delivery

within SMTEs

23 Human resources man-agement

a Internal marketingb Empowermentc Satisfactory salary and working

conditionsd Long-term relations with em-

ployeese Motivation and rewards

and rational management is the second strategic objective needed to increaseefficiency and profitability of both Greek destinations and SMTEs in the longterm Standardisation of the service delivery process and minimisation of thelabour cost through better operational management would be primary recom-mendations Managers and employees should improve their productivity andmarketing skills by intensive training In addition the rationalisation of supplymanagement and the use of new technology is expected to reduce operationalcosts Finally integration of service delivery enables SMTEs to provide comple-mentary services and achieve additional revenues without immense costs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 471

24 State and public tourismorganisation support

a Destination development andcontrol

b Incentives policies for improve-ment

c Attract European Union assis-tance

d Promotional activitye Provide financial resources

3 Develop Greekdestinationssustainably andensure prosper-ity of host popu-lation

31 Environmental protection a Carrying capacity identificationb Zoning system applicationc Architecture preservationd Installation of sewage treat-

ment systemse Reduction of noise pollutionf Natural supplies management

32 Infrastructure ameliora-tion

a Accessibility improvementsb Telecommunication improve-

mentsc Public facilities advancements

33 Transportation improve-ments

a Improvement of local timeta-bles

b Punctuality and reliabilityc Improvements of vehiclesd Flexibility to meet demand

needs

34 Economic integration a Integration with raw materialproduction

b Utilisation of local labour forcec Integration of tourism servicesd Diagonal integration of destina-

tionrsquos economy

35 Equitable return on re-sources utilised

a Establish mechanism forreinvestments

b Provide services for hostcommunity

c Invest in sustainability ofresources

d Ensure equity in distributionof wealth produced

Source Adapted from Buhalis 1991 83a

Table 9 (cont) Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Human resources management is crucial in the delivery process of tourismproducts The concept of lsquointernal marketingrsquo where employees are perceivedand treated as lsquointernal customersrsquo has to be utilised in order to ensure theirsatisfaction As Berry (1981 34) states lsquothe satisfaction of the needs and wants ofthe internal customers can upgrade their capacity for satisfying the needs andwants of their external customersrsquo and as a consequence it can contribute to thecompetitiveness and profitability of Greek tourism and SMTEs Satisfactorysalary and working conditions are prerequisites for the well-being of SMTEsrsquoemployees Long-term relationships between employees and SMTEs minimiseturnover enabling a better performance while they reduce recruitment andtraining costs Empowerment would enable employees to be involved in themanagement of SMTEs and authorise them to respond more efficiently toconsumer requests while contributing to their job satisfaction Finally thesupport of the GNTO is vital for the long-term survival of SMTEs Apart fromthe improvement in infrastructure the GNTO is expected to hold the strategicresponsibility of the destination as well as to regulate the competition in orderto enable smaller enterprises to survive Incentive policies need to reflect thespecific requirements of each resort and enable development or improvementof certain types of enterprises The GNTO is also instrumental in attractingassistance from European development funds while it should also coordinatethe majority of Greek tourism promotional activity A promotional mix whichmaximises the effectiveness of the communication message needs to be drawnwhile budgets need to be available at the time consumers go through their deci-sion-making process in order to influence their choice of destination Finally theneed for the public sector to provide affordable financial resources for SMTEs ishighlighted by the EU (EC 1993b 73)

The third strategic direction for Greek tourism and SMTEs should be thesustainable development of destinations and local areas not only for the hostpopulation but also because this is vital for both consumer satisfaction and theprofitability of SMTEs Although in most cases SMTEs are unable to incorporatethese types of strategic objectives and tasks on their own they can initiate aframework of necessary actions for sustainable destination developmentthrough their associations Environmental protection is naturally the mostimportant strategic objective as consumersrsquo environmental consciousness hasbeen raised recently Carrying capacity limits should be identified and strictregulations and guidelines for tourism development need to be drawn A zoningsystem should be implemented in order to locate tourism activities according tothe geographical morphology of the destination In addition natural resourcesmanagement is necessary as tourism demand may exhaust the resources andespecially the water supplies The installation of sewage treatment systems andthe reduction of noise pollution should be considered especially for resortswhich suffer the consequences of these problems In addition infrastructureamelioration must be one of the primary objectives as it is an essential prerequi-site for both consumersrsquo satisfaction and SMTEsrsquo development The improve-ment of accessibility public services as well as telecommunications facilities is acrucial factor Transportation is also significant in increasing both consumersatisfaction and profitability of SMTEs as it determines whether consumers canaccess the destination easily while it also provides the first impression to tour-

472 Current Issues in Tourism

ists Improvements of timetables and services reliability increasing transporta-tion capacity and an enhancement of the fleet in terms of speed cleanliness andleisure facilities are all required Furthermore greater flexibility is needed bytransportation operators in order to meet demand needs Economic integrationcan improve the economic and social benefits of tourism in the region and theefficiency of SMTEs Ultimately tourism should be utilised as the catalyst andmajor stimulant for regional development Tourism enterprises should makeevery effort to use local raw materials and labour in order to maximise the multi-plier effects within Greece Diagonal integration of destinationsrsquo economy can beachieved by rearranging the goods and service production in order to supportthe tourism industry demand and thus minimise imports Finally SMTEs andtourism organisations need to offer a fair return-on-resources utilised back to thehost community A mechanism should be established in order to reinvest part ofthe revenues in the sustainability of resources provide services for the hostcommunity such as education training health services and generally ensureequity in distribution of wealth produced from local resources As the privatesector cannot be expected to behave altruistically towards the host communitythe GNTO and other public-sector departments should probably utilise regula-tion and taxation for this purpose

Conclusion Greek Tourism Needs a Long Overdue Master Planand Comprehensive Policy

The emerging international tourism competition the hitherto mass tourismorientation of the industry the transformation of demand the development ofthe volume of tourists visiting the dependence upon intermediaries for thedistribution of the tourism product in the major target markets the lack of a widerange of managerial skills by Greek tourism entrepreneurs and the lack of acomprehensive tourism policy or Master Plan by the public sector has led thecompetitiveness of Greece tourism to decline This has several unfavourableimplications for the profitability of the private sector as well as numerous nega-tive economic sociocultural and environmental impacts for the host populationAs a result the return on resources utilised for the production of Greek tourismservices is inadequate and the sustainability of Greece as a major tourism desti-nation is rapidly becoming doubtful Based on a strategic analysis the paper illu-minates the strategic weaknesses and structural problems of both the private andpublic sectors and demonstrates that a rationalisation of the tourism industry isurgently required Consequently a grand strategy as well as a wide range of stra-tegic directions objectives and tasks are proposed for both Greece as an entityand its SMTEs Although no quantitative targets are set in this paper it isexpected that each destination will analyse its resources and adapt its strategicplanning accordingly

The GNTO is urged to rationalise its strategy and to draw up a Master Plan anda comprehensive strategy for the entire country and for each resort where a strategywould be adopted based on quantifiable objectives and tasks Extensive researchneeds to be undertaken by using credible measurement methodologies such asInput-Output models and multipliers analysis not only for the economic but alsofor the social cultural and environmental impacts (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Buhalis

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 473

amp Fletcher 1995) A holistic tourism management system is demanded to facilitatethe development and implementation of the tourism strategy through funds allo-cation and monitoring land use control and examination of tourism public- andprivate-sector practices A thorough examination of tourism impacts in eachregion would be a prerequisite for tourism planning as it will establish andprovide scientific backing to strategic targets Komilis (1994 71) explains thatalthough the various levels of planning (sectoral nationalEU spatial or regional)are not mutually exclusive but rather complementary the regional level planningis more suitable for drawing sustainable strategies especially for areas withdissimilar needs like the Greek destinations The regional planning should lsquocon-tribute to the maximisation of regional development benefits in a way that utilisesand mobilises the regional resource base realises regional inter-sectoral linkagesand is compatible with regional economic interests societal values and environ-mental assetsrsquo It should also take into consideration the uniqueness of insulareconomies as well as the cultural and environmental resources of each particularregion and the complexity of rural and urban functions The planning processshould encourage the complementarity and coexistence of economic activitiesrather than promote sectoral separation and single-sector developments In addi-tion it needs to improve the balance between regional self-sufficiency anddependence upon external inputs and finally it should promote integration withinthe European Union

The public sector has to play its long overdue role as regulator coordinatorinfrastructure provider and promoter of the destination while a multi-integrationof the tourism industry with all the involved bodies in the preparation distribu-tion and delivery of the tourism experience needs to be ensured (Wanhill 1993Hall 1994 Skoulas 1994 10 Stavrou 1988 46) The private sector also has an impor-tant role to play as it should improve the Greek tourism industry competitivenessby improving its managerial and labour force competencies enhancing the qualityof services designing appropriate marketing mixes to attract and satisfy targetmarkets and cooperating closely in order to achieve synergies and economies ofscale (Briassoulis 1993 300 Cooper amp Buhalis 1992) To reverse the vicious circleof decreasing quality is of critical importance for the Greek tourism industryBetter quality services would stimulate the competitiveness of the Greek tourismproduct strengthen its position in the international market provide principalswith distribution channel power enhance its customersrsquo willingness to pay andenable the industry to increase its prices improving the profitability at the microlevel and the economic impacts of tourism at the macrolevel Ultimately a diagonalintegration strategy for both Greek tourism and SMTEs should aim to delightconsumers enhance the long-term prosperity of SMTEs and improve the welfareof the host populations The Olympic Games in 2004 offer a unique opportunity toregenerate and rebrand Greek tourism a cause which the entire industry shouldchampion

The AuthorDimitrios Buhalis is Senior Lecturer and course leader MSc in tourism at theUniversity of Surrey He holds a BBA from the University of the Aegean as wellas an MSc and a PhD in tourism management from the University of Surrey Hisresearch interests focus on information systems and technology strategic

474 Current Issues in Tourism

management distribution channels of tourism destination management andplanning and destination integrated computer information reservation manage-ment systems

AcknowledgementsThe author would like to acknowledge Prof C Cooper and Prof J Fletcher for

their invaluable contribution to this research Financial support from the SurreyResearch Group ConTours Consultants as well as field research sponsorshipsby the University of Surrey the Greek National Tourism Organisation and theUniversity of the Aegean are gratefully appreciated

Note1 An earlier version of this paper was published as a monograph PlanningDevelop-

ment by the International Centre for Research and Studies in TourismAix-en-Provence France

CorrespondenceAny correspondence should be directed to Dr Dimitrios Buhalis Senior

Lecturer in Business Information Management SMSSS University of SurreyGuildford GU2 7XH UK (dbuhalissurreyacuk)

ReferencesApostolopoulos T (1990) New strategy of tourism development (in Greek) Tourism and

Economy (November) 228ndash38Berry C (1981) The employee as customer Journal of Retail Banking 3 33ndash40Boniface B and Cooper C (1994) The Geography of Travel and Tourism (2nd edn) London

HeinemannBriassoulis H (1993) Tourism in Greece In W Pompl and P Lavery (eds) Tourism in

Europe Structures and Developments (pp285ndash301) Oxford CAB InternationalBuckley P and Papadopoulos S (1986) Marketing Greek tourism The planning process

Tourism Management 7 86ndash100Buhalis D (1991) Strategic marketing and management for the small and medium

tourism enterprises in the periphery of the European Community A case study for theAegean islands in Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Buhalis D (1994) Information and telecommunications technologies as a strategic tool forsmall and medium tourism enterprises in the contemporary business environment InA Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 254ndash75)England J Wiley and Sons

Buhalis D (1995) The impact of information telecommunications technologies on tourismdistribution channels Implications for the small and medium sized tourismenterprisesrsquo strategic management and marketing PhD Dissertation University ofSurrey Guildford

Buhalis D (2000a) Marketing the competitive destination of the future TourismManagement (Special Issue ndash The Competitive Destination) 21 (1) 97ndash116

Buhalis D (2000b) (forthcoming) Athens Tourism-Travel Intelligence LondonBuhalis D (2000c) Relationships in the distribution channel of tourism Conflicts between

hoteliers and tour operators in the Mediterranean region Journal of InternationalHospitality Leisure and Tourism Adminstration 1 (1) 113ndash39

Buhalis D and Diamantis D (2001 forthcoming) Tourism development andsustainability on the Greek archipelagos In G Apostolopoulos and D Ioannides (eds)Tourism in the Mediterranean Routledge

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 475

Buhalis D and Fletcher J (1995) Environmental impacts on tourism destinations Aneconomic analysis In H Coccosis and P Nijkamp (eds) Sustainable Tourism Development(pp 3ndash25) London Avebury

Camison C Bigne E and Monfort VM (1994) The Spanish tourism industry Analysisof its strategies and the efficacy and achievements gained from them In A Seaton et al(eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 442ndash52) England JWiley and Sons

Castelberg-Koulma M (1991) Greek women and tourism Womenrsquos co-operatives as analternative form of organisation In N Redclift and T Sinclair (eds) Working WomenInternational Perspectives on Labour and Gender Ideology (pp 197ndash223) LondonRoutledge

Chitiris L (1991) Hotel Management (in Greek) Athens InterbooksCoccosis H and Parprairis A (1992) Assessing the interactions between environment

and tourism Case study of the island of Mykonos Paper presented in the IV WorldCongress of Regional Science International University of Balearic Islands Palma deMallorca 26ndash9 May

Conway H (1996) Greece Travel Weekly 1308 39ndash43Cooper C and Buhalis D (1992) Strategic management and marketing of small and

medium sized tourism enterprises in the Greek Aegean islands In R Teare D Adamsand S Messenger (eds) Managing Projects in Hospitality Organisations (pp 101ndash25)London Cassell

Daskalantonakis N (1994) Quality ndash The future of tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (3 July)D9

Divanis A (1994b) Tourism policy Left on its own luck (in Greek) XENIA (October)4ndash5

Donatos G and Zairis P (1991) Seasonality of foreign tourism in the Greek islands ofCrete Annals of Tourism Research 18 515ndash19

Douvitsas P (1994) Marketing Greece through British tour operators A futureperspective MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Drakatos C (1987) Seasonal concentration of tourism in Greece Annals of Tourism Research14 582ndash6

EC (1993a) Microeconomic Analysis of the Tourism Sector A study by the pH Group forEuropean Commission DGXXIII (September) Report XXIII30394-EN BrusselsEuropean Commission

EC (1993b) Growth competitiveness employment The challenges and ways forward intothe 21st century Bulletin of the European Communities Supplement 693 (White Paper)Luxembourg

Economist (1993) Last Chance Sisyphus A survey of Greece Economist (22 May) 2ndash22EIU (1986) Greece (pp 45ndash60) International tourist reports National Report No 3EIU (1990) Greece (pp 45ndash62) International tourist reports National Report No 4EIU (1993) Greece ndash Country Profile 1992ndash1993 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEIU (1994) Greece ndash Country Profile 1994ndash1995 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEpilogi (1994) Economic review ndash The Greek Economy 1994 (in Greek) AthensEuromonitor (1992) Tourism in Greece Market Research Europe (25 May) 51ndash63Fayos-Sola E (1992) A Strategic Outlook for Regional Tourism Policy The White Paper

on Valencian Tourism Tourism Management 13 45ndash9Fotis J (1992) Vacational lifestyle segmentation of tourists on the island of Rhodes

Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey GuildfordGilbert D (1984) The need for countries to differentiate their tourist product and how to

do so Seminar papers for Ministers of Tourism and Directors of National TouristOrganisations Tourism Managing for Results University of Surrey Guildford

Gilbert D (1990) Strategic marketing planning for national tourism Tourist Review 45 (1)18ndash27

GNTO (1985a) Survey of attributes of foreign tourists 1984ndash1985 (in Greek) Greek NationalStatistical Services Athens GNTO

476 Current Issues in Tourism

GNTO (1985b) EOT-Tourism rsquo85 Development ndash Participation ndash Quality of Life (in Greek)Greek National Statistical Services Athens GNTO

GNTO (1989a) Annual report 1988 ndash Forecast 89 Towards Quality Athens GNTOGNTO (1989b) The study of tourism promotion With special reference to the measures to

increase Japanese tourists to Greece Draft final report Japan InternationalCooperation Agency

GNTO (1993) Tourism towards the 2000 (in Greek) Greek National Tourism OrganisationAthens GNTO

Hall M (1994) Tourism and Politics Policy Power and Place J Wiley and SonsHorwath (annual) The Greek Hotel Industry (in Greek) Annual reports Pireus HorwathJenner P and Smith C (1993) Tourism in the Mediterranean Research report London

Economist Intelligence UnitJosephides N (1993) Environmental Concern ndash Whatrsquos In It for the Tourism Industry (pp 51ndash6)

Proceedings of the conference Tourism and the environment Challenges and choicesfor the 1990rsquos 16ndash17 November 1992 Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre LondonBrussels European Union

Josephides N (1994) Tourism analysis Presentation in Philoxenia international tourismexhibition Thessaloniki Greece

Josephides N (1995) A sorry state for beautiful Greece Travel Weekly 1261 (5 April)11Kalogeropoulou H (1993) Greece ndash Prospects for the tourism industry within the context

of the European Single Market of 1993 Tourism Review 48 (1) 2ndash4Kassimati K Thanopoulou M and Tsartas P (1994) Womenrsquos Employment in the

Tourist Sector Study of the Greek Labour Market and Identification of Future ProspectsDGV Equal Opportunities Unit Document V40994-EN European CommissionBrussels

Komilis P (1987) Spatial analysis of tourism in Greece (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planningand Economic Research

Komilis P (1992) The spatial structure of tourism and physical planning practices inGreece Paper presented in conference Tourism and environment Issues ofpolicyplanningmanagement 23ndash4 October University of the Aegean Dept ofEnvironment Lesvos

Komilis P (1993) Values in the Tourism Planning and Policy Making Process (pp 224ndash9)Proceedings of the conference Values and the environment 23ndash4 September GuildfordUniversity of Surrey

Komilis P (1994) Tourism and sustainable regional development In A Seaton et al (eds)Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 65ndash73) England JWiley andSons

Konsolas N and Zacharatos G (1993) Regionalization of tourism activity in GreeceProblems and policies In H Briassoulis and J Van der Straaten (eds) Tourism andEnvironment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 57ndash65) Dordrecht Kluer AcademicPublisher

Kousis M (1989) Tourism and the family in a rural Cretan community Annals of TourismResearch 16 318ndash32

Kriebardis S and Marmagiolis I (1990) Tourism Activity in Greece Problems and Perspectives(pp 45ndash54) (in Greek) Economic Report of Commercial Bank AprilndashJune AthensCommercial Bank

Ktenas S (1994) Hoteliers ask for 15 to 20 increases for 1995 (in Greek) TO BHMA (3July) D9

Ktenas S (1996) Crisis in Greek tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (7 April) D16Leontidou L (1991) Greece Prospects and contradictions of tourism in the 1980rsquos In AM

Williams and GJ Shaw (eds) Tourism and Economic Development Western EuropeanExperiences (2nd edn) (pp 94ndash106) London Belhaven Press

Logothetis M (1990) The Economy of Dodekanisos During 1988ndash1989 Developments andPerspectives (in Greek) Rhodes Regional association of municipalities of Dodekanisos

Logothetis M (1992) Touristiki Sigkiria (in Greek) Rhodes Institute of Tourist and HotelResearch

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 477

Loukissas P (1977) The impact of tourism on regional development A comparativeanalysis of the Greek islands PhD Dissertation Cornell University USA

Loukissas P (1982) Tourismrsquos regional development impacts A comparative analysis ofthe Greek islands Annals of Tourism Research 9 523ndash43

Marinos P (1983) Small island tourism-the case of Zakynthos in Greece TourismManagement 4 212ndash15

Moore R (1992) From shepherds to shopkeepers The development of tourism in a centralGreek town PhD Dissertation University of California at Berkeley USA

Moore R (1995) Gender and alcohol use in a Greek tourist town Annals of Tourism Research22 300ndash13

Mourdoukoutas P (1988) Seasonal employment seasonal unemployment andunemployment compensation The case of the tourism industry of the Greek islandsAmerican Journal of Economics and Sociology 47 315ndash29

NSSG (l983) Tourism Statistics 1981 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (l985) Tourism Statistics 1982ndash1983 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1987) Tourism Statistics 1984ndash1985 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1990) Tourism Statistics 1986ndash1987 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1993) Tourism Statistics 1988ndash1990 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceOECD (1992) Greece Tourism Policy and International Tourism in OECD Member Countries (pp

70ndash8) Paris OECDOttaway M (1992) Turtle power Sunday Times Travel and Style (28 June)Ottaway M (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 1 Sunday Times (17 January)

57ndash59Panagiotopoulou R (1990) The problem and perspectives of the European insular regions

(in Greek) Working paper University of the Aegean ChiosPapadimitris G (1988) Short run and long run prospects of the Greek tourism industry

PhD Dissertation University of Manchester ManchesterPapadopoulos S (1985) An economic analysis of foreign tourism in Greece An

examination of the growth and structure of foreign tourism to Greece 1960ndash1984 with aplanning model and marketing policy recommendations PhD Thesis University ofBradford Management Centre Bradford

Papadopoulos S (1987) Strategic marketing techniques in international tourismInternational Marketing Review (summer) 71ndash84

Papadopoulos S (1988a) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (1) 29ndash30

Papadopoulos S (1988b) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (2) 24ndash7

Papadopoulos S (1989) Greek marketing strategies in the Europe tourism market ServiceIndustries Journal 9 297ndash314

Papadopoulos S and Mirza H (1985) Foreign tourism in Greece An economic analysisTourism Management 6 125ndash37

Papandropoulos A (1995) The crisis in tourism is evident (in Greek) OikonomikosTachydromos (29 June) 26ndash8

Papanikos G (1999) The year 2004 olympic games and their influence upon the Greektourism (in Greek) ITEP (Research Institute for Tourism) Athens

Paulopoulos P (1999) The Size and Dynamics of the Tourism Sector (in Greek) ResearchInstitute for Tourism Athens

Peterson C (1990) Greece tackles overbuilding in tourism areas EnvironmentalConservation 17 166ndash8

Plevris V (1995) Alarm bells from the Hellenic Federation of Hotels (in Greek) XENIA128 (May) 6ndash7

Poon A (1987) Information technology and innovation in international tourism ndashimplications for the Caribbean tourism industry PhD thesis Science Policy ResearchUnit University of Sussex Brighton

Poon A (1988) Flexible specialisation and small size ndash the case of Caribbean tourism DRCDiscussion Paper 57 SPRU Brighton University of Sussex

478 Current Issues in Tourism

Poon A (1989) Competitive strategies for new tourism In C Cooper (ed) Progress inTourism Recreation and Hospitality Management (vol 1) (pp 91ndash102) London BelhavenPress

Poon A (1990) Flexible specialisation at small size The case of Caribbean tourism WorldDevelopment 18 109ndash23

Poon A (1993) Tourism Technology and Competitive Strategies Oxford CAB InternationalPorter M (1980) Competitive Strategy Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors

New York Free PressPorter M (1985) Competitive Advantage Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance New

York Free PressPorter M (1990) The Competitive Advantage of Nations New York Free PressPrurier E Sweeney A and Geen A (1993) Tourism and the environment The case of

Zakynthos Tourism Management 14 137ndash9Psoinos P (1994a) Research on the foreign touristsrsquo attributes in Greece (in Greek) Athens

Greek National Tourism OrganisationPsoinos P (1994b) Research on the attributes of foreigners who have never visited Greece (in

Greek) Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationRichter-Papaconstantinou C (1992) Tourism development of Rhodes Cahiers du Tourisme

(Serie B) 67 Aix en Provence Centre des Hautes Eacutetudes TouristiquesRomanos A (1998) Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites (in Greek) Athens

Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites SASETE (1993) Tourism Developments and problems (in Greek) Athens Association of Greek

Tourism EnterprisesSezer H and Harrison A (1994) Tourism in Greece and Turkey An economic view for

planners In A Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposiumpp74ndash84 England Wiley and Sons

Skoulas N (1985) Holidays and travel in the year 2035 ndash Contribution of the NationalTourist Organisation of Greece SDI Schriftey Wirtschafts und Unternehmenspolitik 40181ndash99

Skoulas N (1994) Quality improvement of tourism services (in Greek) Paper presentedin the conference Competitiveness of tourism enterprises ndash the role of quality 1 AprilHoliday Inn Athens Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises

Smith C and Jenner P (1995) Greece International Tourism Reports 3 5ndash21Stavrou S (1978) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Kos Island (in Greek) Research and

Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationStavrou S (1979) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Mykonos and Naxos Islands (in

Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1980) Research on Tourism Awareness on the Islands Kalymnos and Leros (in Greek)Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1984) Tourism Development in Greece during 1969ndash1982 (in Greek) Research andDevelopment Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986a) Research for the Characteristics of Foreign Tourist Demand in Greece in theYears 8485 (in Greek) Research Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1986b) Research on the Tourism Awareness on Paros Santorini Kythira Islands (inGreek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986c) Critical Review of Tourism Activity in the Years 8385 (in Greek) Researchand Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1988) Tourism in the Northern Aegean Islands Presentation of GNTO for the TourismDevelopment of the Periphery (in Greek) Proceedings of the first conference for thedevelopment of the Northern Aegean islands Homereum cultural centre Chios 11November Chios Periphery of Northern Aegean islands

Stavrou S (1989a) GNTO Presentation for the Tourism Development Possibilities for theSouthern Aegean Islands (in Greek) Conference for the development of Southern Aegean

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 479

islands Syros 30 September ndash 2 OctoberStavrou S (1989b) The Contribution of the Development Law 126282 in the Development of the

Country (in Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A5 Athens GreekNational Tourism Organisation

Stereopoulos N (1995) It is regarded ideal it became problematic (in Greek) OikonomikosTachidromos (21 December) 151ndash3

Touloupas P (1996) Greece as a tourist destination for the British tour operators Ananalysis from a marketing perspective in the particular context of the United KingdomMSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Tourismos ke Oikonomia (1993) 20 years 1973ndash1993 (in Greek) Special Issue AthensTourismos ke Oikonomia (1994) ICAP tourism enterprises Drastic reduction of loses in 1993

(in Greek) December 14ndash15Touristiki Agora (various issues) (Monthly tourism industry periodical in Greek) Business

Press AthensTruett D and Truett L (1987) The response of tourism to international economic

conditions Greece Mexico and Spain Journal of Developing Areas 21 177ndash90Tsartas P (1989) Socioeconomic Impacts of Tourism Development in Cyclades Region with Special

Reference on Ios and Serifos Islands During 1950ndash1980 (in Greek) Athens National Centrefor Social Research

Tsartas P (1992) Socioeconomic impacts of tourism on two Greek isles Annals of TourismResearch 19 516ndash33

Van Den Bergh J (1993) Tourism development and natural environment Aneconomicndashecological model for the Sporades islands In H Briassoulis and J Van DerStraaten (eds) Tourism and Environment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 67ndash83)Dordrecht Kluer Academic Publishers

Velissariou E (1991) Die Wirtschaftlichen Effekte des Tourismus Dargestell am Beispiel Kretas(The Economic Impacts of Tourism on Crete) PhD Dissertation University of MunichFrankfurt Peter Lang

Vernikos N (1987) The study of Mediterranean small islands Emerging theoreticalissues Ekistics 54 (323ndash4) 101ndash9

Wanhill S (1993) Government organisations In C Cooper J Fletcher D Gilbert and SWanhill (eds) Tourism Principle and Practice (pp 145ndash60) London Pitman

Wickens D (1994) Consumption of the authentic The hedonistic tourist in Greece In ASeaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 819ndash25)England JWiley and Sons

Wickens E (2000) Rethinking touristsrsquo experiences In M Robinson et al (eds) MotivationsBehaviour and Tourist Types (pp 455ndash72) Business Education Publishers Sunderland

Wickers D (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 2 Sunday Times 57ndash510Wilkinson PF (1989) Strategies for tourism in islands microstates Annals of Tourism

Research 16 153ndash77XENIA (various issues) (Monthly bulletin of the Greek Hotel Chamber in Greek) AthensZacharatos G (1984) Tourismus und Wirtschafts-Struktur Dargestellt am Beispiel

Griechenlands Europaische Hochschulschriften Reihex Band 7 Frankfurt am MainZacharatos G (1986) Tourism consumption (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planning and

Economic ResearchZacharatos G (1988) The simplistic empiricism Tourism policy and the time of crisis

(1992) (in Greek) Sychrona Themata 11 (May) 21ndash6Zacharatos G (1989) The problems and perspectives of tourism in Greece (in Greek) In H

Katsoulis T Giannitsis and P Kazakos (eds) Politics and Society Economy and ForeignRelationships (pp 273ndash89) Athens Papazisis

Zacharatos G (1993) The necessity of multimedia use in the tourism education in Greece(in Greek) Paper presented at the international conference Overcomingisolation-telematics and regional development University of the Aegean Chios 30April ndash 2 May

480 Current Issues in Tourism

Page 7: Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challengescore.ac.uk/download/pdf/101686.pdf · Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challenges Dimitrios Buhalis School of Management

Wickens (1994 819 and 2000) classified tourists arriving in Pefkochori as lsquocul-tural heritagersquo type interested in the natural beauties of Greece as well as itsculture and history lsquoraversrsquo attracted by the cheapness of the resort particularlythe cheapness and availability of alcohol as well as the sun beach and nightlifelsquoShirley Valentinesrsquo who are women on a mono-gender holiday who hope forromance and sexual adventure with a lsquoGreek Godrsquo based on the Greek malestereotype which has been perpetuated by newspapers and the film ShirleyValentine lsquoheliolatrousrsquo tourists who are sun-worshippers trying indefatigablyto change their colour and finally lsquoLord Byronsrsquo who undertake an annual ritualreturn to the same destination and experience the real flavour of Greek hospital-ity and ambience Although these typologies provide an initial demand profilethe strategic analysis and the positioning of the Greek tourism product will beimpossible without further research undertaken on the characteristics needsmotivations and behaviour of tourists

446 Current Issues in Tourism

Year Arrivals Bednights Bedcapacity

Expenditure(million $)

Expenditureper capita

1992 9756012 36260299 475800 3268400 3501993 9913267 36747968 499606 3335200 3541994 11301722 40657544 486518 3904900 3461995 10658114 38889975 534703 4294000 4031996 9782061 47945506 550692 3723100 3811997 10588489 53364507 560957 3772200 3561998 11363822 56549442 577759 5186100 4561999 10970665 60256902 584714 NA NA

Source Adapted from the Greek National Tourism Organisation and National Statistical Service ofGreece

Table 2 Nights spent by foreign tourists and Greek nationals in hotels and similarestablishments by month

Month Year Variation

1996 1997 1998 1999 9796 9897 9998January 867638 946798 1005719 1066084 912 622 600February 928305 933592 998977 1060008 057 700 611March 1250226 1369751 1273310 1448624 956 ndash704 1377April 2766116 2822243 2905546 2864693 203 295 ndash141May 5258710 5923093 6229116 6617666 1263 517 624June 6405495 7075829 7530343 8342167 1046 642 1078July 7965179 9003064 9872757 10723835 1303 966 862August 9551439 10878827 11661790 11805077 1390 720 123September 6993686 7822329 8224367 8756290 1185 514 647October 4113665 4419861 4640619 5234218 744 499 1279November 1032350 1113342 1175950 1245219 785 562 589December 812697 1055778 1030948 1093021 2991 ndash235 602Total 47945506 53364507 56549442 60256902 1130 597 656

Source Greek National Tourism Organisation and National Statistical Service of Greece

Table 1 (cont) Tourism demand and supply figures for Greece during the period1950ndash1995

Tab

le 3

Arr

ival

s of

for

eign

tou

rist

s at

fron

tier

s by

cit

izen

ship

199

1ndash19

99

Cou

ntry

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

19

99

238

453

128

211

191

619

298

843

586

182

673

061

Au

stri

a28

831

734

525

928

863

634

809

134

730

135

960

438

811

845

019

550

160

2B

elgi

um

-Lu

xem

bou

rg17

975

422

509

922

403

626

514

824

557

221

356

722

931

027

367

433

291

3B

ulg

aria

157

910

140

725

144

534

133

764

136

504

154

765

182

338

197

347

202

848

Fran

ce47

094

554

222

255

464

461

856

555

179

846

273

242

667

848

620

154

598

1G

erm

any

156

111

31

944

704

206

937

92

404

628

227

291

11

907

863

199

467

02

136

515

245

013

7Fo

rmer

Yu

gosl

avia

518

644

934

1319

179

227

930

127

034

724

717

1Y

ugo

slav

ia27

089

426

076

423

149

619

899

920

163

310

307

7Fy

rom

37

809

586

911

128

051

Den

mar

k21

188

328

123

525

362

231

888

532

436

929

895

934

426

129

253

233

624

8Sw

itze

rlan

d12

624

116

312

616

499

919

332

725

907

225

642

529

573

128

938

730

813

8U

K1

674

875

215

485

02

191

347

241

862

82

224

885

168

799

91

711

942

204

424

32

433

033

Irel

and

440

8557

885

627

8069

928

622

5254

050

454

0944

524

486

49Sp

ain

104

655

119

964

118

967

122

773

949

2079

717

713

1496

905

992

88It

aly

517

145

622

619

625

509

722

652

643

473

491

081

533

303

659

688

745

915

Cyp

rus

104

041

107

029

904

1292

372

980

5985

893

131

441

126

992

139

386

Nor

way

683

9695

898

102

452

143

257

142

013

157

722

160

457

226

282

269

419

Net

herl

and

s45

006

554

618

751

087

255

659

350

561

645

217

946

414

454

833

961

680

7H

ung

ary

107

685

107

403

739

9910

510

291

170

113

657

145

192

186

147

123

280

Ukr

ain

e10

742

106

5212

942

270

1728

084

328

43R

uss

ia10

147

412

918

418

056

020

079

412

741

710

491

0P

olan

d47

535

437

8834

292

310

1849

665

889

4710

179

312

264

711

515

2P

ortu

gal

165

8626

245

209

1921

581

208

5815

856

131

2513

713

210

34R

oman

ia17

919

196

8318

862

254

7438

868

510

1251

854

634

3972

689

Swed

en26

194

631

425

131

703

038

763

945

927

644

825

747

248

146

761

746

879

3C

zech

oslo

vaki

a13

012

919

158

589

642

Cze

ch R

epu

blic

788

4610

788

217

708

717

406

817

809

417

450

8Sl

ovak

ia15

102

135

3628

431

303

8355

291

462

17

Current Issues in Tourism 447

Cou

ntry

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

19

99

Fin

lan

d21

613

117

209

911

651

813

743

410

255

312

083

714

846

114

933

718

897

1O

ther

Eu

rop

ean

809

9510

439

420

537

325

209

328

8280

128

575

4134

967

370

63T

otal

EU

485

017

46

521

010

663

629

17

519

381

785

578

46

592

701

684

321

67

663

483

878

937

1T

otal

Eu

rop

e7

356

995

841

966

38

470

616

986

5986

936

382

98

419

060

927

776

210

174

303

113

200

13Ja

pan

579

0210

968

089

907

953

6789

457

871

3585

029

871

3083

971

Isra

el36

989

350

6545

815

414

0554

264

749

8082

386

894

0215

498

7L

eban

on

Syri

a15

637

159

2214

924

139

7415

651

183

5716

165

177

9818

347

Tu

rkey

535

3173

650

149

390

733

8849

018

474

1644

741

698

7580

502

Iran

422

66

794

761

56

458

596

05

319

373

03

848

380

9O

ther

Mid

dle

Eas

t5

474

804

88

014

562

37

919

124

108

300

638

27

854

Oth

er A

sian

448

5955

467

545

0663

611

111

547

167

380

145

515

841

3984

806

Tot

al A

sia

218

618

304

626

370

171

998

2633

381

641

299

738

586

635

857

443

427

6E

gyp

tSu

dan

200

2019

525

196

0918

540

214

4919

865

193

6317

604

240

45So

uth

Afr

ica

135

2716

944

146

8712

559

120

628

909

874

87

339

101

96O

ther

Afr

ica

179

4814

660

142

4212

145

151

7514

797

143

2413

795

137

99T

otal

Afr

ica

514

9551

129

485

3843

244

486

8643

571

424

3538

738

480

40A

rgen

tina

509

28

655

879

411

530

970

38

176

440

84

238

508

9B

razi

l8

523

899

98

555

107

4410

851

966

18

062

629

94

531

Mex

ico

364

26

535

533

65

318

453

93

385

225

82

052

420

0U

SA80

429

278

941

256

719

270

777

239

684

222

130

240

555

219

362

229

314

Can

ada

471

0159

807

514

7256

650

503

0943

966

477

2250

512

516

80O

ther

Am

eric

an10

983

152

5412

468

904

38

694

108

2611

052

904

410

447

Tot

al A

mer

ica

255

770

378

191

343

344

364

062

323

780

298

144

314

057

291

507

305

261

Au

stra

lia66

566

696

5856

064

615

5654

453

543

1146

692

427

9650

516

Oth

er O

cean

ic8

489

803

56

930

726

85

613

521

23

513

101

285

982

Tot

al O

cean

ia75

055

776

9362

994

688

2460

066

595

2350

205

529

2456

498

Form

er U

SSR

781

9410

005

811

716

0T

otal

803

612

79

331

360

941

282

310

641

942

101

301

779

233

295

100

703

2510

916

046

216

408

8C

ruis

es23

513

142

465

250

044

458

891

258

196

854

876

651

816

444

777

644

184

0G

ran

d to

tal

827

125

89

756

012

991

326

711

230

854

107

121

459

782

061

105

884

8911

363

822

126

059

28

Fo

rmer

Yu

gosl

av R

epu

blic

of

Mac

edon

iaSo

urce

Gre

ek N

atio

nal

Tou

rism

Org

anis

atio

n a

nd N

atio

nal S

tati

stic

al S

ervi

ce o

f G

reec

e

448 Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges

Tourism supply in Greek tourismA modern industry has emerged since the 1950s to cater for the tourism

demand The Greek tourism product is an amalgam of natural cultural and heri-tage attractions spread throughout the country as well as a wide variety of servicesoffered predominantly by SMTEs Moreover 15000 miles of coastline 2500islands an average of 300 sunny days annually a unique fauna and flora as well asclimatic superiority with mild winters and warm summers are some of its naturalattractions The Greek civilisation of more than 3500 years also provides plentifulcultural heritage throughout the country Some rsquo25000 registered and protectedmonuments and archaeological sites numerous museums and about 500 charac-teristic traditional settlementsrsquo offer a unique blend of tourist attractions (Buckleyamp Papadopoulos 1986 96 EIU 1986) As far as amenities are concerned a plethoraof SMTEs provide the entire variety of services

In January 2000 a total of 8100 official accommodation establishments with atotal capacity of almost 600000 beds are provided in different categories asdemonstrated in Table 4 Another 450000 beds are provided by some 28000secondary accommodation establishments such as lsquorooms to letrsquo and self-cateringapartments often referred to as lsquoparahoteleriarsquo In addition 11000 beds in cruiseliners and 12000 in yachts as well as 329 camping sites with 30354 pitches and83000 camping spaces accommodate all types of demand (GNTO) Eurostat esti-mates that about 20000 restaurants operate in Greece while a countless number ofcatering and entertainment establishments are on offer Furthermore some 7000travel agencies 1500 coach rental and 4000 car rental firms are estimated to operatethroughout the country (EC 1993a)

Accessibility is facilitated through 32 airports most of which can receive directinternational charter flights An extensive domestic scheduled flights network isprovided by Olympic Airways as well as by newly established private carrierswhich take advantage of the increasingly deregulated skies The proliferation ofprivate airlines (eg Aegean Cronus Axon Air Greece) during the last five yearsand the price wars with the state-owned Olympic Airways have increased bothdomestic and international traffic Moreover a complex network of sea road andrail transport enables passenger transportation throughout the country(Briassoulis 1993 291) During the last decade there has been a remarkableimprovement to the quality and ability of vessels as the Greek shipping industryprepares for the lifting of cabotage in 2002 which will enable European shippinglines to operate on Greek routes However recent tragedies involving olderGreek ferries pressurised the Ministry of Merchant Marine to take action in orderto improve the safety and security of the vessels and to ensure the adequate train-ing of crews In addition Piraeus port needs the development of a modernpassenger terminal to provide adequate service

Unfortunately the Greek infrastructure is incapable of supporting the tourismsuperstructure growth of the last decades and thus telecommunications transpor-tation police and health services water supply and sewage systems are underextreme pressure in the summer peak months to satisfy the demand density(Konsolas amp Zacharatos 1993 63 and EIU 1990 61) Nevertheless during the lastdecade several major projects have been initiated including the Metro and the newairport in Athens a wide network of motorways and the gradual development of

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 449

Tab

le 4

Acc

omm

odat

ion

esta

blis

hm

ent b

y re

gion

and

cat

egor

y in

199

9

Tot

alLu

xury

A C

ateg

ory

B C

ateg

ory

Reg

ion

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Ster

ea1

236

493

9892

877

225

368

101

4480

780

514

644

191

120

5722

605

Pel

opon

isos

660

230

1043

846

466

11

377

554

889

925

012

96

825

130

22Io

nio

595

332

8663

683

61

340

255

378

930

817

911

139

894

617

107

Ipir

os24

24

868

938

51

5411

611

446

884

381

478

284

4N

orth

ern

Aeg

ean

550

108

7220

792

450

11

090

231

364

257

498

374

97

125

Cre

te1

214

604

8911

396

021

508

510

034

166

188

9335

608

263

139

9826

904

Dod

ekan

isa

887

545

0710

436

68

324

26

227

127

224

8442

924

201

106

0120

161

Cyc

lad

es73

718

406

352

483

176

341

963

108

587

014

03

824

731

7T

hes

saly

575

119

9522

939

439

978

150

150

52

980

672

626

494

9M

aced

onia

983

335

1372

943

41

046

184

255

231

913

698

168

100

3619

140

Th

race

702

470

467

50

00

418

134

522

110

22

103

Tot

al7

749

302

814

584

714

7717

872

345

0574

572

302

146

688

145

675

242

143

277

C C

ateg

ory

D C

ateg

ory

E C

ateg

ory

Reg

ion

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Ster

ea60

318

193

339

6519

43

712

703

814

62

263

448

1P

elop

onis

os32

68

818

166

4894

135

02

625

4246

792

4Io

nio

380

119

2822

722

571

114

212

136

650

126

9Ip

iros

992

362

451

519

356

682

1417

234

4N

orth

ern

Aeg

ean

199

442

78

400

2840

477

333

427

830

Cre

te67

820

123

369

0397

163

12

995

5175

91

516

Dod

ekan

isa

495

163

7530

686

611

076

293

956

729

142

9C

ycla

des

367

835

715

977

100

152

22

922

104

141

92

821

Th

essa

ly24

15

723

107

7853

962

186

159

780

159

0M

aced

onia

491

124

0723

497

351

687

013

066

6083

51

700

Th

race

2886

81

614

1125

949

35

6012

0T

otal

390

710

958

120

570

51

065

192

5637

515

606

856

117

024

Sour

ce G

NT

O D

ept o

f Acc

omm

odat

ion

Est

abli

shm

ents

450 Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges

the railtrack These developments will change the entire infrastructure of thecountry

The implementation of the Greek national tourism policy is supervised by theGreek National Tourism Organisation (GNTO) and the Ministry of TourismThe two organisations share the responsibilities for planning implementationand promotion of Greek tourism at national and regional level as well as coordi-nating the involvement of the public and private sectors in all tourism activitiesPublic investment in commercial facilities was utilised in the early days ofGreek tourism to stimulate both tourism demand and the private sectorrsquos confi-dence to invest The GNTO operates 21 regional and 25 overseas offices in 18countries worldwide (Konsolas amp Zacharatos 1993 59 Leontidou 1991Briassoulis 1993)

The Greek tourism product is distributed to the international market predomi-nantly through European tour operators which organise package holidays andinclude resorts in their programmes Some 800 tour operators distribute the Greektourism product More than 7000 incoming travel agencies often act as tour opera-torsrsquo handling agencies while providing a variety of tourism services such asorganisation of excursions currency exchange and accommodation bookingsdirectly to consumers They usually participate in negotiations between tour oper-ators and accommodation establishments as well as cooperate with tour operatorsrsquorepresentatives at destinations In addition the GNTO operates several informa-tion offices at major resorts whilst several local authorities provide tourist infor-mation as well as distribute promotional material and make local bookings Theglobal GNTO network distributes information material to potential tourists aswell as undertakes all the marketing and public relations functions both for indi-vidual and institutional customers

SWOT analysis for Greek tourism and small and medium-sized tourismenterprises

A SWOT analysis is undertaken for the Greek tourism as well as its SMTEs inorder to assess their present and projected competitiveness based on strategicmanagement research undertaken for the Aegean islands (Buhalis 1991 Cooperamp Buhalis 1992) The interrelations between SMTEs and destinations are quiteapparent illustrating that a destinationsrsquo weaknesses and threats are reflected inthe SMTEsrsquo competitiveness and vice versa As illustrated in Table 5 the SWOTanalysis concentrates on the strategic rather than operational strengths andweaknesses of SMTEs

As far as strengths of the Greek tourism and SMTEs are concerned their flexi-bility and ability to tailor products to consumersrsquo needs are of great importanceto their existence SMTEs can identify profitable niches in the market establishtheir requirements and attempt to satisfy specialised needs Direct control byentrepreneurs permits quick and efficient managerial reaction to external chal-lenges Fewer hierarchical levels facilitate closer and more effective control overthe service delivery process enabling personal services to customers In addi-tion archaeological heritage natural and cultural resources as well as the localcharacter are also significant assets As a result tourists benefit from localresources which are ideally situated to offer special-interest holidays SMTEsalso capitalise on personal relationships with consumers suppliers labour and

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 451

the entire tourism industry in general Their size enables the provision of apersonal finish to all products provided while it is not unusual for customers tobecome friends and to be treated accordingly Similarly strong relations withemployees support labour loyalty and low turnover The proprietorrsquos family isnormally directly involved with every aspect of the business reacting efficientlyand promptly to any problem arising Their involvement in running the enter-prise provides considerable benefits especially in having a very flexiblemulti-skilled and dedicated workforce which tolerates unsociable workingschedules Family members feel committed to the long-term prosperity of theenterprise and often do not distinguish between their professional and familylife Thus a better matching between tourism demand and SMTEsrsquo supply isachieved

A close-up of the weaknesses of Greek tourism and SMTEs is critical for under-standing the ability of the industry to compete in the global tourism arenaAlthough entrepreneurs are normally an asset it seems that a number of manage-

452 Current Issues in Tourism

Table 5 Greek tourism and SMTEsrsquo SWOT analysis

Strengths

Flexibility

Tailor-made product delivery

Entrepreneurial activity

Family involvement

Natural and cultural resources

Strong local character

Personalised relationships

Labour loyalty and low turnover

Weaknesses

Management

Marketing

Information technologies illiteracy

Dependence upon tour operators

Supporting markets

Lack of economies of scale

Human resources management

Education and training

Transportation and accessibility

Financial management and resources

Seasonality

Lack of standardisation

Lack of quality assurances

Opportunities

European Union support

European redistribution of labour

Increase in tourism demand size

Trends in tourism demand

Low cost of living in periphery

Information technology

Infrastructure development

Transportation

Olympic Games

Threats

Environmental degradation

Concentration and globalisation

Oversupply

Lack of visibility in CRSs

Infrastructure

Warsterrorism

Political intervention

Source Adapted from Buhalis 1991 60c and Cooper and Buhalis 1992 108

rial problems often arise Lack of strategic and operational managementknow-how generates inconsistency in the creation and delivery of tourism prod-ucts This has direct implications for consumersrsquo satisfaction and the projectedimage of the industry There is often a complete lack of strategic vision and enter-prises are often treated as an extension of proprietorsrsquo domestic environmentEntrepreneurs recruit family members and relatives as personnel and supplierseven though more appropriatequalified alternatives can be found in the market-place Therefore the management of SMTEs clearly projects the proprietorrsquosfamily life-style and decision-making processes onto an enterprise Marketing isanother significant weakness for most entrepreneurs and Greek resorts as they areoften completely unaware of the techniques available and thus follow a prod-uct-oriented rather than a consumer-orientated approach Consequently uncoor-dinated isolated trouble-shooting marketing activities are occasionallyundertaken rather than a consistent and well-planned marketing campaign Lackof marketing research debilitates knowledge of consumersrsquo needs and makes itdifficult to identify methods for improving services in order to meet consumersrsquoexpectations Inability to finance and execute advertising campaigns and otherpromotional techniques reduces their visibility in their markets These weak-nesses in combination with the fact that many entrepreneurs are unfamiliar withinformation technology (IT) add to the problems of SMTEs in promoting them-selves effectively Consequently both Greek SMTEs and destinations sufferfrom over-dependence on the tourism distribution channels to promote anddistribute their product In particular intermediaries and especially tour opera-tors have enormous power within the channel and are capable of determiningthe Greek tourism product marketing distribution and pricing mixes (Buhalis1995) Hence the marketing campaign and the visibility of Greek tourism to itsmain target markets are often determined by the coverage space photographsand description in tour operatorsrsquo brochures European tour operators alsocontrol accessibility to Mediterranean or long-haul destinations as they ownmost charter airlines which provide direct and inexpensive flights to these desti-nations

As most resorts are located in peripheral areas there is usually little economicdevelopment in the supplying sectors Therefore remote destinations have toimport essential raw and construction materials from elsewhere while SMTEsoften face transportation delivery and purchasing problems and excessivetransportation costs Moreover lack of economies of scale in purchasing rawmaterial low bargaining power and lack of advanced facilities are additionaloperational disadvantages This essentially means that SMTEs have to payhigher prices for products than their larger counterparts Lack of specialisedpersonnel and inadequate training procedures mean that human resourcesmanagement is a major weakness of Greek tourism In most SMTEs personnelhave to cover a wide range of positions a loose job description is usuallyprovided and multi-skilled personnel are required The labour turnover due tothe seasonality of the tourism industry reduces the availability of qualified andexperienced personnel and makes tourism product delivery not only variablebut also unprofessional The small size of operation provides little opportunityfor the division of tasks professional employees and proper training Since noquality standards are introduced service delivery varies according to the occu-

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 453

pancy service provider and timing Transportation and accessibility to remotedestinations may also be a weakness as most enterprises are located in periph-eral and often inaccessible regions SMTEs tend to feel frustrated because theyare unable to attract consumers simply because they cannot provide conve-nient reliable and affordable transportation The formulation of charter aircarriers by destination areas such as Turkey and Spain as well as the emergingderegulation policies in the European Union may diminish this problem in thenear future Moreover SMTEs face significant financial constraints as on theone hand they are required to invest in fixed assets at the beginning of theiroperations and on the other hand there is a discrimination against them byfinancial institutions since they normally have very few assets Consequentlythey are forced to accept unfavourable financial deals Finally the Greek tour-ism industry and SMTEs suffer from seasonality problems and have to produceadequate income within a limited period every year Lack of diversified invest-ment in other economic activities forces proprietors to work intensively in thepeak months and rest in the off-peak months while their pay-back period isinevitably unfavourable As the tourism industry becomes more professionalembraces quality management and responds to an increasingly discerningcustomer SMTEsrsquo typical lack of business expertise and minimal standardisa-tion may become an increasing liability especially for some target markets(Cooper amp Buhalis 1992 102)

Recent developments in the external environment present numerous opportu-nities for the Greek tourism industry and SMTEs Firstly the European Uniontakes several actions to support small and medium-sized enterprises (EC 1993b72) while it supports infrastructure development of peripheral regions andcontributes significantly to the prosperity of SMTEs The country is going througha major transformation as a result of several public projects supported by theEuropean Commission including the Attico Metro the new Athens Airport thedevelopment of the peripheral motorway Elefsina-Spata and the peripheralmotorway of Immitos The unification of the heritage sites and thepedestrianisation of the Athens city centre aims to develop an open archaeologi-cal park and deal with the traffic and pollution problems The Olympic Games in2004 provide a unique challenge and opportunity for the city and the country torebrand and redevelop itself and demonstrate its unparalleled heritage andcultural resources The Games also provide the resources and funding as well asa lsquodeadlinersquo for several infrastructural projects that were already scheduled butperhaps delayed In addition several projects are anticipated to improve thesuperstructure of the industry through both renovation of existing propertiesand through the development of new hotels and other facilities It is anticipatedthat the regeneration of the city and the country in general will provide majoropportunities for the attractiveness and competitiveness of the tourism industry(Buhalis 2000b Papanikos 1999 Romanos 1998)

It is anticipated that there will be a gradual redistribution of Europeanlabour providing support for each region to specialise in the production ofgoods and services where it can achieve competitive advantages Traditionallyremote and insular destinations where most Greek resorts and SMTEs arebased achieve a competitive advantage in tourism and therefore greatersupport is anticipated Greek tourism benefits from the continuous growth of

454 Current Issues in Tourism

global tourism demand as more people require holiday services while SMTEsare expected to increase their share as they tend to satisfy the emerging special-ised and sophisticated demand better than larger organisations Informationand telecommunication technologies can provide strategic tools for tourismdestinations and SMTEs enabling them to manage their product more effi-ciently disseminate information and establish a distribution mechanismthrough destination management systems (Buhalis 1994) New technologiesalso offer opportunities for developing innovative tourism products such asteleworking for tourists who would like to spend time working during theirstay at the destination Finally Greek tourism tends to achieve a cost advan-tage since it employs unpaid family members and operates in inexpensiveperipheral regions which often have a lower cost of living in comparison withmetropolitan areas

In terms of external threats environmental degradation through inappropriatewaste management and excessive usage of natural resources can be observedLack of know-how and funds effectively increases environmental problemsConsequently several resorts suffer severe damage while entrepreneurs and localauthorities feel powerless to take remedial measures Moreover oversupply oftourism service providers and lack of well-defined carrying capacity limits inseveral destinations have placed numerous Greek resorts and SMTEs in a disad-vantaged position as they cannot achieve sufficient income Similarly the concen-tration of power in fewer tourism industry enterprises through emergingglobalisation also threatens the ability of Greek SMTEs to survive as internationalvertically integrated tourism organisations acquire control over local enterprisesThe dependence upon channel partners for the promotion and distribution ofGreek tourism is exaggerated by the relatively low presence of Greek suppliers inthe major CRSs (Computer Reservation Systems) which is caused by the seasonal-ity and scale of the tourism production on the one hand and the tariffs of thesesystems on the other The issue of infrastructure is closely related to the oversup-ply which attracts higher demand than planned Destinations often have limitedinfrastructure provisions which fail to follow the pace of development generatingpressure on the existing inadequate facilities Finally the tourism industry suffersfrom its geographical proximity to the Balkans and the Middle East and as a conse-quence is often associated by consumers with wars and terrorism activities Greektourism and SMTEs have limited means of dealing with unfavourable situationsand thus are more vulnerable to their impacts Political intervention perhapsthrough the public sector decisions and the legislator framework often damagesthe prosperity of SMTEs As SMTEs have little lobbying power they have limitedinfluence over political decisions which determine their welfare

The SWOT analysis demonstrates quite clearly that the Greek tourism indus-try faces a wide range of problems and threats which will jeopardise its ability toprovide suitable tourism products in the future as well as its ability to make acontribution to the national welfare However several opportunities and chal-lenges emerge and they need to be addressed in order to strengthen the competi-tiveness of the industry Further analysis is therefore required in order to assessthe factors which generate these problems and also to identify ways to respond tothe challenges they present

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 455

Why Are We There and What Are the Implications StructuralProblems and Challenges

Despite its popularity and growth over the last 40 years the Greek tourismindustry has reached a stage where both its potential and competitiveness havebecome questionable

The seemingly unstoppable growth of this market contributed to a degreeof complacency which has led to Greece repeating some of the errors madein Spain Rapid price increases mean the country is no longer perceived bymass market clients as cheap in relation to comparable destinations in theMediterranean but much of the countryrsquos tourism infrastructure hastilybuilt in response to demand for cheap accommodation does not meet theneeds of a market less sensitive to price and more concerned with qualityand value for money (EIU 1990 45)

Richter-Papaconstantinou (1992 27) explains that tourism development inRhodes lsquotakes place without any Master Plan of the area respect of the landscapeand environment analysis whether there is demand and what the demand isafter regard to what is happening in similar situationsrsquo At the micro level theEuropean travel trade and intermediaries warn that the Greek tourism product isno longer competitive (Conway 1996 41 Touloupas 1996 Douvitsas 1994)whilst Chitiris (1991 148ndash150) outlines a range of managerial problems andmistakes in Greek resort hotels which diminish the quality of the tourismservices Hence unless the Greek tourism industry addresses a number of criticalissues immediately its future might be seriously jeopardised resulting in apotential catastrophe of the national economy The major structural problemsand challenges for the Greek tourism product can be summarised in Table 6

As a result Greece fails to attract the desired lsquohigh-quality high-expenditurersquotourists as it is increasingly unable to satisfy their requirements (Conway 199641) The deterioration of the tourism product and image leads to a lower willing-ness-to-pay by consumers which consequently leads to a further drop in qualityas the industry attempts to attract customers with lower prices This is a viciousspiral which has been destroying the essence of developing tourism in severalMediterranean destinations The concentration of bargaining power in Euro-pean distribution intermediaries and tour operators in particular in combina-tion with the inability of the Greek tourism industry to promote itself andestablish effective distribution mechanisms inevitably minimises the profitmargins of SMTEs and their ability to yield decent returns on their investmentAs a result touristsrsquo expenditure per capita in Greece gradually deteriorateswhile their volume increases (SETE 1993 35)

Thus the tourism policy often consisted in a lsquofreezingrsquo of the selling price ofthe tourist package abroad a measure which combined with the devalua-tion of the drachma and its continuous parity losses succeeded in securing alsquofictitious competitivenessrsquo for the Greek package This competitivenesshowever was seriously threatened each time there was an attempt at asubstantial increase because of important rises in cost elements(Kalogeropoulou 1993 2)

456 Current Issues in Tourism

The above issues illustrate that the Greek tourism product becomes increas-ingly incompetent Hence the inadequate lsquoproductrsquo lsquopromotionrsquo and lsquoplacersquo(distribution) elements of the tourism marketing mix reduce the willingness ofprospective consumers to pay and has disastrous implications for the pricingpolicies deteriorating the profitability of the SMTEs and the tourism economicimpacts on the destination

Ultimately the economic impacts of tourism in Greece become debatableespecially due to the inadequacy of tourism economic research and data whilethe destination has to bear the environmental social and cultural decay Encour-agingly articles in recent tourism industry publications acknowledge these chal-lenges and appreciate the dangers urging both the private and public sector totake action (Touristiki Agora Tourismos ke Oikonomia Travel News XENIA) as well

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 457

Table 6 Structural problems and challenges

Image of Greece as cheap simple unsophisticated undifferentiated sun-seadestination

Gradual deterioration of tourism product and lack of reinvestment in improvements

Increase of tourism arrivals but decrease of tourism expenditure per capita

Inadequacy of the Greek planning process

Dependence upon major tour operators for promotion and distribution

Plethora of anarchically developed and behaving SMTEs aiming at short-termprofitability

Inappropriate and ill-timed marketing campaign which has little effectiveness

Inadequacy of infrastructure to serve the ever-expanding demand

Lack of coordination at the destination and disrespect for touristsrsquo needs

Lack ofprofessionalism and training in both state andprivate tourism establishments

Individualistic behaviour by SMTEs and unwillingness to cooperate on adestination basis

Unsuccessful and inconsistent programmes of government intervention

Almost unregulated environment with nearly complete lack of control

Political intervention which allows exception policies and employment of unquali-fied staff

Development of tourism as a single regional development option

Oversupply of tourism amenities and fierce price competition

Failure of the private sector to invest in long-term projects

Deterioration of natural social and cultural resources

SMTEsrsquo inability to resist in global concentration of the tourism industry

Inadequate distribution mechanisms which generate overdependence onintermediaries

Failure of both the private and public sectors to learn from internationally gainedexperience in tourism development and marketing

Lack of tourism research to identify the impacts of tourism

Negligence with regard to new tourism demand challenges

as several influential members of the tourism industry (Josephides 1993 19941995 Skoulas 1994 Daskalantonakis 1994 Divanis 1994b Plevris 1995Papandropoulos 1995)

Political intervention limited research lack of tourism policy andplanning

Perhaps the largest obstacle in developing a competitive tourism industry inGreece has been the inconsistent and irrational political intervention Unfortunatelytourism has extensively been utilised as a political vehicle where each govern-ment uses it to gratify its political needs and friends This can be experienced in alllevels of recruitment in the public sector institutions as a change of government oreven minister results in immense changes throughout the GNTO as well as tomajor policies and regulations Thus in the last 35 years (since 1966) the leadershipof the GNTO has changed 28 times allowing each General Secretary to stay inoffice for an average of 138 months Political allies of each government use politi-cal pressure and intensive lobbying in order to achieve amendments in regula-tions incentive policies and business environment Hence the short-termprofitability and commercial interests of the friends and political allies of eachgovernment often overrule the long-term strategy and set an improper examplefor the entire industry These practices result in a great inconsistency in Greek tour-ism policy and disrupt its rationalisation Therefore a lsquodepolitisation of Greektourismrsquo towards a professionally managed public sector guided through acompromised strategic Master Plan is urgently required (Josephides 1995)

The limited existing scientific tourism research highlights the lack of comprehen-sive examination of tourism impacts in Greece while it illustrates that tourismpolicy is based on insufficient documentation (Zacharatos 1989 278 and 1988 22)Public sector research is almost non-existant while the authorities seem uninter-ested in consulting the Greek-tourism research produced by academics (for exam-ple Zacharatos 1984 1986 Komilis 1987 Loukissas 1977 Papadimitris 1988Papadopoulos 1985 Moore 1992 Tsartas 1989 Velissariou 1991 Fotis 1992Buhalis 1991 1995 2000c Buhalis amp Diamantis 2000) or the international tourismlsquobody of knowledgersquo (Zacharatos 1988 24) In addition tourism consumptionbeing characterised as a particular category of private consumption in the nationalaccounts it fails to reflect the real tourism impact on each economic sector Thusthe process of collecting information for tourism expenditure in Greece preventsthe assessment of tourism expenditure impacts on the national and regional econ-omy and therefore cannot be used in drawing scientifically founded tourismpolicy (Zacharatos 1989 277 Konsolas amp Zacharatos 1993 58) Consequentlytourism policy follows conventional wisdom and concentrates on attracting alarger volume of tourists ignoring scientific methods to assess the economicsocial cultural and environmental impacts of each tourism segment assumingthat the greater the tourism volume the better for the national economy

The lack of a comprehensive and rational tourism policy and planning or a MasterPlan for Greek tourism is primarily responsible for the aforementioned structuralproblems Policy is usually based on unsubstantiated statements published by theTourism Ministry or the GNTO (GNTO 1985b 1989a 1993) often as pre-electionpromotional material In essence Greek authorities attempt to intervene aiming tostimulate arrivals as well as to facilitate the operation and development of the

458 Current Issues in Tourism

tourism industry Based on the assumption that tourism arrivals to Greece wouldincrease indefinitely the general directions of the Greek tourism policy focusalmost invariably on the targets summarised in Table 7 (Euromonitor 1992 61GNTO 1989b 41 and 1993 1 OECD 1992 70 Skoulas 1985 194 Leontidou 199188ndash91 Apostolopoulos 1990 Zacharatos 1989 275 and 1988 21)

However as these tasks are not quantified and there is no time schedule orplanning process for their achievement it is inevitable that their implementationand assessment is subject to irrationalities and personal judgement Occa-sionally incentives for tourism development responses to lobbying from tour-ism-related associations and regions training programmes and generallegislation attempt to direct the Greek tourism industry towards the describedpolicy directions In addition an inconsistent and untargeted promotionalcampaign is implemented yearly (Touloupas 1996 130) The campaign attempts toachieve the above unspecified policy tasks while it is often a lsquolast minutersquo reactionmeasure to a forecasted decline of bookings for the current season rather than acoordinated long-term marketing policy (Jenner amp Smith 1993 143Papadopoulos 1989 304) Despite the advertising campaignrsquos positive impact onarrivals the feedback to the campaign is rather speculative as no formal researchis undertaken to identify the most cost-effective media and communication meth-ods for each target market (Papadopoulos 1989 311 and 1987 82)

Because the deficient scientific examination of Greek tourism and its impactsprevents the authorities from establishing quantifiable and measurable tourismpolicies their policies are based on subjective and personal judgements while feedbackpractices are rarely followed In addition the implementation of the vaguelydefined tourism policy as well as the targets regulations and standards are oftenbent to accommodate lobbying and political pressures (Zacharatos 1989 279)Komilis (1993 225) suggests that tourism planning in Greece is generally realisedand exercised within a socio-political environment characterised by severalfactors a limited degree of political commitment lack of social awareness andacceptability of planning actions inadequacy of scientific and technical founda-

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 459

Table 7 Greek tourism policy targets

Development of demand

Training of tourism employees

Increase arrivals and foreign exchange income

Increase competitiveness of tourism product

Improvement of services in the industry

Reduction of seasonality and expansion of tourism season

Attraction of high spenders and alternative types of tourism

Construction of facilities appealing to the upper end of the market such as luxuryhotels golf courses congress centres casinos and marinas

Development of tourism infrastructure with emphasis on transportation

Support of social tourism for low-income domestic tourists

Geographical redistribution of tourism

tion to support planning intervention and a centralised administrative-institu-tional system gathering a plethora of functions but failing to perform itscoordination and enforcing role When the conflicting interests and power of eachmember of the tourism industry are brought into the equation where differentpartners attempt to influence legislation in order to maximise their own short-termprofitability regardless of the impacts on the destination and other enterprises theplanning process becomes more complicated This results in an ineffective plan-ning system and process which produces policies unable to provide an appropri-ate balance between restrictive policies and control planning implementationMoreover the plethora of SMTEs in combination with inadequate legislationconcerning their establishment and operation seem to affect adversely thecompetitiveness of the industry and the ability to diversify and enrich local tour-ism products (Komilis 1992 11 EIU 1990 59)

Consequently several structural problems are originated jeopardising theprosperity of both SMTEs and destinations especially in overdeveloped regionsOn the supply side failure of the infrastructure to follow the dramatic expansionof the superstructure in combination with the lack of solid institutional context oftourism policy and long-term regulation result in the exploitation and inadequacyof environmental and socio-cultural resources as well as the inability of the indus-try to generate the level of economic benefits desired and expected On the tourismdemand side after the meteoric growth in the 1970s and 1980s the Greek tourismindustry has been trying to transform lsquothe country into a destination which cancompete not just on price but on value for moneyrsquo (EIU 1990 45) It is becomingapparent that the tourism population in not infinite and an adaptability andresponsiveness to touristsrsquo needs is ofgreat importance (Sezeramp Harrison 1994 83)

Structural problems jeopardise the profitability of the private sectorBecause of the aforementioned structural problems most tourism industry

enterprises are experiencing a decline in profitability Hotels in particular arebadly affected due to the high fixed assets as well as their immobility and inflexi-bility which prevents them from adjusting to demand fluctuation Several reasonsdetermine their low profitability and inability to increase prices in line with infla-tion The low occupancy levels achieved yearly is a key problem Smith and Jenner(1995 17) estimate that the lsquoyear-round bed occupancy over the range of licensedaccommodation is slightly under 30rsquo As most of the properties are closed duringthe winter months due to the seasonality problems they rely on three to six monthsto generate sufficient returns on their investment The occupancy levels of accom-modation establishments in Greek tourism are often determined by theirco-operation with travel intermediaries Based on the different seasonality patternsof different markets rooms are normally allocated a year before the summer seasonto tour operators on lsquoallotmentrsquo or lsquocommitmentrsquo contracts which effectively deter-mine the prices charged according to the security provided by tour operators forusing and paying for hoteliersrsquo rooms Once the contracts are signed hoteliers effec-tively lose their control on their inventory and their right to market their rooms toother business sources before the release period (typically 7ndash14 days before arrival)in order to avoid overbooking However should their bookings fail to match theirprogramme tour operators often utilise their buying power to cancel unwantedrooms at the beginning of the tourist season without paying compensation Smaller

460 Current Issues in Tourism

hoteliers are often left with unoccupied rooms they which are unable to promote atthe lsquolast minutersquo unless they drop their prices to unacceptable levels As a result oftheir deficient intra-channel power hotels often suffer a significant cut-back of theiroccupancy levels which has direct implications for their profitability (Buhalis 19952000c 460 Ktenas 1996)

Similarly the seasonality of the Mediterranean and Greek tourism industry hasalways been a problem for the profitability of SMTEs since enterprises operateonly for a limited period (Jenner amp Smith 1993 70 Drakatos 1987 Donatos ampZairis 1991) Attempts to promote winter tourism by developing cultural andspecial interest tourism in the islands and winter sports in several ski resorts inGreece have proved fairly unsuccessful (EIU 1986 56) This is attributed to theimage of Greece as an exclusively summer-sun destination as well as to the unco-ordinated attempts to maintain tourism enterprises active during the wintermonths (EIU 1990 57)

The average room rate is the second major determinant of hotel profitability It isbecoming apparent that employment costs and cost of capital in combination witha relatively strong currency policy reduce the ability of Greek accommodationestablishments to offer competitive pricing and maintain their profitabilityMarketing inadequacies and inability to promote the tourism product as a differ-entiated entity the rapid increase of supply in comparison to demand and theoverall dependence upon the oligopsonistic tour operators for the Greek tourismproduct promotion force hoteliers to accept contracts by tour operators whichminimise their profit margin and adversely effect the quality of their productIncreasing levels of pressure by tour operators prevent SMTEs from renovatingand investing in their properties and therefore a gradual deterioration of the prop-erties is inevitable (Richter-Papaconstantinou 1992 14 Skoulas 1985 189) Euro-pean tour operators faced with fierce competition in their markets are essentiallywilling to pay an annual price increase equal to little less than the depreciation ofthe drachma plus the inflation at the place of origin of the tourists (Ktenas 1994)This policy progressively deteriorates the profitability of the Greek tourism indus-try and has severe impacts for its prosperity The situation is worse for smalleraccommodation establishments which manage to negotiate even smaller priceincreases due to their exclusive dependence upon fewer intermediaries(Logothetis 1992 14)

The oversupply of tourism services both in Greece and worldwide also contributesto global competition for a less rapidly increasing demand (Josephides 1993 54)In Greece the average annual increase of the official hotel bed supply in 1983ndash1992was 47 while the annual average increase in international tourist bednights was27 (Epilogi 1994 271) The investment incentive Law 126282 boosted this over-supply as it generated small infeasible and uncontrollable accommodation unitsunable to offer high quality of services while it increased the concentration of tour-ism units in infrastructure-undersupplied resorts (Kriebardis amp Marmagiolis1990 51 Stavrou 1989b 5) The vast majority of the capacity growth is on the lsquoille-galrsquo unregistered self-catering and self-serviced lsquoparahoteleriarsquo sector whichprovide very low quality and priced accommodation and therefore appeal tomass tour operatorsrsquo clientele This not only increases unfair competition for theofficially registered hotels but also reduces both tax revenues and employment atthe macro level

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 461

Horwath (1994 3) concludes that

unfortunately the results in terms of return on investment in the tourismindustry are not very promising especially when compared with those ofother Greek economic sectors It is an undisputable fact that the averageGreek tourism entrepreneur is heavily dependent on the tourist packageprice which is strongly negotiated by the international tour operators It isan lsquounhealthyrsquo dependency as a result of the weak position of the Greektourist product in the international market In addition the aforemen-tioned dependency is the result of the lack of marketing activities in anaverage tourist enterprise As we all know effective marketing activitiesare based on the product place price promotion which all contribute toclient satisfaction and further to a bigger share in the international touristmarket Up to now three of the aforementioned important elements ofmarketing have been overlooked which determine the weak negotiationpower of the Greek entrepreneur

This situation has also resulted to several European companies expandingtheir operations into Greece or purchasing shares in Greek partners in order toimprove their vertical integration Should this vertical integration expand signif-icantly however lsquoGreek tourism will be in fact controlled by foreign deci-sion-making centres which will certainly operate on the basis of their owninterests and not according to the overall interests of our national economyrsquo(Kalogeropoulou 1993 2) Hence radical measures are required immediately inproduct formulation promotion strategy and distribution channels to supportboth Greek destinations and SMTEs to enhance their competitiveness profitabil-ity and prosperity Failure to react would have severe implications for the futureof the Greek tourism private sector as the essence of its existence would be jeop-ardised its costs may exceeding its returns

Structural problems generate negative tourism impactsIn addition to the profitability problems of the private sector the aforemen-

tioned structural problems have profound implications for the welfare of hostpopulations in various Greek destinations as their economic social cultural andenvironmental resources are exploited without ensuring their sustainabilityLack of comprehensive research and failure to initiate carrying-capacity limits orzoning systems contribute to the anarchic development of tourism as well asexpand negative impacts of tourism on local societies and environments Thefollowing section highlights some of the costs Greek destinations are called topay for their tourism activity whilst it suggests that these issues should beaddressed in the strategic planning process

Macro-economic negative impactsDespite the contribution of tourism to the Greek economy certain potential

risks can also be identified Not only is the competitiveness and profitability ofthe tourism industry jeopardised but also several destination regions seem tofollow a policy of developing tourism at the expense of industrial and agricul-tural growth (Stavrou 1989a 6 Vernicos 1987 105) Instead of tourism stimulat-ing agriculture it seems that it hastens its decline as the two economic activities

462 Current Issues in Tourism

compete for land and labour The lack of structural investments in industrial oragricultural sectors combined with the popularity of tourism professions in theworkforce endanger the balance of the regional economy while reducing thetourism multipliers (Briassoulis 1993 295) As a result the economic structure ofthe destination is jeopardised while a complete dependence upon tourismbecomes inevitable (Komilis 1992 7) Both opportunity costs and displacementeffects are therefore evident Moreover there is evidence that the progress ofdestinations through their life-cycle and especially the introduction of masstourism decreases their economic impacts while it makes local control of theindustry far more difficult (Loukissas 1982 537) lsquoBecause of the high degree ofdependence of Greek tourist enterprises on tour operators the actual amount oftourist spending remaining in the country is only the 40ndash50 of total touristspendingrsquo (Briassoulis 1993 296) Public-sector subsidies to the private sector invarious forms such as incentives cooperative marketing campaigns and unem-ployment benefits in the off-season as well as tax evasion and lsquoparaeconomyrsquo alsoreduce the real benefit at the macro level (Mourdoukoutas 1988 Drakatos 1987Leontidou 1991 102) Lack of scientific research on the economic impacts oftourism makes the real contribution of tourism in the economy speculativerather than based on hard evidence (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Konsolas ampZacharatos 1993)

Social and cultural negative impactsThe development of mass tourism and the lack of effective planning and

management are also responsible for a number of negative social and culturalimpacts observed in Greek host societies (Tsartas 1989 1992 Stavrou 19781979 1980 1986b) Although the degree of interaction of the population withtourists depends heavily on the geomorphology of destinations and the loca-tion of resorts (Loukissas 1982 538) touristsrsquo behaviour is often offensive tothe host population but tolerated due to the economic benefits (Castelberg-Koulma 1991 201 Kousis 1989 Wickens 1994 823) Most Greek tourismdestinations are almost crime-free zones during the winter due to the smallpopulation and personal relationships of locals Tourism however introducesseveral types of criminal activity often unknown to local people As policeforces are usually allocated according to needs of the permanent population ina destination they are often incapable of handling the demands of the summermonths and are unable to deal with visitorsrsquo misbehaviour such as hooliganismand lsquolager-lootingrsquo

The commercialisation of history cultural traditions and the Greek lifestyle isa phenomenon met in several destinations This regrettably affects the renownedGreek hospitality commercialises human relations with tourists and reduces theties of solidarity and cooperation between locals since they compete for the tour-ism market (Papadopoulos 1988b 24) As the average employee works 605hours weekly for 295 weeks a year there is little time left for social religious andcultural obligations during the season (Mourdoukoutas 1988 325) Although acertain degree of lsquodemonstration effectrsquo and lsquoxenomaniarsquo can be attributed totourism the country is equally influenced by the mass media as well as by theGreek students and professionals living abroad (Papadopoulos 1988a 30Wickens 1994 822) Moore (1995) also explains that tourism not only has had a

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 463

contribution to the increase of alcohol consumption by Greeks but has alsoshifted their taste away from locally produced wine to imported spirits and beerBriassoulis (1993 296) perhaps describes best the change in labour force valueswhen as she suggests that tourism has created a

peculiar parasitic group of tourist entrepreneurs operating tourist-servingenterprises like tavernas cafeterias etc the principal characteristics ofwhich are high profits and tax evasion Consequently a particular person-ality type is created the lsquosuccessfulrsquo entrepreneur who earns a lot with littlework has a rich erotic life and is professionally independent (in contrast topublic and private employees) This model is followed by many youngpeople who abandon other productive year-round occupations lsquoworkrsquoonly during the tourist season stay idle for the rest of the year and eventu-ally suffer from the volatility of the tourist market

The family relations and values are therefore under great transition andperhaps threat (Castelberg-Koulma 1991 201 Kousis 1989 Moore 1992)

Negative environmental impactsDespite environmental resources becoming central to destinationsrsquo competi-

tiveness most Greek destinations go through an unparalleled exploitation due toinadequate planning and reinvestment in their sustainability jeopardising theirfuture (Buhalis amp Fletcher 1995) Boniface and Cooper (1994 141) suggest thatgeographical concentration of tourism

has led to the view that Greece will become saturated with tourists and thatdamage will be done to the environment and cultural heritage in the morepopular areas Already the environment has suffered from haphazarduncontrolled building and pollution of the sea and the flora and fauna arebeing effected by waste disposal

Coastal pollution water shortages sewage treatment waste disposal trafficcongestion noise pollution overbuilding and aesthetic degradation are some ofthe impacts experienced already in a number of resorts (Briassoulis 1993 297Coccosis amp Parprairis 1992 Peterson 1990 Marinos 1983 Stavrou 1988 19 and1989a 5 Papadopoulos 1988b 24) Most of the islands also face water shortagedue to the inability of natural supplies to provide sufficient water for the tourismdemand Imported mineral water from the mainland is an expensive way tosolve this problem due to the transportation cost while it creates more waste andenvironmental damage In addition the destruction of endangered speciesrsquo habi-tats is another problem experienced on several islands (ZakynthosCaretta-Caretta and Allonissos monk-seals) (Ottaway 1992 Van Den Bergh1993 70 Prurier et al 1993) Urgent coordination with all tourism actors at thelocal level is essential while regulation is required to set objective and measurablelimits and targets in order to preserve local environmental resources Financialdifficulties in the industry only exacerbate these impacts as the private and publicsectors feel unable to reinvest in the conservation of resources

The aforementioned negative impacts emerge as a result of the structuralproblems of the Greek tourism industry and illustrate that the mass tourismorientation of the industry reduces the sovereignty of the host population over

464 Current Issues in Tourism

their land and resources whilst jeopardising their expected benefits and futurewelfare As these impacts are trade-offs for the economic gains of the tourismactivity it is important that consistent long-term strategic planning should beundertaken in order to enable the preservation of the local resources and achievesustainability at tourism destinations These tasks should all be reinforced byresearch political will and strategic planning

Where Do We Need to Go and How Are We Going ThereTowards Strengthening the Competitiveness of Greek Tourismand SMTEs

Based on the situation analysis as well as on the strategic weaknesses andstructural problems the paper attempts to provide a framework for strategicplanning which will enable the strengthening of the competitiveness of Greektourism and SMTEs Porter (1985 1) suggests that competitive strategy lsquois thesearch for a favourable competitive position in an industryrsquo which is a function ofthe attractiveness of the industry and the relative competitive position withinthat particular industry He also argues that lsquocompetitive strategy aims to estab-lish a profitable and sustainable position against the forces that determine indus-try competitionrsquo Competitiveness is therefore defined as the effort undertakenby organisations to maintain long-term profitability above the average of theparticular industry within which they operate or above alternative investmentopportunities in other industries

Traditionally the tourism industry in the majority of destinations worldwideis based on a network of SMTEs which provide all types of tourism products andservices while enabling closer interaction between the host population and visi-tors as well as facilitating a rapid infusion of tourism spending into the localeconomy As lsquotouristsrsquo overall experience is composed of numerous smallencounters with a variety of tourism service providersrsquo (Moutinho 1990 104)there is a great overlap between the customer perception of local SMTEs anddestinations which makes them almost indistinguishable Consequently thecompetitiveness and prosperity of destinations and SMTEs are closely interre-lated as the fortune of the one depends heavily upon the management andcompetitiveness of the other Therefore the generic strategy for destinationsinvolves SMTEs and vice versa

Grand strategy Strategy formulation for Greek tourism and SMTEsBased on the strategic analysis a grand strategy is proposed for the Greek

tourism industry and SMTEs in order to demonstrate the directions the destina-tions should follow in their attempt to increase their competitiveness and reducetheir vulnerability As different resorts destinations and SMTEs have dissimilarneeds only generic strategies can be drawn However these guidelines can beapplicable to destinations and SMTEs worldwide as they address strategic ratherthan operational issues The analysis is based on the assumption that SMTEsformulate leisure value-added chains or networks of wealth creation whichessentially comprise the entire destination Therefore an integrated approach isfollowed as there is a great complementarity between the strategies and strate-gic directions for both the Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 465

The grand strategy analysis is based on an examination of three general strat-egy models namely Porterrsquos generic strategies Gilbertrsquos proposition for lsquodiffer-entiation of the destinationrsquo and Poonrsquos analysis for lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo Agrand strategy is then proposed for both Greek tourism and SMTEs based oninference emerging from these three models Figure 1 illustrates the three maingeneric strategies proposed by Porter (1980 34ndash46) in order to lsquooutperform otherfirms in an industryrsquo overall cost leadership where the firm is required to minimiseits costs based on mass production and strict cost control of the main businessfunctions differentiation of products or services by lsquocreating something that isperceived industry-wide as being uniquersquo or focus on a lsquoparticular buyer groupsegment of the product line or geographical marketrsquo and achieve either cost leader-ship or product differentiation (Porter 1980 37ndash8)

Furthermore Gilbert (1984 1990) argues that destinations should differenti-ate their tourism products in order to be able to achieve a unique lsquotourist productbenefitrsquo which would enable them to establish their position in the internationaltourism market as well as to attract high spenders and loyal tourists Tourismdestinations therefore should attempt to achieve a lsquostatus arearsquo image ratherthan a lsquocommodity arearsquo one as illustrated in Figure 2 In the first case the desti-nation is heavily substitutable very sensitive to price and economic changeswhile consumers have a low awareness of any unique benefits or attributes of theregion Thus holidaymakers base their decision to visit the area merely on pricewhile the demand for the destination is incidental and destinations are unable toattract high spenders In contrast lsquostatus areasrsquo achieve intentional demand as aresult of the unique product attributes perceived by the tourism market Theseunique attributes may be genuine or imagined and thus a destination isregarded as irreplaceable increasing consumersrsquo loyalty and willingness to payGilbert (1990 24ndash5) asserts that destinations should attempt to become lsquostatusareasrsquo in order to improve their image loyalty and economic benefits

A third strategic approach is proposed by Poon (1987 1988 1989 1990 1993)based on the concept of lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo of the tourism business Inessence Poon examines the industry processes and proposes a strategy to enabletourism organisations to improve their competitiveness Poon argues that lsquoflexi-ble specialisationrsquo is a strategy of lsquopermanent innovationrsquo and lsquoceaseless changersquowhich provides for the lsquonew tourismrsquo This new tourism is flexible segmentedcustomised to the touristrsquos needs and diagonally integrated In contrast the oldtourism can be characterised as lsquomass standardised and rigidly packagedrsquo(Poon 1989 91ndash3)

466 Current Issues in Tourism

STRATEGIC ADVANTAGE

Perceived product uniqueness Cost advantage

TARGETMARKET

Industrywide Differentiation Cost Leadership

Particularsegmentsonly

Differentiation Focus Cost Focus

Figure 1 Porterrsquos three generic strategiesSource Porter 1980 39

The main sources of flexibility for service firms lie in the organisationmanagement marketing distribution and other forms of interaction andinterrelationships among guests hotels suppliers distributors What isimportant however is not each of these stand alone aspects but how theyare coupled to create competitive advantages and hence capabilities tomove with the market (Poon 1988 24)

Examination of these three main strategies illustrates that they share a similarbase Porterrsquos lsquodifferentiationrsquo Gilbertrsquos lsquostatus arearsquo and Poonrsquos lsquoflexiblespecialisationrsquo describe the attempt undertaken by firms and tourist destinationsto achieve value competitive advantages In contrast the lsquocost leadershiprsquo lsquocom-modity arearsquo and the lsquostandardisation or Fordism production modelrsquo describethe effort to achieve lsquocost competitive advantagersquo where destinations andSMTEs offer their products for less than their competitors In the first caseconsumers perceive the product as unique and are willing to pay a premiumwhile in the second case the decision is merely based on price Thus the classicalstrategic decision of lsquolow volume-high profit marginrsquo or lsquohigh volume-low profitmarginrsquo is the underlying concept of the two alternative strategies

Both Gilbert and Poon agree that destinations should aim to achieve lsquostatusarearsquo or niche orientation through differentiation in order to increase consumersatisfaction as well as to maximise the benefits for both regions and SMTEs As aresult Greek tourism and SMTEs need to focus towards the differentiation strat-egy define their niche markets and serve them accordingly This strategy isalready adopted in several resort areas such as Valencia in Spain where it isrecognised that the need for diversification and differentiation lsquohas now becomeessential owing to the level of competitiveness that has been attained (and can beforeseen) in the world tourist marketrsquo (Fayos-Sola 1992 49) Differentiation isalso particularly useful for insular destinations in microstates where a limitednumber of economic and financial resources are available (Wilkinson 1989 170)As most destinations consist of SMTEs networks there is an overlap betweentheir strategic orientations and therefore the above analysis is applicable to boththe Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Destinations implementing a lsquostatus arearsquo strategy can enhance the satisfac-tion of tourists as well as their competitiveness The formulation of unique and

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 467

CommodityArea

Statusarea

Willingness topay higher prices

StatusArea

Product attributes Product attributes

CommodityArea

Figure 2 Gilbertrsquos differentiation strategySource Adapted from Gilbert 1990 25

customised products by using flexibility and cooperation also increases touristsrsquowillingness to pay and wins their loyalty while it responds to the new tourismdemand trends However the proposed strategy should not be seen as an excusefor SMTEs and destinations not to attempt to improve their efficiency and mini-mise their production costs Although the unique service for touristsrsquo needs shouldbe their priority offering perceived value for money would determine theircompetitiveness in the marketplace As a result all Greek resorts and SMTEsshould assess their assets and strengths for serving specific target markets takingadvantage of their small size which facilitates flexibility and specialisation

It is quite apparent that the cost advantage strategy has to be avoided inmanagement of tourism destinations as regions need to preserve their scarceenvironmental and sociocultural resources and achieve sustainable develop-ment As cost advantage is based on mass production and consumption itassumes an unlimited production capacity which is inapplicable in the tourismindustry The inseparability of the tourism product determines that consumersshould be present at the time of product delivery and when combined with tour-ism seasonality it generates demand peaks which drain destinationsrsquo scarceenvironmental sociocultural resources The lsquohigh volume-low profit marginrsquostrategy has therefore harmful social and environmental impacts on destina-tions Destinations have maximum carrying capacities beyond which both thewelfare of local populations and the satisfaction of tourists are jeopardisedAlthough economic benefits can also be achieved by using the lsquocommodity arearsquoor the lsquostandard product modelrsquo it is argued that these approaches reduce tour-istsrsquo satisfaction and their willingness to pay and are opposed to the demandtrend towards individualisation

Unfortunately however some destinations can no longer be positioned asirreplaceable unique products due to their overdevelopment Tourism supplyhas exceeded the carrying capacity of these resorts and their product hasreached the saturation or decline phase of their life-cycle Several Spanish costasand some Greek resorts such as Benitses Kavos Faliraki Malia Hersonissos andNidri (Josephides 1994) have been overdeveloped to such an extent that only alsquohigh-volume low-profit marginrsquo strategy is feasible When resorts reach theirsaturation level only a lsquocost leadershiprsquo or lsquomass productionrsquo strategy can beproposed as they are unable to provide any specific lsquotourist product benefitrsquo Theattraction of the lower end of the market is inevitable and as a consequence thereare no alternative strategies The minimisation of further sociocultural and envi-ronmental damage as well as attempts to improve the surrounding environmentshould also be a primary objective of both tourism destinations and SMTEs in thiscase The ultimate aim should be to regenerate the resources of the area and torelaunch the tourism destination to attract specific markets which will be willing topay a higher price for the destination

Strategic directions objectives and tasks for Greek tourism and SMTEsTable 8 presents three pivotal strategic directions which are identified in order

to stimulate the competitiveness of both Greek tourism and SMTEs This sectionillustrates how the aforementioned grand strategy can be implemented for tour-ist destinations and SMTEs through a number of strategic directions objectivesand tasks as presented in Table 9

468 Current Issues in Tourism

Enhancing the satisfaction of tourists and delighting the customer are pivotalto ensuring the well-being of Greek destinations and SMTEs in the long term andthus the entire range of tourism service providers should aim to delight theirclients As a result of the tourism product integration consumer satisfactioncannot be achieved by independent businesses separately but by the entirenetwork of SMTEs in Greek destinations The improvement in services isperhaps the most important strategic objective Consistency of promises throughstandardisation of service delivery and implementation of a total qualitymanagement philosophy throughout the industry are essential strategic tasks forachieving this objective while flexibility in service delivery and improvementsin training are critical In line with the grand strategy the production oftailor-made tourism products should be ensured in order to satisfy the specificneeds of particular niches and the requirements of the emerging new tourismdemand Product augmentation would enable also the Greek tourism product toexceed the expectations of consumers and hence enhance their satisfaction Lifestyle segmentation would enable Greek tourism and SMTEs to design appropri-ate tourism products As tourist demand elasticity has increasingly becomedoubtful in recent years the price of the holiday is no longer considered to be themost important attribute in the decision-making process Consequently theGreek tourism industry should concentrate on providing value for money at allprice levels as well as offering at least whatever they have promised to theconsumer

Supporting the long-term competitiveness and profitability of Greek tour-ism and SMTEs is by far the most important strategic objective for the tourismindustry The first strategic objective for every SMTE has to be the increase inrevenue by maximising its occupancy or load factors and the rates it achievesThe lengthening of the operating season as well as the identification of newmarkets and the penetration into existing ones and the effective utilisation ofdistribution channels will contribute to this strategic direction Higher ratescan be achieved by targeting specialised and smaller tour operators attractingalternative types of tourists and expanding the distribution channels mix aswell as by attempting a certain degree of lsquodisintermediationrsquo by encouragingdirect sales to outgoing travel agencies or consumers Aggressive marketingand establishment of partnerships with other enterprises should be essentialfunctions of Greek tourism and SMTEs Motivation of lsquofront-of-housersquo employ-ees as salesmen and sale incentives would also increase average spending percustomer The use of CRSs and destination management systems may also bean appropriate method for achieving higher prices and better occupancy rates(Buhalis 1994) Finally yield management techniques should be utilised by alltypes of SMTEs to assist them in pricing and maximising revenue Cost control

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 469

Table 8 Pivotal strategic dimensions for Greek tourism

(1) Enhance the satisfaction of tourists and delight the customer(2) Strengthen the long-term profitability and competitiveness of Greek tourism and

SMTEs(3) Develop Greek destinations sustainably and ensure prosperity of host population

470 Current Issues in Tourism

Table 9 Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Strategic directions Strategic objectives Strategic tasks

1 Enhance the sat-isfaction of tour-ists and delightthe customer

11 Improvement of services a Standardisation of service de-livery

b Development of quality controlsystems

c Consistency of promisesd Improvements in operational

managemente Flexibility in services deliveryf Training and education im-

provementsg Smile and personal relation-

shipsh Augmentation of tourism

producti Total quality management

12 Specialisation of tourismproduct

a Niche marketingb Lifestyle targeting

13 Value for money a Quality at each price level

2 Strengthen thelong-term com-petitiveness andprofitability ofGreek tourismand SMTEs

21 Increase revenue a Increase tourist volumesb Target new markets and pene-

tration in existing marketsc Use yield managementd Expand distribution channel

mixe Aggressive marketingf Achieve high average spending

per customerg Select high-quality specialised

tour operatorsh Attract alternative types of

tourismi Use alternative distribution

channelsj Motivate front-of-house em-

ployees as salesmen

22 Cost control and rationalmanagement

a Standardise service deliveryb Increase productivityc Reduce labour costsd Rationalise supplies manage-

mente Educationtraining for manag-

ers and employeesf Use of new technologyg Integrate service delivery

within SMTEs

23 Human resources man-agement

a Internal marketingb Empowermentc Satisfactory salary and working

conditionsd Long-term relations with em-

ployeese Motivation and rewards

and rational management is the second strategic objective needed to increaseefficiency and profitability of both Greek destinations and SMTEs in the longterm Standardisation of the service delivery process and minimisation of thelabour cost through better operational management would be primary recom-mendations Managers and employees should improve their productivity andmarketing skills by intensive training In addition the rationalisation of supplymanagement and the use of new technology is expected to reduce operationalcosts Finally integration of service delivery enables SMTEs to provide comple-mentary services and achieve additional revenues without immense costs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 471

24 State and public tourismorganisation support

a Destination development andcontrol

b Incentives policies for improve-ment

c Attract European Union assis-tance

d Promotional activitye Provide financial resources

3 Develop Greekdestinationssustainably andensure prosper-ity of host popu-lation

31 Environmental protection a Carrying capacity identificationb Zoning system applicationc Architecture preservationd Installation of sewage treat-

ment systemse Reduction of noise pollutionf Natural supplies management

32 Infrastructure ameliora-tion

a Accessibility improvementsb Telecommunication improve-

mentsc Public facilities advancements

33 Transportation improve-ments

a Improvement of local timeta-bles

b Punctuality and reliabilityc Improvements of vehiclesd Flexibility to meet demand

needs

34 Economic integration a Integration with raw materialproduction

b Utilisation of local labour forcec Integration of tourism servicesd Diagonal integration of destina-

tionrsquos economy

35 Equitable return on re-sources utilised

a Establish mechanism forreinvestments

b Provide services for hostcommunity

c Invest in sustainability ofresources

d Ensure equity in distributionof wealth produced

Source Adapted from Buhalis 1991 83a

Table 9 (cont) Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Human resources management is crucial in the delivery process of tourismproducts The concept of lsquointernal marketingrsquo where employees are perceivedand treated as lsquointernal customersrsquo has to be utilised in order to ensure theirsatisfaction As Berry (1981 34) states lsquothe satisfaction of the needs and wants ofthe internal customers can upgrade their capacity for satisfying the needs andwants of their external customersrsquo and as a consequence it can contribute to thecompetitiveness and profitability of Greek tourism and SMTEs Satisfactorysalary and working conditions are prerequisites for the well-being of SMTEsrsquoemployees Long-term relationships between employees and SMTEs minimiseturnover enabling a better performance while they reduce recruitment andtraining costs Empowerment would enable employees to be involved in themanagement of SMTEs and authorise them to respond more efficiently toconsumer requests while contributing to their job satisfaction Finally thesupport of the GNTO is vital for the long-term survival of SMTEs Apart fromthe improvement in infrastructure the GNTO is expected to hold the strategicresponsibility of the destination as well as to regulate the competition in orderto enable smaller enterprises to survive Incentive policies need to reflect thespecific requirements of each resort and enable development or improvementof certain types of enterprises The GNTO is also instrumental in attractingassistance from European development funds while it should also coordinatethe majority of Greek tourism promotional activity A promotional mix whichmaximises the effectiveness of the communication message needs to be drawnwhile budgets need to be available at the time consumers go through their deci-sion-making process in order to influence their choice of destination Finally theneed for the public sector to provide affordable financial resources for SMTEs ishighlighted by the EU (EC 1993b 73)

The third strategic direction for Greek tourism and SMTEs should be thesustainable development of destinations and local areas not only for the hostpopulation but also because this is vital for both consumer satisfaction and theprofitability of SMTEs Although in most cases SMTEs are unable to incorporatethese types of strategic objectives and tasks on their own they can initiate aframework of necessary actions for sustainable destination developmentthrough their associations Environmental protection is naturally the mostimportant strategic objective as consumersrsquo environmental consciousness hasbeen raised recently Carrying capacity limits should be identified and strictregulations and guidelines for tourism development need to be drawn A zoningsystem should be implemented in order to locate tourism activities according tothe geographical morphology of the destination In addition natural resourcesmanagement is necessary as tourism demand may exhaust the resources andespecially the water supplies The installation of sewage treatment systems andthe reduction of noise pollution should be considered especially for resortswhich suffer the consequences of these problems In addition infrastructureamelioration must be one of the primary objectives as it is an essential prerequi-site for both consumersrsquo satisfaction and SMTEsrsquo development The improve-ment of accessibility public services as well as telecommunications facilities is acrucial factor Transportation is also significant in increasing both consumersatisfaction and profitability of SMTEs as it determines whether consumers canaccess the destination easily while it also provides the first impression to tour-

472 Current Issues in Tourism

ists Improvements of timetables and services reliability increasing transporta-tion capacity and an enhancement of the fleet in terms of speed cleanliness andleisure facilities are all required Furthermore greater flexibility is needed bytransportation operators in order to meet demand needs Economic integrationcan improve the economic and social benefits of tourism in the region and theefficiency of SMTEs Ultimately tourism should be utilised as the catalyst andmajor stimulant for regional development Tourism enterprises should makeevery effort to use local raw materials and labour in order to maximise the multi-plier effects within Greece Diagonal integration of destinationsrsquo economy can beachieved by rearranging the goods and service production in order to supportthe tourism industry demand and thus minimise imports Finally SMTEs andtourism organisations need to offer a fair return-on-resources utilised back to thehost community A mechanism should be established in order to reinvest part ofthe revenues in the sustainability of resources provide services for the hostcommunity such as education training health services and generally ensureequity in distribution of wealth produced from local resources As the privatesector cannot be expected to behave altruistically towards the host communitythe GNTO and other public-sector departments should probably utilise regula-tion and taxation for this purpose

Conclusion Greek Tourism Needs a Long Overdue Master Planand Comprehensive Policy

The emerging international tourism competition the hitherto mass tourismorientation of the industry the transformation of demand the development ofthe volume of tourists visiting the dependence upon intermediaries for thedistribution of the tourism product in the major target markets the lack of a widerange of managerial skills by Greek tourism entrepreneurs and the lack of acomprehensive tourism policy or Master Plan by the public sector has led thecompetitiveness of Greece tourism to decline This has several unfavourableimplications for the profitability of the private sector as well as numerous nega-tive economic sociocultural and environmental impacts for the host populationAs a result the return on resources utilised for the production of Greek tourismservices is inadequate and the sustainability of Greece as a major tourism desti-nation is rapidly becoming doubtful Based on a strategic analysis the paper illu-minates the strategic weaknesses and structural problems of both the private andpublic sectors and demonstrates that a rationalisation of the tourism industry isurgently required Consequently a grand strategy as well as a wide range of stra-tegic directions objectives and tasks are proposed for both Greece as an entityand its SMTEs Although no quantitative targets are set in this paper it isexpected that each destination will analyse its resources and adapt its strategicplanning accordingly

The GNTO is urged to rationalise its strategy and to draw up a Master Plan anda comprehensive strategy for the entire country and for each resort where a strategywould be adopted based on quantifiable objectives and tasks Extensive researchneeds to be undertaken by using credible measurement methodologies such asInput-Output models and multipliers analysis not only for the economic but alsofor the social cultural and environmental impacts (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Buhalis

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 473

amp Fletcher 1995) A holistic tourism management system is demanded to facilitatethe development and implementation of the tourism strategy through funds allo-cation and monitoring land use control and examination of tourism public- andprivate-sector practices A thorough examination of tourism impacts in eachregion would be a prerequisite for tourism planning as it will establish andprovide scientific backing to strategic targets Komilis (1994 71) explains thatalthough the various levels of planning (sectoral nationalEU spatial or regional)are not mutually exclusive but rather complementary the regional level planningis more suitable for drawing sustainable strategies especially for areas withdissimilar needs like the Greek destinations The regional planning should lsquocon-tribute to the maximisation of regional development benefits in a way that utilisesand mobilises the regional resource base realises regional inter-sectoral linkagesand is compatible with regional economic interests societal values and environ-mental assetsrsquo It should also take into consideration the uniqueness of insulareconomies as well as the cultural and environmental resources of each particularregion and the complexity of rural and urban functions The planning processshould encourage the complementarity and coexistence of economic activitiesrather than promote sectoral separation and single-sector developments In addi-tion it needs to improve the balance between regional self-sufficiency anddependence upon external inputs and finally it should promote integration withinthe European Union

The public sector has to play its long overdue role as regulator coordinatorinfrastructure provider and promoter of the destination while a multi-integrationof the tourism industry with all the involved bodies in the preparation distribu-tion and delivery of the tourism experience needs to be ensured (Wanhill 1993Hall 1994 Skoulas 1994 10 Stavrou 1988 46) The private sector also has an impor-tant role to play as it should improve the Greek tourism industry competitivenessby improving its managerial and labour force competencies enhancing the qualityof services designing appropriate marketing mixes to attract and satisfy targetmarkets and cooperating closely in order to achieve synergies and economies ofscale (Briassoulis 1993 300 Cooper amp Buhalis 1992) To reverse the vicious circleof decreasing quality is of critical importance for the Greek tourism industryBetter quality services would stimulate the competitiveness of the Greek tourismproduct strengthen its position in the international market provide principalswith distribution channel power enhance its customersrsquo willingness to pay andenable the industry to increase its prices improving the profitability at the microlevel and the economic impacts of tourism at the macrolevel Ultimately a diagonalintegration strategy for both Greek tourism and SMTEs should aim to delightconsumers enhance the long-term prosperity of SMTEs and improve the welfareof the host populations The Olympic Games in 2004 offer a unique opportunity toregenerate and rebrand Greek tourism a cause which the entire industry shouldchampion

The AuthorDimitrios Buhalis is Senior Lecturer and course leader MSc in tourism at theUniversity of Surrey He holds a BBA from the University of the Aegean as wellas an MSc and a PhD in tourism management from the University of Surrey Hisresearch interests focus on information systems and technology strategic

474 Current Issues in Tourism

management distribution channels of tourism destination management andplanning and destination integrated computer information reservation manage-ment systems

AcknowledgementsThe author would like to acknowledge Prof C Cooper and Prof J Fletcher for

their invaluable contribution to this research Financial support from the SurreyResearch Group ConTours Consultants as well as field research sponsorshipsby the University of Surrey the Greek National Tourism Organisation and theUniversity of the Aegean are gratefully appreciated

Note1 An earlier version of this paper was published as a monograph PlanningDevelop-

ment by the International Centre for Research and Studies in TourismAix-en-Provence France

CorrespondenceAny correspondence should be directed to Dr Dimitrios Buhalis Senior

Lecturer in Business Information Management SMSSS University of SurreyGuildford GU2 7XH UK (dbuhalissurreyacuk)

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Economy (November) 228ndash38Berry C (1981) The employee as customer Journal of Retail Banking 3 33ndash40Boniface B and Cooper C (1994) The Geography of Travel and Tourism (2nd edn) London

HeinemannBriassoulis H (1993) Tourism in Greece In W Pompl and P Lavery (eds) Tourism in

Europe Structures and Developments (pp285ndash301) Oxford CAB InternationalBuckley P and Papadopoulos S (1986) Marketing Greek tourism The planning process

Tourism Management 7 86ndash100Buhalis D (1991) Strategic marketing and management for the small and medium

tourism enterprises in the periphery of the European Community A case study for theAegean islands in Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Buhalis D (1994) Information and telecommunications technologies as a strategic tool forsmall and medium tourism enterprises in the contemporary business environment InA Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 254ndash75)England J Wiley and Sons

Buhalis D (1995) The impact of information telecommunications technologies on tourismdistribution channels Implications for the small and medium sized tourismenterprisesrsquo strategic management and marketing PhD Dissertation University ofSurrey Guildford

Buhalis D (2000a) Marketing the competitive destination of the future TourismManagement (Special Issue ndash The Competitive Destination) 21 (1) 97ndash116

Buhalis D (2000b) (forthcoming) Athens Tourism-Travel Intelligence LondonBuhalis D (2000c) Relationships in the distribution channel of tourism Conflicts between

hoteliers and tour operators in the Mediterranean region Journal of InternationalHospitality Leisure and Tourism Adminstration 1 (1) 113ndash39

Buhalis D and Diamantis D (2001 forthcoming) Tourism development andsustainability on the Greek archipelagos In G Apostolopoulos and D Ioannides (eds)Tourism in the Mediterranean Routledge

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 475

Buhalis D and Fletcher J (1995) Environmental impacts on tourism destinations Aneconomic analysis In H Coccosis and P Nijkamp (eds) Sustainable Tourism Development(pp 3ndash25) London Avebury

Camison C Bigne E and Monfort VM (1994) The Spanish tourism industry Analysisof its strategies and the efficacy and achievements gained from them In A Seaton et al(eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 442ndash52) England JWiley and Sons

Castelberg-Koulma M (1991) Greek women and tourism Womenrsquos co-operatives as analternative form of organisation In N Redclift and T Sinclair (eds) Working WomenInternational Perspectives on Labour and Gender Ideology (pp 197ndash223) LondonRoutledge

Chitiris L (1991) Hotel Management (in Greek) Athens InterbooksCoccosis H and Parprairis A (1992) Assessing the interactions between environment

and tourism Case study of the island of Mykonos Paper presented in the IV WorldCongress of Regional Science International University of Balearic Islands Palma deMallorca 26ndash9 May

Conway H (1996) Greece Travel Weekly 1308 39ndash43Cooper C and Buhalis D (1992) Strategic management and marketing of small and

medium sized tourism enterprises in the Greek Aegean islands In R Teare D Adamsand S Messenger (eds) Managing Projects in Hospitality Organisations (pp 101ndash25)London Cassell

Daskalantonakis N (1994) Quality ndash The future of tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (3 July)D9

Divanis A (1994b) Tourism policy Left on its own luck (in Greek) XENIA (October)4ndash5

Donatos G and Zairis P (1991) Seasonality of foreign tourism in the Greek islands ofCrete Annals of Tourism Research 18 515ndash19

Douvitsas P (1994) Marketing Greece through British tour operators A futureperspective MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Drakatos C (1987) Seasonal concentration of tourism in Greece Annals of Tourism Research14 582ndash6

EC (1993a) Microeconomic Analysis of the Tourism Sector A study by the pH Group forEuropean Commission DGXXIII (September) Report XXIII30394-EN BrusselsEuropean Commission

EC (1993b) Growth competitiveness employment The challenges and ways forward intothe 21st century Bulletin of the European Communities Supplement 693 (White Paper)Luxembourg

Economist (1993) Last Chance Sisyphus A survey of Greece Economist (22 May) 2ndash22EIU (1986) Greece (pp 45ndash60) International tourist reports National Report No 3EIU (1990) Greece (pp 45ndash62) International tourist reports National Report No 4EIU (1993) Greece ndash Country Profile 1992ndash1993 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEIU (1994) Greece ndash Country Profile 1994ndash1995 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEpilogi (1994) Economic review ndash The Greek Economy 1994 (in Greek) AthensEuromonitor (1992) Tourism in Greece Market Research Europe (25 May) 51ndash63Fayos-Sola E (1992) A Strategic Outlook for Regional Tourism Policy The White Paper

on Valencian Tourism Tourism Management 13 45ndash9Fotis J (1992) Vacational lifestyle segmentation of tourists on the island of Rhodes

Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey GuildfordGilbert D (1984) The need for countries to differentiate their tourist product and how to

do so Seminar papers for Ministers of Tourism and Directors of National TouristOrganisations Tourism Managing for Results University of Surrey Guildford

Gilbert D (1990) Strategic marketing planning for national tourism Tourist Review 45 (1)18ndash27

GNTO (1985a) Survey of attributes of foreign tourists 1984ndash1985 (in Greek) Greek NationalStatistical Services Athens GNTO

476 Current Issues in Tourism

GNTO (1985b) EOT-Tourism rsquo85 Development ndash Participation ndash Quality of Life (in Greek)Greek National Statistical Services Athens GNTO

GNTO (1989a) Annual report 1988 ndash Forecast 89 Towards Quality Athens GNTOGNTO (1989b) The study of tourism promotion With special reference to the measures to

increase Japanese tourists to Greece Draft final report Japan InternationalCooperation Agency

GNTO (1993) Tourism towards the 2000 (in Greek) Greek National Tourism OrganisationAthens GNTO

Hall M (1994) Tourism and Politics Policy Power and Place J Wiley and SonsHorwath (annual) The Greek Hotel Industry (in Greek) Annual reports Pireus HorwathJenner P and Smith C (1993) Tourism in the Mediterranean Research report London

Economist Intelligence UnitJosephides N (1993) Environmental Concern ndash Whatrsquos In It for the Tourism Industry (pp 51ndash6)

Proceedings of the conference Tourism and the environment Challenges and choicesfor the 1990rsquos 16ndash17 November 1992 Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre LondonBrussels European Union

Josephides N (1994) Tourism analysis Presentation in Philoxenia international tourismexhibition Thessaloniki Greece

Josephides N (1995) A sorry state for beautiful Greece Travel Weekly 1261 (5 April)11Kalogeropoulou H (1993) Greece ndash Prospects for the tourism industry within the context

of the European Single Market of 1993 Tourism Review 48 (1) 2ndash4Kassimati K Thanopoulou M and Tsartas P (1994) Womenrsquos Employment in the

Tourist Sector Study of the Greek Labour Market and Identification of Future ProspectsDGV Equal Opportunities Unit Document V40994-EN European CommissionBrussels

Komilis P (1987) Spatial analysis of tourism in Greece (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planningand Economic Research

Komilis P (1992) The spatial structure of tourism and physical planning practices inGreece Paper presented in conference Tourism and environment Issues ofpolicyplanningmanagement 23ndash4 October University of the Aegean Dept ofEnvironment Lesvos

Komilis P (1993) Values in the Tourism Planning and Policy Making Process (pp 224ndash9)Proceedings of the conference Values and the environment 23ndash4 September GuildfordUniversity of Surrey

Komilis P (1994) Tourism and sustainable regional development In A Seaton et al (eds)Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 65ndash73) England JWiley andSons

Konsolas N and Zacharatos G (1993) Regionalization of tourism activity in GreeceProblems and policies In H Briassoulis and J Van der Straaten (eds) Tourism andEnvironment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 57ndash65) Dordrecht Kluer AcademicPublisher

Kousis M (1989) Tourism and the family in a rural Cretan community Annals of TourismResearch 16 318ndash32

Kriebardis S and Marmagiolis I (1990) Tourism Activity in Greece Problems and Perspectives(pp 45ndash54) (in Greek) Economic Report of Commercial Bank AprilndashJune AthensCommercial Bank

Ktenas S (1994) Hoteliers ask for 15 to 20 increases for 1995 (in Greek) TO BHMA (3July) D9

Ktenas S (1996) Crisis in Greek tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (7 April) D16Leontidou L (1991) Greece Prospects and contradictions of tourism in the 1980rsquos In AM

Williams and GJ Shaw (eds) Tourism and Economic Development Western EuropeanExperiences (2nd edn) (pp 94ndash106) London Belhaven Press

Logothetis M (1990) The Economy of Dodekanisos During 1988ndash1989 Developments andPerspectives (in Greek) Rhodes Regional association of municipalities of Dodekanisos

Logothetis M (1992) Touristiki Sigkiria (in Greek) Rhodes Institute of Tourist and HotelResearch

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 477

Loukissas P (1977) The impact of tourism on regional development A comparativeanalysis of the Greek islands PhD Dissertation Cornell University USA

Loukissas P (1982) Tourismrsquos regional development impacts A comparative analysis ofthe Greek islands Annals of Tourism Research 9 523ndash43

Marinos P (1983) Small island tourism-the case of Zakynthos in Greece TourismManagement 4 212ndash15

Moore R (1992) From shepherds to shopkeepers The development of tourism in a centralGreek town PhD Dissertation University of California at Berkeley USA

Moore R (1995) Gender and alcohol use in a Greek tourist town Annals of Tourism Research22 300ndash13

Mourdoukoutas P (1988) Seasonal employment seasonal unemployment andunemployment compensation The case of the tourism industry of the Greek islandsAmerican Journal of Economics and Sociology 47 315ndash29

NSSG (l983) Tourism Statistics 1981 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (l985) Tourism Statistics 1982ndash1983 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1987) Tourism Statistics 1984ndash1985 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1990) Tourism Statistics 1986ndash1987 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1993) Tourism Statistics 1988ndash1990 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceOECD (1992) Greece Tourism Policy and International Tourism in OECD Member Countries (pp

70ndash8) Paris OECDOttaway M (1992) Turtle power Sunday Times Travel and Style (28 June)Ottaway M (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 1 Sunday Times (17 January)

57ndash59Panagiotopoulou R (1990) The problem and perspectives of the European insular regions

(in Greek) Working paper University of the Aegean ChiosPapadimitris G (1988) Short run and long run prospects of the Greek tourism industry

PhD Dissertation University of Manchester ManchesterPapadopoulos S (1985) An economic analysis of foreign tourism in Greece An

examination of the growth and structure of foreign tourism to Greece 1960ndash1984 with aplanning model and marketing policy recommendations PhD Thesis University ofBradford Management Centre Bradford

Papadopoulos S (1987) Strategic marketing techniques in international tourismInternational Marketing Review (summer) 71ndash84

Papadopoulos S (1988a) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (1) 29ndash30

Papadopoulos S (1988b) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (2) 24ndash7

Papadopoulos S (1989) Greek marketing strategies in the Europe tourism market ServiceIndustries Journal 9 297ndash314

Papadopoulos S and Mirza H (1985) Foreign tourism in Greece An economic analysisTourism Management 6 125ndash37

Papandropoulos A (1995) The crisis in tourism is evident (in Greek) OikonomikosTachydromos (29 June) 26ndash8

Papanikos G (1999) The year 2004 olympic games and their influence upon the Greektourism (in Greek) ITEP (Research Institute for Tourism) Athens

Paulopoulos P (1999) The Size and Dynamics of the Tourism Sector (in Greek) ResearchInstitute for Tourism Athens

Peterson C (1990) Greece tackles overbuilding in tourism areas EnvironmentalConservation 17 166ndash8

Plevris V (1995) Alarm bells from the Hellenic Federation of Hotels (in Greek) XENIA128 (May) 6ndash7

Poon A (1987) Information technology and innovation in international tourism ndashimplications for the Caribbean tourism industry PhD thesis Science Policy ResearchUnit University of Sussex Brighton

Poon A (1988) Flexible specialisation and small size ndash the case of Caribbean tourism DRCDiscussion Paper 57 SPRU Brighton University of Sussex

478 Current Issues in Tourism

Poon A (1989) Competitive strategies for new tourism In C Cooper (ed) Progress inTourism Recreation and Hospitality Management (vol 1) (pp 91ndash102) London BelhavenPress

Poon A (1990) Flexible specialisation at small size The case of Caribbean tourism WorldDevelopment 18 109ndash23

Poon A (1993) Tourism Technology and Competitive Strategies Oxford CAB InternationalPorter M (1980) Competitive Strategy Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors

New York Free PressPorter M (1985) Competitive Advantage Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance New

York Free PressPorter M (1990) The Competitive Advantage of Nations New York Free PressPrurier E Sweeney A and Geen A (1993) Tourism and the environment The case of

Zakynthos Tourism Management 14 137ndash9Psoinos P (1994a) Research on the foreign touristsrsquo attributes in Greece (in Greek) Athens

Greek National Tourism OrganisationPsoinos P (1994b) Research on the attributes of foreigners who have never visited Greece (in

Greek) Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationRichter-Papaconstantinou C (1992) Tourism development of Rhodes Cahiers du Tourisme

(Serie B) 67 Aix en Provence Centre des Hautes Eacutetudes TouristiquesRomanos A (1998) Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites (in Greek) Athens

Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites SASETE (1993) Tourism Developments and problems (in Greek) Athens Association of Greek

Tourism EnterprisesSezer H and Harrison A (1994) Tourism in Greece and Turkey An economic view for

planners In A Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposiumpp74ndash84 England Wiley and Sons

Skoulas N (1985) Holidays and travel in the year 2035 ndash Contribution of the NationalTourist Organisation of Greece SDI Schriftey Wirtschafts und Unternehmenspolitik 40181ndash99

Skoulas N (1994) Quality improvement of tourism services (in Greek) Paper presentedin the conference Competitiveness of tourism enterprises ndash the role of quality 1 AprilHoliday Inn Athens Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises

Smith C and Jenner P (1995) Greece International Tourism Reports 3 5ndash21Stavrou S (1978) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Kos Island (in Greek) Research and

Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationStavrou S (1979) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Mykonos and Naxos Islands (in

Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1980) Research on Tourism Awareness on the Islands Kalymnos and Leros (in Greek)Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1984) Tourism Development in Greece during 1969ndash1982 (in Greek) Research andDevelopment Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986a) Research for the Characteristics of Foreign Tourist Demand in Greece in theYears 8485 (in Greek) Research Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1986b) Research on the Tourism Awareness on Paros Santorini Kythira Islands (inGreek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986c) Critical Review of Tourism Activity in the Years 8385 (in Greek) Researchand Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1988) Tourism in the Northern Aegean Islands Presentation of GNTO for the TourismDevelopment of the Periphery (in Greek) Proceedings of the first conference for thedevelopment of the Northern Aegean islands Homereum cultural centre Chios 11November Chios Periphery of Northern Aegean islands

Stavrou S (1989a) GNTO Presentation for the Tourism Development Possibilities for theSouthern Aegean Islands (in Greek) Conference for the development of Southern Aegean

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 479

islands Syros 30 September ndash 2 OctoberStavrou S (1989b) The Contribution of the Development Law 126282 in the Development of the

Country (in Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A5 Athens GreekNational Tourism Organisation

Stereopoulos N (1995) It is regarded ideal it became problematic (in Greek) OikonomikosTachidromos (21 December) 151ndash3

Touloupas P (1996) Greece as a tourist destination for the British tour operators Ananalysis from a marketing perspective in the particular context of the United KingdomMSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Tourismos ke Oikonomia (1993) 20 years 1973ndash1993 (in Greek) Special Issue AthensTourismos ke Oikonomia (1994) ICAP tourism enterprises Drastic reduction of loses in 1993

(in Greek) December 14ndash15Touristiki Agora (various issues) (Monthly tourism industry periodical in Greek) Business

Press AthensTruett D and Truett L (1987) The response of tourism to international economic

conditions Greece Mexico and Spain Journal of Developing Areas 21 177ndash90Tsartas P (1989) Socioeconomic Impacts of Tourism Development in Cyclades Region with Special

Reference on Ios and Serifos Islands During 1950ndash1980 (in Greek) Athens National Centrefor Social Research

Tsartas P (1992) Socioeconomic impacts of tourism on two Greek isles Annals of TourismResearch 19 516ndash33

Van Den Bergh J (1993) Tourism development and natural environment Aneconomicndashecological model for the Sporades islands In H Briassoulis and J Van DerStraaten (eds) Tourism and Environment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 67ndash83)Dordrecht Kluer Academic Publishers

Velissariou E (1991) Die Wirtschaftlichen Effekte des Tourismus Dargestell am Beispiel Kretas(The Economic Impacts of Tourism on Crete) PhD Dissertation University of MunichFrankfurt Peter Lang

Vernikos N (1987) The study of Mediterranean small islands Emerging theoreticalissues Ekistics 54 (323ndash4) 101ndash9

Wanhill S (1993) Government organisations In C Cooper J Fletcher D Gilbert and SWanhill (eds) Tourism Principle and Practice (pp 145ndash60) London Pitman

Wickens D (1994) Consumption of the authentic The hedonistic tourist in Greece In ASeaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 819ndash25)England JWiley and Sons

Wickens E (2000) Rethinking touristsrsquo experiences In M Robinson et al (eds) MotivationsBehaviour and Tourist Types (pp 455ndash72) Business Education Publishers Sunderland

Wickers D (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 2 Sunday Times 57ndash510Wilkinson PF (1989) Strategies for tourism in islands microstates Annals of Tourism

Research 16 153ndash77XENIA (various issues) (Monthly bulletin of the Greek Hotel Chamber in Greek) AthensZacharatos G (1984) Tourismus und Wirtschafts-Struktur Dargestellt am Beispiel

Griechenlands Europaische Hochschulschriften Reihex Band 7 Frankfurt am MainZacharatos G (1986) Tourism consumption (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planning and

Economic ResearchZacharatos G (1988) The simplistic empiricism Tourism policy and the time of crisis

(1992) (in Greek) Sychrona Themata 11 (May) 21ndash6Zacharatos G (1989) The problems and perspectives of tourism in Greece (in Greek) In H

Katsoulis T Giannitsis and P Kazakos (eds) Politics and Society Economy and ForeignRelationships (pp 273ndash89) Athens Papazisis

Zacharatos G (1993) The necessity of multimedia use in the tourism education in Greece(in Greek) Paper presented at the international conference Overcomingisolation-telematics and regional development University of the Aegean Chios 30April ndash 2 May

480 Current Issues in Tourism

Page 8: Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challengescore.ac.uk/download/pdf/101686.pdf · Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challenges Dimitrios Buhalis School of Management

Tab

le 3

Arr

ival

s of

for

eign

tou

rist

s at

fron

tier

s by

cit

izen

ship

199

1ndash19

99

Cou

ntry

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

19

99

238

453

128

211

191

619

298

843

586

182

673

061

Au

stri

a28

831

734

525

928

863

634

809

134

730

135

960

438

811

845

019

550

160

2B

elgi

um

-Lu

xem

bou

rg17

975

422

509

922

403

626

514

824

557

221

356

722

931

027

367

433

291

3B

ulg

aria

157

910

140

725

144

534

133

764

136

504

154

765

182

338

197

347

202

848

Fran

ce47

094

554

222

255

464

461

856

555

179

846

273

242

667

848

620

154

598

1G

erm

any

156

111

31

944

704

206

937

92

404

628

227

291

11

907

863

199

467

02

136

515

245

013

7Fo

rmer

Yu

gosl

avia

518

644

934

1319

179

227

930

127

034

724

717

1Y

ugo

slav

ia27

089

426

076

423

149

619

899

920

163

310

307

7Fy

rom

37

809

586

911

128

051

Den

mar

k21

188

328

123

525

362

231

888

532

436

929

895

934

426

129

253

233

624

8Sw

itze

rlan

d12

624

116

312

616

499

919

332

725

907

225

642

529

573

128

938

730

813

8U

K1

674

875

215

485

02

191

347

241

862

82

224

885

168

799

91

711

942

204

424

32

433

033

Irel

and

440

8557

885

627

8069

928

622

5254

050

454

0944

524

486

49Sp

ain

104

655

119

964

118

967

122

773

949

2079

717

713

1496

905

992

88It

aly

517

145

622

619

625

509

722

652

643

473

491

081

533

303

659

688

745

915

Cyp

rus

104

041

107

029

904

1292

372

980

5985

893

131

441

126

992

139

386

Nor

way

683

9695

898

102

452

143

257

142

013

157

722

160

457

226

282

269

419

Net

herl

and

s45

006

554

618

751

087

255

659

350

561

645

217

946

414

454

833

961

680

7H

ung

ary

107

685

107

403

739

9910

510

291

170

113

657

145

192

186

147

123

280

Ukr

ain

e10

742

106

5212

942

270

1728

084

328

43R

uss

ia10

147

412

918

418

056

020

079

412

741

710

491

0P

olan

d47

535

437

8834

292

310

1849

665

889

4710

179

312

264

711

515

2P

ortu

gal

165

8626

245

209

1921

581

208

5815

856

131

2513

713

210

34R

oman

ia17

919

196

8318

862

254

7438

868

510

1251

854

634

3972

689

Swed

en26

194

631

425

131

703

038

763

945

927

644

825

747

248

146

761

746

879

3C

zech

oslo

vaki

a13

012

919

158

589

642

Cze

ch R

epu

blic

788

4610

788

217

708

717

406

817

809

417

450

8Sl

ovak

ia15

102

135

3628

431

303

8355

291

462

17

Current Issues in Tourism 447

Cou

ntry

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

19

99

Fin

lan

d21

613

117

209

911

651

813

743

410

255

312

083

714

846

114

933

718

897

1O

ther

Eu

rop

ean

809

9510

439

420

537

325

209

328

8280

128

575

4134

967

370

63T

otal

EU

485

017

46

521

010

663

629

17

519

381

785

578

46

592

701

684

321

67

663

483

878

937

1T

otal

Eu

rop

e7

356

995

841

966

38

470

616

986

5986

936

382

98

419

060

927

776

210

174

303

113

200

13Ja

pan

579

0210

968

089

907

953

6789

457

871

3585

029

871

3083

971

Isra

el36

989

350

6545

815

414

0554

264

749

8082

386

894

0215

498

7L

eban

on

Syri

a15

637

159

2214

924

139

7415

651

183

5716

165

177

9818

347

Tu

rkey

535

3173

650

149

390

733

8849

018

474

1644

741

698

7580

502

Iran

422

66

794

761

56

458

596

05

319

373

03

848

380

9O

ther

Mid

dle

Eas

t5

474

804

88

014

562

37

919

124

108

300

638

27

854

Oth

er A

sian

448

5955

467

545

0663

611

111

547

167

380

145

515

841

3984

806

Tot

al A

sia

218

618

304

626

370

171

998

2633

381

641

299

738

586

635

857

443

427

6E

gyp

tSu

dan

200

2019

525

196

0918

540

214

4919

865

193

6317

604

240

45So

uth

Afr

ica

135

2716

944

146

8712

559

120

628

909

874

87

339

101

96O

ther

Afr

ica

179

4814

660

142

4212

145

151

7514

797

143

2413

795

137

99T

otal

Afr

ica

514

9551

129

485

3843

244

486

8643

571

424

3538

738

480

40A

rgen

tina

509

28

655

879

411

530

970

38

176

440

84

238

508

9B

razi

l8

523

899

98

555

107

4410

851

966

18

062

629

94

531

Mex

ico

364

26

535

533

65

318

453

93

385

225

82

052

420

0U

SA80

429

278

941

256

719

270

777

239

684

222

130

240

555

219

362

229

314

Can

ada

471

0159

807

514

7256

650

503

0943

966

477

2250

512

516

80O

ther

Am

eric

an10

983

152

5412

468

904

38

694

108

2611

052

904

410

447

Tot

al A

mer

ica

255

770

378

191

343

344

364

062

323

780

298

144

314

057

291

507

305

261

Au

stra

lia66

566

696

5856

064

615

5654

453

543

1146

692

427

9650

516

Oth

er O

cean

ic8

489

803

56

930

726

85

613

521

23

513

101

285

982

Tot

al O

cean

ia75

055

776

9362

994

688

2460

066

595

2350

205

529

2456

498

Form

er U

SSR

781

9410

005

811

716

0T

otal

803

612

79

331

360

941

282

310

641

942

101

301

779

233

295

100

703

2510

916

046

216

408

8C

ruis

es23

513

142

465

250

044

458

891

258

196

854

876

651

816

444

777

644

184

0G

ran

d to

tal

827

125

89

756

012

991

326

711

230

854

107

121

459

782

061

105

884

8911

363

822

126

059

28

Fo

rmer

Yu

gosl

av R

epu

blic

of

Mac

edon

iaSo

urce

Gre

ek N

atio

nal

Tou

rism

Org

anis

atio

n a

nd N

atio

nal S

tati

stic

al S

ervi

ce o

f G

reec

e

448 Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges

Tourism supply in Greek tourismA modern industry has emerged since the 1950s to cater for the tourism

demand The Greek tourism product is an amalgam of natural cultural and heri-tage attractions spread throughout the country as well as a wide variety of servicesoffered predominantly by SMTEs Moreover 15000 miles of coastline 2500islands an average of 300 sunny days annually a unique fauna and flora as well asclimatic superiority with mild winters and warm summers are some of its naturalattractions The Greek civilisation of more than 3500 years also provides plentifulcultural heritage throughout the country Some rsquo25000 registered and protectedmonuments and archaeological sites numerous museums and about 500 charac-teristic traditional settlementsrsquo offer a unique blend of tourist attractions (Buckleyamp Papadopoulos 1986 96 EIU 1986) As far as amenities are concerned a plethoraof SMTEs provide the entire variety of services

In January 2000 a total of 8100 official accommodation establishments with atotal capacity of almost 600000 beds are provided in different categories asdemonstrated in Table 4 Another 450000 beds are provided by some 28000secondary accommodation establishments such as lsquorooms to letrsquo and self-cateringapartments often referred to as lsquoparahoteleriarsquo In addition 11000 beds in cruiseliners and 12000 in yachts as well as 329 camping sites with 30354 pitches and83000 camping spaces accommodate all types of demand (GNTO) Eurostat esti-mates that about 20000 restaurants operate in Greece while a countless number ofcatering and entertainment establishments are on offer Furthermore some 7000travel agencies 1500 coach rental and 4000 car rental firms are estimated to operatethroughout the country (EC 1993a)

Accessibility is facilitated through 32 airports most of which can receive directinternational charter flights An extensive domestic scheduled flights network isprovided by Olympic Airways as well as by newly established private carrierswhich take advantage of the increasingly deregulated skies The proliferation ofprivate airlines (eg Aegean Cronus Axon Air Greece) during the last five yearsand the price wars with the state-owned Olympic Airways have increased bothdomestic and international traffic Moreover a complex network of sea road andrail transport enables passenger transportation throughout the country(Briassoulis 1993 291) During the last decade there has been a remarkableimprovement to the quality and ability of vessels as the Greek shipping industryprepares for the lifting of cabotage in 2002 which will enable European shippinglines to operate on Greek routes However recent tragedies involving olderGreek ferries pressurised the Ministry of Merchant Marine to take action in orderto improve the safety and security of the vessels and to ensure the adequate train-ing of crews In addition Piraeus port needs the development of a modernpassenger terminal to provide adequate service

Unfortunately the Greek infrastructure is incapable of supporting the tourismsuperstructure growth of the last decades and thus telecommunications transpor-tation police and health services water supply and sewage systems are underextreme pressure in the summer peak months to satisfy the demand density(Konsolas amp Zacharatos 1993 63 and EIU 1990 61) Nevertheless during the lastdecade several major projects have been initiated including the Metro and the newairport in Athens a wide network of motorways and the gradual development of

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 449

Tab

le 4

Acc

omm

odat

ion

esta

blis

hm

ent b

y re

gion

and

cat

egor

y in

199

9

Tot

alLu

xury

A C

ateg

ory

B C

ateg

ory

Reg

ion

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Ster

ea1

236

493

9892

877

225

368

101

4480

780

514

644

191

120

5722

605

Pel

opon

isos

660

230

1043

846

466

11

377

554

889

925

012

96

825

130

22Io

nio

595

332

8663

683

61

340

255

378

930

817

911

139

894

617

107

Ipir

os24

24

868

938

51

5411

611

446

884

381

478

284

4N

orth

ern

Aeg

ean

550

108

7220

792

450

11

090

231

364

257

498

374

97

125

Cre

te1

214

604

8911

396

021

508

510

034

166

188

9335

608

263

139

9826

904

Dod

ekan

isa

887

545

0710

436

68

324

26

227

127

224

8442

924

201

106

0120

161

Cyc

lad

es73

718

406

352

483

176

341

963

108

587

014

03

824

731

7T

hes

saly

575

119

9522

939

439

978

150

150

52

980

672

626

494

9M

aced

onia

983

335

1372

943

41

046

184

255

231

913

698

168

100

3619

140

Th

race

702

470

467

50

00

418

134

522

110

22

103

Tot

al7

749

302

814

584

714

7717

872

345

0574

572

302

146

688

145

675

242

143

277

C C

ateg

ory

D C

ateg

ory

E C

ateg

ory

Reg

ion

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Ster

ea60

318

193

339

6519

43

712

703

814

62

263

448

1P

elop

onis

os32

68

818

166

4894

135

02

625

4246

792

4Io

nio

380

119

2822

722

571

114

212

136

650

126

9Ip

iros

992

362

451

519

356

682

1417

234

4N

orth

ern

Aeg

ean

199

442

78

400

2840

477

333

427

830

Cre

te67

820

123

369

0397

163

12

995

5175

91

516

Dod

ekan

isa

495

163

7530

686

611

076

293

956

729

142

9C

ycla

des

367

835

715

977

100

152

22

922

104

141

92

821

Th

essa

ly24

15

723

107

7853

962

186

159

780

159

0M

aced

onia

491

124

0723

497

351

687

013

066

6083

51

700

Th

race

2886

81

614

1125

949

35

6012

0T

otal

390

710

958

120

570

51

065

192

5637

515

606

856

117

024

Sour

ce G

NT

O D

ept o

f Acc

omm

odat

ion

Est

abli

shm

ents

450 Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges

the railtrack These developments will change the entire infrastructure of thecountry

The implementation of the Greek national tourism policy is supervised by theGreek National Tourism Organisation (GNTO) and the Ministry of TourismThe two organisations share the responsibilities for planning implementationand promotion of Greek tourism at national and regional level as well as coordi-nating the involvement of the public and private sectors in all tourism activitiesPublic investment in commercial facilities was utilised in the early days ofGreek tourism to stimulate both tourism demand and the private sectorrsquos confi-dence to invest The GNTO operates 21 regional and 25 overseas offices in 18countries worldwide (Konsolas amp Zacharatos 1993 59 Leontidou 1991Briassoulis 1993)

The Greek tourism product is distributed to the international market predomi-nantly through European tour operators which organise package holidays andinclude resorts in their programmes Some 800 tour operators distribute the Greektourism product More than 7000 incoming travel agencies often act as tour opera-torsrsquo handling agencies while providing a variety of tourism services such asorganisation of excursions currency exchange and accommodation bookingsdirectly to consumers They usually participate in negotiations between tour oper-ators and accommodation establishments as well as cooperate with tour operatorsrsquorepresentatives at destinations In addition the GNTO operates several informa-tion offices at major resorts whilst several local authorities provide tourist infor-mation as well as distribute promotional material and make local bookings Theglobal GNTO network distributes information material to potential tourists aswell as undertakes all the marketing and public relations functions both for indi-vidual and institutional customers

SWOT analysis for Greek tourism and small and medium-sized tourismenterprises

A SWOT analysis is undertaken for the Greek tourism as well as its SMTEs inorder to assess their present and projected competitiveness based on strategicmanagement research undertaken for the Aegean islands (Buhalis 1991 Cooperamp Buhalis 1992) The interrelations between SMTEs and destinations are quiteapparent illustrating that a destinationsrsquo weaknesses and threats are reflected inthe SMTEsrsquo competitiveness and vice versa As illustrated in Table 5 the SWOTanalysis concentrates on the strategic rather than operational strengths andweaknesses of SMTEs

As far as strengths of the Greek tourism and SMTEs are concerned their flexi-bility and ability to tailor products to consumersrsquo needs are of great importanceto their existence SMTEs can identify profitable niches in the market establishtheir requirements and attempt to satisfy specialised needs Direct control byentrepreneurs permits quick and efficient managerial reaction to external chal-lenges Fewer hierarchical levels facilitate closer and more effective control overthe service delivery process enabling personal services to customers In addi-tion archaeological heritage natural and cultural resources as well as the localcharacter are also significant assets As a result tourists benefit from localresources which are ideally situated to offer special-interest holidays SMTEsalso capitalise on personal relationships with consumers suppliers labour and

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 451

the entire tourism industry in general Their size enables the provision of apersonal finish to all products provided while it is not unusual for customers tobecome friends and to be treated accordingly Similarly strong relations withemployees support labour loyalty and low turnover The proprietorrsquos family isnormally directly involved with every aspect of the business reacting efficientlyand promptly to any problem arising Their involvement in running the enter-prise provides considerable benefits especially in having a very flexiblemulti-skilled and dedicated workforce which tolerates unsociable workingschedules Family members feel committed to the long-term prosperity of theenterprise and often do not distinguish between their professional and familylife Thus a better matching between tourism demand and SMTEsrsquo supply isachieved

A close-up of the weaknesses of Greek tourism and SMTEs is critical for under-standing the ability of the industry to compete in the global tourism arenaAlthough entrepreneurs are normally an asset it seems that a number of manage-

452 Current Issues in Tourism

Table 5 Greek tourism and SMTEsrsquo SWOT analysis

Strengths

Flexibility

Tailor-made product delivery

Entrepreneurial activity

Family involvement

Natural and cultural resources

Strong local character

Personalised relationships

Labour loyalty and low turnover

Weaknesses

Management

Marketing

Information technologies illiteracy

Dependence upon tour operators

Supporting markets

Lack of economies of scale

Human resources management

Education and training

Transportation and accessibility

Financial management and resources

Seasonality

Lack of standardisation

Lack of quality assurances

Opportunities

European Union support

European redistribution of labour

Increase in tourism demand size

Trends in tourism demand

Low cost of living in periphery

Information technology

Infrastructure development

Transportation

Olympic Games

Threats

Environmental degradation

Concentration and globalisation

Oversupply

Lack of visibility in CRSs

Infrastructure

Warsterrorism

Political intervention

Source Adapted from Buhalis 1991 60c and Cooper and Buhalis 1992 108

rial problems often arise Lack of strategic and operational managementknow-how generates inconsistency in the creation and delivery of tourism prod-ucts This has direct implications for consumersrsquo satisfaction and the projectedimage of the industry There is often a complete lack of strategic vision and enter-prises are often treated as an extension of proprietorsrsquo domestic environmentEntrepreneurs recruit family members and relatives as personnel and supplierseven though more appropriatequalified alternatives can be found in the market-place Therefore the management of SMTEs clearly projects the proprietorrsquosfamily life-style and decision-making processes onto an enterprise Marketing isanother significant weakness for most entrepreneurs and Greek resorts as they areoften completely unaware of the techniques available and thus follow a prod-uct-oriented rather than a consumer-orientated approach Consequently uncoor-dinated isolated trouble-shooting marketing activities are occasionallyundertaken rather than a consistent and well-planned marketing campaign Lackof marketing research debilitates knowledge of consumersrsquo needs and makes itdifficult to identify methods for improving services in order to meet consumersrsquoexpectations Inability to finance and execute advertising campaigns and otherpromotional techniques reduces their visibility in their markets These weak-nesses in combination with the fact that many entrepreneurs are unfamiliar withinformation technology (IT) add to the problems of SMTEs in promoting them-selves effectively Consequently both Greek SMTEs and destinations sufferfrom over-dependence on the tourism distribution channels to promote anddistribute their product In particular intermediaries and especially tour opera-tors have enormous power within the channel and are capable of determiningthe Greek tourism product marketing distribution and pricing mixes (Buhalis1995) Hence the marketing campaign and the visibility of Greek tourism to itsmain target markets are often determined by the coverage space photographsand description in tour operatorsrsquo brochures European tour operators alsocontrol accessibility to Mediterranean or long-haul destinations as they ownmost charter airlines which provide direct and inexpensive flights to these desti-nations

As most resorts are located in peripheral areas there is usually little economicdevelopment in the supplying sectors Therefore remote destinations have toimport essential raw and construction materials from elsewhere while SMTEsoften face transportation delivery and purchasing problems and excessivetransportation costs Moreover lack of economies of scale in purchasing rawmaterial low bargaining power and lack of advanced facilities are additionaloperational disadvantages This essentially means that SMTEs have to payhigher prices for products than their larger counterparts Lack of specialisedpersonnel and inadequate training procedures mean that human resourcesmanagement is a major weakness of Greek tourism In most SMTEs personnelhave to cover a wide range of positions a loose job description is usuallyprovided and multi-skilled personnel are required The labour turnover due tothe seasonality of the tourism industry reduces the availability of qualified andexperienced personnel and makes tourism product delivery not only variablebut also unprofessional The small size of operation provides little opportunityfor the division of tasks professional employees and proper training Since noquality standards are introduced service delivery varies according to the occu-

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 453

pancy service provider and timing Transportation and accessibility to remotedestinations may also be a weakness as most enterprises are located in periph-eral and often inaccessible regions SMTEs tend to feel frustrated because theyare unable to attract consumers simply because they cannot provide conve-nient reliable and affordable transportation The formulation of charter aircarriers by destination areas such as Turkey and Spain as well as the emergingderegulation policies in the European Union may diminish this problem in thenear future Moreover SMTEs face significant financial constraints as on theone hand they are required to invest in fixed assets at the beginning of theiroperations and on the other hand there is a discrimination against them byfinancial institutions since they normally have very few assets Consequentlythey are forced to accept unfavourable financial deals Finally the Greek tour-ism industry and SMTEs suffer from seasonality problems and have to produceadequate income within a limited period every year Lack of diversified invest-ment in other economic activities forces proprietors to work intensively in thepeak months and rest in the off-peak months while their pay-back period isinevitably unfavourable As the tourism industry becomes more professionalembraces quality management and responds to an increasingly discerningcustomer SMTEsrsquo typical lack of business expertise and minimal standardisa-tion may become an increasing liability especially for some target markets(Cooper amp Buhalis 1992 102)

Recent developments in the external environment present numerous opportu-nities for the Greek tourism industry and SMTEs Firstly the European Uniontakes several actions to support small and medium-sized enterprises (EC 1993b72) while it supports infrastructure development of peripheral regions andcontributes significantly to the prosperity of SMTEs The country is going througha major transformation as a result of several public projects supported by theEuropean Commission including the Attico Metro the new Athens Airport thedevelopment of the peripheral motorway Elefsina-Spata and the peripheralmotorway of Immitos The unification of the heritage sites and thepedestrianisation of the Athens city centre aims to develop an open archaeologi-cal park and deal with the traffic and pollution problems The Olympic Games in2004 provide a unique challenge and opportunity for the city and the country torebrand and redevelop itself and demonstrate its unparalleled heritage andcultural resources The Games also provide the resources and funding as well asa lsquodeadlinersquo for several infrastructural projects that were already scheduled butperhaps delayed In addition several projects are anticipated to improve thesuperstructure of the industry through both renovation of existing propertiesand through the development of new hotels and other facilities It is anticipatedthat the regeneration of the city and the country in general will provide majoropportunities for the attractiveness and competitiveness of the tourism industry(Buhalis 2000b Papanikos 1999 Romanos 1998)

It is anticipated that there will be a gradual redistribution of Europeanlabour providing support for each region to specialise in the production ofgoods and services where it can achieve competitive advantages Traditionallyremote and insular destinations where most Greek resorts and SMTEs arebased achieve a competitive advantage in tourism and therefore greatersupport is anticipated Greek tourism benefits from the continuous growth of

454 Current Issues in Tourism

global tourism demand as more people require holiday services while SMTEsare expected to increase their share as they tend to satisfy the emerging special-ised and sophisticated demand better than larger organisations Informationand telecommunication technologies can provide strategic tools for tourismdestinations and SMTEs enabling them to manage their product more effi-ciently disseminate information and establish a distribution mechanismthrough destination management systems (Buhalis 1994) New technologiesalso offer opportunities for developing innovative tourism products such asteleworking for tourists who would like to spend time working during theirstay at the destination Finally Greek tourism tends to achieve a cost advan-tage since it employs unpaid family members and operates in inexpensiveperipheral regions which often have a lower cost of living in comparison withmetropolitan areas

In terms of external threats environmental degradation through inappropriatewaste management and excessive usage of natural resources can be observedLack of know-how and funds effectively increases environmental problemsConsequently several resorts suffer severe damage while entrepreneurs and localauthorities feel powerless to take remedial measures Moreover oversupply oftourism service providers and lack of well-defined carrying capacity limits inseveral destinations have placed numerous Greek resorts and SMTEs in a disad-vantaged position as they cannot achieve sufficient income Similarly the concen-tration of power in fewer tourism industry enterprises through emergingglobalisation also threatens the ability of Greek SMTEs to survive as internationalvertically integrated tourism organisations acquire control over local enterprisesThe dependence upon channel partners for the promotion and distribution ofGreek tourism is exaggerated by the relatively low presence of Greek suppliers inthe major CRSs (Computer Reservation Systems) which is caused by the seasonal-ity and scale of the tourism production on the one hand and the tariffs of thesesystems on the other The issue of infrastructure is closely related to the oversup-ply which attracts higher demand than planned Destinations often have limitedinfrastructure provisions which fail to follow the pace of development generatingpressure on the existing inadequate facilities Finally the tourism industry suffersfrom its geographical proximity to the Balkans and the Middle East and as a conse-quence is often associated by consumers with wars and terrorism activities Greektourism and SMTEs have limited means of dealing with unfavourable situationsand thus are more vulnerable to their impacts Political intervention perhapsthrough the public sector decisions and the legislator framework often damagesthe prosperity of SMTEs As SMTEs have little lobbying power they have limitedinfluence over political decisions which determine their welfare

The SWOT analysis demonstrates quite clearly that the Greek tourism indus-try faces a wide range of problems and threats which will jeopardise its ability toprovide suitable tourism products in the future as well as its ability to make acontribution to the national welfare However several opportunities and chal-lenges emerge and they need to be addressed in order to strengthen the competi-tiveness of the industry Further analysis is therefore required in order to assessthe factors which generate these problems and also to identify ways to respond tothe challenges they present

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 455

Why Are We There and What Are the Implications StructuralProblems and Challenges

Despite its popularity and growth over the last 40 years the Greek tourismindustry has reached a stage where both its potential and competitiveness havebecome questionable

The seemingly unstoppable growth of this market contributed to a degreeof complacency which has led to Greece repeating some of the errors madein Spain Rapid price increases mean the country is no longer perceived bymass market clients as cheap in relation to comparable destinations in theMediterranean but much of the countryrsquos tourism infrastructure hastilybuilt in response to demand for cheap accommodation does not meet theneeds of a market less sensitive to price and more concerned with qualityand value for money (EIU 1990 45)

Richter-Papaconstantinou (1992 27) explains that tourism development inRhodes lsquotakes place without any Master Plan of the area respect of the landscapeand environment analysis whether there is demand and what the demand isafter regard to what is happening in similar situationsrsquo At the micro level theEuropean travel trade and intermediaries warn that the Greek tourism product isno longer competitive (Conway 1996 41 Touloupas 1996 Douvitsas 1994)whilst Chitiris (1991 148ndash150) outlines a range of managerial problems andmistakes in Greek resort hotels which diminish the quality of the tourismservices Hence unless the Greek tourism industry addresses a number of criticalissues immediately its future might be seriously jeopardised resulting in apotential catastrophe of the national economy The major structural problemsand challenges for the Greek tourism product can be summarised in Table 6

As a result Greece fails to attract the desired lsquohigh-quality high-expenditurersquotourists as it is increasingly unable to satisfy their requirements (Conway 199641) The deterioration of the tourism product and image leads to a lower willing-ness-to-pay by consumers which consequently leads to a further drop in qualityas the industry attempts to attract customers with lower prices This is a viciousspiral which has been destroying the essence of developing tourism in severalMediterranean destinations The concentration of bargaining power in Euro-pean distribution intermediaries and tour operators in particular in combina-tion with the inability of the Greek tourism industry to promote itself andestablish effective distribution mechanisms inevitably minimises the profitmargins of SMTEs and their ability to yield decent returns on their investmentAs a result touristsrsquo expenditure per capita in Greece gradually deteriorateswhile their volume increases (SETE 1993 35)

Thus the tourism policy often consisted in a lsquofreezingrsquo of the selling price ofthe tourist package abroad a measure which combined with the devalua-tion of the drachma and its continuous parity losses succeeded in securing alsquofictitious competitivenessrsquo for the Greek package This competitivenesshowever was seriously threatened each time there was an attempt at asubstantial increase because of important rises in cost elements(Kalogeropoulou 1993 2)

456 Current Issues in Tourism

The above issues illustrate that the Greek tourism product becomes increas-ingly incompetent Hence the inadequate lsquoproductrsquo lsquopromotionrsquo and lsquoplacersquo(distribution) elements of the tourism marketing mix reduce the willingness ofprospective consumers to pay and has disastrous implications for the pricingpolicies deteriorating the profitability of the SMTEs and the tourism economicimpacts on the destination

Ultimately the economic impacts of tourism in Greece become debatableespecially due to the inadequacy of tourism economic research and data whilethe destination has to bear the environmental social and cultural decay Encour-agingly articles in recent tourism industry publications acknowledge these chal-lenges and appreciate the dangers urging both the private and public sector totake action (Touristiki Agora Tourismos ke Oikonomia Travel News XENIA) as well

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 457

Table 6 Structural problems and challenges

Image of Greece as cheap simple unsophisticated undifferentiated sun-seadestination

Gradual deterioration of tourism product and lack of reinvestment in improvements

Increase of tourism arrivals but decrease of tourism expenditure per capita

Inadequacy of the Greek planning process

Dependence upon major tour operators for promotion and distribution

Plethora of anarchically developed and behaving SMTEs aiming at short-termprofitability

Inappropriate and ill-timed marketing campaign which has little effectiveness

Inadequacy of infrastructure to serve the ever-expanding demand

Lack of coordination at the destination and disrespect for touristsrsquo needs

Lack ofprofessionalism and training in both state andprivate tourism establishments

Individualistic behaviour by SMTEs and unwillingness to cooperate on adestination basis

Unsuccessful and inconsistent programmes of government intervention

Almost unregulated environment with nearly complete lack of control

Political intervention which allows exception policies and employment of unquali-fied staff

Development of tourism as a single regional development option

Oversupply of tourism amenities and fierce price competition

Failure of the private sector to invest in long-term projects

Deterioration of natural social and cultural resources

SMTEsrsquo inability to resist in global concentration of the tourism industry

Inadequate distribution mechanisms which generate overdependence onintermediaries

Failure of both the private and public sectors to learn from internationally gainedexperience in tourism development and marketing

Lack of tourism research to identify the impacts of tourism

Negligence with regard to new tourism demand challenges

as several influential members of the tourism industry (Josephides 1993 19941995 Skoulas 1994 Daskalantonakis 1994 Divanis 1994b Plevris 1995Papandropoulos 1995)

Political intervention limited research lack of tourism policy andplanning

Perhaps the largest obstacle in developing a competitive tourism industry inGreece has been the inconsistent and irrational political intervention Unfortunatelytourism has extensively been utilised as a political vehicle where each govern-ment uses it to gratify its political needs and friends This can be experienced in alllevels of recruitment in the public sector institutions as a change of government oreven minister results in immense changes throughout the GNTO as well as tomajor policies and regulations Thus in the last 35 years (since 1966) the leadershipof the GNTO has changed 28 times allowing each General Secretary to stay inoffice for an average of 138 months Political allies of each government use politi-cal pressure and intensive lobbying in order to achieve amendments in regula-tions incentive policies and business environment Hence the short-termprofitability and commercial interests of the friends and political allies of eachgovernment often overrule the long-term strategy and set an improper examplefor the entire industry These practices result in a great inconsistency in Greek tour-ism policy and disrupt its rationalisation Therefore a lsquodepolitisation of Greektourismrsquo towards a professionally managed public sector guided through acompromised strategic Master Plan is urgently required (Josephides 1995)

The limited existing scientific tourism research highlights the lack of comprehen-sive examination of tourism impacts in Greece while it illustrates that tourismpolicy is based on insufficient documentation (Zacharatos 1989 278 and 1988 22)Public sector research is almost non-existant while the authorities seem uninter-ested in consulting the Greek-tourism research produced by academics (for exam-ple Zacharatos 1984 1986 Komilis 1987 Loukissas 1977 Papadimitris 1988Papadopoulos 1985 Moore 1992 Tsartas 1989 Velissariou 1991 Fotis 1992Buhalis 1991 1995 2000c Buhalis amp Diamantis 2000) or the international tourismlsquobody of knowledgersquo (Zacharatos 1988 24) In addition tourism consumptionbeing characterised as a particular category of private consumption in the nationalaccounts it fails to reflect the real tourism impact on each economic sector Thusthe process of collecting information for tourism expenditure in Greece preventsthe assessment of tourism expenditure impacts on the national and regional econ-omy and therefore cannot be used in drawing scientifically founded tourismpolicy (Zacharatos 1989 277 Konsolas amp Zacharatos 1993 58) Consequentlytourism policy follows conventional wisdom and concentrates on attracting alarger volume of tourists ignoring scientific methods to assess the economicsocial cultural and environmental impacts of each tourism segment assumingthat the greater the tourism volume the better for the national economy

The lack of a comprehensive and rational tourism policy and planning or a MasterPlan for Greek tourism is primarily responsible for the aforementioned structuralproblems Policy is usually based on unsubstantiated statements published by theTourism Ministry or the GNTO (GNTO 1985b 1989a 1993) often as pre-electionpromotional material In essence Greek authorities attempt to intervene aiming tostimulate arrivals as well as to facilitate the operation and development of the

458 Current Issues in Tourism

tourism industry Based on the assumption that tourism arrivals to Greece wouldincrease indefinitely the general directions of the Greek tourism policy focusalmost invariably on the targets summarised in Table 7 (Euromonitor 1992 61GNTO 1989b 41 and 1993 1 OECD 1992 70 Skoulas 1985 194 Leontidou 199188ndash91 Apostolopoulos 1990 Zacharatos 1989 275 and 1988 21)

However as these tasks are not quantified and there is no time schedule orplanning process for their achievement it is inevitable that their implementationand assessment is subject to irrationalities and personal judgement Occa-sionally incentives for tourism development responses to lobbying from tour-ism-related associations and regions training programmes and generallegislation attempt to direct the Greek tourism industry towards the describedpolicy directions In addition an inconsistent and untargeted promotionalcampaign is implemented yearly (Touloupas 1996 130) The campaign attempts toachieve the above unspecified policy tasks while it is often a lsquolast minutersquo reactionmeasure to a forecasted decline of bookings for the current season rather than acoordinated long-term marketing policy (Jenner amp Smith 1993 143Papadopoulos 1989 304) Despite the advertising campaignrsquos positive impact onarrivals the feedback to the campaign is rather speculative as no formal researchis undertaken to identify the most cost-effective media and communication meth-ods for each target market (Papadopoulos 1989 311 and 1987 82)

Because the deficient scientific examination of Greek tourism and its impactsprevents the authorities from establishing quantifiable and measurable tourismpolicies their policies are based on subjective and personal judgements while feedbackpractices are rarely followed In addition the implementation of the vaguelydefined tourism policy as well as the targets regulations and standards are oftenbent to accommodate lobbying and political pressures (Zacharatos 1989 279)Komilis (1993 225) suggests that tourism planning in Greece is generally realisedand exercised within a socio-political environment characterised by severalfactors a limited degree of political commitment lack of social awareness andacceptability of planning actions inadequacy of scientific and technical founda-

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 459

Table 7 Greek tourism policy targets

Development of demand

Training of tourism employees

Increase arrivals and foreign exchange income

Increase competitiveness of tourism product

Improvement of services in the industry

Reduction of seasonality and expansion of tourism season

Attraction of high spenders and alternative types of tourism

Construction of facilities appealing to the upper end of the market such as luxuryhotels golf courses congress centres casinos and marinas

Development of tourism infrastructure with emphasis on transportation

Support of social tourism for low-income domestic tourists

Geographical redistribution of tourism

tion to support planning intervention and a centralised administrative-institu-tional system gathering a plethora of functions but failing to perform itscoordination and enforcing role When the conflicting interests and power of eachmember of the tourism industry are brought into the equation where differentpartners attempt to influence legislation in order to maximise their own short-termprofitability regardless of the impacts on the destination and other enterprises theplanning process becomes more complicated This results in an ineffective plan-ning system and process which produces policies unable to provide an appropri-ate balance between restrictive policies and control planning implementationMoreover the plethora of SMTEs in combination with inadequate legislationconcerning their establishment and operation seem to affect adversely thecompetitiveness of the industry and the ability to diversify and enrich local tour-ism products (Komilis 1992 11 EIU 1990 59)

Consequently several structural problems are originated jeopardising theprosperity of both SMTEs and destinations especially in overdeveloped regionsOn the supply side failure of the infrastructure to follow the dramatic expansionof the superstructure in combination with the lack of solid institutional context oftourism policy and long-term regulation result in the exploitation and inadequacyof environmental and socio-cultural resources as well as the inability of the indus-try to generate the level of economic benefits desired and expected On the tourismdemand side after the meteoric growth in the 1970s and 1980s the Greek tourismindustry has been trying to transform lsquothe country into a destination which cancompete not just on price but on value for moneyrsquo (EIU 1990 45) It is becomingapparent that the tourism population in not infinite and an adaptability andresponsiveness to touristsrsquo needs is ofgreat importance (Sezeramp Harrison 1994 83)

Structural problems jeopardise the profitability of the private sectorBecause of the aforementioned structural problems most tourism industry

enterprises are experiencing a decline in profitability Hotels in particular arebadly affected due to the high fixed assets as well as their immobility and inflexi-bility which prevents them from adjusting to demand fluctuation Several reasonsdetermine their low profitability and inability to increase prices in line with infla-tion The low occupancy levels achieved yearly is a key problem Smith and Jenner(1995 17) estimate that the lsquoyear-round bed occupancy over the range of licensedaccommodation is slightly under 30rsquo As most of the properties are closed duringthe winter months due to the seasonality problems they rely on three to six monthsto generate sufficient returns on their investment The occupancy levels of accom-modation establishments in Greek tourism are often determined by theirco-operation with travel intermediaries Based on the different seasonality patternsof different markets rooms are normally allocated a year before the summer seasonto tour operators on lsquoallotmentrsquo or lsquocommitmentrsquo contracts which effectively deter-mine the prices charged according to the security provided by tour operators forusing and paying for hoteliersrsquo rooms Once the contracts are signed hoteliers effec-tively lose their control on their inventory and their right to market their rooms toother business sources before the release period (typically 7ndash14 days before arrival)in order to avoid overbooking However should their bookings fail to match theirprogramme tour operators often utilise their buying power to cancel unwantedrooms at the beginning of the tourist season without paying compensation Smaller

460 Current Issues in Tourism

hoteliers are often left with unoccupied rooms they which are unable to promote atthe lsquolast minutersquo unless they drop their prices to unacceptable levels As a result oftheir deficient intra-channel power hotels often suffer a significant cut-back of theiroccupancy levels which has direct implications for their profitability (Buhalis 19952000c 460 Ktenas 1996)

Similarly the seasonality of the Mediterranean and Greek tourism industry hasalways been a problem for the profitability of SMTEs since enterprises operateonly for a limited period (Jenner amp Smith 1993 70 Drakatos 1987 Donatos ampZairis 1991) Attempts to promote winter tourism by developing cultural andspecial interest tourism in the islands and winter sports in several ski resorts inGreece have proved fairly unsuccessful (EIU 1986 56) This is attributed to theimage of Greece as an exclusively summer-sun destination as well as to the unco-ordinated attempts to maintain tourism enterprises active during the wintermonths (EIU 1990 57)

The average room rate is the second major determinant of hotel profitability It isbecoming apparent that employment costs and cost of capital in combination witha relatively strong currency policy reduce the ability of Greek accommodationestablishments to offer competitive pricing and maintain their profitabilityMarketing inadequacies and inability to promote the tourism product as a differ-entiated entity the rapid increase of supply in comparison to demand and theoverall dependence upon the oligopsonistic tour operators for the Greek tourismproduct promotion force hoteliers to accept contracts by tour operators whichminimise their profit margin and adversely effect the quality of their productIncreasing levels of pressure by tour operators prevent SMTEs from renovatingand investing in their properties and therefore a gradual deterioration of the prop-erties is inevitable (Richter-Papaconstantinou 1992 14 Skoulas 1985 189) Euro-pean tour operators faced with fierce competition in their markets are essentiallywilling to pay an annual price increase equal to little less than the depreciation ofthe drachma plus the inflation at the place of origin of the tourists (Ktenas 1994)This policy progressively deteriorates the profitability of the Greek tourism indus-try and has severe impacts for its prosperity The situation is worse for smalleraccommodation establishments which manage to negotiate even smaller priceincreases due to their exclusive dependence upon fewer intermediaries(Logothetis 1992 14)

The oversupply of tourism services both in Greece and worldwide also contributesto global competition for a less rapidly increasing demand (Josephides 1993 54)In Greece the average annual increase of the official hotel bed supply in 1983ndash1992was 47 while the annual average increase in international tourist bednights was27 (Epilogi 1994 271) The investment incentive Law 126282 boosted this over-supply as it generated small infeasible and uncontrollable accommodation unitsunable to offer high quality of services while it increased the concentration of tour-ism units in infrastructure-undersupplied resorts (Kriebardis amp Marmagiolis1990 51 Stavrou 1989b 5) The vast majority of the capacity growth is on the lsquoille-galrsquo unregistered self-catering and self-serviced lsquoparahoteleriarsquo sector whichprovide very low quality and priced accommodation and therefore appeal tomass tour operatorsrsquo clientele This not only increases unfair competition for theofficially registered hotels but also reduces both tax revenues and employment atthe macro level

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 461

Horwath (1994 3) concludes that

unfortunately the results in terms of return on investment in the tourismindustry are not very promising especially when compared with those ofother Greek economic sectors It is an undisputable fact that the averageGreek tourism entrepreneur is heavily dependent on the tourist packageprice which is strongly negotiated by the international tour operators It isan lsquounhealthyrsquo dependency as a result of the weak position of the Greektourist product in the international market In addition the aforemen-tioned dependency is the result of the lack of marketing activities in anaverage tourist enterprise As we all know effective marketing activitiesare based on the product place price promotion which all contribute toclient satisfaction and further to a bigger share in the international touristmarket Up to now three of the aforementioned important elements ofmarketing have been overlooked which determine the weak negotiationpower of the Greek entrepreneur

This situation has also resulted to several European companies expandingtheir operations into Greece or purchasing shares in Greek partners in order toimprove their vertical integration Should this vertical integration expand signif-icantly however lsquoGreek tourism will be in fact controlled by foreign deci-sion-making centres which will certainly operate on the basis of their owninterests and not according to the overall interests of our national economyrsquo(Kalogeropoulou 1993 2) Hence radical measures are required immediately inproduct formulation promotion strategy and distribution channels to supportboth Greek destinations and SMTEs to enhance their competitiveness profitabil-ity and prosperity Failure to react would have severe implications for the futureof the Greek tourism private sector as the essence of its existence would be jeop-ardised its costs may exceeding its returns

Structural problems generate negative tourism impactsIn addition to the profitability problems of the private sector the aforemen-

tioned structural problems have profound implications for the welfare of hostpopulations in various Greek destinations as their economic social cultural andenvironmental resources are exploited without ensuring their sustainabilityLack of comprehensive research and failure to initiate carrying-capacity limits orzoning systems contribute to the anarchic development of tourism as well asexpand negative impacts of tourism on local societies and environments Thefollowing section highlights some of the costs Greek destinations are called topay for their tourism activity whilst it suggests that these issues should beaddressed in the strategic planning process

Macro-economic negative impactsDespite the contribution of tourism to the Greek economy certain potential

risks can also be identified Not only is the competitiveness and profitability ofthe tourism industry jeopardised but also several destination regions seem tofollow a policy of developing tourism at the expense of industrial and agricul-tural growth (Stavrou 1989a 6 Vernicos 1987 105) Instead of tourism stimulat-ing agriculture it seems that it hastens its decline as the two economic activities

462 Current Issues in Tourism

compete for land and labour The lack of structural investments in industrial oragricultural sectors combined with the popularity of tourism professions in theworkforce endanger the balance of the regional economy while reducing thetourism multipliers (Briassoulis 1993 295) As a result the economic structure ofthe destination is jeopardised while a complete dependence upon tourismbecomes inevitable (Komilis 1992 7) Both opportunity costs and displacementeffects are therefore evident Moreover there is evidence that the progress ofdestinations through their life-cycle and especially the introduction of masstourism decreases their economic impacts while it makes local control of theindustry far more difficult (Loukissas 1982 537) lsquoBecause of the high degree ofdependence of Greek tourist enterprises on tour operators the actual amount oftourist spending remaining in the country is only the 40ndash50 of total touristspendingrsquo (Briassoulis 1993 296) Public-sector subsidies to the private sector invarious forms such as incentives cooperative marketing campaigns and unem-ployment benefits in the off-season as well as tax evasion and lsquoparaeconomyrsquo alsoreduce the real benefit at the macro level (Mourdoukoutas 1988 Drakatos 1987Leontidou 1991 102) Lack of scientific research on the economic impacts oftourism makes the real contribution of tourism in the economy speculativerather than based on hard evidence (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Konsolas ampZacharatos 1993)

Social and cultural negative impactsThe development of mass tourism and the lack of effective planning and

management are also responsible for a number of negative social and culturalimpacts observed in Greek host societies (Tsartas 1989 1992 Stavrou 19781979 1980 1986b) Although the degree of interaction of the population withtourists depends heavily on the geomorphology of destinations and the loca-tion of resorts (Loukissas 1982 538) touristsrsquo behaviour is often offensive tothe host population but tolerated due to the economic benefits (Castelberg-Koulma 1991 201 Kousis 1989 Wickens 1994 823) Most Greek tourismdestinations are almost crime-free zones during the winter due to the smallpopulation and personal relationships of locals Tourism however introducesseveral types of criminal activity often unknown to local people As policeforces are usually allocated according to needs of the permanent population ina destination they are often incapable of handling the demands of the summermonths and are unable to deal with visitorsrsquo misbehaviour such as hooliganismand lsquolager-lootingrsquo

The commercialisation of history cultural traditions and the Greek lifestyle isa phenomenon met in several destinations This regrettably affects the renownedGreek hospitality commercialises human relations with tourists and reduces theties of solidarity and cooperation between locals since they compete for the tour-ism market (Papadopoulos 1988b 24) As the average employee works 605hours weekly for 295 weeks a year there is little time left for social religious andcultural obligations during the season (Mourdoukoutas 1988 325) Although acertain degree of lsquodemonstration effectrsquo and lsquoxenomaniarsquo can be attributed totourism the country is equally influenced by the mass media as well as by theGreek students and professionals living abroad (Papadopoulos 1988a 30Wickens 1994 822) Moore (1995) also explains that tourism not only has had a

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 463

contribution to the increase of alcohol consumption by Greeks but has alsoshifted their taste away from locally produced wine to imported spirits and beerBriassoulis (1993 296) perhaps describes best the change in labour force valueswhen as she suggests that tourism has created a

peculiar parasitic group of tourist entrepreneurs operating tourist-servingenterprises like tavernas cafeterias etc the principal characteristics ofwhich are high profits and tax evasion Consequently a particular person-ality type is created the lsquosuccessfulrsquo entrepreneur who earns a lot with littlework has a rich erotic life and is professionally independent (in contrast topublic and private employees) This model is followed by many youngpeople who abandon other productive year-round occupations lsquoworkrsquoonly during the tourist season stay idle for the rest of the year and eventu-ally suffer from the volatility of the tourist market

The family relations and values are therefore under great transition andperhaps threat (Castelberg-Koulma 1991 201 Kousis 1989 Moore 1992)

Negative environmental impactsDespite environmental resources becoming central to destinationsrsquo competi-

tiveness most Greek destinations go through an unparalleled exploitation due toinadequate planning and reinvestment in their sustainability jeopardising theirfuture (Buhalis amp Fletcher 1995) Boniface and Cooper (1994 141) suggest thatgeographical concentration of tourism

has led to the view that Greece will become saturated with tourists and thatdamage will be done to the environment and cultural heritage in the morepopular areas Already the environment has suffered from haphazarduncontrolled building and pollution of the sea and the flora and fauna arebeing effected by waste disposal

Coastal pollution water shortages sewage treatment waste disposal trafficcongestion noise pollution overbuilding and aesthetic degradation are some ofthe impacts experienced already in a number of resorts (Briassoulis 1993 297Coccosis amp Parprairis 1992 Peterson 1990 Marinos 1983 Stavrou 1988 19 and1989a 5 Papadopoulos 1988b 24) Most of the islands also face water shortagedue to the inability of natural supplies to provide sufficient water for the tourismdemand Imported mineral water from the mainland is an expensive way tosolve this problem due to the transportation cost while it creates more waste andenvironmental damage In addition the destruction of endangered speciesrsquo habi-tats is another problem experienced on several islands (ZakynthosCaretta-Caretta and Allonissos monk-seals) (Ottaway 1992 Van Den Bergh1993 70 Prurier et al 1993) Urgent coordination with all tourism actors at thelocal level is essential while regulation is required to set objective and measurablelimits and targets in order to preserve local environmental resources Financialdifficulties in the industry only exacerbate these impacts as the private and publicsectors feel unable to reinvest in the conservation of resources

The aforementioned negative impacts emerge as a result of the structuralproblems of the Greek tourism industry and illustrate that the mass tourismorientation of the industry reduces the sovereignty of the host population over

464 Current Issues in Tourism

their land and resources whilst jeopardising their expected benefits and futurewelfare As these impacts are trade-offs for the economic gains of the tourismactivity it is important that consistent long-term strategic planning should beundertaken in order to enable the preservation of the local resources and achievesustainability at tourism destinations These tasks should all be reinforced byresearch political will and strategic planning

Where Do We Need to Go and How Are We Going ThereTowards Strengthening the Competitiveness of Greek Tourismand SMTEs

Based on the situation analysis as well as on the strategic weaknesses andstructural problems the paper attempts to provide a framework for strategicplanning which will enable the strengthening of the competitiveness of Greektourism and SMTEs Porter (1985 1) suggests that competitive strategy lsquois thesearch for a favourable competitive position in an industryrsquo which is a function ofthe attractiveness of the industry and the relative competitive position withinthat particular industry He also argues that lsquocompetitive strategy aims to estab-lish a profitable and sustainable position against the forces that determine indus-try competitionrsquo Competitiveness is therefore defined as the effort undertakenby organisations to maintain long-term profitability above the average of theparticular industry within which they operate or above alternative investmentopportunities in other industries

Traditionally the tourism industry in the majority of destinations worldwideis based on a network of SMTEs which provide all types of tourism products andservices while enabling closer interaction between the host population and visi-tors as well as facilitating a rapid infusion of tourism spending into the localeconomy As lsquotouristsrsquo overall experience is composed of numerous smallencounters with a variety of tourism service providersrsquo (Moutinho 1990 104)there is a great overlap between the customer perception of local SMTEs anddestinations which makes them almost indistinguishable Consequently thecompetitiveness and prosperity of destinations and SMTEs are closely interre-lated as the fortune of the one depends heavily upon the management andcompetitiveness of the other Therefore the generic strategy for destinationsinvolves SMTEs and vice versa

Grand strategy Strategy formulation for Greek tourism and SMTEsBased on the strategic analysis a grand strategy is proposed for the Greek

tourism industry and SMTEs in order to demonstrate the directions the destina-tions should follow in their attempt to increase their competitiveness and reducetheir vulnerability As different resorts destinations and SMTEs have dissimilarneeds only generic strategies can be drawn However these guidelines can beapplicable to destinations and SMTEs worldwide as they address strategic ratherthan operational issues The analysis is based on the assumption that SMTEsformulate leisure value-added chains or networks of wealth creation whichessentially comprise the entire destination Therefore an integrated approach isfollowed as there is a great complementarity between the strategies and strate-gic directions for both the Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 465

The grand strategy analysis is based on an examination of three general strat-egy models namely Porterrsquos generic strategies Gilbertrsquos proposition for lsquodiffer-entiation of the destinationrsquo and Poonrsquos analysis for lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo Agrand strategy is then proposed for both Greek tourism and SMTEs based oninference emerging from these three models Figure 1 illustrates the three maingeneric strategies proposed by Porter (1980 34ndash46) in order to lsquooutperform otherfirms in an industryrsquo overall cost leadership where the firm is required to minimiseits costs based on mass production and strict cost control of the main businessfunctions differentiation of products or services by lsquocreating something that isperceived industry-wide as being uniquersquo or focus on a lsquoparticular buyer groupsegment of the product line or geographical marketrsquo and achieve either cost leader-ship or product differentiation (Porter 1980 37ndash8)

Furthermore Gilbert (1984 1990) argues that destinations should differenti-ate their tourism products in order to be able to achieve a unique lsquotourist productbenefitrsquo which would enable them to establish their position in the internationaltourism market as well as to attract high spenders and loyal tourists Tourismdestinations therefore should attempt to achieve a lsquostatus arearsquo image ratherthan a lsquocommodity arearsquo one as illustrated in Figure 2 In the first case the desti-nation is heavily substitutable very sensitive to price and economic changeswhile consumers have a low awareness of any unique benefits or attributes of theregion Thus holidaymakers base their decision to visit the area merely on pricewhile the demand for the destination is incidental and destinations are unable toattract high spenders In contrast lsquostatus areasrsquo achieve intentional demand as aresult of the unique product attributes perceived by the tourism market Theseunique attributes may be genuine or imagined and thus a destination isregarded as irreplaceable increasing consumersrsquo loyalty and willingness to payGilbert (1990 24ndash5) asserts that destinations should attempt to become lsquostatusareasrsquo in order to improve their image loyalty and economic benefits

A third strategic approach is proposed by Poon (1987 1988 1989 1990 1993)based on the concept of lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo of the tourism business Inessence Poon examines the industry processes and proposes a strategy to enabletourism organisations to improve their competitiveness Poon argues that lsquoflexi-ble specialisationrsquo is a strategy of lsquopermanent innovationrsquo and lsquoceaseless changersquowhich provides for the lsquonew tourismrsquo This new tourism is flexible segmentedcustomised to the touristrsquos needs and diagonally integrated In contrast the oldtourism can be characterised as lsquomass standardised and rigidly packagedrsquo(Poon 1989 91ndash3)

466 Current Issues in Tourism

STRATEGIC ADVANTAGE

Perceived product uniqueness Cost advantage

TARGETMARKET

Industrywide Differentiation Cost Leadership

Particularsegmentsonly

Differentiation Focus Cost Focus

Figure 1 Porterrsquos three generic strategiesSource Porter 1980 39

The main sources of flexibility for service firms lie in the organisationmanagement marketing distribution and other forms of interaction andinterrelationships among guests hotels suppliers distributors What isimportant however is not each of these stand alone aspects but how theyare coupled to create competitive advantages and hence capabilities tomove with the market (Poon 1988 24)

Examination of these three main strategies illustrates that they share a similarbase Porterrsquos lsquodifferentiationrsquo Gilbertrsquos lsquostatus arearsquo and Poonrsquos lsquoflexiblespecialisationrsquo describe the attempt undertaken by firms and tourist destinationsto achieve value competitive advantages In contrast the lsquocost leadershiprsquo lsquocom-modity arearsquo and the lsquostandardisation or Fordism production modelrsquo describethe effort to achieve lsquocost competitive advantagersquo where destinations andSMTEs offer their products for less than their competitors In the first caseconsumers perceive the product as unique and are willing to pay a premiumwhile in the second case the decision is merely based on price Thus the classicalstrategic decision of lsquolow volume-high profit marginrsquo or lsquohigh volume-low profitmarginrsquo is the underlying concept of the two alternative strategies

Both Gilbert and Poon agree that destinations should aim to achieve lsquostatusarearsquo or niche orientation through differentiation in order to increase consumersatisfaction as well as to maximise the benefits for both regions and SMTEs As aresult Greek tourism and SMTEs need to focus towards the differentiation strat-egy define their niche markets and serve them accordingly This strategy isalready adopted in several resort areas such as Valencia in Spain where it isrecognised that the need for diversification and differentiation lsquohas now becomeessential owing to the level of competitiveness that has been attained (and can beforeseen) in the world tourist marketrsquo (Fayos-Sola 1992 49) Differentiation isalso particularly useful for insular destinations in microstates where a limitednumber of economic and financial resources are available (Wilkinson 1989 170)As most destinations consist of SMTEs networks there is an overlap betweentheir strategic orientations and therefore the above analysis is applicable to boththe Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Destinations implementing a lsquostatus arearsquo strategy can enhance the satisfac-tion of tourists as well as their competitiveness The formulation of unique and

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 467

CommodityArea

Statusarea

Willingness topay higher prices

StatusArea

Product attributes Product attributes

CommodityArea

Figure 2 Gilbertrsquos differentiation strategySource Adapted from Gilbert 1990 25

customised products by using flexibility and cooperation also increases touristsrsquowillingness to pay and wins their loyalty while it responds to the new tourismdemand trends However the proposed strategy should not be seen as an excusefor SMTEs and destinations not to attempt to improve their efficiency and mini-mise their production costs Although the unique service for touristsrsquo needs shouldbe their priority offering perceived value for money would determine theircompetitiveness in the marketplace As a result all Greek resorts and SMTEsshould assess their assets and strengths for serving specific target markets takingadvantage of their small size which facilitates flexibility and specialisation

It is quite apparent that the cost advantage strategy has to be avoided inmanagement of tourism destinations as regions need to preserve their scarceenvironmental and sociocultural resources and achieve sustainable develop-ment As cost advantage is based on mass production and consumption itassumes an unlimited production capacity which is inapplicable in the tourismindustry The inseparability of the tourism product determines that consumersshould be present at the time of product delivery and when combined with tour-ism seasonality it generates demand peaks which drain destinationsrsquo scarceenvironmental sociocultural resources The lsquohigh volume-low profit marginrsquostrategy has therefore harmful social and environmental impacts on destina-tions Destinations have maximum carrying capacities beyond which both thewelfare of local populations and the satisfaction of tourists are jeopardisedAlthough economic benefits can also be achieved by using the lsquocommodity arearsquoor the lsquostandard product modelrsquo it is argued that these approaches reduce tour-istsrsquo satisfaction and their willingness to pay and are opposed to the demandtrend towards individualisation

Unfortunately however some destinations can no longer be positioned asirreplaceable unique products due to their overdevelopment Tourism supplyhas exceeded the carrying capacity of these resorts and their product hasreached the saturation or decline phase of their life-cycle Several Spanish costasand some Greek resorts such as Benitses Kavos Faliraki Malia Hersonissos andNidri (Josephides 1994) have been overdeveloped to such an extent that only alsquohigh-volume low-profit marginrsquo strategy is feasible When resorts reach theirsaturation level only a lsquocost leadershiprsquo or lsquomass productionrsquo strategy can beproposed as they are unable to provide any specific lsquotourist product benefitrsquo Theattraction of the lower end of the market is inevitable and as a consequence thereare no alternative strategies The minimisation of further sociocultural and envi-ronmental damage as well as attempts to improve the surrounding environmentshould also be a primary objective of both tourism destinations and SMTEs in thiscase The ultimate aim should be to regenerate the resources of the area and torelaunch the tourism destination to attract specific markets which will be willing topay a higher price for the destination

Strategic directions objectives and tasks for Greek tourism and SMTEsTable 8 presents three pivotal strategic directions which are identified in order

to stimulate the competitiveness of both Greek tourism and SMTEs This sectionillustrates how the aforementioned grand strategy can be implemented for tour-ist destinations and SMTEs through a number of strategic directions objectivesand tasks as presented in Table 9

468 Current Issues in Tourism

Enhancing the satisfaction of tourists and delighting the customer are pivotalto ensuring the well-being of Greek destinations and SMTEs in the long term andthus the entire range of tourism service providers should aim to delight theirclients As a result of the tourism product integration consumer satisfactioncannot be achieved by independent businesses separately but by the entirenetwork of SMTEs in Greek destinations The improvement in services isperhaps the most important strategic objective Consistency of promises throughstandardisation of service delivery and implementation of a total qualitymanagement philosophy throughout the industry are essential strategic tasks forachieving this objective while flexibility in service delivery and improvementsin training are critical In line with the grand strategy the production oftailor-made tourism products should be ensured in order to satisfy the specificneeds of particular niches and the requirements of the emerging new tourismdemand Product augmentation would enable also the Greek tourism product toexceed the expectations of consumers and hence enhance their satisfaction Lifestyle segmentation would enable Greek tourism and SMTEs to design appropri-ate tourism products As tourist demand elasticity has increasingly becomedoubtful in recent years the price of the holiday is no longer considered to be themost important attribute in the decision-making process Consequently theGreek tourism industry should concentrate on providing value for money at allprice levels as well as offering at least whatever they have promised to theconsumer

Supporting the long-term competitiveness and profitability of Greek tour-ism and SMTEs is by far the most important strategic objective for the tourismindustry The first strategic objective for every SMTE has to be the increase inrevenue by maximising its occupancy or load factors and the rates it achievesThe lengthening of the operating season as well as the identification of newmarkets and the penetration into existing ones and the effective utilisation ofdistribution channels will contribute to this strategic direction Higher ratescan be achieved by targeting specialised and smaller tour operators attractingalternative types of tourists and expanding the distribution channels mix aswell as by attempting a certain degree of lsquodisintermediationrsquo by encouragingdirect sales to outgoing travel agencies or consumers Aggressive marketingand establishment of partnerships with other enterprises should be essentialfunctions of Greek tourism and SMTEs Motivation of lsquofront-of-housersquo employ-ees as salesmen and sale incentives would also increase average spending percustomer The use of CRSs and destination management systems may also bean appropriate method for achieving higher prices and better occupancy rates(Buhalis 1994) Finally yield management techniques should be utilised by alltypes of SMTEs to assist them in pricing and maximising revenue Cost control

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 469

Table 8 Pivotal strategic dimensions for Greek tourism

(1) Enhance the satisfaction of tourists and delight the customer(2) Strengthen the long-term profitability and competitiveness of Greek tourism and

SMTEs(3) Develop Greek destinations sustainably and ensure prosperity of host population

470 Current Issues in Tourism

Table 9 Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Strategic directions Strategic objectives Strategic tasks

1 Enhance the sat-isfaction of tour-ists and delightthe customer

11 Improvement of services a Standardisation of service de-livery

b Development of quality controlsystems

c Consistency of promisesd Improvements in operational

managemente Flexibility in services deliveryf Training and education im-

provementsg Smile and personal relation-

shipsh Augmentation of tourism

producti Total quality management

12 Specialisation of tourismproduct

a Niche marketingb Lifestyle targeting

13 Value for money a Quality at each price level

2 Strengthen thelong-term com-petitiveness andprofitability ofGreek tourismand SMTEs

21 Increase revenue a Increase tourist volumesb Target new markets and pene-

tration in existing marketsc Use yield managementd Expand distribution channel

mixe Aggressive marketingf Achieve high average spending

per customerg Select high-quality specialised

tour operatorsh Attract alternative types of

tourismi Use alternative distribution

channelsj Motivate front-of-house em-

ployees as salesmen

22 Cost control and rationalmanagement

a Standardise service deliveryb Increase productivityc Reduce labour costsd Rationalise supplies manage-

mente Educationtraining for manag-

ers and employeesf Use of new technologyg Integrate service delivery

within SMTEs

23 Human resources man-agement

a Internal marketingb Empowermentc Satisfactory salary and working

conditionsd Long-term relations with em-

ployeese Motivation and rewards

and rational management is the second strategic objective needed to increaseefficiency and profitability of both Greek destinations and SMTEs in the longterm Standardisation of the service delivery process and minimisation of thelabour cost through better operational management would be primary recom-mendations Managers and employees should improve their productivity andmarketing skills by intensive training In addition the rationalisation of supplymanagement and the use of new technology is expected to reduce operationalcosts Finally integration of service delivery enables SMTEs to provide comple-mentary services and achieve additional revenues without immense costs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 471

24 State and public tourismorganisation support

a Destination development andcontrol

b Incentives policies for improve-ment

c Attract European Union assis-tance

d Promotional activitye Provide financial resources

3 Develop Greekdestinationssustainably andensure prosper-ity of host popu-lation

31 Environmental protection a Carrying capacity identificationb Zoning system applicationc Architecture preservationd Installation of sewage treat-

ment systemse Reduction of noise pollutionf Natural supplies management

32 Infrastructure ameliora-tion

a Accessibility improvementsb Telecommunication improve-

mentsc Public facilities advancements

33 Transportation improve-ments

a Improvement of local timeta-bles

b Punctuality and reliabilityc Improvements of vehiclesd Flexibility to meet demand

needs

34 Economic integration a Integration with raw materialproduction

b Utilisation of local labour forcec Integration of tourism servicesd Diagonal integration of destina-

tionrsquos economy

35 Equitable return on re-sources utilised

a Establish mechanism forreinvestments

b Provide services for hostcommunity

c Invest in sustainability ofresources

d Ensure equity in distributionof wealth produced

Source Adapted from Buhalis 1991 83a

Table 9 (cont) Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Human resources management is crucial in the delivery process of tourismproducts The concept of lsquointernal marketingrsquo where employees are perceivedand treated as lsquointernal customersrsquo has to be utilised in order to ensure theirsatisfaction As Berry (1981 34) states lsquothe satisfaction of the needs and wants ofthe internal customers can upgrade their capacity for satisfying the needs andwants of their external customersrsquo and as a consequence it can contribute to thecompetitiveness and profitability of Greek tourism and SMTEs Satisfactorysalary and working conditions are prerequisites for the well-being of SMTEsrsquoemployees Long-term relationships between employees and SMTEs minimiseturnover enabling a better performance while they reduce recruitment andtraining costs Empowerment would enable employees to be involved in themanagement of SMTEs and authorise them to respond more efficiently toconsumer requests while contributing to their job satisfaction Finally thesupport of the GNTO is vital for the long-term survival of SMTEs Apart fromthe improvement in infrastructure the GNTO is expected to hold the strategicresponsibility of the destination as well as to regulate the competition in orderto enable smaller enterprises to survive Incentive policies need to reflect thespecific requirements of each resort and enable development or improvementof certain types of enterprises The GNTO is also instrumental in attractingassistance from European development funds while it should also coordinatethe majority of Greek tourism promotional activity A promotional mix whichmaximises the effectiveness of the communication message needs to be drawnwhile budgets need to be available at the time consumers go through their deci-sion-making process in order to influence their choice of destination Finally theneed for the public sector to provide affordable financial resources for SMTEs ishighlighted by the EU (EC 1993b 73)

The third strategic direction for Greek tourism and SMTEs should be thesustainable development of destinations and local areas not only for the hostpopulation but also because this is vital for both consumer satisfaction and theprofitability of SMTEs Although in most cases SMTEs are unable to incorporatethese types of strategic objectives and tasks on their own they can initiate aframework of necessary actions for sustainable destination developmentthrough their associations Environmental protection is naturally the mostimportant strategic objective as consumersrsquo environmental consciousness hasbeen raised recently Carrying capacity limits should be identified and strictregulations and guidelines for tourism development need to be drawn A zoningsystem should be implemented in order to locate tourism activities according tothe geographical morphology of the destination In addition natural resourcesmanagement is necessary as tourism demand may exhaust the resources andespecially the water supplies The installation of sewage treatment systems andthe reduction of noise pollution should be considered especially for resortswhich suffer the consequences of these problems In addition infrastructureamelioration must be one of the primary objectives as it is an essential prerequi-site for both consumersrsquo satisfaction and SMTEsrsquo development The improve-ment of accessibility public services as well as telecommunications facilities is acrucial factor Transportation is also significant in increasing both consumersatisfaction and profitability of SMTEs as it determines whether consumers canaccess the destination easily while it also provides the first impression to tour-

472 Current Issues in Tourism

ists Improvements of timetables and services reliability increasing transporta-tion capacity and an enhancement of the fleet in terms of speed cleanliness andleisure facilities are all required Furthermore greater flexibility is needed bytransportation operators in order to meet demand needs Economic integrationcan improve the economic and social benefits of tourism in the region and theefficiency of SMTEs Ultimately tourism should be utilised as the catalyst andmajor stimulant for regional development Tourism enterprises should makeevery effort to use local raw materials and labour in order to maximise the multi-plier effects within Greece Diagonal integration of destinationsrsquo economy can beachieved by rearranging the goods and service production in order to supportthe tourism industry demand and thus minimise imports Finally SMTEs andtourism organisations need to offer a fair return-on-resources utilised back to thehost community A mechanism should be established in order to reinvest part ofthe revenues in the sustainability of resources provide services for the hostcommunity such as education training health services and generally ensureequity in distribution of wealth produced from local resources As the privatesector cannot be expected to behave altruistically towards the host communitythe GNTO and other public-sector departments should probably utilise regula-tion and taxation for this purpose

Conclusion Greek Tourism Needs a Long Overdue Master Planand Comprehensive Policy

The emerging international tourism competition the hitherto mass tourismorientation of the industry the transformation of demand the development ofthe volume of tourists visiting the dependence upon intermediaries for thedistribution of the tourism product in the major target markets the lack of a widerange of managerial skills by Greek tourism entrepreneurs and the lack of acomprehensive tourism policy or Master Plan by the public sector has led thecompetitiveness of Greece tourism to decline This has several unfavourableimplications for the profitability of the private sector as well as numerous nega-tive economic sociocultural and environmental impacts for the host populationAs a result the return on resources utilised for the production of Greek tourismservices is inadequate and the sustainability of Greece as a major tourism desti-nation is rapidly becoming doubtful Based on a strategic analysis the paper illu-minates the strategic weaknesses and structural problems of both the private andpublic sectors and demonstrates that a rationalisation of the tourism industry isurgently required Consequently a grand strategy as well as a wide range of stra-tegic directions objectives and tasks are proposed for both Greece as an entityand its SMTEs Although no quantitative targets are set in this paper it isexpected that each destination will analyse its resources and adapt its strategicplanning accordingly

The GNTO is urged to rationalise its strategy and to draw up a Master Plan anda comprehensive strategy for the entire country and for each resort where a strategywould be adopted based on quantifiable objectives and tasks Extensive researchneeds to be undertaken by using credible measurement methodologies such asInput-Output models and multipliers analysis not only for the economic but alsofor the social cultural and environmental impacts (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Buhalis

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 473

amp Fletcher 1995) A holistic tourism management system is demanded to facilitatethe development and implementation of the tourism strategy through funds allo-cation and monitoring land use control and examination of tourism public- andprivate-sector practices A thorough examination of tourism impacts in eachregion would be a prerequisite for tourism planning as it will establish andprovide scientific backing to strategic targets Komilis (1994 71) explains thatalthough the various levels of planning (sectoral nationalEU spatial or regional)are not mutually exclusive but rather complementary the regional level planningis more suitable for drawing sustainable strategies especially for areas withdissimilar needs like the Greek destinations The regional planning should lsquocon-tribute to the maximisation of regional development benefits in a way that utilisesand mobilises the regional resource base realises regional inter-sectoral linkagesand is compatible with regional economic interests societal values and environ-mental assetsrsquo It should also take into consideration the uniqueness of insulareconomies as well as the cultural and environmental resources of each particularregion and the complexity of rural and urban functions The planning processshould encourage the complementarity and coexistence of economic activitiesrather than promote sectoral separation and single-sector developments In addi-tion it needs to improve the balance between regional self-sufficiency anddependence upon external inputs and finally it should promote integration withinthe European Union

The public sector has to play its long overdue role as regulator coordinatorinfrastructure provider and promoter of the destination while a multi-integrationof the tourism industry with all the involved bodies in the preparation distribu-tion and delivery of the tourism experience needs to be ensured (Wanhill 1993Hall 1994 Skoulas 1994 10 Stavrou 1988 46) The private sector also has an impor-tant role to play as it should improve the Greek tourism industry competitivenessby improving its managerial and labour force competencies enhancing the qualityof services designing appropriate marketing mixes to attract and satisfy targetmarkets and cooperating closely in order to achieve synergies and economies ofscale (Briassoulis 1993 300 Cooper amp Buhalis 1992) To reverse the vicious circleof decreasing quality is of critical importance for the Greek tourism industryBetter quality services would stimulate the competitiveness of the Greek tourismproduct strengthen its position in the international market provide principalswith distribution channel power enhance its customersrsquo willingness to pay andenable the industry to increase its prices improving the profitability at the microlevel and the economic impacts of tourism at the macrolevel Ultimately a diagonalintegration strategy for both Greek tourism and SMTEs should aim to delightconsumers enhance the long-term prosperity of SMTEs and improve the welfareof the host populations The Olympic Games in 2004 offer a unique opportunity toregenerate and rebrand Greek tourism a cause which the entire industry shouldchampion

The AuthorDimitrios Buhalis is Senior Lecturer and course leader MSc in tourism at theUniversity of Surrey He holds a BBA from the University of the Aegean as wellas an MSc and a PhD in tourism management from the University of Surrey Hisresearch interests focus on information systems and technology strategic

474 Current Issues in Tourism

management distribution channels of tourism destination management andplanning and destination integrated computer information reservation manage-ment systems

AcknowledgementsThe author would like to acknowledge Prof C Cooper and Prof J Fletcher for

their invaluable contribution to this research Financial support from the SurreyResearch Group ConTours Consultants as well as field research sponsorshipsby the University of Surrey the Greek National Tourism Organisation and theUniversity of the Aegean are gratefully appreciated

Note1 An earlier version of this paper was published as a monograph PlanningDevelop-

ment by the International Centre for Research and Studies in TourismAix-en-Provence France

CorrespondenceAny correspondence should be directed to Dr Dimitrios Buhalis Senior

Lecturer in Business Information Management SMSSS University of SurreyGuildford GU2 7XH UK (dbuhalissurreyacuk)

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Economy (November) 228ndash38Berry C (1981) The employee as customer Journal of Retail Banking 3 33ndash40Boniface B and Cooper C (1994) The Geography of Travel and Tourism (2nd edn) London

HeinemannBriassoulis H (1993) Tourism in Greece In W Pompl and P Lavery (eds) Tourism in

Europe Structures and Developments (pp285ndash301) Oxford CAB InternationalBuckley P and Papadopoulos S (1986) Marketing Greek tourism The planning process

Tourism Management 7 86ndash100Buhalis D (1991) Strategic marketing and management for the small and medium

tourism enterprises in the periphery of the European Community A case study for theAegean islands in Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Buhalis D (1994) Information and telecommunications technologies as a strategic tool forsmall and medium tourism enterprises in the contemporary business environment InA Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 254ndash75)England J Wiley and Sons

Buhalis D (1995) The impact of information telecommunications technologies on tourismdistribution channels Implications for the small and medium sized tourismenterprisesrsquo strategic management and marketing PhD Dissertation University ofSurrey Guildford

Buhalis D (2000a) Marketing the competitive destination of the future TourismManagement (Special Issue ndash The Competitive Destination) 21 (1) 97ndash116

Buhalis D (2000b) (forthcoming) Athens Tourism-Travel Intelligence LondonBuhalis D (2000c) Relationships in the distribution channel of tourism Conflicts between

hoteliers and tour operators in the Mediterranean region Journal of InternationalHospitality Leisure and Tourism Adminstration 1 (1) 113ndash39

Buhalis D and Diamantis D (2001 forthcoming) Tourism development andsustainability on the Greek archipelagos In G Apostolopoulos and D Ioannides (eds)Tourism in the Mediterranean Routledge

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 475

Buhalis D and Fletcher J (1995) Environmental impacts on tourism destinations Aneconomic analysis In H Coccosis and P Nijkamp (eds) Sustainable Tourism Development(pp 3ndash25) London Avebury

Camison C Bigne E and Monfort VM (1994) The Spanish tourism industry Analysisof its strategies and the efficacy and achievements gained from them In A Seaton et al(eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 442ndash52) England JWiley and Sons

Castelberg-Koulma M (1991) Greek women and tourism Womenrsquos co-operatives as analternative form of organisation In N Redclift and T Sinclair (eds) Working WomenInternational Perspectives on Labour and Gender Ideology (pp 197ndash223) LondonRoutledge

Chitiris L (1991) Hotel Management (in Greek) Athens InterbooksCoccosis H and Parprairis A (1992) Assessing the interactions between environment

and tourism Case study of the island of Mykonos Paper presented in the IV WorldCongress of Regional Science International University of Balearic Islands Palma deMallorca 26ndash9 May

Conway H (1996) Greece Travel Weekly 1308 39ndash43Cooper C and Buhalis D (1992) Strategic management and marketing of small and

medium sized tourism enterprises in the Greek Aegean islands In R Teare D Adamsand S Messenger (eds) Managing Projects in Hospitality Organisations (pp 101ndash25)London Cassell

Daskalantonakis N (1994) Quality ndash The future of tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (3 July)D9

Divanis A (1994b) Tourism policy Left on its own luck (in Greek) XENIA (October)4ndash5

Donatos G and Zairis P (1991) Seasonality of foreign tourism in the Greek islands ofCrete Annals of Tourism Research 18 515ndash19

Douvitsas P (1994) Marketing Greece through British tour operators A futureperspective MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Drakatos C (1987) Seasonal concentration of tourism in Greece Annals of Tourism Research14 582ndash6

EC (1993a) Microeconomic Analysis of the Tourism Sector A study by the pH Group forEuropean Commission DGXXIII (September) Report XXIII30394-EN BrusselsEuropean Commission

EC (1993b) Growth competitiveness employment The challenges and ways forward intothe 21st century Bulletin of the European Communities Supplement 693 (White Paper)Luxembourg

Economist (1993) Last Chance Sisyphus A survey of Greece Economist (22 May) 2ndash22EIU (1986) Greece (pp 45ndash60) International tourist reports National Report No 3EIU (1990) Greece (pp 45ndash62) International tourist reports National Report No 4EIU (1993) Greece ndash Country Profile 1992ndash1993 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEIU (1994) Greece ndash Country Profile 1994ndash1995 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEpilogi (1994) Economic review ndash The Greek Economy 1994 (in Greek) AthensEuromonitor (1992) Tourism in Greece Market Research Europe (25 May) 51ndash63Fayos-Sola E (1992) A Strategic Outlook for Regional Tourism Policy The White Paper

on Valencian Tourism Tourism Management 13 45ndash9Fotis J (1992) Vacational lifestyle segmentation of tourists on the island of Rhodes

Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey GuildfordGilbert D (1984) The need for countries to differentiate their tourist product and how to

do so Seminar papers for Ministers of Tourism and Directors of National TouristOrganisations Tourism Managing for Results University of Surrey Guildford

Gilbert D (1990) Strategic marketing planning for national tourism Tourist Review 45 (1)18ndash27

GNTO (1985a) Survey of attributes of foreign tourists 1984ndash1985 (in Greek) Greek NationalStatistical Services Athens GNTO

476 Current Issues in Tourism

GNTO (1985b) EOT-Tourism rsquo85 Development ndash Participation ndash Quality of Life (in Greek)Greek National Statistical Services Athens GNTO

GNTO (1989a) Annual report 1988 ndash Forecast 89 Towards Quality Athens GNTOGNTO (1989b) The study of tourism promotion With special reference to the measures to

increase Japanese tourists to Greece Draft final report Japan InternationalCooperation Agency

GNTO (1993) Tourism towards the 2000 (in Greek) Greek National Tourism OrganisationAthens GNTO

Hall M (1994) Tourism and Politics Policy Power and Place J Wiley and SonsHorwath (annual) The Greek Hotel Industry (in Greek) Annual reports Pireus HorwathJenner P and Smith C (1993) Tourism in the Mediterranean Research report London

Economist Intelligence UnitJosephides N (1993) Environmental Concern ndash Whatrsquos In It for the Tourism Industry (pp 51ndash6)

Proceedings of the conference Tourism and the environment Challenges and choicesfor the 1990rsquos 16ndash17 November 1992 Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre LondonBrussels European Union

Josephides N (1994) Tourism analysis Presentation in Philoxenia international tourismexhibition Thessaloniki Greece

Josephides N (1995) A sorry state for beautiful Greece Travel Weekly 1261 (5 April)11Kalogeropoulou H (1993) Greece ndash Prospects for the tourism industry within the context

of the European Single Market of 1993 Tourism Review 48 (1) 2ndash4Kassimati K Thanopoulou M and Tsartas P (1994) Womenrsquos Employment in the

Tourist Sector Study of the Greek Labour Market and Identification of Future ProspectsDGV Equal Opportunities Unit Document V40994-EN European CommissionBrussels

Komilis P (1987) Spatial analysis of tourism in Greece (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planningand Economic Research

Komilis P (1992) The spatial structure of tourism and physical planning practices inGreece Paper presented in conference Tourism and environment Issues ofpolicyplanningmanagement 23ndash4 October University of the Aegean Dept ofEnvironment Lesvos

Komilis P (1993) Values in the Tourism Planning and Policy Making Process (pp 224ndash9)Proceedings of the conference Values and the environment 23ndash4 September GuildfordUniversity of Surrey

Komilis P (1994) Tourism and sustainable regional development In A Seaton et al (eds)Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 65ndash73) England JWiley andSons

Konsolas N and Zacharatos G (1993) Regionalization of tourism activity in GreeceProblems and policies In H Briassoulis and J Van der Straaten (eds) Tourism andEnvironment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 57ndash65) Dordrecht Kluer AcademicPublisher

Kousis M (1989) Tourism and the family in a rural Cretan community Annals of TourismResearch 16 318ndash32

Kriebardis S and Marmagiolis I (1990) Tourism Activity in Greece Problems and Perspectives(pp 45ndash54) (in Greek) Economic Report of Commercial Bank AprilndashJune AthensCommercial Bank

Ktenas S (1994) Hoteliers ask for 15 to 20 increases for 1995 (in Greek) TO BHMA (3July) D9

Ktenas S (1996) Crisis in Greek tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (7 April) D16Leontidou L (1991) Greece Prospects and contradictions of tourism in the 1980rsquos In AM

Williams and GJ Shaw (eds) Tourism and Economic Development Western EuropeanExperiences (2nd edn) (pp 94ndash106) London Belhaven Press

Logothetis M (1990) The Economy of Dodekanisos During 1988ndash1989 Developments andPerspectives (in Greek) Rhodes Regional association of municipalities of Dodekanisos

Logothetis M (1992) Touristiki Sigkiria (in Greek) Rhodes Institute of Tourist and HotelResearch

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 477

Loukissas P (1977) The impact of tourism on regional development A comparativeanalysis of the Greek islands PhD Dissertation Cornell University USA

Loukissas P (1982) Tourismrsquos regional development impacts A comparative analysis ofthe Greek islands Annals of Tourism Research 9 523ndash43

Marinos P (1983) Small island tourism-the case of Zakynthos in Greece TourismManagement 4 212ndash15

Moore R (1992) From shepherds to shopkeepers The development of tourism in a centralGreek town PhD Dissertation University of California at Berkeley USA

Moore R (1995) Gender and alcohol use in a Greek tourist town Annals of Tourism Research22 300ndash13

Mourdoukoutas P (1988) Seasonal employment seasonal unemployment andunemployment compensation The case of the tourism industry of the Greek islandsAmerican Journal of Economics and Sociology 47 315ndash29

NSSG (l983) Tourism Statistics 1981 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (l985) Tourism Statistics 1982ndash1983 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1987) Tourism Statistics 1984ndash1985 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1990) Tourism Statistics 1986ndash1987 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1993) Tourism Statistics 1988ndash1990 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceOECD (1992) Greece Tourism Policy and International Tourism in OECD Member Countries (pp

70ndash8) Paris OECDOttaway M (1992) Turtle power Sunday Times Travel and Style (28 June)Ottaway M (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 1 Sunday Times (17 January)

57ndash59Panagiotopoulou R (1990) The problem and perspectives of the European insular regions

(in Greek) Working paper University of the Aegean ChiosPapadimitris G (1988) Short run and long run prospects of the Greek tourism industry

PhD Dissertation University of Manchester ManchesterPapadopoulos S (1985) An economic analysis of foreign tourism in Greece An

examination of the growth and structure of foreign tourism to Greece 1960ndash1984 with aplanning model and marketing policy recommendations PhD Thesis University ofBradford Management Centre Bradford

Papadopoulos S (1987) Strategic marketing techniques in international tourismInternational Marketing Review (summer) 71ndash84

Papadopoulos S (1988a) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (1) 29ndash30

Papadopoulos S (1988b) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (2) 24ndash7

Papadopoulos S (1989) Greek marketing strategies in the Europe tourism market ServiceIndustries Journal 9 297ndash314

Papadopoulos S and Mirza H (1985) Foreign tourism in Greece An economic analysisTourism Management 6 125ndash37

Papandropoulos A (1995) The crisis in tourism is evident (in Greek) OikonomikosTachydromos (29 June) 26ndash8

Papanikos G (1999) The year 2004 olympic games and their influence upon the Greektourism (in Greek) ITEP (Research Institute for Tourism) Athens

Paulopoulos P (1999) The Size and Dynamics of the Tourism Sector (in Greek) ResearchInstitute for Tourism Athens

Peterson C (1990) Greece tackles overbuilding in tourism areas EnvironmentalConservation 17 166ndash8

Plevris V (1995) Alarm bells from the Hellenic Federation of Hotels (in Greek) XENIA128 (May) 6ndash7

Poon A (1987) Information technology and innovation in international tourism ndashimplications for the Caribbean tourism industry PhD thesis Science Policy ResearchUnit University of Sussex Brighton

Poon A (1988) Flexible specialisation and small size ndash the case of Caribbean tourism DRCDiscussion Paper 57 SPRU Brighton University of Sussex

478 Current Issues in Tourism

Poon A (1989) Competitive strategies for new tourism In C Cooper (ed) Progress inTourism Recreation and Hospitality Management (vol 1) (pp 91ndash102) London BelhavenPress

Poon A (1990) Flexible specialisation at small size The case of Caribbean tourism WorldDevelopment 18 109ndash23

Poon A (1993) Tourism Technology and Competitive Strategies Oxford CAB InternationalPorter M (1980) Competitive Strategy Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors

New York Free PressPorter M (1985) Competitive Advantage Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance New

York Free PressPorter M (1990) The Competitive Advantage of Nations New York Free PressPrurier E Sweeney A and Geen A (1993) Tourism and the environment The case of

Zakynthos Tourism Management 14 137ndash9Psoinos P (1994a) Research on the foreign touristsrsquo attributes in Greece (in Greek) Athens

Greek National Tourism OrganisationPsoinos P (1994b) Research on the attributes of foreigners who have never visited Greece (in

Greek) Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationRichter-Papaconstantinou C (1992) Tourism development of Rhodes Cahiers du Tourisme

(Serie B) 67 Aix en Provence Centre des Hautes Eacutetudes TouristiquesRomanos A (1998) Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites (in Greek) Athens

Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites SASETE (1993) Tourism Developments and problems (in Greek) Athens Association of Greek

Tourism EnterprisesSezer H and Harrison A (1994) Tourism in Greece and Turkey An economic view for

planners In A Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposiumpp74ndash84 England Wiley and Sons

Skoulas N (1985) Holidays and travel in the year 2035 ndash Contribution of the NationalTourist Organisation of Greece SDI Schriftey Wirtschafts und Unternehmenspolitik 40181ndash99

Skoulas N (1994) Quality improvement of tourism services (in Greek) Paper presentedin the conference Competitiveness of tourism enterprises ndash the role of quality 1 AprilHoliday Inn Athens Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises

Smith C and Jenner P (1995) Greece International Tourism Reports 3 5ndash21Stavrou S (1978) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Kos Island (in Greek) Research and

Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationStavrou S (1979) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Mykonos and Naxos Islands (in

Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1980) Research on Tourism Awareness on the Islands Kalymnos and Leros (in Greek)Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1984) Tourism Development in Greece during 1969ndash1982 (in Greek) Research andDevelopment Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986a) Research for the Characteristics of Foreign Tourist Demand in Greece in theYears 8485 (in Greek) Research Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1986b) Research on the Tourism Awareness on Paros Santorini Kythira Islands (inGreek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986c) Critical Review of Tourism Activity in the Years 8385 (in Greek) Researchand Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1988) Tourism in the Northern Aegean Islands Presentation of GNTO for the TourismDevelopment of the Periphery (in Greek) Proceedings of the first conference for thedevelopment of the Northern Aegean islands Homereum cultural centre Chios 11November Chios Periphery of Northern Aegean islands

Stavrou S (1989a) GNTO Presentation for the Tourism Development Possibilities for theSouthern Aegean Islands (in Greek) Conference for the development of Southern Aegean

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 479

islands Syros 30 September ndash 2 OctoberStavrou S (1989b) The Contribution of the Development Law 126282 in the Development of the

Country (in Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A5 Athens GreekNational Tourism Organisation

Stereopoulos N (1995) It is regarded ideal it became problematic (in Greek) OikonomikosTachidromos (21 December) 151ndash3

Touloupas P (1996) Greece as a tourist destination for the British tour operators Ananalysis from a marketing perspective in the particular context of the United KingdomMSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Tourismos ke Oikonomia (1993) 20 years 1973ndash1993 (in Greek) Special Issue AthensTourismos ke Oikonomia (1994) ICAP tourism enterprises Drastic reduction of loses in 1993

(in Greek) December 14ndash15Touristiki Agora (various issues) (Monthly tourism industry periodical in Greek) Business

Press AthensTruett D and Truett L (1987) The response of tourism to international economic

conditions Greece Mexico and Spain Journal of Developing Areas 21 177ndash90Tsartas P (1989) Socioeconomic Impacts of Tourism Development in Cyclades Region with Special

Reference on Ios and Serifos Islands During 1950ndash1980 (in Greek) Athens National Centrefor Social Research

Tsartas P (1992) Socioeconomic impacts of tourism on two Greek isles Annals of TourismResearch 19 516ndash33

Van Den Bergh J (1993) Tourism development and natural environment Aneconomicndashecological model for the Sporades islands In H Briassoulis and J Van DerStraaten (eds) Tourism and Environment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 67ndash83)Dordrecht Kluer Academic Publishers

Velissariou E (1991) Die Wirtschaftlichen Effekte des Tourismus Dargestell am Beispiel Kretas(The Economic Impacts of Tourism on Crete) PhD Dissertation University of MunichFrankfurt Peter Lang

Vernikos N (1987) The study of Mediterranean small islands Emerging theoreticalissues Ekistics 54 (323ndash4) 101ndash9

Wanhill S (1993) Government organisations In C Cooper J Fletcher D Gilbert and SWanhill (eds) Tourism Principle and Practice (pp 145ndash60) London Pitman

Wickens D (1994) Consumption of the authentic The hedonistic tourist in Greece In ASeaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 819ndash25)England JWiley and Sons

Wickens E (2000) Rethinking touristsrsquo experiences In M Robinson et al (eds) MotivationsBehaviour and Tourist Types (pp 455ndash72) Business Education Publishers Sunderland

Wickers D (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 2 Sunday Times 57ndash510Wilkinson PF (1989) Strategies for tourism in islands microstates Annals of Tourism

Research 16 153ndash77XENIA (various issues) (Monthly bulletin of the Greek Hotel Chamber in Greek) AthensZacharatos G (1984) Tourismus und Wirtschafts-Struktur Dargestellt am Beispiel

Griechenlands Europaische Hochschulschriften Reihex Band 7 Frankfurt am MainZacharatos G (1986) Tourism consumption (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planning and

Economic ResearchZacharatos G (1988) The simplistic empiricism Tourism policy and the time of crisis

(1992) (in Greek) Sychrona Themata 11 (May) 21ndash6Zacharatos G (1989) The problems and perspectives of tourism in Greece (in Greek) In H

Katsoulis T Giannitsis and P Kazakos (eds) Politics and Society Economy and ForeignRelationships (pp 273ndash89) Athens Papazisis

Zacharatos G (1993) The necessity of multimedia use in the tourism education in Greece(in Greek) Paper presented at the international conference Overcomingisolation-telematics and regional development University of the Aegean Chios 30April ndash 2 May

480 Current Issues in Tourism

Page 9: Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challengescore.ac.uk/download/pdf/101686.pdf · Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challenges Dimitrios Buhalis School of Management

Cou

ntry

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

19

99

Fin

lan

d21

613

117

209

911

651

813

743

410

255

312

083

714

846

114

933

718

897

1O

ther

Eu

rop

ean

809

9510

439

420

537

325

209

328

8280

128

575

4134

967

370

63T

otal

EU

485

017

46

521

010

663

629

17

519

381

785

578

46

592

701

684

321

67

663

483

878

937

1T

otal

Eu

rop

e7

356

995

841

966

38

470

616

986

5986

936

382

98

419

060

927

776

210

174

303

113

200

13Ja

pan

579

0210

968

089

907

953

6789

457

871

3585

029

871

3083

971

Isra

el36

989

350

6545

815

414

0554

264

749

8082

386

894

0215

498

7L

eban

on

Syri

a15

637

159

2214

924

139

7415

651

183

5716

165

177

9818

347

Tu

rkey

535

3173

650

149

390

733

8849

018

474

1644

741

698

7580

502

Iran

422

66

794

761

56

458

596

05

319

373

03

848

380

9O

ther

Mid

dle

Eas

t5

474

804

88

014

562

37

919

124

108

300

638

27

854

Oth

er A

sian

448

5955

467

545

0663

611

111

547

167

380

145

515

841

3984

806

Tot

al A

sia

218

618

304

626

370

171

998

2633

381

641

299

738

586

635

857

443

427

6E

gyp

tSu

dan

200

2019

525

196

0918

540

214

4919

865

193

6317

604

240

45So

uth

Afr

ica

135

2716

944

146

8712

559

120

628

909

874

87

339

101

96O

ther

Afr

ica

179

4814

660

142

4212

145

151

7514

797

143

2413

795

137

99T

otal

Afr

ica

514

9551

129

485

3843

244

486

8643

571

424

3538

738

480

40A

rgen

tina

509

28

655

879

411

530

970

38

176

440

84

238

508

9B

razi

l8

523

899

98

555

107

4410

851

966

18

062

629

94

531

Mex

ico

364

26

535

533

65

318

453

93

385

225

82

052

420

0U

SA80

429

278

941

256

719

270

777

239

684

222

130

240

555

219

362

229

314

Can

ada

471

0159

807

514

7256

650

503

0943

966

477

2250

512

516

80O

ther

Am

eric

an10

983

152

5412

468

904

38

694

108

2611

052

904

410

447

Tot

al A

mer

ica

255

770

378

191

343

344

364

062

323

780

298

144

314

057

291

507

305

261

Au

stra

lia66

566

696

5856

064

615

5654

453

543

1146

692

427

9650

516

Oth

er O

cean

ic8

489

803

56

930

726

85

613

521

23

513

101

285

982

Tot

al O

cean

ia75

055

776

9362

994

688

2460

066

595

2350

205

529

2456

498

Form

er U

SSR

781

9410

005

811

716

0T

otal

803

612

79

331

360

941

282

310

641

942

101

301

779

233

295

100

703

2510

916

046

216

408

8C

ruis

es23

513

142

465

250

044

458

891

258

196

854

876

651

816

444

777

644

184

0G

ran

d to

tal

827

125

89

756

012

991

326

711

230

854

107

121

459

782

061

105

884

8911

363

822

126

059

28

Fo

rmer

Yu

gosl

av R

epu

blic

of

Mac

edon

iaSo

urce

Gre

ek N

atio

nal

Tou

rism

Org

anis

atio

n a

nd N

atio

nal S

tati

stic

al S

ervi

ce o

f G

reec

e

448 Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges

Tourism supply in Greek tourismA modern industry has emerged since the 1950s to cater for the tourism

demand The Greek tourism product is an amalgam of natural cultural and heri-tage attractions spread throughout the country as well as a wide variety of servicesoffered predominantly by SMTEs Moreover 15000 miles of coastline 2500islands an average of 300 sunny days annually a unique fauna and flora as well asclimatic superiority with mild winters and warm summers are some of its naturalattractions The Greek civilisation of more than 3500 years also provides plentifulcultural heritage throughout the country Some rsquo25000 registered and protectedmonuments and archaeological sites numerous museums and about 500 charac-teristic traditional settlementsrsquo offer a unique blend of tourist attractions (Buckleyamp Papadopoulos 1986 96 EIU 1986) As far as amenities are concerned a plethoraof SMTEs provide the entire variety of services

In January 2000 a total of 8100 official accommodation establishments with atotal capacity of almost 600000 beds are provided in different categories asdemonstrated in Table 4 Another 450000 beds are provided by some 28000secondary accommodation establishments such as lsquorooms to letrsquo and self-cateringapartments often referred to as lsquoparahoteleriarsquo In addition 11000 beds in cruiseliners and 12000 in yachts as well as 329 camping sites with 30354 pitches and83000 camping spaces accommodate all types of demand (GNTO) Eurostat esti-mates that about 20000 restaurants operate in Greece while a countless number ofcatering and entertainment establishments are on offer Furthermore some 7000travel agencies 1500 coach rental and 4000 car rental firms are estimated to operatethroughout the country (EC 1993a)

Accessibility is facilitated through 32 airports most of which can receive directinternational charter flights An extensive domestic scheduled flights network isprovided by Olympic Airways as well as by newly established private carrierswhich take advantage of the increasingly deregulated skies The proliferation ofprivate airlines (eg Aegean Cronus Axon Air Greece) during the last five yearsand the price wars with the state-owned Olympic Airways have increased bothdomestic and international traffic Moreover a complex network of sea road andrail transport enables passenger transportation throughout the country(Briassoulis 1993 291) During the last decade there has been a remarkableimprovement to the quality and ability of vessels as the Greek shipping industryprepares for the lifting of cabotage in 2002 which will enable European shippinglines to operate on Greek routes However recent tragedies involving olderGreek ferries pressurised the Ministry of Merchant Marine to take action in orderto improve the safety and security of the vessels and to ensure the adequate train-ing of crews In addition Piraeus port needs the development of a modernpassenger terminal to provide adequate service

Unfortunately the Greek infrastructure is incapable of supporting the tourismsuperstructure growth of the last decades and thus telecommunications transpor-tation police and health services water supply and sewage systems are underextreme pressure in the summer peak months to satisfy the demand density(Konsolas amp Zacharatos 1993 63 and EIU 1990 61) Nevertheless during the lastdecade several major projects have been initiated including the Metro and the newairport in Athens a wide network of motorways and the gradual development of

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 449

Tab

le 4

Acc

omm

odat

ion

esta

blis

hm

ent b

y re

gion

and

cat

egor

y in

199

9

Tot

alLu

xury

A C

ateg

ory

B C

ateg

ory

Reg

ion

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Ster

ea1

236

493

9892

877

225

368

101

4480

780

514

644

191

120

5722

605

Pel

opon

isos

660

230

1043

846

466

11

377

554

889

925

012

96

825

130

22Io

nio

595

332

8663

683

61

340

255

378

930

817

911

139

894

617

107

Ipir

os24

24

868

938

51

5411

611

446

884

381

478

284

4N

orth

ern

Aeg

ean

550

108

7220

792

450

11

090

231

364

257

498

374

97

125

Cre

te1

214

604

8911

396

021

508

510

034

166

188

9335

608

263

139

9826

904

Dod

ekan

isa

887

545

0710

436

68

324

26

227

127

224

8442

924

201

106

0120

161

Cyc

lad

es73

718

406

352

483

176

341

963

108

587

014

03

824

731

7T

hes

saly

575

119

9522

939

439

978

150

150

52

980

672

626

494

9M

aced

onia

983

335

1372

943

41

046

184

255

231

913

698

168

100

3619

140

Th

race

702

470

467

50

00

418

134

522

110

22

103

Tot

al7

749

302

814

584

714

7717

872

345

0574

572

302

146

688

145

675

242

143

277

C C

ateg

ory

D C

ateg

ory

E C

ateg

ory

Reg

ion

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Ster

ea60

318

193

339

6519

43

712

703

814

62

263

448

1P

elop

onis

os32

68

818

166

4894

135

02

625

4246

792

4Io

nio

380

119

2822

722

571

114

212

136

650

126

9Ip

iros

992

362

451

519

356

682

1417

234

4N

orth

ern

Aeg

ean

199

442

78

400

2840

477

333

427

830

Cre

te67

820

123

369

0397

163

12

995

5175

91

516

Dod

ekan

isa

495

163

7530

686

611

076

293

956

729

142

9C

ycla

des

367

835

715

977

100

152

22

922

104

141

92

821

Th

essa

ly24

15

723

107

7853

962

186

159

780

159

0M

aced

onia

491

124

0723

497

351

687

013

066

6083

51

700

Th

race

2886

81

614

1125

949

35

6012

0T

otal

390

710

958

120

570

51

065

192

5637

515

606

856

117

024

Sour

ce G

NT

O D

ept o

f Acc

omm

odat

ion

Est

abli

shm

ents

450 Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges

the railtrack These developments will change the entire infrastructure of thecountry

The implementation of the Greek national tourism policy is supervised by theGreek National Tourism Organisation (GNTO) and the Ministry of TourismThe two organisations share the responsibilities for planning implementationand promotion of Greek tourism at national and regional level as well as coordi-nating the involvement of the public and private sectors in all tourism activitiesPublic investment in commercial facilities was utilised in the early days ofGreek tourism to stimulate both tourism demand and the private sectorrsquos confi-dence to invest The GNTO operates 21 regional and 25 overseas offices in 18countries worldwide (Konsolas amp Zacharatos 1993 59 Leontidou 1991Briassoulis 1993)

The Greek tourism product is distributed to the international market predomi-nantly through European tour operators which organise package holidays andinclude resorts in their programmes Some 800 tour operators distribute the Greektourism product More than 7000 incoming travel agencies often act as tour opera-torsrsquo handling agencies while providing a variety of tourism services such asorganisation of excursions currency exchange and accommodation bookingsdirectly to consumers They usually participate in negotiations between tour oper-ators and accommodation establishments as well as cooperate with tour operatorsrsquorepresentatives at destinations In addition the GNTO operates several informa-tion offices at major resorts whilst several local authorities provide tourist infor-mation as well as distribute promotional material and make local bookings Theglobal GNTO network distributes information material to potential tourists aswell as undertakes all the marketing and public relations functions both for indi-vidual and institutional customers

SWOT analysis for Greek tourism and small and medium-sized tourismenterprises

A SWOT analysis is undertaken for the Greek tourism as well as its SMTEs inorder to assess their present and projected competitiveness based on strategicmanagement research undertaken for the Aegean islands (Buhalis 1991 Cooperamp Buhalis 1992) The interrelations between SMTEs and destinations are quiteapparent illustrating that a destinationsrsquo weaknesses and threats are reflected inthe SMTEsrsquo competitiveness and vice versa As illustrated in Table 5 the SWOTanalysis concentrates on the strategic rather than operational strengths andweaknesses of SMTEs

As far as strengths of the Greek tourism and SMTEs are concerned their flexi-bility and ability to tailor products to consumersrsquo needs are of great importanceto their existence SMTEs can identify profitable niches in the market establishtheir requirements and attempt to satisfy specialised needs Direct control byentrepreneurs permits quick and efficient managerial reaction to external chal-lenges Fewer hierarchical levels facilitate closer and more effective control overthe service delivery process enabling personal services to customers In addi-tion archaeological heritage natural and cultural resources as well as the localcharacter are also significant assets As a result tourists benefit from localresources which are ideally situated to offer special-interest holidays SMTEsalso capitalise on personal relationships with consumers suppliers labour and

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 451

the entire tourism industry in general Their size enables the provision of apersonal finish to all products provided while it is not unusual for customers tobecome friends and to be treated accordingly Similarly strong relations withemployees support labour loyalty and low turnover The proprietorrsquos family isnormally directly involved with every aspect of the business reacting efficientlyand promptly to any problem arising Their involvement in running the enter-prise provides considerable benefits especially in having a very flexiblemulti-skilled and dedicated workforce which tolerates unsociable workingschedules Family members feel committed to the long-term prosperity of theenterprise and often do not distinguish between their professional and familylife Thus a better matching between tourism demand and SMTEsrsquo supply isachieved

A close-up of the weaknesses of Greek tourism and SMTEs is critical for under-standing the ability of the industry to compete in the global tourism arenaAlthough entrepreneurs are normally an asset it seems that a number of manage-

452 Current Issues in Tourism

Table 5 Greek tourism and SMTEsrsquo SWOT analysis

Strengths

Flexibility

Tailor-made product delivery

Entrepreneurial activity

Family involvement

Natural and cultural resources

Strong local character

Personalised relationships

Labour loyalty and low turnover

Weaknesses

Management

Marketing

Information technologies illiteracy

Dependence upon tour operators

Supporting markets

Lack of economies of scale

Human resources management

Education and training

Transportation and accessibility

Financial management and resources

Seasonality

Lack of standardisation

Lack of quality assurances

Opportunities

European Union support

European redistribution of labour

Increase in tourism demand size

Trends in tourism demand

Low cost of living in periphery

Information technology

Infrastructure development

Transportation

Olympic Games

Threats

Environmental degradation

Concentration and globalisation

Oversupply

Lack of visibility in CRSs

Infrastructure

Warsterrorism

Political intervention

Source Adapted from Buhalis 1991 60c and Cooper and Buhalis 1992 108

rial problems often arise Lack of strategic and operational managementknow-how generates inconsistency in the creation and delivery of tourism prod-ucts This has direct implications for consumersrsquo satisfaction and the projectedimage of the industry There is often a complete lack of strategic vision and enter-prises are often treated as an extension of proprietorsrsquo domestic environmentEntrepreneurs recruit family members and relatives as personnel and supplierseven though more appropriatequalified alternatives can be found in the market-place Therefore the management of SMTEs clearly projects the proprietorrsquosfamily life-style and decision-making processes onto an enterprise Marketing isanother significant weakness for most entrepreneurs and Greek resorts as they areoften completely unaware of the techniques available and thus follow a prod-uct-oriented rather than a consumer-orientated approach Consequently uncoor-dinated isolated trouble-shooting marketing activities are occasionallyundertaken rather than a consistent and well-planned marketing campaign Lackof marketing research debilitates knowledge of consumersrsquo needs and makes itdifficult to identify methods for improving services in order to meet consumersrsquoexpectations Inability to finance and execute advertising campaigns and otherpromotional techniques reduces their visibility in their markets These weak-nesses in combination with the fact that many entrepreneurs are unfamiliar withinformation technology (IT) add to the problems of SMTEs in promoting them-selves effectively Consequently both Greek SMTEs and destinations sufferfrom over-dependence on the tourism distribution channels to promote anddistribute their product In particular intermediaries and especially tour opera-tors have enormous power within the channel and are capable of determiningthe Greek tourism product marketing distribution and pricing mixes (Buhalis1995) Hence the marketing campaign and the visibility of Greek tourism to itsmain target markets are often determined by the coverage space photographsand description in tour operatorsrsquo brochures European tour operators alsocontrol accessibility to Mediterranean or long-haul destinations as they ownmost charter airlines which provide direct and inexpensive flights to these desti-nations

As most resorts are located in peripheral areas there is usually little economicdevelopment in the supplying sectors Therefore remote destinations have toimport essential raw and construction materials from elsewhere while SMTEsoften face transportation delivery and purchasing problems and excessivetransportation costs Moreover lack of economies of scale in purchasing rawmaterial low bargaining power and lack of advanced facilities are additionaloperational disadvantages This essentially means that SMTEs have to payhigher prices for products than their larger counterparts Lack of specialisedpersonnel and inadequate training procedures mean that human resourcesmanagement is a major weakness of Greek tourism In most SMTEs personnelhave to cover a wide range of positions a loose job description is usuallyprovided and multi-skilled personnel are required The labour turnover due tothe seasonality of the tourism industry reduces the availability of qualified andexperienced personnel and makes tourism product delivery not only variablebut also unprofessional The small size of operation provides little opportunityfor the division of tasks professional employees and proper training Since noquality standards are introduced service delivery varies according to the occu-

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 453

pancy service provider and timing Transportation and accessibility to remotedestinations may also be a weakness as most enterprises are located in periph-eral and often inaccessible regions SMTEs tend to feel frustrated because theyare unable to attract consumers simply because they cannot provide conve-nient reliable and affordable transportation The formulation of charter aircarriers by destination areas such as Turkey and Spain as well as the emergingderegulation policies in the European Union may diminish this problem in thenear future Moreover SMTEs face significant financial constraints as on theone hand they are required to invest in fixed assets at the beginning of theiroperations and on the other hand there is a discrimination against them byfinancial institutions since they normally have very few assets Consequentlythey are forced to accept unfavourable financial deals Finally the Greek tour-ism industry and SMTEs suffer from seasonality problems and have to produceadequate income within a limited period every year Lack of diversified invest-ment in other economic activities forces proprietors to work intensively in thepeak months and rest in the off-peak months while their pay-back period isinevitably unfavourable As the tourism industry becomes more professionalembraces quality management and responds to an increasingly discerningcustomer SMTEsrsquo typical lack of business expertise and minimal standardisa-tion may become an increasing liability especially for some target markets(Cooper amp Buhalis 1992 102)

Recent developments in the external environment present numerous opportu-nities for the Greek tourism industry and SMTEs Firstly the European Uniontakes several actions to support small and medium-sized enterprises (EC 1993b72) while it supports infrastructure development of peripheral regions andcontributes significantly to the prosperity of SMTEs The country is going througha major transformation as a result of several public projects supported by theEuropean Commission including the Attico Metro the new Athens Airport thedevelopment of the peripheral motorway Elefsina-Spata and the peripheralmotorway of Immitos The unification of the heritage sites and thepedestrianisation of the Athens city centre aims to develop an open archaeologi-cal park and deal with the traffic and pollution problems The Olympic Games in2004 provide a unique challenge and opportunity for the city and the country torebrand and redevelop itself and demonstrate its unparalleled heritage andcultural resources The Games also provide the resources and funding as well asa lsquodeadlinersquo for several infrastructural projects that were already scheduled butperhaps delayed In addition several projects are anticipated to improve thesuperstructure of the industry through both renovation of existing propertiesand through the development of new hotels and other facilities It is anticipatedthat the regeneration of the city and the country in general will provide majoropportunities for the attractiveness and competitiveness of the tourism industry(Buhalis 2000b Papanikos 1999 Romanos 1998)

It is anticipated that there will be a gradual redistribution of Europeanlabour providing support for each region to specialise in the production ofgoods and services where it can achieve competitive advantages Traditionallyremote and insular destinations where most Greek resorts and SMTEs arebased achieve a competitive advantage in tourism and therefore greatersupport is anticipated Greek tourism benefits from the continuous growth of

454 Current Issues in Tourism

global tourism demand as more people require holiday services while SMTEsare expected to increase their share as they tend to satisfy the emerging special-ised and sophisticated demand better than larger organisations Informationand telecommunication technologies can provide strategic tools for tourismdestinations and SMTEs enabling them to manage their product more effi-ciently disseminate information and establish a distribution mechanismthrough destination management systems (Buhalis 1994) New technologiesalso offer opportunities for developing innovative tourism products such asteleworking for tourists who would like to spend time working during theirstay at the destination Finally Greek tourism tends to achieve a cost advan-tage since it employs unpaid family members and operates in inexpensiveperipheral regions which often have a lower cost of living in comparison withmetropolitan areas

In terms of external threats environmental degradation through inappropriatewaste management and excessive usage of natural resources can be observedLack of know-how and funds effectively increases environmental problemsConsequently several resorts suffer severe damage while entrepreneurs and localauthorities feel powerless to take remedial measures Moreover oversupply oftourism service providers and lack of well-defined carrying capacity limits inseveral destinations have placed numerous Greek resorts and SMTEs in a disad-vantaged position as they cannot achieve sufficient income Similarly the concen-tration of power in fewer tourism industry enterprises through emergingglobalisation also threatens the ability of Greek SMTEs to survive as internationalvertically integrated tourism organisations acquire control over local enterprisesThe dependence upon channel partners for the promotion and distribution ofGreek tourism is exaggerated by the relatively low presence of Greek suppliers inthe major CRSs (Computer Reservation Systems) which is caused by the seasonal-ity and scale of the tourism production on the one hand and the tariffs of thesesystems on the other The issue of infrastructure is closely related to the oversup-ply which attracts higher demand than planned Destinations often have limitedinfrastructure provisions which fail to follow the pace of development generatingpressure on the existing inadequate facilities Finally the tourism industry suffersfrom its geographical proximity to the Balkans and the Middle East and as a conse-quence is often associated by consumers with wars and terrorism activities Greektourism and SMTEs have limited means of dealing with unfavourable situationsand thus are more vulnerable to their impacts Political intervention perhapsthrough the public sector decisions and the legislator framework often damagesthe prosperity of SMTEs As SMTEs have little lobbying power they have limitedinfluence over political decisions which determine their welfare

The SWOT analysis demonstrates quite clearly that the Greek tourism indus-try faces a wide range of problems and threats which will jeopardise its ability toprovide suitable tourism products in the future as well as its ability to make acontribution to the national welfare However several opportunities and chal-lenges emerge and they need to be addressed in order to strengthen the competi-tiveness of the industry Further analysis is therefore required in order to assessthe factors which generate these problems and also to identify ways to respond tothe challenges they present

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 455

Why Are We There and What Are the Implications StructuralProblems and Challenges

Despite its popularity and growth over the last 40 years the Greek tourismindustry has reached a stage where both its potential and competitiveness havebecome questionable

The seemingly unstoppable growth of this market contributed to a degreeof complacency which has led to Greece repeating some of the errors madein Spain Rapid price increases mean the country is no longer perceived bymass market clients as cheap in relation to comparable destinations in theMediterranean but much of the countryrsquos tourism infrastructure hastilybuilt in response to demand for cheap accommodation does not meet theneeds of a market less sensitive to price and more concerned with qualityand value for money (EIU 1990 45)

Richter-Papaconstantinou (1992 27) explains that tourism development inRhodes lsquotakes place without any Master Plan of the area respect of the landscapeand environment analysis whether there is demand and what the demand isafter regard to what is happening in similar situationsrsquo At the micro level theEuropean travel trade and intermediaries warn that the Greek tourism product isno longer competitive (Conway 1996 41 Touloupas 1996 Douvitsas 1994)whilst Chitiris (1991 148ndash150) outlines a range of managerial problems andmistakes in Greek resort hotels which diminish the quality of the tourismservices Hence unless the Greek tourism industry addresses a number of criticalissues immediately its future might be seriously jeopardised resulting in apotential catastrophe of the national economy The major structural problemsand challenges for the Greek tourism product can be summarised in Table 6

As a result Greece fails to attract the desired lsquohigh-quality high-expenditurersquotourists as it is increasingly unable to satisfy their requirements (Conway 199641) The deterioration of the tourism product and image leads to a lower willing-ness-to-pay by consumers which consequently leads to a further drop in qualityas the industry attempts to attract customers with lower prices This is a viciousspiral which has been destroying the essence of developing tourism in severalMediterranean destinations The concentration of bargaining power in Euro-pean distribution intermediaries and tour operators in particular in combina-tion with the inability of the Greek tourism industry to promote itself andestablish effective distribution mechanisms inevitably minimises the profitmargins of SMTEs and their ability to yield decent returns on their investmentAs a result touristsrsquo expenditure per capita in Greece gradually deteriorateswhile their volume increases (SETE 1993 35)

Thus the tourism policy often consisted in a lsquofreezingrsquo of the selling price ofthe tourist package abroad a measure which combined with the devalua-tion of the drachma and its continuous parity losses succeeded in securing alsquofictitious competitivenessrsquo for the Greek package This competitivenesshowever was seriously threatened each time there was an attempt at asubstantial increase because of important rises in cost elements(Kalogeropoulou 1993 2)

456 Current Issues in Tourism

The above issues illustrate that the Greek tourism product becomes increas-ingly incompetent Hence the inadequate lsquoproductrsquo lsquopromotionrsquo and lsquoplacersquo(distribution) elements of the tourism marketing mix reduce the willingness ofprospective consumers to pay and has disastrous implications for the pricingpolicies deteriorating the profitability of the SMTEs and the tourism economicimpacts on the destination

Ultimately the economic impacts of tourism in Greece become debatableespecially due to the inadequacy of tourism economic research and data whilethe destination has to bear the environmental social and cultural decay Encour-agingly articles in recent tourism industry publications acknowledge these chal-lenges and appreciate the dangers urging both the private and public sector totake action (Touristiki Agora Tourismos ke Oikonomia Travel News XENIA) as well

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 457

Table 6 Structural problems and challenges

Image of Greece as cheap simple unsophisticated undifferentiated sun-seadestination

Gradual deterioration of tourism product and lack of reinvestment in improvements

Increase of tourism arrivals but decrease of tourism expenditure per capita

Inadequacy of the Greek planning process

Dependence upon major tour operators for promotion and distribution

Plethora of anarchically developed and behaving SMTEs aiming at short-termprofitability

Inappropriate and ill-timed marketing campaign which has little effectiveness

Inadequacy of infrastructure to serve the ever-expanding demand

Lack of coordination at the destination and disrespect for touristsrsquo needs

Lack ofprofessionalism and training in both state andprivate tourism establishments

Individualistic behaviour by SMTEs and unwillingness to cooperate on adestination basis

Unsuccessful and inconsistent programmes of government intervention

Almost unregulated environment with nearly complete lack of control

Political intervention which allows exception policies and employment of unquali-fied staff

Development of tourism as a single regional development option

Oversupply of tourism amenities and fierce price competition

Failure of the private sector to invest in long-term projects

Deterioration of natural social and cultural resources

SMTEsrsquo inability to resist in global concentration of the tourism industry

Inadequate distribution mechanisms which generate overdependence onintermediaries

Failure of both the private and public sectors to learn from internationally gainedexperience in tourism development and marketing

Lack of tourism research to identify the impacts of tourism

Negligence with regard to new tourism demand challenges

as several influential members of the tourism industry (Josephides 1993 19941995 Skoulas 1994 Daskalantonakis 1994 Divanis 1994b Plevris 1995Papandropoulos 1995)

Political intervention limited research lack of tourism policy andplanning

Perhaps the largest obstacle in developing a competitive tourism industry inGreece has been the inconsistent and irrational political intervention Unfortunatelytourism has extensively been utilised as a political vehicle where each govern-ment uses it to gratify its political needs and friends This can be experienced in alllevels of recruitment in the public sector institutions as a change of government oreven minister results in immense changes throughout the GNTO as well as tomajor policies and regulations Thus in the last 35 years (since 1966) the leadershipof the GNTO has changed 28 times allowing each General Secretary to stay inoffice for an average of 138 months Political allies of each government use politi-cal pressure and intensive lobbying in order to achieve amendments in regula-tions incentive policies and business environment Hence the short-termprofitability and commercial interests of the friends and political allies of eachgovernment often overrule the long-term strategy and set an improper examplefor the entire industry These practices result in a great inconsistency in Greek tour-ism policy and disrupt its rationalisation Therefore a lsquodepolitisation of Greektourismrsquo towards a professionally managed public sector guided through acompromised strategic Master Plan is urgently required (Josephides 1995)

The limited existing scientific tourism research highlights the lack of comprehen-sive examination of tourism impacts in Greece while it illustrates that tourismpolicy is based on insufficient documentation (Zacharatos 1989 278 and 1988 22)Public sector research is almost non-existant while the authorities seem uninter-ested in consulting the Greek-tourism research produced by academics (for exam-ple Zacharatos 1984 1986 Komilis 1987 Loukissas 1977 Papadimitris 1988Papadopoulos 1985 Moore 1992 Tsartas 1989 Velissariou 1991 Fotis 1992Buhalis 1991 1995 2000c Buhalis amp Diamantis 2000) or the international tourismlsquobody of knowledgersquo (Zacharatos 1988 24) In addition tourism consumptionbeing characterised as a particular category of private consumption in the nationalaccounts it fails to reflect the real tourism impact on each economic sector Thusthe process of collecting information for tourism expenditure in Greece preventsthe assessment of tourism expenditure impacts on the national and regional econ-omy and therefore cannot be used in drawing scientifically founded tourismpolicy (Zacharatos 1989 277 Konsolas amp Zacharatos 1993 58) Consequentlytourism policy follows conventional wisdom and concentrates on attracting alarger volume of tourists ignoring scientific methods to assess the economicsocial cultural and environmental impacts of each tourism segment assumingthat the greater the tourism volume the better for the national economy

The lack of a comprehensive and rational tourism policy and planning or a MasterPlan for Greek tourism is primarily responsible for the aforementioned structuralproblems Policy is usually based on unsubstantiated statements published by theTourism Ministry or the GNTO (GNTO 1985b 1989a 1993) often as pre-electionpromotional material In essence Greek authorities attempt to intervene aiming tostimulate arrivals as well as to facilitate the operation and development of the

458 Current Issues in Tourism

tourism industry Based on the assumption that tourism arrivals to Greece wouldincrease indefinitely the general directions of the Greek tourism policy focusalmost invariably on the targets summarised in Table 7 (Euromonitor 1992 61GNTO 1989b 41 and 1993 1 OECD 1992 70 Skoulas 1985 194 Leontidou 199188ndash91 Apostolopoulos 1990 Zacharatos 1989 275 and 1988 21)

However as these tasks are not quantified and there is no time schedule orplanning process for their achievement it is inevitable that their implementationand assessment is subject to irrationalities and personal judgement Occa-sionally incentives for tourism development responses to lobbying from tour-ism-related associations and regions training programmes and generallegislation attempt to direct the Greek tourism industry towards the describedpolicy directions In addition an inconsistent and untargeted promotionalcampaign is implemented yearly (Touloupas 1996 130) The campaign attempts toachieve the above unspecified policy tasks while it is often a lsquolast minutersquo reactionmeasure to a forecasted decline of bookings for the current season rather than acoordinated long-term marketing policy (Jenner amp Smith 1993 143Papadopoulos 1989 304) Despite the advertising campaignrsquos positive impact onarrivals the feedback to the campaign is rather speculative as no formal researchis undertaken to identify the most cost-effective media and communication meth-ods for each target market (Papadopoulos 1989 311 and 1987 82)

Because the deficient scientific examination of Greek tourism and its impactsprevents the authorities from establishing quantifiable and measurable tourismpolicies their policies are based on subjective and personal judgements while feedbackpractices are rarely followed In addition the implementation of the vaguelydefined tourism policy as well as the targets regulations and standards are oftenbent to accommodate lobbying and political pressures (Zacharatos 1989 279)Komilis (1993 225) suggests that tourism planning in Greece is generally realisedand exercised within a socio-political environment characterised by severalfactors a limited degree of political commitment lack of social awareness andacceptability of planning actions inadequacy of scientific and technical founda-

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 459

Table 7 Greek tourism policy targets

Development of demand

Training of tourism employees

Increase arrivals and foreign exchange income

Increase competitiveness of tourism product

Improvement of services in the industry

Reduction of seasonality and expansion of tourism season

Attraction of high spenders and alternative types of tourism

Construction of facilities appealing to the upper end of the market such as luxuryhotels golf courses congress centres casinos and marinas

Development of tourism infrastructure with emphasis on transportation

Support of social tourism for low-income domestic tourists

Geographical redistribution of tourism

tion to support planning intervention and a centralised administrative-institu-tional system gathering a plethora of functions but failing to perform itscoordination and enforcing role When the conflicting interests and power of eachmember of the tourism industry are brought into the equation where differentpartners attempt to influence legislation in order to maximise their own short-termprofitability regardless of the impacts on the destination and other enterprises theplanning process becomes more complicated This results in an ineffective plan-ning system and process which produces policies unable to provide an appropri-ate balance between restrictive policies and control planning implementationMoreover the plethora of SMTEs in combination with inadequate legislationconcerning their establishment and operation seem to affect adversely thecompetitiveness of the industry and the ability to diversify and enrich local tour-ism products (Komilis 1992 11 EIU 1990 59)

Consequently several structural problems are originated jeopardising theprosperity of both SMTEs and destinations especially in overdeveloped regionsOn the supply side failure of the infrastructure to follow the dramatic expansionof the superstructure in combination with the lack of solid institutional context oftourism policy and long-term regulation result in the exploitation and inadequacyof environmental and socio-cultural resources as well as the inability of the indus-try to generate the level of economic benefits desired and expected On the tourismdemand side after the meteoric growth in the 1970s and 1980s the Greek tourismindustry has been trying to transform lsquothe country into a destination which cancompete not just on price but on value for moneyrsquo (EIU 1990 45) It is becomingapparent that the tourism population in not infinite and an adaptability andresponsiveness to touristsrsquo needs is ofgreat importance (Sezeramp Harrison 1994 83)

Structural problems jeopardise the profitability of the private sectorBecause of the aforementioned structural problems most tourism industry

enterprises are experiencing a decline in profitability Hotels in particular arebadly affected due to the high fixed assets as well as their immobility and inflexi-bility which prevents them from adjusting to demand fluctuation Several reasonsdetermine their low profitability and inability to increase prices in line with infla-tion The low occupancy levels achieved yearly is a key problem Smith and Jenner(1995 17) estimate that the lsquoyear-round bed occupancy over the range of licensedaccommodation is slightly under 30rsquo As most of the properties are closed duringthe winter months due to the seasonality problems they rely on three to six monthsto generate sufficient returns on their investment The occupancy levels of accom-modation establishments in Greek tourism are often determined by theirco-operation with travel intermediaries Based on the different seasonality patternsof different markets rooms are normally allocated a year before the summer seasonto tour operators on lsquoallotmentrsquo or lsquocommitmentrsquo contracts which effectively deter-mine the prices charged according to the security provided by tour operators forusing and paying for hoteliersrsquo rooms Once the contracts are signed hoteliers effec-tively lose their control on their inventory and their right to market their rooms toother business sources before the release period (typically 7ndash14 days before arrival)in order to avoid overbooking However should their bookings fail to match theirprogramme tour operators often utilise their buying power to cancel unwantedrooms at the beginning of the tourist season without paying compensation Smaller

460 Current Issues in Tourism

hoteliers are often left with unoccupied rooms they which are unable to promote atthe lsquolast minutersquo unless they drop their prices to unacceptable levels As a result oftheir deficient intra-channel power hotels often suffer a significant cut-back of theiroccupancy levels which has direct implications for their profitability (Buhalis 19952000c 460 Ktenas 1996)

Similarly the seasonality of the Mediterranean and Greek tourism industry hasalways been a problem for the profitability of SMTEs since enterprises operateonly for a limited period (Jenner amp Smith 1993 70 Drakatos 1987 Donatos ampZairis 1991) Attempts to promote winter tourism by developing cultural andspecial interest tourism in the islands and winter sports in several ski resorts inGreece have proved fairly unsuccessful (EIU 1986 56) This is attributed to theimage of Greece as an exclusively summer-sun destination as well as to the unco-ordinated attempts to maintain tourism enterprises active during the wintermonths (EIU 1990 57)

The average room rate is the second major determinant of hotel profitability It isbecoming apparent that employment costs and cost of capital in combination witha relatively strong currency policy reduce the ability of Greek accommodationestablishments to offer competitive pricing and maintain their profitabilityMarketing inadequacies and inability to promote the tourism product as a differ-entiated entity the rapid increase of supply in comparison to demand and theoverall dependence upon the oligopsonistic tour operators for the Greek tourismproduct promotion force hoteliers to accept contracts by tour operators whichminimise their profit margin and adversely effect the quality of their productIncreasing levels of pressure by tour operators prevent SMTEs from renovatingand investing in their properties and therefore a gradual deterioration of the prop-erties is inevitable (Richter-Papaconstantinou 1992 14 Skoulas 1985 189) Euro-pean tour operators faced with fierce competition in their markets are essentiallywilling to pay an annual price increase equal to little less than the depreciation ofthe drachma plus the inflation at the place of origin of the tourists (Ktenas 1994)This policy progressively deteriorates the profitability of the Greek tourism indus-try and has severe impacts for its prosperity The situation is worse for smalleraccommodation establishments which manage to negotiate even smaller priceincreases due to their exclusive dependence upon fewer intermediaries(Logothetis 1992 14)

The oversupply of tourism services both in Greece and worldwide also contributesto global competition for a less rapidly increasing demand (Josephides 1993 54)In Greece the average annual increase of the official hotel bed supply in 1983ndash1992was 47 while the annual average increase in international tourist bednights was27 (Epilogi 1994 271) The investment incentive Law 126282 boosted this over-supply as it generated small infeasible and uncontrollable accommodation unitsunable to offer high quality of services while it increased the concentration of tour-ism units in infrastructure-undersupplied resorts (Kriebardis amp Marmagiolis1990 51 Stavrou 1989b 5) The vast majority of the capacity growth is on the lsquoille-galrsquo unregistered self-catering and self-serviced lsquoparahoteleriarsquo sector whichprovide very low quality and priced accommodation and therefore appeal tomass tour operatorsrsquo clientele This not only increases unfair competition for theofficially registered hotels but also reduces both tax revenues and employment atthe macro level

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 461

Horwath (1994 3) concludes that

unfortunately the results in terms of return on investment in the tourismindustry are not very promising especially when compared with those ofother Greek economic sectors It is an undisputable fact that the averageGreek tourism entrepreneur is heavily dependent on the tourist packageprice which is strongly negotiated by the international tour operators It isan lsquounhealthyrsquo dependency as a result of the weak position of the Greektourist product in the international market In addition the aforemen-tioned dependency is the result of the lack of marketing activities in anaverage tourist enterprise As we all know effective marketing activitiesare based on the product place price promotion which all contribute toclient satisfaction and further to a bigger share in the international touristmarket Up to now three of the aforementioned important elements ofmarketing have been overlooked which determine the weak negotiationpower of the Greek entrepreneur

This situation has also resulted to several European companies expandingtheir operations into Greece or purchasing shares in Greek partners in order toimprove their vertical integration Should this vertical integration expand signif-icantly however lsquoGreek tourism will be in fact controlled by foreign deci-sion-making centres which will certainly operate on the basis of their owninterests and not according to the overall interests of our national economyrsquo(Kalogeropoulou 1993 2) Hence radical measures are required immediately inproduct formulation promotion strategy and distribution channels to supportboth Greek destinations and SMTEs to enhance their competitiveness profitabil-ity and prosperity Failure to react would have severe implications for the futureof the Greek tourism private sector as the essence of its existence would be jeop-ardised its costs may exceeding its returns

Structural problems generate negative tourism impactsIn addition to the profitability problems of the private sector the aforemen-

tioned structural problems have profound implications for the welfare of hostpopulations in various Greek destinations as their economic social cultural andenvironmental resources are exploited without ensuring their sustainabilityLack of comprehensive research and failure to initiate carrying-capacity limits orzoning systems contribute to the anarchic development of tourism as well asexpand negative impacts of tourism on local societies and environments Thefollowing section highlights some of the costs Greek destinations are called topay for their tourism activity whilst it suggests that these issues should beaddressed in the strategic planning process

Macro-economic negative impactsDespite the contribution of tourism to the Greek economy certain potential

risks can also be identified Not only is the competitiveness and profitability ofthe tourism industry jeopardised but also several destination regions seem tofollow a policy of developing tourism at the expense of industrial and agricul-tural growth (Stavrou 1989a 6 Vernicos 1987 105) Instead of tourism stimulat-ing agriculture it seems that it hastens its decline as the two economic activities

462 Current Issues in Tourism

compete for land and labour The lack of structural investments in industrial oragricultural sectors combined with the popularity of tourism professions in theworkforce endanger the balance of the regional economy while reducing thetourism multipliers (Briassoulis 1993 295) As a result the economic structure ofthe destination is jeopardised while a complete dependence upon tourismbecomes inevitable (Komilis 1992 7) Both opportunity costs and displacementeffects are therefore evident Moreover there is evidence that the progress ofdestinations through their life-cycle and especially the introduction of masstourism decreases their economic impacts while it makes local control of theindustry far more difficult (Loukissas 1982 537) lsquoBecause of the high degree ofdependence of Greek tourist enterprises on tour operators the actual amount oftourist spending remaining in the country is only the 40ndash50 of total touristspendingrsquo (Briassoulis 1993 296) Public-sector subsidies to the private sector invarious forms such as incentives cooperative marketing campaigns and unem-ployment benefits in the off-season as well as tax evasion and lsquoparaeconomyrsquo alsoreduce the real benefit at the macro level (Mourdoukoutas 1988 Drakatos 1987Leontidou 1991 102) Lack of scientific research on the economic impacts oftourism makes the real contribution of tourism in the economy speculativerather than based on hard evidence (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Konsolas ampZacharatos 1993)

Social and cultural negative impactsThe development of mass tourism and the lack of effective planning and

management are also responsible for a number of negative social and culturalimpacts observed in Greek host societies (Tsartas 1989 1992 Stavrou 19781979 1980 1986b) Although the degree of interaction of the population withtourists depends heavily on the geomorphology of destinations and the loca-tion of resorts (Loukissas 1982 538) touristsrsquo behaviour is often offensive tothe host population but tolerated due to the economic benefits (Castelberg-Koulma 1991 201 Kousis 1989 Wickens 1994 823) Most Greek tourismdestinations are almost crime-free zones during the winter due to the smallpopulation and personal relationships of locals Tourism however introducesseveral types of criminal activity often unknown to local people As policeforces are usually allocated according to needs of the permanent population ina destination they are often incapable of handling the demands of the summermonths and are unable to deal with visitorsrsquo misbehaviour such as hooliganismand lsquolager-lootingrsquo

The commercialisation of history cultural traditions and the Greek lifestyle isa phenomenon met in several destinations This regrettably affects the renownedGreek hospitality commercialises human relations with tourists and reduces theties of solidarity and cooperation between locals since they compete for the tour-ism market (Papadopoulos 1988b 24) As the average employee works 605hours weekly for 295 weeks a year there is little time left for social religious andcultural obligations during the season (Mourdoukoutas 1988 325) Although acertain degree of lsquodemonstration effectrsquo and lsquoxenomaniarsquo can be attributed totourism the country is equally influenced by the mass media as well as by theGreek students and professionals living abroad (Papadopoulos 1988a 30Wickens 1994 822) Moore (1995) also explains that tourism not only has had a

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 463

contribution to the increase of alcohol consumption by Greeks but has alsoshifted their taste away from locally produced wine to imported spirits and beerBriassoulis (1993 296) perhaps describes best the change in labour force valueswhen as she suggests that tourism has created a

peculiar parasitic group of tourist entrepreneurs operating tourist-servingenterprises like tavernas cafeterias etc the principal characteristics ofwhich are high profits and tax evasion Consequently a particular person-ality type is created the lsquosuccessfulrsquo entrepreneur who earns a lot with littlework has a rich erotic life and is professionally independent (in contrast topublic and private employees) This model is followed by many youngpeople who abandon other productive year-round occupations lsquoworkrsquoonly during the tourist season stay idle for the rest of the year and eventu-ally suffer from the volatility of the tourist market

The family relations and values are therefore under great transition andperhaps threat (Castelberg-Koulma 1991 201 Kousis 1989 Moore 1992)

Negative environmental impactsDespite environmental resources becoming central to destinationsrsquo competi-

tiveness most Greek destinations go through an unparalleled exploitation due toinadequate planning and reinvestment in their sustainability jeopardising theirfuture (Buhalis amp Fletcher 1995) Boniface and Cooper (1994 141) suggest thatgeographical concentration of tourism

has led to the view that Greece will become saturated with tourists and thatdamage will be done to the environment and cultural heritage in the morepopular areas Already the environment has suffered from haphazarduncontrolled building and pollution of the sea and the flora and fauna arebeing effected by waste disposal

Coastal pollution water shortages sewage treatment waste disposal trafficcongestion noise pollution overbuilding and aesthetic degradation are some ofthe impacts experienced already in a number of resorts (Briassoulis 1993 297Coccosis amp Parprairis 1992 Peterson 1990 Marinos 1983 Stavrou 1988 19 and1989a 5 Papadopoulos 1988b 24) Most of the islands also face water shortagedue to the inability of natural supplies to provide sufficient water for the tourismdemand Imported mineral water from the mainland is an expensive way tosolve this problem due to the transportation cost while it creates more waste andenvironmental damage In addition the destruction of endangered speciesrsquo habi-tats is another problem experienced on several islands (ZakynthosCaretta-Caretta and Allonissos monk-seals) (Ottaway 1992 Van Den Bergh1993 70 Prurier et al 1993) Urgent coordination with all tourism actors at thelocal level is essential while regulation is required to set objective and measurablelimits and targets in order to preserve local environmental resources Financialdifficulties in the industry only exacerbate these impacts as the private and publicsectors feel unable to reinvest in the conservation of resources

The aforementioned negative impacts emerge as a result of the structuralproblems of the Greek tourism industry and illustrate that the mass tourismorientation of the industry reduces the sovereignty of the host population over

464 Current Issues in Tourism

their land and resources whilst jeopardising their expected benefits and futurewelfare As these impacts are trade-offs for the economic gains of the tourismactivity it is important that consistent long-term strategic planning should beundertaken in order to enable the preservation of the local resources and achievesustainability at tourism destinations These tasks should all be reinforced byresearch political will and strategic planning

Where Do We Need to Go and How Are We Going ThereTowards Strengthening the Competitiveness of Greek Tourismand SMTEs

Based on the situation analysis as well as on the strategic weaknesses andstructural problems the paper attempts to provide a framework for strategicplanning which will enable the strengthening of the competitiveness of Greektourism and SMTEs Porter (1985 1) suggests that competitive strategy lsquois thesearch for a favourable competitive position in an industryrsquo which is a function ofthe attractiveness of the industry and the relative competitive position withinthat particular industry He also argues that lsquocompetitive strategy aims to estab-lish a profitable and sustainable position against the forces that determine indus-try competitionrsquo Competitiveness is therefore defined as the effort undertakenby organisations to maintain long-term profitability above the average of theparticular industry within which they operate or above alternative investmentopportunities in other industries

Traditionally the tourism industry in the majority of destinations worldwideis based on a network of SMTEs which provide all types of tourism products andservices while enabling closer interaction between the host population and visi-tors as well as facilitating a rapid infusion of tourism spending into the localeconomy As lsquotouristsrsquo overall experience is composed of numerous smallencounters with a variety of tourism service providersrsquo (Moutinho 1990 104)there is a great overlap between the customer perception of local SMTEs anddestinations which makes them almost indistinguishable Consequently thecompetitiveness and prosperity of destinations and SMTEs are closely interre-lated as the fortune of the one depends heavily upon the management andcompetitiveness of the other Therefore the generic strategy for destinationsinvolves SMTEs and vice versa

Grand strategy Strategy formulation for Greek tourism and SMTEsBased on the strategic analysis a grand strategy is proposed for the Greek

tourism industry and SMTEs in order to demonstrate the directions the destina-tions should follow in their attempt to increase their competitiveness and reducetheir vulnerability As different resorts destinations and SMTEs have dissimilarneeds only generic strategies can be drawn However these guidelines can beapplicable to destinations and SMTEs worldwide as they address strategic ratherthan operational issues The analysis is based on the assumption that SMTEsformulate leisure value-added chains or networks of wealth creation whichessentially comprise the entire destination Therefore an integrated approach isfollowed as there is a great complementarity between the strategies and strate-gic directions for both the Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 465

The grand strategy analysis is based on an examination of three general strat-egy models namely Porterrsquos generic strategies Gilbertrsquos proposition for lsquodiffer-entiation of the destinationrsquo and Poonrsquos analysis for lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo Agrand strategy is then proposed for both Greek tourism and SMTEs based oninference emerging from these three models Figure 1 illustrates the three maingeneric strategies proposed by Porter (1980 34ndash46) in order to lsquooutperform otherfirms in an industryrsquo overall cost leadership where the firm is required to minimiseits costs based on mass production and strict cost control of the main businessfunctions differentiation of products or services by lsquocreating something that isperceived industry-wide as being uniquersquo or focus on a lsquoparticular buyer groupsegment of the product line or geographical marketrsquo and achieve either cost leader-ship or product differentiation (Porter 1980 37ndash8)

Furthermore Gilbert (1984 1990) argues that destinations should differenti-ate their tourism products in order to be able to achieve a unique lsquotourist productbenefitrsquo which would enable them to establish their position in the internationaltourism market as well as to attract high spenders and loyal tourists Tourismdestinations therefore should attempt to achieve a lsquostatus arearsquo image ratherthan a lsquocommodity arearsquo one as illustrated in Figure 2 In the first case the desti-nation is heavily substitutable very sensitive to price and economic changeswhile consumers have a low awareness of any unique benefits or attributes of theregion Thus holidaymakers base their decision to visit the area merely on pricewhile the demand for the destination is incidental and destinations are unable toattract high spenders In contrast lsquostatus areasrsquo achieve intentional demand as aresult of the unique product attributes perceived by the tourism market Theseunique attributes may be genuine or imagined and thus a destination isregarded as irreplaceable increasing consumersrsquo loyalty and willingness to payGilbert (1990 24ndash5) asserts that destinations should attempt to become lsquostatusareasrsquo in order to improve their image loyalty and economic benefits

A third strategic approach is proposed by Poon (1987 1988 1989 1990 1993)based on the concept of lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo of the tourism business Inessence Poon examines the industry processes and proposes a strategy to enabletourism organisations to improve their competitiveness Poon argues that lsquoflexi-ble specialisationrsquo is a strategy of lsquopermanent innovationrsquo and lsquoceaseless changersquowhich provides for the lsquonew tourismrsquo This new tourism is flexible segmentedcustomised to the touristrsquos needs and diagonally integrated In contrast the oldtourism can be characterised as lsquomass standardised and rigidly packagedrsquo(Poon 1989 91ndash3)

466 Current Issues in Tourism

STRATEGIC ADVANTAGE

Perceived product uniqueness Cost advantage

TARGETMARKET

Industrywide Differentiation Cost Leadership

Particularsegmentsonly

Differentiation Focus Cost Focus

Figure 1 Porterrsquos three generic strategiesSource Porter 1980 39

The main sources of flexibility for service firms lie in the organisationmanagement marketing distribution and other forms of interaction andinterrelationships among guests hotels suppliers distributors What isimportant however is not each of these stand alone aspects but how theyare coupled to create competitive advantages and hence capabilities tomove with the market (Poon 1988 24)

Examination of these three main strategies illustrates that they share a similarbase Porterrsquos lsquodifferentiationrsquo Gilbertrsquos lsquostatus arearsquo and Poonrsquos lsquoflexiblespecialisationrsquo describe the attempt undertaken by firms and tourist destinationsto achieve value competitive advantages In contrast the lsquocost leadershiprsquo lsquocom-modity arearsquo and the lsquostandardisation or Fordism production modelrsquo describethe effort to achieve lsquocost competitive advantagersquo where destinations andSMTEs offer their products for less than their competitors In the first caseconsumers perceive the product as unique and are willing to pay a premiumwhile in the second case the decision is merely based on price Thus the classicalstrategic decision of lsquolow volume-high profit marginrsquo or lsquohigh volume-low profitmarginrsquo is the underlying concept of the two alternative strategies

Both Gilbert and Poon agree that destinations should aim to achieve lsquostatusarearsquo or niche orientation through differentiation in order to increase consumersatisfaction as well as to maximise the benefits for both regions and SMTEs As aresult Greek tourism and SMTEs need to focus towards the differentiation strat-egy define their niche markets and serve them accordingly This strategy isalready adopted in several resort areas such as Valencia in Spain where it isrecognised that the need for diversification and differentiation lsquohas now becomeessential owing to the level of competitiveness that has been attained (and can beforeseen) in the world tourist marketrsquo (Fayos-Sola 1992 49) Differentiation isalso particularly useful for insular destinations in microstates where a limitednumber of economic and financial resources are available (Wilkinson 1989 170)As most destinations consist of SMTEs networks there is an overlap betweentheir strategic orientations and therefore the above analysis is applicable to boththe Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Destinations implementing a lsquostatus arearsquo strategy can enhance the satisfac-tion of tourists as well as their competitiveness The formulation of unique and

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 467

CommodityArea

Statusarea

Willingness topay higher prices

StatusArea

Product attributes Product attributes

CommodityArea

Figure 2 Gilbertrsquos differentiation strategySource Adapted from Gilbert 1990 25

customised products by using flexibility and cooperation also increases touristsrsquowillingness to pay and wins their loyalty while it responds to the new tourismdemand trends However the proposed strategy should not be seen as an excusefor SMTEs and destinations not to attempt to improve their efficiency and mini-mise their production costs Although the unique service for touristsrsquo needs shouldbe their priority offering perceived value for money would determine theircompetitiveness in the marketplace As a result all Greek resorts and SMTEsshould assess their assets and strengths for serving specific target markets takingadvantage of their small size which facilitates flexibility and specialisation

It is quite apparent that the cost advantage strategy has to be avoided inmanagement of tourism destinations as regions need to preserve their scarceenvironmental and sociocultural resources and achieve sustainable develop-ment As cost advantage is based on mass production and consumption itassumes an unlimited production capacity which is inapplicable in the tourismindustry The inseparability of the tourism product determines that consumersshould be present at the time of product delivery and when combined with tour-ism seasonality it generates demand peaks which drain destinationsrsquo scarceenvironmental sociocultural resources The lsquohigh volume-low profit marginrsquostrategy has therefore harmful social and environmental impacts on destina-tions Destinations have maximum carrying capacities beyond which both thewelfare of local populations and the satisfaction of tourists are jeopardisedAlthough economic benefits can also be achieved by using the lsquocommodity arearsquoor the lsquostandard product modelrsquo it is argued that these approaches reduce tour-istsrsquo satisfaction and their willingness to pay and are opposed to the demandtrend towards individualisation

Unfortunately however some destinations can no longer be positioned asirreplaceable unique products due to their overdevelopment Tourism supplyhas exceeded the carrying capacity of these resorts and their product hasreached the saturation or decline phase of their life-cycle Several Spanish costasand some Greek resorts such as Benitses Kavos Faliraki Malia Hersonissos andNidri (Josephides 1994) have been overdeveloped to such an extent that only alsquohigh-volume low-profit marginrsquo strategy is feasible When resorts reach theirsaturation level only a lsquocost leadershiprsquo or lsquomass productionrsquo strategy can beproposed as they are unable to provide any specific lsquotourist product benefitrsquo Theattraction of the lower end of the market is inevitable and as a consequence thereare no alternative strategies The minimisation of further sociocultural and envi-ronmental damage as well as attempts to improve the surrounding environmentshould also be a primary objective of both tourism destinations and SMTEs in thiscase The ultimate aim should be to regenerate the resources of the area and torelaunch the tourism destination to attract specific markets which will be willing topay a higher price for the destination

Strategic directions objectives and tasks for Greek tourism and SMTEsTable 8 presents three pivotal strategic directions which are identified in order

to stimulate the competitiveness of both Greek tourism and SMTEs This sectionillustrates how the aforementioned grand strategy can be implemented for tour-ist destinations and SMTEs through a number of strategic directions objectivesand tasks as presented in Table 9

468 Current Issues in Tourism

Enhancing the satisfaction of tourists and delighting the customer are pivotalto ensuring the well-being of Greek destinations and SMTEs in the long term andthus the entire range of tourism service providers should aim to delight theirclients As a result of the tourism product integration consumer satisfactioncannot be achieved by independent businesses separately but by the entirenetwork of SMTEs in Greek destinations The improvement in services isperhaps the most important strategic objective Consistency of promises throughstandardisation of service delivery and implementation of a total qualitymanagement philosophy throughout the industry are essential strategic tasks forachieving this objective while flexibility in service delivery and improvementsin training are critical In line with the grand strategy the production oftailor-made tourism products should be ensured in order to satisfy the specificneeds of particular niches and the requirements of the emerging new tourismdemand Product augmentation would enable also the Greek tourism product toexceed the expectations of consumers and hence enhance their satisfaction Lifestyle segmentation would enable Greek tourism and SMTEs to design appropri-ate tourism products As tourist demand elasticity has increasingly becomedoubtful in recent years the price of the holiday is no longer considered to be themost important attribute in the decision-making process Consequently theGreek tourism industry should concentrate on providing value for money at allprice levels as well as offering at least whatever they have promised to theconsumer

Supporting the long-term competitiveness and profitability of Greek tour-ism and SMTEs is by far the most important strategic objective for the tourismindustry The first strategic objective for every SMTE has to be the increase inrevenue by maximising its occupancy or load factors and the rates it achievesThe lengthening of the operating season as well as the identification of newmarkets and the penetration into existing ones and the effective utilisation ofdistribution channels will contribute to this strategic direction Higher ratescan be achieved by targeting specialised and smaller tour operators attractingalternative types of tourists and expanding the distribution channels mix aswell as by attempting a certain degree of lsquodisintermediationrsquo by encouragingdirect sales to outgoing travel agencies or consumers Aggressive marketingand establishment of partnerships with other enterprises should be essentialfunctions of Greek tourism and SMTEs Motivation of lsquofront-of-housersquo employ-ees as salesmen and sale incentives would also increase average spending percustomer The use of CRSs and destination management systems may also bean appropriate method for achieving higher prices and better occupancy rates(Buhalis 1994) Finally yield management techniques should be utilised by alltypes of SMTEs to assist them in pricing and maximising revenue Cost control

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 469

Table 8 Pivotal strategic dimensions for Greek tourism

(1) Enhance the satisfaction of tourists and delight the customer(2) Strengthen the long-term profitability and competitiveness of Greek tourism and

SMTEs(3) Develop Greek destinations sustainably and ensure prosperity of host population

470 Current Issues in Tourism

Table 9 Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Strategic directions Strategic objectives Strategic tasks

1 Enhance the sat-isfaction of tour-ists and delightthe customer

11 Improvement of services a Standardisation of service de-livery

b Development of quality controlsystems

c Consistency of promisesd Improvements in operational

managemente Flexibility in services deliveryf Training and education im-

provementsg Smile and personal relation-

shipsh Augmentation of tourism

producti Total quality management

12 Specialisation of tourismproduct

a Niche marketingb Lifestyle targeting

13 Value for money a Quality at each price level

2 Strengthen thelong-term com-petitiveness andprofitability ofGreek tourismand SMTEs

21 Increase revenue a Increase tourist volumesb Target new markets and pene-

tration in existing marketsc Use yield managementd Expand distribution channel

mixe Aggressive marketingf Achieve high average spending

per customerg Select high-quality specialised

tour operatorsh Attract alternative types of

tourismi Use alternative distribution

channelsj Motivate front-of-house em-

ployees as salesmen

22 Cost control and rationalmanagement

a Standardise service deliveryb Increase productivityc Reduce labour costsd Rationalise supplies manage-

mente Educationtraining for manag-

ers and employeesf Use of new technologyg Integrate service delivery

within SMTEs

23 Human resources man-agement

a Internal marketingb Empowermentc Satisfactory salary and working

conditionsd Long-term relations with em-

ployeese Motivation and rewards

and rational management is the second strategic objective needed to increaseefficiency and profitability of both Greek destinations and SMTEs in the longterm Standardisation of the service delivery process and minimisation of thelabour cost through better operational management would be primary recom-mendations Managers and employees should improve their productivity andmarketing skills by intensive training In addition the rationalisation of supplymanagement and the use of new technology is expected to reduce operationalcosts Finally integration of service delivery enables SMTEs to provide comple-mentary services and achieve additional revenues without immense costs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 471

24 State and public tourismorganisation support

a Destination development andcontrol

b Incentives policies for improve-ment

c Attract European Union assis-tance

d Promotional activitye Provide financial resources

3 Develop Greekdestinationssustainably andensure prosper-ity of host popu-lation

31 Environmental protection a Carrying capacity identificationb Zoning system applicationc Architecture preservationd Installation of sewage treat-

ment systemse Reduction of noise pollutionf Natural supplies management

32 Infrastructure ameliora-tion

a Accessibility improvementsb Telecommunication improve-

mentsc Public facilities advancements

33 Transportation improve-ments

a Improvement of local timeta-bles

b Punctuality and reliabilityc Improvements of vehiclesd Flexibility to meet demand

needs

34 Economic integration a Integration with raw materialproduction

b Utilisation of local labour forcec Integration of tourism servicesd Diagonal integration of destina-

tionrsquos economy

35 Equitable return on re-sources utilised

a Establish mechanism forreinvestments

b Provide services for hostcommunity

c Invest in sustainability ofresources

d Ensure equity in distributionof wealth produced

Source Adapted from Buhalis 1991 83a

Table 9 (cont) Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Human resources management is crucial in the delivery process of tourismproducts The concept of lsquointernal marketingrsquo where employees are perceivedand treated as lsquointernal customersrsquo has to be utilised in order to ensure theirsatisfaction As Berry (1981 34) states lsquothe satisfaction of the needs and wants ofthe internal customers can upgrade their capacity for satisfying the needs andwants of their external customersrsquo and as a consequence it can contribute to thecompetitiveness and profitability of Greek tourism and SMTEs Satisfactorysalary and working conditions are prerequisites for the well-being of SMTEsrsquoemployees Long-term relationships between employees and SMTEs minimiseturnover enabling a better performance while they reduce recruitment andtraining costs Empowerment would enable employees to be involved in themanagement of SMTEs and authorise them to respond more efficiently toconsumer requests while contributing to their job satisfaction Finally thesupport of the GNTO is vital for the long-term survival of SMTEs Apart fromthe improvement in infrastructure the GNTO is expected to hold the strategicresponsibility of the destination as well as to regulate the competition in orderto enable smaller enterprises to survive Incentive policies need to reflect thespecific requirements of each resort and enable development or improvementof certain types of enterprises The GNTO is also instrumental in attractingassistance from European development funds while it should also coordinatethe majority of Greek tourism promotional activity A promotional mix whichmaximises the effectiveness of the communication message needs to be drawnwhile budgets need to be available at the time consumers go through their deci-sion-making process in order to influence their choice of destination Finally theneed for the public sector to provide affordable financial resources for SMTEs ishighlighted by the EU (EC 1993b 73)

The third strategic direction for Greek tourism and SMTEs should be thesustainable development of destinations and local areas not only for the hostpopulation but also because this is vital for both consumer satisfaction and theprofitability of SMTEs Although in most cases SMTEs are unable to incorporatethese types of strategic objectives and tasks on their own they can initiate aframework of necessary actions for sustainable destination developmentthrough their associations Environmental protection is naturally the mostimportant strategic objective as consumersrsquo environmental consciousness hasbeen raised recently Carrying capacity limits should be identified and strictregulations and guidelines for tourism development need to be drawn A zoningsystem should be implemented in order to locate tourism activities according tothe geographical morphology of the destination In addition natural resourcesmanagement is necessary as tourism demand may exhaust the resources andespecially the water supplies The installation of sewage treatment systems andthe reduction of noise pollution should be considered especially for resortswhich suffer the consequences of these problems In addition infrastructureamelioration must be one of the primary objectives as it is an essential prerequi-site for both consumersrsquo satisfaction and SMTEsrsquo development The improve-ment of accessibility public services as well as telecommunications facilities is acrucial factor Transportation is also significant in increasing both consumersatisfaction and profitability of SMTEs as it determines whether consumers canaccess the destination easily while it also provides the first impression to tour-

472 Current Issues in Tourism

ists Improvements of timetables and services reliability increasing transporta-tion capacity and an enhancement of the fleet in terms of speed cleanliness andleisure facilities are all required Furthermore greater flexibility is needed bytransportation operators in order to meet demand needs Economic integrationcan improve the economic and social benefits of tourism in the region and theefficiency of SMTEs Ultimately tourism should be utilised as the catalyst andmajor stimulant for regional development Tourism enterprises should makeevery effort to use local raw materials and labour in order to maximise the multi-plier effects within Greece Diagonal integration of destinationsrsquo economy can beachieved by rearranging the goods and service production in order to supportthe tourism industry demand and thus minimise imports Finally SMTEs andtourism organisations need to offer a fair return-on-resources utilised back to thehost community A mechanism should be established in order to reinvest part ofthe revenues in the sustainability of resources provide services for the hostcommunity such as education training health services and generally ensureequity in distribution of wealth produced from local resources As the privatesector cannot be expected to behave altruistically towards the host communitythe GNTO and other public-sector departments should probably utilise regula-tion and taxation for this purpose

Conclusion Greek Tourism Needs a Long Overdue Master Planand Comprehensive Policy

The emerging international tourism competition the hitherto mass tourismorientation of the industry the transformation of demand the development ofthe volume of tourists visiting the dependence upon intermediaries for thedistribution of the tourism product in the major target markets the lack of a widerange of managerial skills by Greek tourism entrepreneurs and the lack of acomprehensive tourism policy or Master Plan by the public sector has led thecompetitiveness of Greece tourism to decline This has several unfavourableimplications for the profitability of the private sector as well as numerous nega-tive economic sociocultural and environmental impacts for the host populationAs a result the return on resources utilised for the production of Greek tourismservices is inadequate and the sustainability of Greece as a major tourism desti-nation is rapidly becoming doubtful Based on a strategic analysis the paper illu-minates the strategic weaknesses and structural problems of both the private andpublic sectors and demonstrates that a rationalisation of the tourism industry isurgently required Consequently a grand strategy as well as a wide range of stra-tegic directions objectives and tasks are proposed for both Greece as an entityand its SMTEs Although no quantitative targets are set in this paper it isexpected that each destination will analyse its resources and adapt its strategicplanning accordingly

The GNTO is urged to rationalise its strategy and to draw up a Master Plan anda comprehensive strategy for the entire country and for each resort where a strategywould be adopted based on quantifiable objectives and tasks Extensive researchneeds to be undertaken by using credible measurement methodologies such asInput-Output models and multipliers analysis not only for the economic but alsofor the social cultural and environmental impacts (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Buhalis

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 473

amp Fletcher 1995) A holistic tourism management system is demanded to facilitatethe development and implementation of the tourism strategy through funds allo-cation and monitoring land use control and examination of tourism public- andprivate-sector practices A thorough examination of tourism impacts in eachregion would be a prerequisite for tourism planning as it will establish andprovide scientific backing to strategic targets Komilis (1994 71) explains thatalthough the various levels of planning (sectoral nationalEU spatial or regional)are not mutually exclusive but rather complementary the regional level planningis more suitable for drawing sustainable strategies especially for areas withdissimilar needs like the Greek destinations The regional planning should lsquocon-tribute to the maximisation of regional development benefits in a way that utilisesand mobilises the regional resource base realises regional inter-sectoral linkagesand is compatible with regional economic interests societal values and environ-mental assetsrsquo It should also take into consideration the uniqueness of insulareconomies as well as the cultural and environmental resources of each particularregion and the complexity of rural and urban functions The planning processshould encourage the complementarity and coexistence of economic activitiesrather than promote sectoral separation and single-sector developments In addi-tion it needs to improve the balance between regional self-sufficiency anddependence upon external inputs and finally it should promote integration withinthe European Union

The public sector has to play its long overdue role as regulator coordinatorinfrastructure provider and promoter of the destination while a multi-integrationof the tourism industry with all the involved bodies in the preparation distribu-tion and delivery of the tourism experience needs to be ensured (Wanhill 1993Hall 1994 Skoulas 1994 10 Stavrou 1988 46) The private sector also has an impor-tant role to play as it should improve the Greek tourism industry competitivenessby improving its managerial and labour force competencies enhancing the qualityof services designing appropriate marketing mixes to attract and satisfy targetmarkets and cooperating closely in order to achieve synergies and economies ofscale (Briassoulis 1993 300 Cooper amp Buhalis 1992) To reverse the vicious circleof decreasing quality is of critical importance for the Greek tourism industryBetter quality services would stimulate the competitiveness of the Greek tourismproduct strengthen its position in the international market provide principalswith distribution channel power enhance its customersrsquo willingness to pay andenable the industry to increase its prices improving the profitability at the microlevel and the economic impacts of tourism at the macrolevel Ultimately a diagonalintegration strategy for both Greek tourism and SMTEs should aim to delightconsumers enhance the long-term prosperity of SMTEs and improve the welfareof the host populations The Olympic Games in 2004 offer a unique opportunity toregenerate and rebrand Greek tourism a cause which the entire industry shouldchampion

The AuthorDimitrios Buhalis is Senior Lecturer and course leader MSc in tourism at theUniversity of Surrey He holds a BBA from the University of the Aegean as wellas an MSc and a PhD in tourism management from the University of Surrey Hisresearch interests focus on information systems and technology strategic

474 Current Issues in Tourism

management distribution channels of tourism destination management andplanning and destination integrated computer information reservation manage-ment systems

AcknowledgementsThe author would like to acknowledge Prof C Cooper and Prof J Fletcher for

their invaluable contribution to this research Financial support from the SurreyResearch Group ConTours Consultants as well as field research sponsorshipsby the University of Surrey the Greek National Tourism Organisation and theUniversity of the Aegean are gratefully appreciated

Note1 An earlier version of this paper was published as a monograph PlanningDevelop-

ment by the International Centre for Research and Studies in TourismAix-en-Provence France

CorrespondenceAny correspondence should be directed to Dr Dimitrios Buhalis Senior

Lecturer in Business Information Management SMSSS University of SurreyGuildford GU2 7XH UK (dbuhalissurreyacuk)

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Economy (November) 228ndash38Berry C (1981) The employee as customer Journal of Retail Banking 3 33ndash40Boniface B and Cooper C (1994) The Geography of Travel and Tourism (2nd edn) London

HeinemannBriassoulis H (1993) Tourism in Greece In W Pompl and P Lavery (eds) Tourism in

Europe Structures and Developments (pp285ndash301) Oxford CAB InternationalBuckley P and Papadopoulos S (1986) Marketing Greek tourism The planning process

Tourism Management 7 86ndash100Buhalis D (1991) Strategic marketing and management for the small and medium

tourism enterprises in the periphery of the European Community A case study for theAegean islands in Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Buhalis D (1994) Information and telecommunications technologies as a strategic tool forsmall and medium tourism enterprises in the contemporary business environment InA Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 254ndash75)England J Wiley and Sons

Buhalis D (1995) The impact of information telecommunications technologies on tourismdistribution channels Implications for the small and medium sized tourismenterprisesrsquo strategic management and marketing PhD Dissertation University ofSurrey Guildford

Buhalis D (2000a) Marketing the competitive destination of the future TourismManagement (Special Issue ndash The Competitive Destination) 21 (1) 97ndash116

Buhalis D (2000b) (forthcoming) Athens Tourism-Travel Intelligence LondonBuhalis D (2000c) Relationships in the distribution channel of tourism Conflicts between

hoteliers and tour operators in the Mediterranean region Journal of InternationalHospitality Leisure and Tourism Adminstration 1 (1) 113ndash39

Buhalis D and Diamantis D (2001 forthcoming) Tourism development andsustainability on the Greek archipelagos In G Apostolopoulos and D Ioannides (eds)Tourism in the Mediterranean Routledge

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 475

Buhalis D and Fletcher J (1995) Environmental impacts on tourism destinations Aneconomic analysis In H Coccosis and P Nijkamp (eds) Sustainable Tourism Development(pp 3ndash25) London Avebury

Camison C Bigne E and Monfort VM (1994) The Spanish tourism industry Analysisof its strategies and the efficacy and achievements gained from them In A Seaton et al(eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 442ndash52) England JWiley and Sons

Castelberg-Koulma M (1991) Greek women and tourism Womenrsquos co-operatives as analternative form of organisation In N Redclift and T Sinclair (eds) Working WomenInternational Perspectives on Labour and Gender Ideology (pp 197ndash223) LondonRoutledge

Chitiris L (1991) Hotel Management (in Greek) Athens InterbooksCoccosis H and Parprairis A (1992) Assessing the interactions between environment

and tourism Case study of the island of Mykonos Paper presented in the IV WorldCongress of Regional Science International University of Balearic Islands Palma deMallorca 26ndash9 May

Conway H (1996) Greece Travel Weekly 1308 39ndash43Cooper C and Buhalis D (1992) Strategic management and marketing of small and

medium sized tourism enterprises in the Greek Aegean islands In R Teare D Adamsand S Messenger (eds) Managing Projects in Hospitality Organisations (pp 101ndash25)London Cassell

Daskalantonakis N (1994) Quality ndash The future of tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (3 July)D9

Divanis A (1994b) Tourism policy Left on its own luck (in Greek) XENIA (October)4ndash5

Donatos G and Zairis P (1991) Seasonality of foreign tourism in the Greek islands ofCrete Annals of Tourism Research 18 515ndash19

Douvitsas P (1994) Marketing Greece through British tour operators A futureperspective MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Drakatos C (1987) Seasonal concentration of tourism in Greece Annals of Tourism Research14 582ndash6

EC (1993a) Microeconomic Analysis of the Tourism Sector A study by the pH Group forEuropean Commission DGXXIII (September) Report XXIII30394-EN BrusselsEuropean Commission

EC (1993b) Growth competitiveness employment The challenges and ways forward intothe 21st century Bulletin of the European Communities Supplement 693 (White Paper)Luxembourg

Economist (1993) Last Chance Sisyphus A survey of Greece Economist (22 May) 2ndash22EIU (1986) Greece (pp 45ndash60) International tourist reports National Report No 3EIU (1990) Greece (pp 45ndash62) International tourist reports National Report No 4EIU (1993) Greece ndash Country Profile 1992ndash1993 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEIU (1994) Greece ndash Country Profile 1994ndash1995 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEpilogi (1994) Economic review ndash The Greek Economy 1994 (in Greek) AthensEuromonitor (1992) Tourism in Greece Market Research Europe (25 May) 51ndash63Fayos-Sola E (1992) A Strategic Outlook for Regional Tourism Policy The White Paper

on Valencian Tourism Tourism Management 13 45ndash9Fotis J (1992) Vacational lifestyle segmentation of tourists on the island of Rhodes

Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey GuildfordGilbert D (1984) The need for countries to differentiate their tourist product and how to

do so Seminar papers for Ministers of Tourism and Directors of National TouristOrganisations Tourism Managing for Results University of Surrey Guildford

Gilbert D (1990) Strategic marketing planning for national tourism Tourist Review 45 (1)18ndash27

GNTO (1985a) Survey of attributes of foreign tourists 1984ndash1985 (in Greek) Greek NationalStatistical Services Athens GNTO

476 Current Issues in Tourism

GNTO (1985b) EOT-Tourism rsquo85 Development ndash Participation ndash Quality of Life (in Greek)Greek National Statistical Services Athens GNTO

GNTO (1989a) Annual report 1988 ndash Forecast 89 Towards Quality Athens GNTOGNTO (1989b) The study of tourism promotion With special reference to the measures to

increase Japanese tourists to Greece Draft final report Japan InternationalCooperation Agency

GNTO (1993) Tourism towards the 2000 (in Greek) Greek National Tourism OrganisationAthens GNTO

Hall M (1994) Tourism and Politics Policy Power and Place J Wiley and SonsHorwath (annual) The Greek Hotel Industry (in Greek) Annual reports Pireus HorwathJenner P and Smith C (1993) Tourism in the Mediterranean Research report London

Economist Intelligence UnitJosephides N (1993) Environmental Concern ndash Whatrsquos In It for the Tourism Industry (pp 51ndash6)

Proceedings of the conference Tourism and the environment Challenges and choicesfor the 1990rsquos 16ndash17 November 1992 Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre LondonBrussels European Union

Josephides N (1994) Tourism analysis Presentation in Philoxenia international tourismexhibition Thessaloniki Greece

Josephides N (1995) A sorry state for beautiful Greece Travel Weekly 1261 (5 April)11Kalogeropoulou H (1993) Greece ndash Prospects for the tourism industry within the context

of the European Single Market of 1993 Tourism Review 48 (1) 2ndash4Kassimati K Thanopoulou M and Tsartas P (1994) Womenrsquos Employment in the

Tourist Sector Study of the Greek Labour Market and Identification of Future ProspectsDGV Equal Opportunities Unit Document V40994-EN European CommissionBrussels

Komilis P (1987) Spatial analysis of tourism in Greece (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planningand Economic Research

Komilis P (1992) The spatial structure of tourism and physical planning practices inGreece Paper presented in conference Tourism and environment Issues ofpolicyplanningmanagement 23ndash4 October University of the Aegean Dept ofEnvironment Lesvos

Komilis P (1993) Values in the Tourism Planning and Policy Making Process (pp 224ndash9)Proceedings of the conference Values and the environment 23ndash4 September GuildfordUniversity of Surrey

Komilis P (1994) Tourism and sustainable regional development In A Seaton et al (eds)Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 65ndash73) England JWiley andSons

Konsolas N and Zacharatos G (1993) Regionalization of tourism activity in GreeceProblems and policies In H Briassoulis and J Van der Straaten (eds) Tourism andEnvironment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 57ndash65) Dordrecht Kluer AcademicPublisher

Kousis M (1989) Tourism and the family in a rural Cretan community Annals of TourismResearch 16 318ndash32

Kriebardis S and Marmagiolis I (1990) Tourism Activity in Greece Problems and Perspectives(pp 45ndash54) (in Greek) Economic Report of Commercial Bank AprilndashJune AthensCommercial Bank

Ktenas S (1994) Hoteliers ask for 15 to 20 increases for 1995 (in Greek) TO BHMA (3July) D9

Ktenas S (1996) Crisis in Greek tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (7 April) D16Leontidou L (1991) Greece Prospects and contradictions of tourism in the 1980rsquos In AM

Williams and GJ Shaw (eds) Tourism and Economic Development Western EuropeanExperiences (2nd edn) (pp 94ndash106) London Belhaven Press

Logothetis M (1990) The Economy of Dodekanisos During 1988ndash1989 Developments andPerspectives (in Greek) Rhodes Regional association of municipalities of Dodekanisos

Logothetis M (1992) Touristiki Sigkiria (in Greek) Rhodes Institute of Tourist and HotelResearch

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 477

Loukissas P (1977) The impact of tourism on regional development A comparativeanalysis of the Greek islands PhD Dissertation Cornell University USA

Loukissas P (1982) Tourismrsquos regional development impacts A comparative analysis ofthe Greek islands Annals of Tourism Research 9 523ndash43

Marinos P (1983) Small island tourism-the case of Zakynthos in Greece TourismManagement 4 212ndash15

Moore R (1992) From shepherds to shopkeepers The development of tourism in a centralGreek town PhD Dissertation University of California at Berkeley USA

Moore R (1995) Gender and alcohol use in a Greek tourist town Annals of Tourism Research22 300ndash13

Mourdoukoutas P (1988) Seasonal employment seasonal unemployment andunemployment compensation The case of the tourism industry of the Greek islandsAmerican Journal of Economics and Sociology 47 315ndash29

NSSG (l983) Tourism Statistics 1981 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (l985) Tourism Statistics 1982ndash1983 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1987) Tourism Statistics 1984ndash1985 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1990) Tourism Statistics 1986ndash1987 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1993) Tourism Statistics 1988ndash1990 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceOECD (1992) Greece Tourism Policy and International Tourism in OECD Member Countries (pp

70ndash8) Paris OECDOttaway M (1992) Turtle power Sunday Times Travel and Style (28 June)Ottaway M (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 1 Sunday Times (17 January)

57ndash59Panagiotopoulou R (1990) The problem and perspectives of the European insular regions

(in Greek) Working paper University of the Aegean ChiosPapadimitris G (1988) Short run and long run prospects of the Greek tourism industry

PhD Dissertation University of Manchester ManchesterPapadopoulos S (1985) An economic analysis of foreign tourism in Greece An

examination of the growth and structure of foreign tourism to Greece 1960ndash1984 with aplanning model and marketing policy recommendations PhD Thesis University ofBradford Management Centre Bradford

Papadopoulos S (1987) Strategic marketing techniques in international tourismInternational Marketing Review (summer) 71ndash84

Papadopoulos S (1988a) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (1) 29ndash30

Papadopoulos S (1988b) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (2) 24ndash7

Papadopoulos S (1989) Greek marketing strategies in the Europe tourism market ServiceIndustries Journal 9 297ndash314

Papadopoulos S and Mirza H (1985) Foreign tourism in Greece An economic analysisTourism Management 6 125ndash37

Papandropoulos A (1995) The crisis in tourism is evident (in Greek) OikonomikosTachydromos (29 June) 26ndash8

Papanikos G (1999) The year 2004 olympic games and their influence upon the Greektourism (in Greek) ITEP (Research Institute for Tourism) Athens

Paulopoulos P (1999) The Size and Dynamics of the Tourism Sector (in Greek) ResearchInstitute for Tourism Athens

Peterson C (1990) Greece tackles overbuilding in tourism areas EnvironmentalConservation 17 166ndash8

Plevris V (1995) Alarm bells from the Hellenic Federation of Hotels (in Greek) XENIA128 (May) 6ndash7

Poon A (1987) Information technology and innovation in international tourism ndashimplications for the Caribbean tourism industry PhD thesis Science Policy ResearchUnit University of Sussex Brighton

Poon A (1988) Flexible specialisation and small size ndash the case of Caribbean tourism DRCDiscussion Paper 57 SPRU Brighton University of Sussex

478 Current Issues in Tourism

Poon A (1989) Competitive strategies for new tourism In C Cooper (ed) Progress inTourism Recreation and Hospitality Management (vol 1) (pp 91ndash102) London BelhavenPress

Poon A (1990) Flexible specialisation at small size The case of Caribbean tourism WorldDevelopment 18 109ndash23

Poon A (1993) Tourism Technology and Competitive Strategies Oxford CAB InternationalPorter M (1980) Competitive Strategy Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors

New York Free PressPorter M (1985) Competitive Advantage Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance New

York Free PressPorter M (1990) The Competitive Advantage of Nations New York Free PressPrurier E Sweeney A and Geen A (1993) Tourism and the environment The case of

Zakynthos Tourism Management 14 137ndash9Psoinos P (1994a) Research on the foreign touristsrsquo attributes in Greece (in Greek) Athens

Greek National Tourism OrganisationPsoinos P (1994b) Research on the attributes of foreigners who have never visited Greece (in

Greek) Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationRichter-Papaconstantinou C (1992) Tourism development of Rhodes Cahiers du Tourisme

(Serie B) 67 Aix en Provence Centre des Hautes Eacutetudes TouristiquesRomanos A (1998) Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites (in Greek) Athens

Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites SASETE (1993) Tourism Developments and problems (in Greek) Athens Association of Greek

Tourism EnterprisesSezer H and Harrison A (1994) Tourism in Greece and Turkey An economic view for

planners In A Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposiumpp74ndash84 England Wiley and Sons

Skoulas N (1985) Holidays and travel in the year 2035 ndash Contribution of the NationalTourist Organisation of Greece SDI Schriftey Wirtschafts und Unternehmenspolitik 40181ndash99

Skoulas N (1994) Quality improvement of tourism services (in Greek) Paper presentedin the conference Competitiveness of tourism enterprises ndash the role of quality 1 AprilHoliday Inn Athens Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises

Smith C and Jenner P (1995) Greece International Tourism Reports 3 5ndash21Stavrou S (1978) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Kos Island (in Greek) Research and

Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationStavrou S (1979) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Mykonos and Naxos Islands (in

Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1980) Research on Tourism Awareness on the Islands Kalymnos and Leros (in Greek)Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1984) Tourism Development in Greece during 1969ndash1982 (in Greek) Research andDevelopment Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986a) Research for the Characteristics of Foreign Tourist Demand in Greece in theYears 8485 (in Greek) Research Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1986b) Research on the Tourism Awareness on Paros Santorini Kythira Islands (inGreek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986c) Critical Review of Tourism Activity in the Years 8385 (in Greek) Researchand Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1988) Tourism in the Northern Aegean Islands Presentation of GNTO for the TourismDevelopment of the Periphery (in Greek) Proceedings of the first conference for thedevelopment of the Northern Aegean islands Homereum cultural centre Chios 11November Chios Periphery of Northern Aegean islands

Stavrou S (1989a) GNTO Presentation for the Tourism Development Possibilities for theSouthern Aegean Islands (in Greek) Conference for the development of Southern Aegean

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 479

islands Syros 30 September ndash 2 OctoberStavrou S (1989b) The Contribution of the Development Law 126282 in the Development of the

Country (in Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A5 Athens GreekNational Tourism Organisation

Stereopoulos N (1995) It is regarded ideal it became problematic (in Greek) OikonomikosTachidromos (21 December) 151ndash3

Touloupas P (1996) Greece as a tourist destination for the British tour operators Ananalysis from a marketing perspective in the particular context of the United KingdomMSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Tourismos ke Oikonomia (1993) 20 years 1973ndash1993 (in Greek) Special Issue AthensTourismos ke Oikonomia (1994) ICAP tourism enterprises Drastic reduction of loses in 1993

(in Greek) December 14ndash15Touristiki Agora (various issues) (Monthly tourism industry periodical in Greek) Business

Press AthensTruett D and Truett L (1987) The response of tourism to international economic

conditions Greece Mexico and Spain Journal of Developing Areas 21 177ndash90Tsartas P (1989) Socioeconomic Impacts of Tourism Development in Cyclades Region with Special

Reference on Ios and Serifos Islands During 1950ndash1980 (in Greek) Athens National Centrefor Social Research

Tsartas P (1992) Socioeconomic impacts of tourism on two Greek isles Annals of TourismResearch 19 516ndash33

Van Den Bergh J (1993) Tourism development and natural environment Aneconomicndashecological model for the Sporades islands In H Briassoulis and J Van DerStraaten (eds) Tourism and Environment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 67ndash83)Dordrecht Kluer Academic Publishers

Velissariou E (1991) Die Wirtschaftlichen Effekte des Tourismus Dargestell am Beispiel Kretas(The Economic Impacts of Tourism on Crete) PhD Dissertation University of MunichFrankfurt Peter Lang

Vernikos N (1987) The study of Mediterranean small islands Emerging theoreticalissues Ekistics 54 (323ndash4) 101ndash9

Wanhill S (1993) Government organisations In C Cooper J Fletcher D Gilbert and SWanhill (eds) Tourism Principle and Practice (pp 145ndash60) London Pitman

Wickens D (1994) Consumption of the authentic The hedonistic tourist in Greece In ASeaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 819ndash25)England JWiley and Sons

Wickens E (2000) Rethinking touristsrsquo experiences In M Robinson et al (eds) MotivationsBehaviour and Tourist Types (pp 455ndash72) Business Education Publishers Sunderland

Wickers D (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 2 Sunday Times 57ndash510Wilkinson PF (1989) Strategies for tourism in islands microstates Annals of Tourism

Research 16 153ndash77XENIA (various issues) (Monthly bulletin of the Greek Hotel Chamber in Greek) AthensZacharatos G (1984) Tourismus und Wirtschafts-Struktur Dargestellt am Beispiel

Griechenlands Europaische Hochschulschriften Reihex Band 7 Frankfurt am MainZacharatos G (1986) Tourism consumption (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planning and

Economic ResearchZacharatos G (1988) The simplistic empiricism Tourism policy and the time of crisis

(1992) (in Greek) Sychrona Themata 11 (May) 21ndash6Zacharatos G (1989) The problems and perspectives of tourism in Greece (in Greek) In H

Katsoulis T Giannitsis and P Kazakos (eds) Politics and Society Economy and ForeignRelationships (pp 273ndash89) Athens Papazisis

Zacharatos G (1993) The necessity of multimedia use in the tourism education in Greece(in Greek) Paper presented at the international conference Overcomingisolation-telematics and regional development University of the Aegean Chios 30April ndash 2 May

480 Current Issues in Tourism

Page 10: Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challengescore.ac.uk/download/pdf/101686.pdf · Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challenges Dimitrios Buhalis School of Management

Tourism supply in Greek tourismA modern industry has emerged since the 1950s to cater for the tourism

demand The Greek tourism product is an amalgam of natural cultural and heri-tage attractions spread throughout the country as well as a wide variety of servicesoffered predominantly by SMTEs Moreover 15000 miles of coastline 2500islands an average of 300 sunny days annually a unique fauna and flora as well asclimatic superiority with mild winters and warm summers are some of its naturalattractions The Greek civilisation of more than 3500 years also provides plentifulcultural heritage throughout the country Some rsquo25000 registered and protectedmonuments and archaeological sites numerous museums and about 500 charac-teristic traditional settlementsrsquo offer a unique blend of tourist attractions (Buckleyamp Papadopoulos 1986 96 EIU 1986) As far as amenities are concerned a plethoraof SMTEs provide the entire variety of services

In January 2000 a total of 8100 official accommodation establishments with atotal capacity of almost 600000 beds are provided in different categories asdemonstrated in Table 4 Another 450000 beds are provided by some 28000secondary accommodation establishments such as lsquorooms to letrsquo and self-cateringapartments often referred to as lsquoparahoteleriarsquo In addition 11000 beds in cruiseliners and 12000 in yachts as well as 329 camping sites with 30354 pitches and83000 camping spaces accommodate all types of demand (GNTO) Eurostat esti-mates that about 20000 restaurants operate in Greece while a countless number ofcatering and entertainment establishments are on offer Furthermore some 7000travel agencies 1500 coach rental and 4000 car rental firms are estimated to operatethroughout the country (EC 1993a)

Accessibility is facilitated through 32 airports most of which can receive directinternational charter flights An extensive domestic scheduled flights network isprovided by Olympic Airways as well as by newly established private carrierswhich take advantage of the increasingly deregulated skies The proliferation ofprivate airlines (eg Aegean Cronus Axon Air Greece) during the last five yearsand the price wars with the state-owned Olympic Airways have increased bothdomestic and international traffic Moreover a complex network of sea road andrail transport enables passenger transportation throughout the country(Briassoulis 1993 291) During the last decade there has been a remarkableimprovement to the quality and ability of vessels as the Greek shipping industryprepares for the lifting of cabotage in 2002 which will enable European shippinglines to operate on Greek routes However recent tragedies involving olderGreek ferries pressurised the Ministry of Merchant Marine to take action in orderto improve the safety and security of the vessels and to ensure the adequate train-ing of crews In addition Piraeus port needs the development of a modernpassenger terminal to provide adequate service

Unfortunately the Greek infrastructure is incapable of supporting the tourismsuperstructure growth of the last decades and thus telecommunications transpor-tation police and health services water supply and sewage systems are underextreme pressure in the summer peak months to satisfy the demand density(Konsolas amp Zacharatos 1993 63 and EIU 1990 61) Nevertheless during the lastdecade several major projects have been initiated including the Metro and the newairport in Athens a wide network of motorways and the gradual development of

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 449

Tab

le 4

Acc

omm

odat

ion

esta

blis

hm

ent b

y re

gion

and

cat

egor

y in

199

9

Tot

alLu

xury

A C

ateg

ory

B C

ateg

ory

Reg

ion

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Ster

ea1

236

493

9892

877

225

368

101

4480

780

514

644

191

120

5722

605

Pel

opon

isos

660

230

1043

846

466

11

377

554

889

925

012

96

825

130

22Io

nio

595

332

8663

683

61

340

255

378

930

817

911

139

894

617

107

Ipir

os24

24

868

938

51

5411

611

446

884

381

478

284

4N

orth

ern

Aeg

ean

550

108

7220

792

450

11

090

231

364

257

498

374

97

125

Cre

te1

214

604

8911

396

021

508

510

034

166

188

9335

608

263

139

9826

904

Dod

ekan

isa

887

545

0710

436

68

324

26

227

127

224

8442

924

201

106

0120

161

Cyc

lad

es73

718

406

352

483

176

341

963

108

587

014

03

824

731

7T

hes

saly

575

119

9522

939

439

978

150

150

52

980

672

626

494

9M

aced

onia

983

335

1372

943

41

046

184

255

231

913

698

168

100

3619

140

Th

race

702

470

467

50

00

418

134

522

110

22

103

Tot

al7

749

302

814

584

714

7717

872

345

0574

572

302

146

688

145

675

242

143

277

C C

ateg

ory

D C

ateg

ory

E C

ateg

ory

Reg

ion

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Ster

ea60

318

193

339

6519

43

712

703

814

62

263

448

1P

elop

onis

os32

68

818

166

4894

135

02

625

4246

792

4Io

nio

380

119

2822

722

571

114

212

136

650

126

9Ip

iros

992

362

451

519

356

682

1417

234

4N

orth

ern

Aeg

ean

199

442

78

400

2840

477

333

427

830

Cre

te67

820

123

369

0397

163

12

995

5175

91

516

Dod

ekan

isa

495

163

7530

686

611

076

293

956

729

142

9C

ycla

des

367

835

715

977

100

152

22

922

104

141

92

821

Th

essa

ly24

15

723

107

7853

962

186

159

780

159

0M

aced

onia

491

124

0723

497

351

687

013

066

6083

51

700

Th

race

2886

81

614

1125

949

35

6012

0T

otal

390

710

958

120

570

51

065

192

5637

515

606

856

117

024

Sour

ce G

NT

O D

ept o

f Acc

omm

odat

ion

Est

abli

shm

ents

450 Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges

the railtrack These developments will change the entire infrastructure of thecountry

The implementation of the Greek national tourism policy is supervised by theGreek National Tourism Organisation (GNTO) and the Ministry of TourismThe two organisations share the responsibilities for planning implementationand promotion of Greek tourism at national and regional level as well as coordi-nating the involvement of the public and private sectors in all tourism activitiesPublic investment in commercial facilities was utilised in the early days ofGreek tourism to stimulate both tourism demand and the private sectorrsquos confi-dence to invest The GNTO operates 21 regional and 25 overseas offices in 18countries worldwide (Konsolas amp Zacharatos 1993 59 Leontidou 1991Briassoulis 1993)

The Greek tourism product is distributed to the international market predomi-nantly through European tour operators which organise package holidays andinclude resorts in their programmes Some 800 tour operators distribute the Greektourism product More than 7000 incoming travel agencies often act as tour opera-torsrsquo handling agencies while providing a variety of tourism services such asorganisation of excursions currency exchange and accommodation bookingsdirectly to consumers They usually participate in negotiations between tour oper-ators and accommodation establishments as well as cooperate with tour operatorsrsquorepresentatives at destinations In addition the GNTO operates several informa-tion offices at major resorts whilst several local authorities provide tourist infor-mation as well as distribute promotional material and make local bookings Theglobal GNTO network distributes information material to potential tourists aswell as undertakes all the marketing and public relations functions both for indi-vidual and institutional customers

SWOT analysis for Greek tourism and small and medium-sized tourismenterprises

A SWOT analysis is undertaken for the Greek tourism as well as its SMTEs inorder to assess their present and projected competitiveness based on strategicmanagement research undertaken for the Aegean islands (Buhalis 1991 Cooperamp Buhalis 1992) The interrelations between SMTEs and destinations are quiteapparent illustrating that a destinationsrsquo weaknesses and threats are reflected inthe SMTEsrsquo competitiveness and vice versa As illustrated in Table 5 the SWOTanalysis concentrates on the strategic rather than operational strengths andweaknesses of SMTEs

As far as strengths of the Greek tourism and SMTEs are concerned their flexi-bility and ability to tailor products to consumersrsquo needs are of great importanceto their existence SMTEs can identify profitable niches in the market establishtheir requirements and attempt to satisfy specialised needs Direct control byentrepreneurs permits quick and efficient managerial reaction to external chal-lenges Fewer hierarchical levels facilitate closer and more effective control overthe service delivery process enabling personal services to customers In addi-tion archaeological heritage natural and cultural resources as well as the localcharacter are also significant assets As a result tourists benefit from localresources which are ideally situated to offer special-interest holidays SMTEsalso capitalise on personal relationships with consumers suppliers labour and

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 451

the entire tourism industry in general Their size enables the provision of apersonal finish to all products provided while it is not unusual for customers tobecome friends and to be treated accordingly Similarly strong relations withemployees support labour loyalty and low turnover The proprietorrsquos family isnormally directly involved with every aspect of the business reacting efficientlyand promptly to any problem arising Their involvement in running the enter-prise provides considerable benefits especially in having a very flexiblemulti-skilled and dedicated workforce which tolerates unsociable workingschedules Family members feel committed to the long-term prosperity of theenterprise and often do not distinguish between their professional and familylife Thus a better matching between tourism demand and SMTEsrsquo supply isachieved

A close-up of the weaknesses of Greek tourism and SMTEs is critical for under-standing the ability of the industry to compete in the global tourism arenaAlthough entrepreneurs are normally an asset it seems that a number of manage-

452 Current Issues in Tourism

Table 5 Greek tourism and SMTEsrsquo SWOT analysis

Strengths

Flexibility

Tailor-made product delivery

Entrepreneurial activity

Family involvement

Natural and cultural resources

Strong local character

Personalised relationships

Labour loyalty and low turnover

Weaknesses

Management

Marketing

Information technologies illiteracy

Dependence upon tour operators

Supporting markets

Lack of economies of scale

Human resources management

Education and training

Transportation and accessibility

Financial management and resources

Seasonality

Lack of standardisation

Lack of quality assurances

Opportunities

European Union support

European redistribution of labour

Increase in tourism demand size

Trends in tourism demand

Low cost of living in periphery

Information technology

Infrastructure development

Transportation

Olympic Games

Threats

Environmental degradation

Concentration and globalisation

Oversupply

Lack of visibility in CRSs

Infrastructure

Warsterrorism

Political intervention

Source Adapted from Buhalis 1991 60c and Cooper and Buhalis 1992 108

rial problems often arise Lack of strategic and operational managementknow-how generates inconsistency in the creation and delivery of tourism prod-ucts This has direct implications for consumersrsquo satisfaction and the projectedimage of the industry There is often a complete lack of strategic vision and enter-prises are often treated as an extension of proprietorsrsquo domestic environmentEntrepreneurs recruit family members and relatives as personnel and supplierseven though more appropriatequalified alternatives can be found in the market-place Therefore the management of SMTEs clearly projects the proprietorrsquosfamily life-style and decision-making processes onto an enterprise Marketing isanother significant weakness for most entrepreneurs and Greek resorts as they areoften completely unaware of the techniques available and thus follow a prod-uct-oriented rather than a consumer-orientated approach Consequently uncoor-dinated isolated trouble-shooting marketing activities are occasionallyundertaken rather than a consistent and well-planned marketing campaign Lackof marketing research debilitates knowledge of consumersrsquo needs and makes itdifficult to identify methods for improving services in order to meet consumersrsquoexpectations Inability to finance and execute advertising campaigns and otherpromotional techniques reduces their visibility in their markets These weak-nesses in combination with the fact that many entrepreneurs are unfamiliar withinformation technology (IT) add to the problems of SMTEs in promoting them-selves effectively Consequently both Greek SMTEs and destinations sufferfrom over-dependence on the tourism distribution channels to promote anddistribute their product In particular intermediaries and especially tour opera-tors have enormous power within the channel and are capable of determiningthe Greek tourism product marketing distribution and pricing mixes (Buhalis1995) Hence the marketing campaign and the visibility of Greek tourism to itsmain target markets are often determined by the coverage space photographsand description in tour operatorsrsquo brochures European tour operators alsocontrol accessibility to Mediterranean or long-haul destinations as they ownmost charter airlines which provide direct and inexpensive flights to these desti-nations

As most resorts are located in peripheral areas there is usually little economicdevelopment in the supplying sectors Therefore remote destinations have toimport essential raw and construction materials from elsewhere while SMTEsoften face transportation delivery and purchasing problems and excessivetransportation costs Moreover lack of economies of scale in purchasing rawmaterial low bargaining power and lack of advanced facilities are additionaloperational disadvantages This essentially means that SMTEs have to payhigher prices for products than their larger counterparts Lack of specialisedpersonnel and inadequate training procedures mean that human resourcesmanagement is a major weakness of Greek tourism In most SMTEs personnelhave to cover a wide range of positions a loose job description is usuallyprovided and multi-skilled personnel are required The labour turnover due tothe seasonality of the tourism industry reduces the availability of qualified andexperienced personnel and makes tourism product delivery not only variablebut also unprofessional The small size of operation provides little opportunityfor the division of tasks professional employees and proper training Since noquality standards are introduced service delivery varies according to the occu-

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 453

pancy service provider and timing Transportation and accessibility to remotedestinations may also be a weakness as most enterprises are located in periph-eral and often inaccessible regions SMTEs tend to feel frustrated because theyare unable to attract consumers simply because they cannot provide conve-nient reliable and affordable transportation The formulation of charter aircarriers by destination areas such as Turkey and Spain as well as the emergingderegulation policies in the European Union may diminish this problem in thenear future Moreover SMTEs face significant financial constraints as on theone hand they are required to invest in fixed assets at the beginning of theiroperations and on the other hand there is a discrimination against them byfinancial institutions since they normally have very few assets Consequentlythey are forced to accept unfavourable financial deals Finally the Greek tour-ism industry and SMTEs suffer from seasonality problems and have to produceadequate income within a limited period every year Lack of diversified invest-ment in other economic activities forces proprietors to work intensively in thepeak months and rest in the off-peak months while their pay-back period isinevitably unfavourable As the tourism industry becomes more professionalembraces quality management and responds to an increasingly discerningcustomer SMTEsrsquo typical lack of business expertise and minimal standardisa-tion may become an increasing liability especially for some target markets(Cooper amp Buhalis 1992 102)

Recent developments in the external environment present numerous opportu-nities for the Greek tourism industry and SMTEs Firstly the European Uniontakes several actions to support small and medium-sized enterprises (EC 1993b72) while it supports infrastructure development of peripheral regions andcontributes significantly to the prosperity of SMTEs The country is going througha major transformation as a result of several public projects supported by theEuropean Commission including the Attico Metro the new Athens Airport thedevelopment of the peripheral motorway Elefsina-Spata and the peripheralmotorway of Immitos The unification of the heritage sites and thepedestrianisation of the Athens city centre aims to develop an open archaeologi-cal park and deal with the traffic and pollution problems The Olympic Games in2004 provide a unique challenge and opportunity for the city and the country torebrand and redevelop itself and demonstrate its unparalleled heritage andcultural resources The Games also provide the resources and funding as well asa lsquodeadlinersquo for several infrastructural projects that were already scheduled butperhaps delayed In addition several projects are anticipated to improve thesuperstructure of the industry through both renovation of existing propertiesand through the development of new hotels and other facilities It is anticipatedthat the regeneration of the city and the country in general will provide majoropportunities for the attractiveness and competitiveness of the tourism industry(Buhalis 2000b Papanikos 1999 Romanos 1998)

It is anticipated that there will be a gradual redistribution of Europeanlabour providing support for each region to specialise in the production ofgoods and services where it can achieve competitive advantages Traditionallyremote and insular destinations where most Greek resorts and SMTEs arebased achieve a competitive advantage in tourism and therefore greatersupport is anticipated Greek tourism benefits from the continuous growth of

454 Current Issues in Tourism

global tourism demand as more people require holiday services while SMTEsare expected to increase their share as they tend to satisfy the emerging special-ised and sophisticated demand better than larger organisations Informationand telecommunication technologies can provide strategic tools for tourismdestinations and SMTEs enabling them to manage their product more effi-ciently disseminate information and establish a distribution mechanismthrough destination management systems (Buhalis 1994) New technologiesalso offer opportunities for developing innovative tourism products such asteleworking for tourists who would like to spend time working during theirstay at the destination Finally Greek tourism tends to achieve a cost advan-tage since it employs unpaid family members and operates in inexpensiveperipheral regions which often have a lower cost of living in comparison withmetropolitan areas

In terms of external threats environmental degradation through inappropriatewaste management and excessive usage of natural resources can be observedLack of know-how and funds effectively increases environmental problemsConsequently several resorts suffer severe damage while entrepreneurs and localauthorities feel powerless to take remedial measures Moreover oversupply oftourism service providers and lack of well-defined carrying capacity limits inseveral destinations have placed numerous Greek resorts and SMTEs in a disad-vantaged position as they cannot achieve sufficient income Similarly the concen-tration of power in fewer tourism industry enterprises through emergingglobalisation also threatens the ability of Greek SMTEs to survive as internationalvertically integrated tourism organisations acquire control over local enterprisesThe dependence upon channel partners for the promotion and distribution ofGreek tourism is exaggerated by the relatively low presence of Greek suppliers inthe major CRSs (Computer Reservation Systems) which is caused by the seasonal-ity and scale of the tourism production on the one hand and the tariffs of thesesystems on the other The issue of infrastructure is closely related to the oversup-ply which attracts higher demand than planned Destinations often have limitedinfrastructure provisions which fail to follow the pace of development generatingpressure on the existing inadequate facilities Finally the tourism industry suffersfrom its geographical proximity to the Balkans and the Middle East and as a conse-quence is often associated by consumers with wars and terrorism activities Greektourism and SMTEs have limited means of dealing with unfavourable situationsand thus are more vulnerable to their impacts Political intervention perhapsthrough the public sector decisions and the legislator framework often damagesthe prosperity of SMTEs As SMTEs have little lobbying power they have limitedinfluence over political decisions which determine their welfare

The SWOT analysis demonstrates quite clearly that the Greek tourism indus-try faces a wide range of problems and threats which will jeopardise its ability toprovide suitable tourism products in the future as well as its ability to make acontribution to the national welfare However several opportunities and chal-lenges emerge and they need to be addressed in order to strengthen the competi-tiveness of the industry Further analysis is therefore required in order to assessthe factors which generate these problems and also to identify ways to respond tothe challenges they present

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 455

Why Are We There and What Are the Implications StructuralProblems and Challenges

Despite its popularity and growth over the last 40 years the Greek tourismindustry has reached a stage where both its potential and competitiveness havebecome questionable

The seemingly unstoppable growth of this market contributed to a degreeof complacency which has led to Greece repeating some of the errors madein Spain Rapid price increases mean the country is no longer perceived bymass market clients as cheap in relation to comparable destinations in theMediterranean but much of the countryrsquos tourism infrastructure hastilybuilt in response to demand for cheap accommodation does not meet theneeds of a market less sensitive to price and more concerned with qualityand value for money (EIU 1990 45)

Richter-Papaconstantinou (1992 27) explains that tourism development inRhodes lsquotakes place without any Master Plan of the area respect of the landscapeand environment analysis whether there is demand and what the demand isafter regard to what is happening in similar situationsrsquo At the micro level theEuropean travel trade and intermediaries warn that the Greek tourism product isno longer competitive (Conway 1996 41 Touloupas 1996 Douvitsas 1994)whilst Chitiris (1991 148ndash150) outlines a range of managerial problems andmistakes in Greek resort hotels which diminish the quality of the tourismservices Hence unless the Greek tourism industry addresses a number of criticalissues immediately its future might be seriously jeopardised resulting in apotential catastrophe of the national economy The major structural problemsand challenges for the Greek tourism product can be summarised in Table 6

As a result Greece fails to attract the desired lsquohigh-quality high-expenditurersquotourists as it is increasingly unable to satisfy their requirements (Conway 199641) The deterioration of the tourism product and image leads to a lower willing-ness-to-pay by consumers which consequently leads to a further drop in qualityas the industry attempts to attract customers with lower prices This is a viciousspiral which has been destroying the essence of developing tourism in severalMediterranean destinations The concentration of bargaining power in Euro-pean distribution intermediaries and tour operators in particular in combina-tion with the inability of the Greek tourism industry to promote itself andestablish effective distribution mechanisms inevitably minimises the profitmargins of SMTEs and their ability to yield decent returns on their investmentAs a result touristsrsquo expenditure per capita in Greece gradually deteriorateswhile their volume increases (SETE 1993 35)

Thus the tourism policy often consisted in a lsquofreezingrsquo of the selling price ofthe tourist package abroad a measure which combined with the devalua-tion of the drachma and its continuous parity losses succeeded in securing alsquofictitious competitivenessrsquo for the Greek package This competitivenesshowever was seriously threatened each time there was an attempt at asubstantial increase because of important rises in cost elements(Kalogeropoulou 1993 2)

456 Current Issues in Tourism

The above issues illustrate that the Greek tourism product becomes increas-ingly incompetent Hence the inadequate lsquoproductrsquo lsquopromotionrsquo and lsquoplacersquo(distribution) elements of the tourism marketing mix reduce the willingness ofprospective consumers to pay and has disastrous implications for the pricingpolicies deteriorating the profitability of the SMTEs and the tourism economicimpacts on the destination

Ultimately the economic impacts of tourism in Greece become debatableespecially due to the inadequacy of tourism economic research and data whilethe destination has to bear the environmental social and cultural decay Encour-agingly articles in recent tourism industry publications acknowledge these chal-lenges and appreciate the dangers urging both the private and public sector totake action (Touristiki Agora Tourismos ke Oikonomia Travel News XENIA) as well

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 457

Table 6 Structural problems and challenges

Image of Greece as cheap simple unsophisticated undifferentiated sun-seadestination

Gradual deterioration of tourism product and lack of reinvestment in improvements

Increase of tourism arrivals but decrease of tourism expenditure per capita

Inadequacy of the Greek planning process

Dependence upon major tour operators for promotion and distribution

Plethora of anarchically developed and behaving SMTEs aiming at short-termprofitability

Inappropriate and ill-timed marketing campaign which has little effectiveness

Inadequacy of infrastructure to serve the ever-expanding demand

Lack of coordination at the destination and disrespect for touristsrsquo needs

Lack ofprofessionalism and training in both state andprivate tourism establishments

Individualistic behaviour by SMTEs and unwillingness to cooperate on adestination basis

Unsuccessful and inconsistent programmes of government intervention

Almost unregulated environment with nearly complete lack of control

Political intervention which allows exception policies and employment of unquali-fied staff

Development of tourism as a single regional development option

Oversupply of tourism amenities and fierce price competition

Failure of the private sector to invest in long-term projects

Deterioration of natural social and cultural resources

SMTEsrsquo inability to resist in global concentration of the tourism industry

Inadequate distribution mechanisms which generate overdependence onintermediaries

Failure of both the private and public sectors to learn from internationally gainedexperience in tourism development and marketing

Lack of tourism research to identify the impacts of tourism

Negligence with regard to new tourism demand challenges

as several influential members of the tourism industry (Josephides 1993 19941995 Skoulas 1994 Daskalantonakis 1994 Divanis 1994b Plevris 1995Papandropoulos 1995)

Political intervention limited research lack of tourism policy andplanning

Perhaps the largest obstacle in developing a competitive tourism industry inGreece has been the inconsistent and irrational political intervention Unfortunatelytourism has extensively been utilised as a political vehicle where each govern-ment uses it to gratify its political needs and friends This can be experienced in alllevels of recruitment in the public sector institutions as a change of government oreven minister results in immense changes throughout the GNTO as well as tomajor policies and regulations Thus in the last 35 years (since 1966) the leadershipof the GNTO has changed 28 times allowing each General Secretary to stay inoffice for an average of 138 months Political allies of each government use politi-cal pressure and intensive lobbying in order to achieve amendments in regula-tions incentive policies and business environment Hence the short-termprofitability and commercial interests of the friends and political allies of eachgovernment often overrule the long-term strategy and set an improper examplefor the entire industry These practices result in a great inconsistency in Greek tour-ism policy and disrupt its rationalisation Therefore a lsquodepolitisation of Greektourismrsquo towards a professionally managed public sector guided through acompromised strategic Master Plan is urgently required (Josephides 1995)

The limited existing scientific tourism research highlights the lack of comprehen-sive examination of tourism impacts in Greece while it illustrates that tourismpolicy is based on insufficient documentation (Zacharatos 1989 278 and 1988 22)Public sector research is almost non-existant while the authorities seem uninter-ested in consulting the Greek-tourism research produced by academics (for exam-ple Zacharatos 1984 1986 Komilis 1987 Loukissas 1977 Papadimitris 1988Papadopoulos 1985 Moore 1992 Tsartas 1989 Velissariou 1991 Fotis 1992Buhalis 1991 1995 2000c Buhalis amp Diamantis 2000) or the international tourismlsquobody of knowledgersquo (Zacharatos 1988 24) In addition tourism consumptionbeing characterised as a particular category of private consumption in the nationalaccounts it fails to reflect the real tourism impact on each economic sector Thusthe process of collecting information for tourism expenditure in Greece preventsthe assessment of tourism expenditure impacts on the national and regional econ-omy and therefore cannot be used in drawing scientifically founded tourismpolicy (Zacharatos 1989 277 Konsolas amp Zacharatos 1993 58) Consequentlytourism policy follows conventional wisdom and concentrates on attracting alarger volume of tourists ignoring scientific methods to assess the economicsocial cultural and environmental impacts of each tourism segment assumingthat the greater the tourism volume the better for the national economy

The lack of a comprehensive and rational tourism policy and planning or a MasterPlan for Greek tourism is primarily responsible for the aforementioned structuralproblems Policy is usually based on unsubstantiated statements published by theTourism Ministry or the GNTO (GNTO 1985b 1989a 1993) often as pre-electionpromotional material In essence Greek authorities attempt to intervene aiming tostimulate arrivals as well as to facilitate the operation and development of the

458 Current Issues in Tourism

tourism industry Based on the assumption that tourism arrivals to Greece wouldincrease indefinitely the general directions of the Greek tourism policy focusalmost invariably on the targets summarised in Table 7 (Euromonitor 1992 61GNTO 1989b 41 and 1993 1 OECD 1992 70 Skoulas 1985 194 Leontidou 199188ndash91 Apostolopoulos 1990 Zacharatos 1989 275 and 1988 21)

However as these tasks are not quantified and there is no time schedule orplanning process for their achievement it is inevitable that their implementationand assessment is subject to irrationalities and personal judgement Occa-sionally incentives for tourism development responses to lobbying from tour-ism-related associations and regions training programmes and generallegislation attempt to direct the Greek tourism industry towards the describedpolicy directions In addition an inconsistent and untargeted promotionalcampaign is implemented yearly (Touloupas 1996 130) The campaign attempts toachieve the above unspecified policy tasks while it is often a lsquolast minutersquo reactionmeasure to a forecasted decline of bookings for the current season rather than acoordinated long-term marketing policy (Jenner amp Smith 1993 143Papadopoulos 1989 304) Despite the advertising campaignrsquos positive impact onarrivals the feedback to the campaign is rather speculative as no formal researchis undertaken to identify the most cost-effective media and communication meth-ods for each target market (Papadopoulos 1989 311 and 1987 82)

Because the deficient scientific examination of Greek tourism and its impactsprevents the authorities from establishing quantifiable and measurable tourismpolicies their policies are based on subjective and personal judgements while feedbackpractices are rarely followed In addition the implementation of the vaguelydefined tourism policy as well as the targets regulations and standards are oftenbent to accommodate lobbying and political pressures (Zacharatos 1989 279)Komilis (1993 225) suggests that tourism planning in Greece is generally realisedand exercised within a socio-political environment characterised by severalfactors a limited degree of political commitment lack of social awareness andacceptability of planning actions inadequacy of scientific and technical founda-

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 459

Table 7 Greek tourism policy targets

Development of demand

Training of tourism employees

Increase arrivals and foreign exchange income

Increase competitiveness of tourism product

Improvement of services in the industry

Reduction of seasonality and expansion of tourism season

Attraction of high spenders and alternative types of tourism

Construction of facilities appealing to the upper end of the market such as luxuryhotels golf courses congress centres casinos and marinas

Development of tourism infrastructure with emphasis on transportation

Support of social tourism for low-income domestic tourists

Geographical redistribution of tourism

tion to support planning intervention and a centralised administrative-institu-tional system gathering a plethora of functions but failing to perform itscoordination and enforcing role When the conflicting interests and power of eachmember of the tourism industry are brought into the equation where differentpartners attempt to influence legislation in order to maximise their own short-termprofitability regardless of the impacts on the destination and other enterprises theplanning process becomes more complicated This results in an ineffective plan-ning system and process which produces policies unable to provide an appropri-ate balance between restrictive policies and control planning implementationMoreover the plethora of SMTEs in combination with inadequate legislationconcerning their establishment and operation seem to affect adversely thecompetitiveness of the industry and the ability to diversify and enrich local tour-ism products (Komilis 1992 11 EIU 1990 59)

Consequently several structural problems are originated jeopardising theprosperity of both SMTEs and destinations especially in overdeveloped regionsOn the supply side failure of the infrastructure to follow the dramatic expansionof the superstructure in combination with the lack of solid institutional context oftourism policy and long-term regulation result in the exploitation and inadequacyof environmental and socio-cultural resources as well as the inability of the indus-try to generate the level of economic benefits desired and expected On the tourismdemand side after the meteoric growth in the 1970s and 1980s the Greek tourismindustry has been trying to transform lsquothe country into a destination which cancompete not just on price but on value for moneyrsquo (EIU 1990 45) It is becomingapparent that the tourism population in not infinite and an adaptability andresponsiveness to touristsrsquo needs is ofgreat importance (Sezeramp Harrison 1994 83)

Structural problems jeopardise the profitability of the private sectorBecause of the aforementioned structural problems most tourism industry

enterprises are experiencing a decline in profitability Hotels in particular arebadly affected due to the high fixed assets as well as their immobility and inflexi-bility which prevents them from adjusting to demand fluctuation Several reasonsdetermine their low profitability and inability to increase prices in line with infla-tion The low occupancy levels achieved yearly is a key problem Smith and Jenner(1995 17) estimate that the lsquoyear-round bed occupancy over the range of licensedaccommodation is slightly under 30rsquo As most of the properties are closed duringthe winter months due to the seasonality problems they rely on three to six monthsto generate sufficient returns on their investment The occupancy levels of accom-modation establishments in Greek tourism are often determined by theirco-operation with travel intermediaries Based on the different seasonality patternsof different markets rooms are normally allocated a year before the summer seasonto tour operators on lsquoallotmentrsquo or lsquocommitmentrsquo contracts which effectively deter-mine the prices charged according to the security provided by tour operators forusing and paying for hoteliersrsquo rooms Once the contracts are signed hoteliers effec-tively lose their control on their inventory and their right to market their rooms toother business sources before the release period (typically 7ndash14 days before arrival)in order to avoid overbooking However should their bookings fail to match theirprogramme tour operators often utilise their buying power to cancel unwantedrooms at the beginning of the tourist season without paying compensation Smaller

460 Current Issues in Tourism

hoteliers are often left with unoccupied rooms they which are unable to promote atthe lsquolast minutersquo unless they drop their prices to unacceptable levels As a result oftheir deficient intra-channel power hotels often suffer a significant cut-back of theiroccupancy levels which has direct implications for their profitability (Buhalis 19952000c 460 Ktenas 1996)

Similarly the seasonality of the Mediterranean and Greek tourism industry hasalways been a problem for the profitability of SMTEs since enterprises operateonly for a limited period (Jenner amp Smith 1993 70 Drakatos 1987 Donatos ampZairis 1991) Attempts to promote winter tourism by developing cultural andspecial interest tourism in the islands and winter sports in several ski resorts inGreece have proved fairly unsuccessful (EIU 1986 56) This is attributed to theimage of Greece as an exclusively summer-sun destination as well as to the unco-ordinated attempts to maintain tourism enterprises active during the wintermonths (EIU 1990 57)

The average room rate is the second major determinant of hotel profitability It isbecoming apparent that employment costs and cost of capital in combination witha relatively strong currency policy reduce the ability of Greek accommodationestablishments to offer competitive pricing and maintain their profitabilityMarketing inadequacies and inability to promote the tourism product as a differ-entiated entity the rapid increase of supply in comparison to demand and theoverall dependence upon the oligopsonistic tour operators for the Greek tourismproduct promotion force hoteliers to accept contracts by tour operators whichminimise their profit margin and adversely effect the quality of their productIncreasing levels of pressure by tour operators prevent SMTEs from renovatingand investing in their properties and therefore a gradual deterioration of the prop-erties is inevitable (Richter-Papaconstantinou 1992 14 Skoulas 1985 189) Euro-pean tour operators faced with fierce competition in their markets are essentiallywilling to pay an annual price increase equal to little less than the depreciation ofthe drachma plus the inflation at the place of origin of the tourists (Ktenas 1994)This policy progressively deteriorates the profitability of the Greek tourism indus-try and has severe impacts for its prosperity The situation is worse for smalleraccommodation establishments which manage to negotiate even smaller priceincreases due to their exclusive dependence upon fewer intermediaries(Logothetis 1992 14)

The oversupply of tourism services both in Greece and worldwide also contributesto global competition for a less rapidly increasing demand (Josephides 1993 54)In Greece the average annual increase of the official hotel bed supply in 1983ndash1992was 47 while the annual average increase in international tourist bednights was27 (Epilogi 1994 271) The investment incentive Law 126282 boosted this over-supply as it generated small infeasible and uncontrollable accommodation unitsunable to offer high quality of services while it increased the concentration of tour-ism units in infrastructure-undersupplied resorts (Kriebardis amp Marmagiolis1990 51 Stavrou 1989b 5) The vast majority of the capacity growth is on the lsquoille-galrsquo unregistered self-catering and self-serviced lsquoparahoteleriarsquo sector whichprovide very low quality and priced accommodation and therefore appeal tomass tour operatorsrsquo clientele This not only increases unfair competition for theofficially registered hotels but also reduces both tax revenues and employment atthe macro level

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 461

Horwath (1994 3) concludes that

unfortunately the results in terms of return on investment in the tourismindustry are not very promising especially when compared with those ofother Greek economic sectors It is an undisputable fact that the averageGreek tourism entrepreneur is heavily dependent on the tourist packageprice which is strongly negotiated by the international tour operators It isan lsquounhealthyrsquo dependency as a result of the weak position of the Greektourist product in the international market In addition the aforemen-tioned dependency is the result of the lack of marketing activities in anaverage tourist enterprise As we all know effective marketing activitiesare based on the product place price promotion which all contribute toclient satisfaction and further to a bigger share in the international touristmarket Up to now three of the aforementioned important elements ofmarketing have been overlooked which determine the weak negotiationpower of the Greek entrepreneur

This situation has also resulted to several European companies expandingtheir operations into Greece or purchasing shares in Greek partners in order toimprove their vertical integration Should this vertical integration expand signif-icantly however lsquoGreek tourism will be in fact controlled by foreign deci-sion-making centres which will certainly operate on the basis of their owninterests and not according to the overall interests of our national economyrsquo(Kalogeropoulou 1993 2) Hence radical measures are required immediately inproduct formulation promotion strategy and distribution channels to supportboth Greek destinations and SMTEs to enhance their competitiveness profitabil-ity and prosperity Failure to react would have severe implications for the futureof the Greek tourism private sector as the essence of its existence would be jeop-ardised its costs may exceeding its returns

Structural problems generate negative tourism impactsIn addition to the profitability problems of the private sector the aforemen-

tioned structural problems have profound implications for the welfare of hostpopulations in various Greek destinations as their economic social cultural andenvironmental resources are exploited without ensuring their sustainabilityLack of comprehensive research and failure to initiate carrying-capacity limits orzoning systems contribute to the anarchic development of tourism as well asexpand negative impacts of tourism on local societies and environments Thefollowing section highlights some of the costs Greek destinations are called topay for their tourism activity whilst it suggests that these issues should beaddressed in the strategic planning process

Macro-economic negative impactsDespite the contribution of tourism to the Greek economy certain potential

risks can also be identified Not only is the competitiveness and profitability ofthe tourism industry jeopardised but also several destination regions seem tofollow a policy of developing tourism at the expense of industrial and agricul-tural growth (Stavrou 1989a 6 Vernicos 1987 105) Instead of tourism stimulat-ing agriculture it seems that it hastens its decline as the two economic activities

462 Current Issues in Tourism

compete for land and labour The lack of structural investments in industrial oragricultural sectors combined with the popularity of tourism professions in theworkforce endanger the balance of the regional economy while reducing thetourism multipliers (Briassoulis 1993 295) As a result the economic structure ofthe destination is jeopardised while a complete dependence upon tourismbecomes inevitable (Komilis 1992 7) Both opportunity costs and displacementeffects are therefore evident Moreover there is evidence that the progress ofdestinations through their life-cycle and especially the introduction of masstourism decreases their economic impacts while it makes local control of theindustry far more difficult (Loukissas 1982 537) lsquoBecause of the high degree ofdependence of Greek tourist enterprises on tour operators the actual amount oftourist spending remaining in the country is only the 40ndash50 of total touristspendingrsquo (Briassoulis 1993 296) Public-sector subsidies to the private sector invarious forms such as incentives cooperative marketing campaigns and unem-ployment benefits in the off-season as well as tax evasion and lsquoparaeconomyrsquo alsoreduce the real benefit at the macro level (Mourdoukoutas 1988 Drakatos 1987Leontidou 1991 102) Lack of scientific research on the economic impacts oftourism makes the real contribution of tourism in the economy speculativerather than based on hard evidence (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Konsolas ampZacharatos 1993)

Social and cultural negative impactsThe development of mass tourism and the lack of effective planning and

management are also responsible for a number of negative social and culturalimpacts observed in Greek host societies (Tsartas 1989 1992 Stavrou 19781979 1980 1986b) Although the degree of interaction of the population withtourists depends heavily on the geomorphology of destinations and the loca-tion of resorts (Loukissas 1982 538) touristsrsquo behaviour is often offensive tothe host population but tolerated due to the economic benefits (Castelberg-Koulma 1991 201 Kousis 1989 Wickens 1994 823) Most Greek tourismdestinations are almost crime-free zones during the winter due to the smallpopulation and personal relationships of locals Tourism however introducesseveral types of criminal activity often unknown to local people As policeforces are usually allocated according to needs of the permanent population ina destination they are often incapable of handling the demands of the summermonths and are unable to deal with visitorsrsquo misbehaviour such as hooliganismand lsquolager-lootingrsquo

The commercialisation of history cultural traditions and the Greek lifestyle isa phenomenon met in several destinations This regrettably affects the renownedGreek hospitality commercialises human relations with tourists and reduces theties of solidarity and cooperation between locals since they compete for the tour-ism market (Papadopoulos 1988b 24) As the average employee works 605hours weekly for 295 weeks a year there is little time left for social religious andcultural obligations during the season (Mourdoukoutas 1988 325) Although acertain degree of lsquodemonstration effectrsquo and lsquoxenomaniarsquo can be attributed totourism the country is equally influenced by the mass media as well as by theGreek students and professionals living abroad (Papadopoulos 1988a 30Wickens 1994 822) Moore (1995) also explains that tourism not only has had a

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 463

contribution to the increase of alcohol consumption by Greeks but has alsoshifted their taste away from locally produced wine to imported spirits and beerBriassoulis (1993 296) perhaps describes best the change in labour force valueswhen as she suggests that tourism has created a

peculiar parasitic group of tourist entrepreneurs operating tourist-servingenterprises like tavernas cafeterias etc the principal characteristics ofwhich are high profits and tax evasion Consequently a particular person-ality type is created the lsquosuccessfulrsquo entrepreneur who earns a lot with littlework has a rich erotic life and is professionally independent (in contrast topublic and private employees) This model is followed by many youngpeople who abandon other productive year-round occupations lsquoworkrsquoonly during the tourist season stay idle for the rest of the year and eventu-ally suffer from the volatility of the tourist market

The family relations and values are therefore under great transition andperhaps threat (Castelberg-Koulma 1991 201 Kousis 1989 Moore 1992)

Negative environmental impactsDespite environmental resources becoming central to destinationsrsquo competi-

tiveness most Greek destinations go through an unparalleled exploitation due toinadequate planning and reinvestment in their sustainability jeopardising theirfuture (Buhalis amp Fletcher 1995) Boniface and Cooper (1994 141) suggest thatgeographical concentration of tourism

has led to the view that Greece will become saturated with tourists and thatdamage will be done to the environment and cultural heritage in the morepopular areas Already the environment has suffered from haphazarduncontrolled building and pollution of the sea and the flora and fauna arebeing effected by waste disposal

Coastal pollution water shortages sewage treatment waste disposal trafficcongestion noise pollution overbuilding and aesthetic degradation are some ofthe impacts experienced already in a number of resorts (Briassoulis 1993 297Coccosis amp Parprairis 1992 Peterson 1990 Marinos 1983 Stavrou 1988 19 and1989a 5 Papadopoulos 1988b 24) Most of the islands also face water shortagedue to the inability of natural supplies to provide sufficient water for the tourismdemand Imported mineral water from the mainland is an expensive way tosolve this problem due to the transportation cost while it creates more waste andenvironmental damage In addition the destruction of endangered speciesrsquo habi-tats is another problem experienced on several islands (ZakynthosCaretta-Caretta and Allonissos monk-seals) (Ottaway 1992 Van Den Bergh1993 70 Prurier et al 1993) Urgent coordination with all tourism actors at thelocal level is essential while regulation is required to set objective and measurablelimits and targets in order to preserve local environmental resources Financialdifficulties in the industry only exacerbate these impacts as the private and publicsectors feel unable to reinvest in the conservation of resources

The aforementioned negative impacts emerge as a result of the structuralproblems of the Greek tourism industry and illustrate that the mass tourismorientation of the industry reduces the sovereignty of the host population over

464 Current Issues in Tourism

their land and resources whilst jeopardising their expected benefits and futurewelfare As these impacts are trade-offs for the economic gains of the tourismactivity it is important that consistent long-term strategic planning should beundertaken in order to enable the preservation of the local resources and achievesustainability at tourism destinations These tasks should all be reinforced byresearch political will and strategic planning

Where Do We Need to Go and How Are We Going ThereTowards Strengthening the Competitiveness of Greek Tourismand SMTEs

Based on the situation analysis as well as on the strategic weaknesses andstructural problems the paper attempts to provide a framework for strategicplanning which will enable the strengthening of the competitiveness of Greektourism and SMTEs Porter (1985 1) suggests that competitive strategy lsquois thesearch for a favourable competitive position in an industryrsquo which is a function ofthe attractiveness of the industry and the relative competitive position withinthat particular industry He also argues that lsquocompetitive strategy aims to estab-lish a profitable and sustainable position against the forces that determine indus-try competitionrsquo Competitiveness is therefore defined as the effort undertakenby organisations to maintain long-term profitability above the average of theparticular industry within which they operate or above alternative investmentopportunities in other industries

Traditionally the tourism industry in the majority of destinations worldwideis based on a network of SMTEs which provide all types of tourism products andservices while enabling closer interaction between the host population and visi-tors as well as facilitating a rapid infusion of tourism spending into the localeconomy As lsquotouristsrsquo overall experience is composed of numerous smallencounters with a variety of tourism service providersrsquo (Moutinho 1990 104)there is a great overlap between the customer perception of local SMTEs anddestinations which makes them almost indistinguishable Consequently thecompetitiveness and prosperity of destinations and SMTEs are closely interre-lated as the fortune of the one depends heavily upon the management andcompetitiveness of the other Therefore the generic strategy for destinationsinvolves SMTEs and vice versa

Grand strategy Strategy formulation for Greek tourism and SMTEsBased on the strategic analysis a grand strategy is proposed for the Greek

tourism industry and SMTEs in order to demonstrate the directions the destina-tions should follow in their attempt to increase their competitiveness and reducetheir vulnerability As different resorts destinations and SMTEs have dissimilarneeds only generic strategies can be drawn However these guidelines can beapplicable to destinations and SMTEs worldwide as they address strategic ratherthan operational issues The analysis is based on the assumption that SMTEsformulate leisure value-added chains or networks of wealth creation whichessentially comprise the entire destination Therefore an integrated approach isfollowed as there is a great complementarity between the strategies and strate-gic directions for both the Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 465

The grand strategy analysis is based on an examination of three general strat-egy models namely Porterrsquos generic strategies Gilbertrsquos proposition for lsquodiffer-entiation of the destinationrsquo and Poonrsquos analysis for lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo Agrand strategy is then proposed for both Greek tourism and SMTEs based oninference emerging from these three models Figure 1 illustrates the three maingeneric strategies proposed by Porter (1980 34ndash46) in order to lsquooutperform otherfirms in an industryrsquo overall cost leadership where the firm is required to minimiseits costs based on mass production and strict cost control of the main businessfunctions differentiation of products or services by lsquocreating something that isperceived industry-wide as being uniquersquo or focus on a lsquoparticular buyer groupsegment of the product line or geographical marketrsquo and achieve either cost leader-ship or product differentiation (Porter 1980 37ndash8)

Furthermore Gilbert (1984 1990) argues that destinations should differenti-ate their tourism products in order to be able to achieve a unique lsquotourist productbenefitrsquo which would enable them to establish their position in the internationaltourism market as well as to attract high spenders and loyal tourists Tourismdestinations therefore should attempt to achieve a lsquostatus arearsquo image ratherthan a lsquocommodity arearsquo one as illustrated in Figure 2 In the first case the desti-nation is heavily substitutable very sensitive to price and economic changeswhile consumers have a low awareness of any unique benefits or attributes of theregion Thus holidaymakers base their decision to visit the area merely on pricewhile the demand for the destination is incidental and destinations are unable toattract high spenders In contrast lsquostatus areasrsquo achieve intentional demand as aresult of the unique product attributes perceived by the tourism market Theseunique attributes may be genuine or imagined and thus a destination isregarded as irreplaceable increasing consumersrsquo loyalty and willingness to payGilbert (1990 24ndash5) asserts that destinations should attempt to become lsquostatusareasrsquo in order to improve their image loyalty and economic benefits

A third strategic approach is proposed by Poon (1987 1988 1989 1990 1993)based on the concept of lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo of the tourism business Inessence Poon examines the industry processes and proposes a strategy to enabletourism organisations to improve their competitiveness Poon argues that lsquoflexi-ble specialisationrsquo is a strategy of lsquopermanent innovationrsquo and lsquoceaseless changersquowhich provides for the lsquonew tourismrsquo This new tourism is flexible segmentedcustomised to the touristrsquos needs and diagonally integrated In contrast the oldtourism can be characterised as lsquomass standardised and rigidly packagedrsquo(Poon 1989 91ndash3)

466 Current Issues in Tourism

STRATEGIC ADVANTAGE

Perceived product uniqueness Cost advantage

TARGETMARKET

Industrywide Differentiation Cost Leadership

Particularsegmentsonly

Differentiation Focus Cost Focus

Figure 1 Porterrsquos three generic strategiesSource Porter 1980 39

The main sources of flexibility for service firms lie in the organisationmanagement marketing distribution and other forms of interaction andinterrelationships among guests hotels suppliers distributors What isimportant however is not each of these stand alone aspects but how theyare coupled to create competitive advantages and hence capabilities tomove with the market (Poon 1988 24)

Examination of these three main strategies illustrates that they share a similarbase Porterrsquos lsquodifferentiationrsquo Gilbertrsquos lsquostatus arearsquo and Poonrsquos lsquoflexiblespecialisationrsquo describe the attempt undertaken by firms and tourist destinationsto achieve value competitive advantages In contrast the lsquocost leadershiprsquo lsquocom-modity arearsquo and the lsquostandardisation or Fordism production modelrsquo describethe effort to achieve lsquocost competitive advantagersquo where destinations andSMTEs offer their products for less than their competitors In the first caseconsumers perceive the product as unique and are willing to pay a premiumwhile in the second case the decision is merely based on price Thus the classicalstrategic decision of lsquolow volume-high profit marginrsquo or lsquohigh volume-low profitmarginrsquo is the underlying concept of the two alternative strategies

Both Gilbert and Poon agree that destinations should aim to achieve lsquostatusarearsquo or niche orientation through differentiation in order to increase consumersatisfaction as well as to maximise the benefits for both regions and SMTEs As aresult Greek tourism and SMTEs need to focus towards the differentiation strat-egy define their niche markets and serve them accordingly This strategy isalready adopted in several resort areas such as Valencia in Spain where it isrecognised that the need for diversification and differentiation lsquohas now becomeessential owing to the level of competitiveness that has been attained (and can beforeseen) in the world tourist marketrsquo (Fayos-Sola 1992 49) Differentiation isalso particularly useful for insular destinations in microstates where a limitednumber of economic and financial resources are available (Wilkinson 1989 170)As most destinations consist of SMTEs networks there is an overlap betweentheir strategic orientations and therefore the above analysis is applicable to boththe Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Destinations implementing a lsquostatus arearsquo strategy can enhance the satisfac-tion of tourists as well as their competitiveness The formulation of unique and

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 467

CommodityArea

Statusarea

Willingness topay higher prices

StatusArea

Product attributes Product attributes

CommodityArea

Figure 2 Gilbertrsquos differentiation strategySource Adapted from Gilbert 1990 25

customised products by using flexibility and cooperation also increases touristsrsquowillingness to pay and wins their loyalty while it responds to the new tourismdemand trends However the proposed strategy should not be seen as an excusefor SMTEs and destinations not to attempt to improve their efficiency and mini-mise their production costs Although the unique service for touristsrsquo needs shouldbe their priority offering perceived value for money would determine theircompetitiveness in the marketplace As a result all Greek resorts and SMTEsshould assess their assets and strengths for serving specific target markets takingadvantage of their small size which facilitates flexibility and specialisation

It is quite apparent that the cost advantage strategy has to be avoided inmanagement of tourism destinations as regions need to preserve their scarceenvironmental and sociocultural resources and achieve sustainable develop-ment As cost advantage is based on mass production and consumption itassumes an unlimited production capacity which is inapplicable in the tourismindustry The inseparability of the tourism product determines that consumersshould be present at the time of product delivery and when combined with tour-ism seasonality it generates demand peaks which drain destinationsrsquo scarceenvironmental sociocultural resources The lsquohigh volume-low profit marginrsquostrategy has therefore harmful social and environmental impacts on destina-tions Destinations have maximum carrying capacities beyond which both thewelfare of local populations and the satisfaction of tourists are jeopardisedAlthough economic benefits can also be achieved by using the lsquocommodity arearsquoor the lsquostandard product modelrsquo it is argued that these approaches reduce tour-istsrsquo satisfaction and their willingness to pay and are opposed to the demandtrend towards individualisation

Unfortunately however some destinations can no longer be positioned asirreplaceable unique products due to their overdevelopment Tourism supplyhas exceeded the carrying capacity of these resorts and their product hasreached the saturation or decline phase of their life-cycle Several Spanish costasand some Greek resorts such as Benitses Kavos Faliraki Malia Hersonissos andNidri (Josephides 1994) have been overdeveloped to such an extent that only alsquohigh-volume low-profit marginrsquo strategy is feasible When resorts reach theirsaturation level only a lsquocost leadershiprsquo or lsquomass productionrsquo strategy can beproposed as they are unable to provide any specific lsquotourist product benefitrsquo Theattraction of the lower end of the market is inevitable and as a consequence thereare no alternative strategies The minimisation of further sociocultural and envi-ronmental damage as well as attempts to improve the surrounding environmentshould also be a primary objective of both tourism destinations and SMTEs in thiscase The ultimate aim should be to regenerate the resources of the area and torelaunch the tourism destination to attract specific markets which will be willing topay a higher price for the destination

Strategic directions objectives and tasks for Greek tourism and SMTEsTable 8 presents three pivotal strategic directions which are identified in order

to stimulate the competitiveness of both Greek tourism and SMTEs This sectionillustrates how the aforementioned grand strategy can be implemented for tour-ist destinations and SMTEs through a number of strategic directions objectivesand tasks as presented in Table 9

468 Current Issues in Tourism

Enhancing the satisfaction of tourists and delighting the customer are pivotalto ensuring the well-being of Greek destinations and SMTEs in the long term andthus the entire range of tourism service providers should aim to delight theirclients As a result of the tourism product integration consumer satisfactioncannot be achieved by independent businesses separately but by the entirenetwork of SMTEs in Greek destinations The improvement in services isperhaps the most important strategic objective Consistency of promises throughstandardisation of service delivery and implementation of a total qualitymanagement philosophy throughout the industry are essential strategic tasks forachieving this objective while flexibility in service delivery and improvementsin training are critical In line with the grand strategy the production oftailor-made tourism products should be ensured in order to satisfy the specificneeds of particular niches and the requirements of the emerging new tourismdemand Product augmentation would enable also the Greek tourism product toexceed the expectations of consumers and hence enhance their satisfaction Lifestyle segmentation would enable Greek tourism and SMTEs to design appropri-ate tourism products As tourist demand elasticity has increasingly becomedoubtful in recent years the price of the holiday is no longer considered to be themost important attribute in the decision-making process Consequently theGreek tourism industry should concentrate on providing value for money at allprice levels as well as offering at least whatever they have promised to theconsumer

Supporting the long-term competitiveness and profitability of Greek tour-ism and SMTEs is by far the most important strategic objective for the tourismindustry The first strategic objective for every SMTE has to be the increase inrevenue by maximising its occupancy or load factors and the rates it achievesThe lengthening of the operating season as well as the identification of newmarkets and the penetration into existing ones and the effective utilisation ofdistribution channels will contribute to this strategic direction Higher ratescan be achieved by targeting specialised and smaller tour operators attractingalternative types of tourists and expanding the distribution channels mix aswell as by attempting a certain degree of lsquodisintermediationrsquo by encouragingdirect sales to outgoing travel agencies or consumers Aggressive marketingand establishment of partnerships with other enterprises should be essentialfunctions of Greek tourism and SMTEs Motivation of lsquofront-of-housersquo employ-ees as salesmen and sale incentives would also increase average spending percustomer The use of CRSs and destination management systems may also bean appropriate method for achieving higher prices and better occupancy rates(Buhalis 1994) Finally yield management techniques should be utilised by alltypes of SMTEs to assist them in pricing and maximising revenue Cost control

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 469

Table 8 Pivotal strategic dimensions for Greek tourism

(1) Enhance the satisfaction of tourists and delight the customer(2) Strengthen the long-term profitability and competitiveness of Greek tourism and

SMTEs(3) Develop Greek destinations sustainably and ensure prosperity of host population

470 Current Issues in Tourism

Table 9 Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Strategic directions Strategic objectives Strategic tasks

1 Enhance the sat-isfaction of tour-ists and delightthe customer

11 Improvement of services a Standardisation of service de-livery

b Development of quality controlsystems

c Consistency of promisesd Improvements in operational

managemente Flexibility in services deliveryf Training and education im-

provementsg Smile and personal relation-

shipsh Augmentation of tourism

producti Total quality management

12 Specialisation of tourismproduct

a Niche marketingb Lifestyle targeting

13 Value for money a Quality at each price level

2 Strengthen thelong-term com-petitiveness andprofitability ofGreek tourismand SMTEs

21 Increase revenue a Increase tourist volumesb Target new markets and pene-

tration in existing marketsc Use yield managementd Expand distribution channel

mixe Aggressive marketingf Achieve high average spending

per customerg Select high-quality specialised

tour operatorsh Attract alternative types of

tourismi Use alternative distribution

channelsj Motivate front-of-house em-

ployees as salesmen

22 Cost control and rationalmanagement

a Standardise service deliveryb Increase productivityc Reduce labour costsd Rationalise supplies manage-

mente Educationtraining for manag-

ers and employeesf Use of new technologyg Integrate service delivery

within SMTEs

23 Human resources man-agement

a Internal marketingb Empowermentc Satisfactory salary and working

conditionsd Long-term relations with em-

ployeese Motivation and rewards

and rational management is the second strategic objective needed to increaseefficiency and profitability of both Greek destinations and SMTEs in the longterm Standardisation of the service delivery process and minimisation of thelabour cost through better operational management would be primary recom-mendations Managers and employees should improve their productivity andmarketing skills by intensive training In addition the rationalisation of supplymanagement and the use of new technology is expected to reduce operationalcosts Finally integration of service delivery enables SMTEs to provide comple-mentary services and achieve additional revenues without immense costs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 471

24 State and public tourismorganisation support

a Destination development andcontrol

b Incentives policies for improve-ment

c Attract European Union assis-tance

d Promotional activitye Provide financial resources

3 Develop Greekdestinationssustainably andensure prosper-ity of host popu-lation

31 Environmental protection a Carrying capacity identificationb Zoning system applicationc Architecture preservationd Installation of sewage treat-

ment systemse Reduction of noise pollutionf Natural supplies management

32 Infrastructure ameliora-tion

a Accessibility improvementsb Telecommunication improve-

mentsc Public facilities advancements

33 Transportation improve-ments

a Improvement of local timeta-bles

b Punctuality and reliabilityc Improvements of vehiclesd Flexibility to meet demand

needs

34 Economic integration a Integration with raw materialproduction

b Utilisation of local labour forcec Integration of tourism servicesd Diagonal integration of destina-

tionrsquos economy

35 Equitable return on re-sources utilised

a Establish mechanism forreinvestments

b Provide services for hostcommunity

c Invest in sustainability ofresources

d Ensure equity in distributionof wealth produced

Source Adapted from Buhalis 1991 83a

Table 9 (cont) Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Human resources management is crucial in the delivery process of tourismproducts The concept of lsquointernal marketingrsquo where employees are perceivedand treated as lsquointernal customersrsquo has to be utilised in order to ensure theirsatisfaction As Berry (1981 34) states lsquothe satisfaction of the needs and wants ofthe internal customers can upgrade their capacity for satisfying the needs andwants of their external customersrsquo and as a consequence it can contribute to thecompetitiveness and profitability of Greek tourism and SMTEs Satisfactorysalary and working conditions are prerequisites for the well-being of SMTEsrsquoemployees Long-term relationships between employees and SMTEs minimiseturnover enabling a better performance while they reduce recruitment andtraining costs Empowerment would enable employees to be involved in themanagement of SMTEs and authorise them to respond more efficiently toconsumer requests while contributing to their job satisfaction Finally thesupport of the GNTO is vital for the long-term survival of SMTEs Apart fromthe improvement in infrastructure the GNTO is expected to hold the strategicresponsibility of the destination as well as to regulate the competition in orderto enable smaller enterprises to survive Incentive policies need to reflect thespecific requirements of each resort and enable development or improvementof certain types of enterprises The GNTO is also instrumental in attractingassistance from European development funds while it should also coordinatethe majority of Greek tourism promotional activity A promotional mix whichmaximises the effectiveness of the communication message needs to be drawnwhile budgets need to be available at the time consumers go through their deci-sion-making process in order to influence their choice of destination Finally theneed for the public sector to provide affordable financial resources for SMTEs ishighlighted by the EU (EC 1993b 73)

The third strategic direction for Greek tourism and SMTEs should be thesustainable development of destinations and local areas not only for the hostpopulation but also because this is vital for both consumer satisfaction and theprofitability of SMTEs Although in most cases SMTEs are unable to incorporatethese types of strategic objectives and tasks on their own they can initiate aframework of necessary actions for sustainable destination developmentthrough their associations Environmental protection is naturally the mostimportant strategic objective as consumersrsquo environmental consciousness hasbeen raised recently Carrying capacity limits should be identified and strictregulations and guidelines for tourism development need to be drawn A zoningsystem should be implemented in order to locate tourism activities according tothe geographical morphology of the destination In addition natural resourcesmanagement is necessary as tourism demand may exhaust the resources andespecially the water supplies The installation of sewage treatment systems andthe reduction of noise pollution should be considered especially for resortswhich suffer the consequences of these problems In addition infrastructureamelioration must be one of the primary objectives as it is an essential prerequi-site for both consumersrsquo satisfaction and SMTEsrsquo development The improve-ment of accessibility public services as well as telecommunications facilities is acrucial factor Transportation is also significant in increasing both consumersatisfaction and profitability of SMTEs as it determines whether consumers canaccess the destination easily while it also provides the first impression to tour-

472 Current Issues in Tourism

ists Improvements of timetables and services reliability increasing transporta-tion capacity and an enhancement of the fleet in terms of speed cleanliness andleisure facilities are all required Furthermore greater flexibility is needed bytransportation operators in order to meet demand needs Economic integrationcan improve the economic and social benefits of tourism in the region and theefficiency of SMTEs Ultimately tourism should be utilised as the catalyst andmajor stimulant for regional development Tourism enterprises should makeevery effort to use local raw materials and labour in order to maximise the multi-plier effects within Greece Diagonal integration of destinationsrsquo economy can beachieved by rearranging the goods and service production in order to supportthe tourism industry demand and thus minimise imports Finally SMTEs andtourism organisations need to offer a fair return-on-resources utilised back to thehost community A mechanism should be established in order to reinvest part ofthe revenues in the sustainability of resources provide services for the hostcommunity such as education training health services and generally ensureequity in distribution of wealth produced from local resources As the privatesector cannot be expected to behave altruistically towards the host communitythe GNTO and other public-sector departments should probably utilise regula-tion and taxation for this purpose

Conclusion Greek Tourism Needs a Long Overdue Master Planand Comprehensive Policy

The emerging international tourism competition the hitherto mass tourismorientation of the industry the transformation of demand the development ofthe volume of tourists visiting the dependence upon intermediaries for thedistribution of the tourism product in the major target markets the lack of a widerange of managerial skills by Greek tourism entrepreneurs and the lack of acomprehensive tourism policy or Master Plan by the public sector has led thecompetitiveness of Greece tourism to decline This has several unfavourableimplications for the profitability of the private sector as well as numerous nega-tive economic sociocultural and environmental impacts for the host populationAs a result the return on resources utilised for the production of Greek tourismservices is inadequate and the sustainability of Greece as a major tourism desti-nation is rapidly becoming doubtful Based on a strategic analysis the paper illu-minates the strategic weaknesses and structural problems of both the private andpublic sectors and demonstrates that a rationalisation of the tourism industry isurgently required Consequently a grand strategy as well as a wide range of stra-tegic directions objectives and tasks are proposed for both Greece as an entityand its SMTEs Although no quantitative targets are set in this paper it isexpected that each destination will analyse its resources and adapt its strategicplanning accordingly

The GNTO is urged to rationalise its strategy and to draw up a Master Plan anda comprehensive strategy for the entire country and for each resort where a strategywould be adopted based on quantifiable objectives and tasks Extensive researchneeds to be undertaken by using credible measurement methodologies such asInput-Output models and multipliers analysis not only for the economic but alsofor the social cultural and environmental impacts (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Buhalis

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 473

amp Fletcher 1995) A holistic tourism management system is demanded to facilitatethe development and implementation of the tourism strategy through funds allo-cation and monitoring land use control and examination of tourism public- andprivate-sector practices A thorough examination of tourism impacts in eachregion would be a prerequisite for tourism planning as it will establish andprovide scientific backing to strategic targets Komilis (1994 71) explains thatalthough the various levels of planning (sectoral nationalEU spatial or regional)are not mutually exclusive but rather complementary the regional level planningis more suitable for drawing sustainable strategies especially for areas withdissimilar needs like the Greek destinations The regional planning should lsquocon-tribute to the maximisation of regional development benefits in a way that utilisesand mobilises the regional resource base realises regional inter-sectoral linkagesand is compatible with regional economic interests societal values and environ-mental assetsrsquo It should also take into consideration the uniqueness of insulareconomies as well as the cultural and environmental resources of each particularregion and the complexity of rural and urban functions The planning processshould encourage the complementarity and coexistence of economic activitiesrather than promote sectoral separation and single-sector developments In addi-tion it needs to improve the balance between regional self-sufficiency anddependence upon external inputs and finally it should promote integration withinthe European Union

The public sector has to play its long overdue role as regulator coordinatorinfrastructure provider and promoter of the destination while a multi-integrationof the tourism industry with all the involved bodies in the preparation distribu-tion and delivery of the tourism experience needs to be ensured (Wanhill 1993Hall 1994 Skoulas 1994 10 Stavrou 1988 46) The private sector also has an impor-tant role to play as it should improve the Greek tourism industry competitivenessby improving its managerial and labour force competencies enhancing the qualityof services designing appropriate marketing mixes to attract and satisfy targetmarkets and cooperating closely in order to achieve synergies and economies ofscale (Briassoulis 1993 300 Cooper amp Buhalis 1992) To reverse the vicious circleof decreasing quality is of critical importance for the Greek tourism industryBetter quality services would stimulate the competitiveness of the Greek tourismproduct strengthen its position in the international market provide principalswith distribution channel power enhance its customersrsquo willingness to pay andenable the industry to increase its prices improving the profitability at the microlevel and the economic impacts of tourism at the macrolevel Ultimately a diagonalintegration strategy for both Greek tourism and SMTEs should aim to delightconsumers enhance the long-term prosperity of SMTEs and improve the welfareof the host populations The Olympic Games in 2004 offer a unique opportunity toregenerate and rebrand Greek tourism a cause which the entire industry shouldchampion

The AuthorDimitrios Buhalis is Senior Lecturer and course leader MSc in tourism at theUniversity of Surrey He holds a BBA from the University of the Aegean as wellas an MSc and a PhD in tourism management from the University of Surrey Hisresearch interests focus on information systems and technology strategic

474 Current Issues in Tourism

management distribution channels of tourism destination management andplanning and destination integrated computer information reservation manage-ment systems

AcknowledgementsThe author would like to acknowledge Prof C Cooper and Prof J Fletcher for

their invaluable contribution to this research Financial support from the SurreyResearch Group ConTours Consultants as well as field research sponsorshipsby the University of Surrey the Greek National Tourism Organisation and theUniversity of the Aegean are gratefully appreciated

Note1 An earlier version of this paper was published as a monograph PlanningDevelop-

ment by the International Centre for Research and Studies in TourismAix-en-Provence France

CorrespondenceAny correspondence should be directed to Dr Dimitrios Buhalis Senior

Lecturer in Business Information Management SMSSS University of SurreyGuildford GU2 7XH UK (dbuhalissurreyacuk)

ReferencesApostolopoulos T (1990) New strategy of tourism development (in Greek) Tourism and

Economy (November) 228ndash38Berry C (1981) The employee as customer Journal of Retail Banking 3 33ndash40Boniface B and Cooper C (1994) The Geography of Travel and Tourism (2nd edn) London

HeinemannBriassoulis H (1993) Tourism in Greece In W Pompl and P Lavery (eds) Tourism in

Europe Structures and Developments (pp285ndash301) Oxford CAB InternationalBuckley P and Papadopoulos S (1986) Marketing Greek tourism The planning process

Tourism Management 7 86ndash100Buhalis D (1991) Strategic marketing and management for the small and medium

tourism enterprises in the periphery of the European Community A case study for theAegean islands in Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Buhalis D (1994) Information and telecommunications technologies as a strategic tool forsmall and medium tourism enterprises in the contemporary business environment InA Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 254ndash75)England J Wiley and Sons

Buhalis D (1995) The impact of information telecommunications technologies on tourismdistribution channels Implications for the small and medium sized tourismenterprisesrsquo strategic management and marketing PhD Dissertation University ofSurrey Guildford

Buhalis D (2000a) Marketing the competitive destination of the future TourismManagement (Special Issue ndash The Competitive Destination) 21 (1) 97ndash116

Buhalis D (2000b) (forthcoming) Athens Tourism-Travel Intelligence LondonBuhalis D (2000c) Relationships in the distribution channel of tourism Conflicts between

hoteliers and tour operators in the Mediterranean region Journal of InternationalHospitality Leisure and Tourism Adminstration 1 (1) 113ndash39

Buhalis D and Diamantis D (2001 forthcoming) Tourism development andsustainability on the Greek archipelagos In G Apostolopoulos and D Ioannides (eds)Tourism in the Mediterranean Routledge

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 475

Buhalis D and Fletcher J (1995) Environmental impacts on tourism destinations Aneconomic analysis In H Coccosis and P Nijkamp (eds) Sustainable Tourism Development(pp 3ndash25) London Avebury

Camison C Bigne E and Monfort VM (1994) The Spanish tourism industry Analysisof its strategies and the efficacy and achievements gained from them In A Seaton et al(eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 442ndash52) England JWiley and Sons

Castelberg-Koulma M (1991) Greek women and tourism Womenrsquos co-operatives as analternative form of organisation In N Redclift and T Sinclair (eds) Working WomenInternational Perspectives on Labour and Gender Ideology (pp 197ndash223) LondonRoutledge

Chitiris L (1991) Hotel Management (in Greek) Athens InterbooksCoccosis H and Parprairis A (1992) Assessing the interactions between environment

and tourism Case study of the island of Mykonos Paper presented in the IV WorldCongress of Regional Science International University of Balearic Islands Palma deMallorca 26ndash9 May

Conway H (1996) Greece Travel Weekly 1308 39ndash43Cooper C and Buhalis D (1992) Strategic management and marketing of small and

medium sized tourism enterprises in the Greek Aegean islands In R Teare D Adamsand S Messenger (eds) Managing Projects in Hospitality Organisations (pp 101ndash25)London Cassell

Daskalantonakis N (1994) Quality ndash The future of tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (3 July)D9

Divanis A (1994b) Tourism policy Left on its own luck (in Greek) XENIA (October)4ndash5

Donatos G and Zairis P (1991) Seasonality of foreign tourism in the Greek islands ofCrete Annals of Tourism Research 18 515ndash19

Douvitsas P (1994) Marketing Greece through British tour operators A futureperspective MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Drakatos C (1987) Seasonal concentration of tourism in Greece Annals of Tourism Research14 582ndash6

EC (1993a) Microeconomic Analysis of the Tourism Sector A study by the pH Group forEuropean Commission DGXXIII (September) Report XXIII30394-EN BrusselsEuropean Commission

EC (1993b) Growth competitiveness employment The challenges and ways forward intothe 21st century Bulletin of the European Communities Supplement 693 (White Paper)Luxembourg

Economist (1993) Last Chance Sisyphus A survey of Greece Economist (22 May) 2ndash22EIU (1986) Greece (pp 45ndash60) International tourist reports National Report No 3EIU (1990) Greece (pp 45ndash62) International tourist reports National Report No 4EIU (1993) Greece ndash Country Profile 1992ndash1993 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEIU (1994) Greece ndash Country Profile 1994ndash1995 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEpilogi (1994) Economic review ndash The Greek Economy 1994 (in Greek) AthensEuromonitor (1992) Tourism in Greece Market Research Europe (25 May) 51ndash63Fayos-Sola E (1992) A Strategic Outlook for Regional Tourism Policy The White Paper

on Valencian Tourism Tourism Management 13 45ndash9Fotis J (1992) Vacational lifestyle segmentation of tourists on the island of Rhodes

Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey GuildfordGilbert D (1984) The need for countries to differentiate their tourist product and how to

do so Seminar papers for Ministers of Tourism and Directors of National TouristOrganisations Tourism Managing for Results University of Surrey Guildford

Gilbert D (1990) Strategic marketing planning for national tourism Tourist Review 45 (1)18ndash27

GNTO (1985a) Survey of attributes of foreign tourists 1984ndash1985 (in Greek) Greek NationalStatistical Services Athens GNTO

476 Current Issues in Tourism

GNTO (1985b) EOT-Tourism rsquo85 Development ndash Participation ndash Quality of Life (in Greek)Greek National Statistical Services Athens GNTO

GNTO (1989a) Annual report 1988 ndash Forecast 89 Towards Quality Athens GNTOGNTO (1989b) The study of tourism promotion With special reference to the measures to

increase Japanese tourists to Greece Draft final report Japan InternationalCooperation Agency

GNTO (1993) Tourism towards the 2000 (in Greek) Greek National Tourism OrganisationAthens GNTO

Hall M (1994) Tourism and Politics Policy Power and Place J Wiley and SonsHorwath (annual) The Greek Hotel Industry (in Greek) Annual reports Pireus HorwathJenner P and Smith C (1993) Tourism in the Mediterranean Research report London

Economist Intelligence UnitJosephides N (1993) Environmental Concern ndash Whatrsquos In It for the Tourism Industry (pp 51ndash6)

Proceedings of the conference Tourism and the environment Challenges and choicesfor the 1990rsquos 16ndash17 November 1992 Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre LondonBrussels European Union

Josephides N (1994) Tourism analysis Presentation in Philoxenia international tourismexhibition Thessaloniki Greece

Josephides N (1995) A sorry state for beautiful Greece Travel Weekly 1261 (5 April)11Kalogeropoulou H (1993) Greece ndash Prospects for the tourism industry within the context

of the European Single Market of 1993 Tourism Review 48 (1) 2ndash4Kassimati K Thanopoulou M and Tsartas P (1994) Womenrsquos Employment in the

Tourist Sector Study of the Greek Labour Market and Identification of Future ProspectsDGV Equal Opportunities Unit Document V40994-EN European CommissionBrussels

Komilis P (1987) Spatial analysis of tourism in Greece (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planningand Economic Research

Komilis P (1992) The spatial structure of tourism and physical planning practices inGreece Paper presented in conference Tourism and environment Issues ofpolicyplanningmanagement 23ndash4 October University of the Aegean Dept ofEnvironment Lesvos

Komilis P (1993) Values in the Tourism Planning and Policy Making Process (pp 224ndash9)Proceedings of the conference Values and the environment 23ndash4 September GuildfordUniversity of Surrey

Komilis P (1994) Tourism and sustainable regional development In A Seaton et al (eds)Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 65ndash73) England JWiley andSons

Konsolas N and Zacharatos G (1993) Regionalization of tourism activity in GreeceProblems and policies In H Briassoulis and J Van der Straaten (eds) Tourism andEnvironment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 57ndash65) Dordrecht Kluer AcademicPublisher

Kousis M (1989) Tourism and the family in a rural Cretan community Annals of TourismResearch 16 318ndash32

Kriebardis S and Marmagiolis I (1990) Tourism Activity in Greece Problems and Perspectives(pp 45ndash54) (in Greek) Economic Report of Commercial Bank AprilndashJune AthensCommercial Bank

Ktenas S (1994) Hoteliers ask for 15 to 20 increases for 1995 (in Greek) TO BHMA (3July) D9

Ktenas S (1996) Crisis in Greek tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (7 April) D16Leontidou L (1991) Greece Prospects and contradictions of tourism in the 1980rsquos In AM

Williams and GJ Shaw (eds) Tourism and Economic Development Western EuropeanExperiences (2nd edn) (pp 94ndash106) London Belhaven Press

Logothetis M (1990) The Economy of Dodekanisos During 1988ndash1989 Developments andPerspectives (in Greek) Rhodes Regional association of municipalities of Dodekanisos

Logothetis M (1992) Touristiki Sigkiria (in Greek) Rhodes Institute of Tourist and HotelResearch

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 477

Loukissas P (1977) The impact of tourism on regional development A comparativeanalysis of the Greek islands PhD Dissertation Cornell University USA

Loukissas P (1982) Tourismrsquos regional development impacts A comparative analysis ofthe Greek islands Annals of Tourism Research 9 523ndash43

Marinos P (1983) Small island tourism-the case of Zakynthos in Greece TourismManagement 4 212ndash15

Moore R (1992) From shepherds to shopkeepers The development of tourism in a centralGreek town PhD Dissertation University of California at Berkeley USA

Moore R (1995) Gender and alcohol use in a Greek tourist town Annals of Tourism Research22 300ndash13

Mourdoukoutas P (1988) Seasonal employment seasonal unemployment andunemployment compensation The case of the tourism industry of the Greek islandsAmerican Journal of Economics and Sociology 47 315ndash29

NSSG (l983) Tourism Statistics 1981 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (l985) Tourism Statistics 1982ndash1983 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1987) Tourism Statistics 1984ndash1985 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1990) Tourism Statistics 1986ndash1987 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1993) Tourism Statistics 1988ndash1990 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceOECD (1992) Greece Tourism Policy and International Tourism in OECD Member Countries (pp

70ndash8) Paris OECDOttaway M (1992) Turtle power Sunday Times Travel and Style (28 June)Ottaway M (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 1 Sunday Times (17 January)

57ndash59Panagiotopoulou R (1990) The problem and perspectives of the European insular regions

(in Greek) Working paper University of the Aegean ChiosPapadimitris G (1988) Short run and long run prospects of the Greek tourism industry

PhD Dissertation University of Manchester ManchesterPapadopoulos S (1985) An economic analysis of foreign tourism in Greece An

examination of the growth and structure of foreign tourism to Greece 1960ndash1984 with aplanning model and marketing policy recommendations PhD Thesis University ofBradford Management Centre Bradford

Papadopoulos S (1987) Strategic marketing techniques in international tourismInternational Marketing Review (summer) 71ndash84

Papadopoulos S (1988a) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (1) 29ndash30

Papadopoulos S (1988b) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (2) 24ndash7

Papadopoulos S (1989) Greek marketing strategies in the Europe tourism market ServiceIndustries Journal 9 297ndash314

Papadopoulos S and Mirza H (1985) Foreign tourism in Greece An economic analysisTourism Management 6 125ndash37

Papandropoulos A (1995) The crisis in tourism is evident (in Greek) OikonomikosTachydromos (29 June) 26ndash8

Papanikos G (1999) The year 2004 olympic games and their influence upon the Greektourism (in Greek) ITEP (Research Institute for Tourism) Athens

Paulopoulos P (1999) The Size and Dynamics of the Tourism Sector (in Greek) ResearchInstitute for Tourism Athens

Peterson C (1990) Greece tackles overbuilding in tourism areas EnvironmentalConservation 17 166ndash8

Plevris V (1995) Alarm bells from the Hellenic Federation of Hotels (in Greek) XENIA128 (May) 6ndash7

Poon A (1987) Information technology and innovation in international tourism ndashimplications for the Caribbean tourism industry PhD thesis Science Policy ResearchUnit University of Sussex Brighton

Poon A (1988) Flexible specialisation and small size ndash the case of Caribbean tourism DRCDiscussion Paper 57 SPRU Brighton University of Sussex

478 Current Issues in Tourism

Poon A (1989) Competitive strategies for new tourism In C Cooper (ed) Progress inTourism Recreation and Hospitality Management (vol 1) (pp 91ndash102) London BelhavenPress

Poon A (1990) Flexible specialisation at small size The case of Caribbean tourism WorldDevelopment 18 109ndash23

Poon A (1993) Tourism Technology and Competitive Strategies Oxford CAB InternationalPorter M (1980) Competitive Strategy Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors

New York Free PressPorter M (1985) Competitive Advantage Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance New

York Free PressPorter M (1990) The Competitive Advantage of Nations New York Free PressPrurier E Sweeney A and Geen A (1993) Tourism and the environment The case of

Zakynthos Tourism Management 14 137ndash9Psoinos P (1994a) Research on the foreign touristsrsquo attributes in Greece (in Greek) Athens

Greek National Tourism OrganisationPsoinos P (1994b) Research on the attributes of foreigners who have never visited Greece (in

Greek) Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationRichter-Papaconstantinou C (1992) Tourism development of Rhodes Cahiers du Tourisme

(Serie B) 67 Aix en Provence Centre des Hautes Eacutetudes TouristiquesRomanos A (1998) Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites (in Greek) Athens

Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites SASETE (1993) Tourism Developments and problems (in Greek) Athens Association of Greek

Tourism EnterprisesSezer H and Harrison A (1994) Tourism in Greece and Turkey An economic view for

planners In A Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposiumpp74ndash84 England Wiley and Sons

Skoulas N (1985) Holidays and travel in the year 2035 ndash Contribution of the NationalTourist Organisation of Greece SDI Schriftey Wirtschafts und Unternehmenspolitik 40181ndash99

Skoulas N (1994) Quality improvement of tourism services (in Greek) Paper presentedin the conference Competitiveness of tourism enterprises ndash the role of quality 1 AprilHoliday Inn Athens Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises

Smith C and Jenner P (1995) Greece International Tourism Reports 3 5ndash21Stavrou S (1978) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Kos Island (in Greek) Research and

Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationStavrou S (1979) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Mykonos and Naxos Islands (in

Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1980) Research on Tourism Awareness on the Islands Kalymnos and Leros (in Greek)Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1984) Tourism Development in Greece during 1969ndash1982 (in Greek) Research andDevelopment Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986a) Research for the Characteristics of Foreign Tourist Demand in Greece in theYears 8485 (in Greek) Research Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1986b) Research on the Tourism Awareness on Paros Santorini Kythira Islands (inGreek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986c) Critical Review of Tourism Activity in the Years 8385 (in Greek) Researchand Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1988) Tourism in the Northern Aegean Islands Presentation of GNTO for the TourismDevelopment of the Periphery (in Greek) Proceedings of the first conference for thedevelopment of the Northern Aegean islands Homereum cultural centre Chios 11November Chios Periphery of Northern Aegean islands

Stavrou S (1989a) GNTO Presentation for the Tourism Development Possibilities for theSouthern Aegean Islands (in Greek) Conference for the development of Southern Aegean

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 479

islands Syros 30 September ndash 2 OctoberStavrou S (1989b) The Contribution of the Development Law 126282 in the Development of the

Country (in Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A5 Athens GreekNational Tourism Organisation

Stereopoulos N (1995) It is regarded ideal it became problematic (in Greek) OikonomikosTachidromos (21 December) 151ndash3

Touloupas P (1996) Greece as a tourist destination for the British tour operators Ananalysis from a marketing perspective in the particular context of the United KingdomMSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Tourismos ke Oikonomia (1993) 20 years 1973ndash1993 (in Greek) Special Issue AthensTourismos ke Oikonomia (1994) ICAP tourism enterprises Drastic reduction of loses in 1993

(in Greek) December 14ndash15Touristiki Agora (various issues) (Monthly tourism industry periodical in Greek) Business

Press AthensTruett D and Truett L (1987) The response of tourism to international economic

conditions Greece Mexico and Spain Journal of Developing Areas 21 177ndash90Tsartas P (1989) Socioeconomic Impacts of Tourism Development in Cyclades Region with Special

Reference on Ios and Serifos Islands During 1950ndash1980 (in Greek) Athens National Centrefor Social Research

Tsartas P (1992) Socioeconomic impacts of tourism on two Greek isles Annals of TourismResearch 19 516ndash33

Van Den Bergh J (1993) Tourism development and natural environment Aneconomicndashecological model for the Sporades islands In H Briassoulis and J Van DerStraaten (eds) Tourism and Environment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 67ndash83)Dordrecht Kluer Academic Publishers

Velissariou E (1991) Die Wirtschaftlichen Effekte des Tourismus Dargestell am Beispiel Kretas(The Economic Impacts of Tourism on Crete) PhD Dissertation University of MunichFrankfurt Peter Lang

Vernikos N (1987) The study of Mediterranean small islands Emerging theoreticalissues Ekistics 54 (323ndash4) 101ndash9

Wanhill S (1993) Government organisations In C Cooper J Fletcher D Gilbert and SWanhill (eds) Tourism Principle and Practice (pp 145ndash60) London Pitman

Wickens D (1994) Consumption of the authentic The hedonistic tourist in Greece In ASeaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 819ndash25)England JWiley and Sons

Wickens E (2000) Rethinking touristsrsquo experiences In M Robinson et al (eds) MotivationsBehaviour and Tourist Types (pp 455ndash72) Business Education Publishers Sunderland

Wickers D (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 2 Sunday Times 57ndash510Wilkinson PF (1989) Strategies for tourism in islands microstates Annals of Tourism

Research 16 153ndash77XENIA (various issues) (Monthly bulletin of the Greek Hotel Chamber in Greek) AthensZacharatos G (1984) Tourismus und Wirtschafts-Struktur Dargestellt am Beispiel

Griechenlands Europaische Hochschulschriften Reihex Band 7 Frankfurt am MainZacharatos G (1986) Tourism consumption (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planning and

Economic ResearchZacharatos G (1988) The simplistic empiricism Tourism policy and the time of crisis

(1992) (in Greek) Sychrona Themata 11 (May) 21ndash6Zacharatos G (1989) The problems and perspectives of tourism in Greece (in Greek) In H

Katsoulis T Giannitsis and P Kazakos (eds) Politics and Society Economy and ForeignRelationships (pp 273ndash89) Athens Papazisis

Zacharatos G (1993) The necessity of multimedia use in the tourism education in Greece(in Greek) Paper presented at the international conference Overcomingisolation-telematics and regional development University of the Aegean Chios 30April ndash 2 May

480 Current Issues in Tourism

Page 11: Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challengescore.ac.uk/download/pdf/101686.pdf · Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challenges Dimitrios Buhalis School of Management

Tab

le 4

Acc

omm

odat

ion

esta

blis

hm

ent b

y re

gion

and

cat

egor

y in

199

9

Tot

alLu

xury

A C

ateg

ory

B C

ateg

ory

Reg

ion

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Ster

ea1

236

493

9892

877

225

368

101

4480

780

514

644

191

120

5722

605

Pel

opon

isos

660

230

1043

846

466

11

377

554

889

925

012

96

825

130

22Io

nio

595

332

8663

683

61

340

255

378

930

817

911

139

894

617

107

Ipir

os24

24

868

938

51

5411

611

446

884

381

478

284

4N

orth

ern

Aeg

ean

550

108

7220

792

450

11

090

231

364

257

498

374

97

125

Cre

te1

214

604

8911

396

021

508

510

034

166

188

9335

608

263

139

9826

904

Dod

ekan

isa

887

545

0710

436

68

324

26

227

127

224

8442

924

201

106

0120

161

Cyc

lad

es73

718

406

352

483

176

341

963

108

587

014

03

824

731

7T

hes

saly

575

119

9522

939

439

978

150

150

52

980

672

626

494

9M

aced

onia

983

335

1372

943

41

046

184

255

231

913

698

168

100

3619

140

Th

race

702

470

467

50

00

418

134

522

110

22

103

Tot

al7

749

302

814

584

714

7717

872

345

0574

572

302

146

688

145

675

242

143

277

C C

ateg

ory

D C

ateg

ory

E C

ateg

ory

Reg

ion

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Uni

tsR

oom

sB

eds

Ster

ea60

318

193

339

6519

43

712

703

814

62

263

448

1P

elop

onis

os32

68

818

166

4894

135

02

625

4246

792

4Io

nio

380

119

2822

722

571

114

212

136

650

126

9Ip

iros

992

362

451

519

356

682

1417

234

4N

orth

ern

Aeg

ean

199

442

78

400

2840

477

333

427

830

Cre

te67

820

123

369

0397

163

12

995

5175

91

516

Dod

ekan

isa

495

163

7530

686

611

076

293

956

729

142

9C

ycla

des

367

835

715

977

100

152

22

922

104

141

92

821

Th

essa

ly24

15

723

107

7853

962

186

159

780

159

0M

aced

onia

491

124

0723

497

351

687

013

066

6083

51

700

Th

race

2886

81

614

1125

949

35

6012

0T

otal

390

710

958

120

570

51

065

192

5637

515

606

856

117

024

Sour

ce G

NT

O D

ept o

f Acc

omm

odat

ion

Est

abli

shm

ents

450 Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges

the railtrack These developments will change the entire infrastructure of thecountry

The implementation of the Greek national tourism policy is supervised by theGreek National Tourism Organisation (GNTO) and the Ministry of TourismThe two organisations share the responsibilities for planning implementationand promotion of Greek tourism at national and regional level as well as coordi-nating the involvement of the public and private sectors in all tourism activitiesPublic investment in commercial facilities was utilised in the early days ofGreek tourism to stimulate both tourism demand and the private sectorrsquos confi-dence to invest The GNTO operates 21 regional and 25 overseas offices in 18countries worldwide (Konsolas amp Zacharatos 1993 59 Leontidou 1991Briassoulis 1993)

The Greek tourism product is distributed to the international market predomi-nantly through European tour operators which organise package holidays andinclude resorts in their programmes Some 800 tour operators distribute the Greektourism product More than 7000 incoming travel agencies often act as tour opera-torsrsquo handling agencies while providing a variety of tourism services such asorganisation of excursions currency exchange and accommodation bookingsdirectly to consumers They usually participate in negotiations between tour oper-ators and accommodation establishments as well as cooperate with tour operatorsrsquorepresentatives at destinations In addition the GNTO operates several informa-tion offices at major resorts whilst several local authorities provide tourist infor-mation as well as distribute promotional material and make local bookings Theglobal GNTO network distributes information material to potential tourists aswell as undertakes all the marketing and public relations functions both for indi-vidual and institutional customers

SWOT analysis for Greek tourism and small and medium-sized tourismenterprises

A SWOT analysis is undertaken for the Greek tourism as well as its SMTEs inorder to assess their present and projected competitiveness based on strategicmanagement research undertaken for the Aegean islands (Buhalis 1991 Cooperamp Buhalis 1992) The interrelations between SMTEs and destinations are quiteapparent illustrating that a destinationsrsquo weaknesses and threats are reflected inthe SMTEsrsquo competitiveness and vice versa As illustrated in Table 5 the SWOTanalysis concentrates on the strategic rather than operational strengths andweaknesses of SMTEs

As far as strengths of the Greek tourism and SMTEs are concerned their flexi-bility and ability to tailor products to consumersrsquo needs are of great importanceto their existence SMTEs can identify profitable niches in the market establishtheir requirements and attempt to satisfy specialised needs Direct control byentrepreneurs permits quick and efficient managerial reaction to external chal-lenges Fewer hierarchical levels facilitate closer and more effective control overthe service delivery process enabling personal services to customers In addi-tion archaeological heritage natural and cultural resources as well as the localcharacter are also significant assets As a result tourists benefit from localresources which are ideally situated to offer special-interest holidays SMTEsalso capitalise on personal relationships with consumers suppliers labour and

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 451

the entire tourism industry in general Their size enables the provision of apersonal finish to all products provided while it is not unusual for customers tobecome friends and to be treated accordingly Similarly strong relations withemployees support labour loyalty and low turnover The proprietorrsquos family isnormally directly involved with every aspect of the business reacting efficientlyand promptly to any problem arising Their involvement in running the enter-prise provides considerable benefits especially in having a very flexiblemulti-skilled and dedicated workforce which tolerates unsociable workingschedules Family members feel committed to the long-term prosperity of theenterprise and often do not distinguish between their professional and familylife Thus a better matching between tourism demand and SMTEsrsquo supply isachieved

A close-up of the weaknesses of Greek tourism and SMTEs is critical for under-standing the ability of the industry to compete in the global tourism arenaAlthough entrepreneurs are normally an asset it seems that a number of manage-

452 Current Issues in Tourism

Table 5 Greek tourism and SMTEsrsquo SWOT analysis

Strengths

Flexibility

Tailor-made product delivery

Entrepreneurial activity

Family involvement

Natural and cultural resources

Strong local character

Personalised relationships

Labour loyalty and low turnover

Weaknesses

Management

Marketing

Information technologies illiteracy

Dependence upon tour operators

Supporting markets

Lack of economies of scale

Human resources management

Education and training

Transportation and accessibility

Financial management and resources

Seasonality

Lack of standardisation

Lack of quality assurances

Opportunities

European Union support

European redistribution of labour

Increase in tourism demand size

Trends in tourism demand

Low cost of living in periphery

Information technology

Infrastructure development

Transportation

Olympic Games

Threats

Environmental degradation

Concentration and globalisation

Oversupply

Lack of visibility in CRSs

Infrastructure

Warsterrorism

Political intervention

Source Adapted from Buhalis 1991 60c and Cooper and Buhalis 1992 108

rial problems often arise Lack of strategic and operational managementknow-how generates inconsistency in the creation and delivery of tourism prod-ucts This has direct implications for consumersrsquo satisfaction and the projectedimage of the industry There is often a complete lack of strategic vision and enter-prises are often treated as an extension of proprietorsrsquo domestic environmentEntrepreneurs recruit family members and relatives as personnel and supplierseven though more appropriatequalified alternatives can be found in the market-place Therefore the management of SMTEs clearly projects the proprietorrsquosfamily life-style and decision-making processes onto an enterprise Marketing isanother significant weakness for most entrepreneurs and Greek resorts as they areoften completely unaware of the techniques available and thus follow a prod-uct-oriented rather than a consumer-orientated approach Consequently uncoor-dinated isolated trouble-shooting marketing activities are occasionallyundertaken rather than a consistent and well-planned marketing campaign Lackof marketing research debilitates knowledge of consumersrsquo needs and makes itdifficult to identify methods for improving services in order to meet consumersrsquoexpectations Inability to finance and execute advertising campaigns and otherpromotional techniques reduces their visibility in their markets These weak-nesses in combination with the fact that many entrepreneurs are unfamiliar withinformation technology (IT) add to the problems of SMTEs in promoting them-selves effectively Consequently both Greek SMTEs and destinations sufferfrom over-dependence on the tourism distribution channels to promote anddistribute their product In particular intermediaries and especially tour opera-tors have enormous power within the channel and are capable of determiningthe Greek tourism product marketing distribution and pricing mixes (Buhalis1995) Hence the marketing campaign and the visibility of Greek tourism to itsmain target markets are often determined by the coverage space photographsand description in tour operatorsrsquo brochures European tour operators alsocontrol accessibility to Mediterranean or long-haul destinations as they ownmost charter airlines which provide direct and inexpensive flights to these desti-nations

As most resorts are located in peripheral areas there is usually little economicdevelopment in the supplying sectors Therefore remote destinations have toimport essential raw and construction materials from elsewhere while SMTEsoften face transportation delivery and purchasing problems and excessivetransportation costs Moreover lack of economies of scale in purchasing rawmaterial low bargaining power and lack of advanced facilities are additionaloperational disadvantages This essentially means that SMTEs have to payhigher prices for products than their larger counterparts Lack of specialisedpersonnel and inadequate training procedures mean that human resourcesmanagement is a major weakness of Greek tourism In most SMTEs personnelhave to cover a wide range of positions a loose job description is usuallyprovided and multi-skilled personnel are required The labour turnover due tothe seasonality of the tourism industry reduces the availability of qualified andexperienced personnel and makes tourism product delivery not only variablebut also unprofessional The small size of operation provides little opportunityfor the division of tasks professional employees and proper training Since noquality standards are introduced service delivery varies according to the occu-

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 453

pancy service provider and timing Transportation and accessibility to remotedestinations may also be a weakness as most enterprises are located in periph-eral and often inaccessible regions SMTEs tend to feel frustrated because theyare unable to attract consumers simply because they cannot provide conve-nient reliable and affordable transportation The formulation of charter aircarriers by destination areas such as Turkey and Spain as well as the emergingderegulation policies in the European Union may diminish this problem in thenear future Moreover SMTEs face significant financial constraints as on theone hand they are required to invest in fixed assets at the beginning of theiroperations and on the other hand there is a discrimination against them byfinancial institutions since they normally have very few assets Consequentlythey are forced to accept unfavourable financial deals Finally the Greek tour-ism industry and SMTEs suffer from seasonality problems and have to produceadequate income within a limited period every year Lack of diversified invest-ment in other economic activities forces proprietors to work intensively in thepeak months and rest in the off-peak months while their pay-back period isinevitably unfavourable As the tourism industry becomes more professionalembraces quality management and responds to an increasingly discerningcustomer SMTEsrsquo typical lack of business expertise and minimal standardisa-tion may become an increasing liability especially for some target markets(Cooper amp Buhalis 1992 102)

Recent developments in the external environment present numerous opportu-nities for the Greek tourism industry and SMTEs Firstly the European Uniontakes several actions to support small and medium-sized enterprises (EC 1993b72) while it supports infrastructure development of peripheral regions andcontributes significantly to the prosperity of SMTEs The country is going througha major transformation as a result of several public projects supported by theEuropean Commission including the Attico Metro the new Athens Airport thedevelopment of the peripheral motorway Elefsina-Spata and the peripheralmotorway of Immitos The unification of the heritage sites and thepedestrianisation of the Athens city centre aims to develop an open archaeologi-cal park and deal with the traffic and pollution problems The Olympic Games in2004 provide a unique challenge and opportunity for the city and the country torebrand and redevelop itself and demonstrate its unparalleled heritage andcultural resources The Games also provide the resources and funding as well asa lsquodeadlinersquo for several infrastructural projects that were already scheduled butperhaps delayed In addition several projects are anticipated to improve thesuperstructure of the industry through both renovation of existing propertiesand through the development of new hotels and other facilities It is anticipatedthat the regeneration of the city and the country in general will provide majoropportunities for the attractiveness and competitiveness of the tourism industry(Buhalis 2000b Papanikos 1999 Romanos 1998)

It is anticipated that there will be a gradual redistribution of Europeanlabour providing support for each region to specialise in the production ofgoods and services where it can achieve competitive advantages Traditionallyremote and insular destinations where most Greek resorts and SMTEs arebased achieve a competitive advantage in tourism and therefore greatersupport is anticipated Greek tourism benefits from the continuous growth of

454 Current Issues in Tourism

global tourism demand as more people require holiday services while SMTEsare expected to increase their share as they tend to satisfy the emerging special-ised and sophisticated demand better than larger organisations Informationand telecommunication technologies can provide strategic tools for tourismdestinations and SMTEs enabling them to manage their product more effi-ciently disseminate information and establish a distribution mechanismthrough destination management systems (Buhalis 1994) New technologiesalso offer opportunities for developing innovative tourism products such asteleworking for tourists who would like to spend time working during theirstay at the destination Finally Greek tourism tends to achieve a cost advan-tage since it employs unpaid family members and operates in inexpensiveperipheral regions which often have a lower cost of living in comparison withmetropolitan areas

In terms of external threats environmental degradation through inappropriatewaste management and excessive usage of natural resources can be observedLack of know-how and funds effectively increases environmental problemsConsequently several resorts suffer severe damage while entrepreneurs and localauthorities feel powerless to take remedial measures Moreover oversupply oftourism service providers and lack of well-defined carrying capacity limits inseveral destinations have placed numerous Greek resorts and SMTEs in a disad-vantaged position as they cannot achieve sufficient income Similarly the concen-tration of power in fewer tourism industry enterprises through emergingglobalisation also threatens the ability of Greek SMTEs to survive as internationalvertically integrated tourism organisations acquire control over local enterprisesThe dependence upon channel partners for the promotion and distribution ofGreek tourism is exaggerated by the relatively low presence of Greek suppliers inthe major CRSs (Computer Reservation Systems) which is caused by the seasonal-ity and scale of the tourism production on the one hand and the tariffs of thesesystems on the other The issue of infrastructure is closely related to the oversup-ply which attracts higher demand than planned Destinations often have limitedinfrastructure provisions which fail to follow the pace of development generatingpressure on the existing inadequate facilities Finally the tourism industry suffersfrom its geographical proximity to the Balkans and the Middle East and as a conse-quence is often associated by consumers with wars and terrorism activities Greektourism and SMTEs have limited means of dealing with unfavourable situationsand thus are more vulnerable to their impacts Political intervention perhapsthrough the public sector decisions and the legislator framework often damagesthe prosperity of SMTEs As SMTEs have little lobbying power they have limitedinfluence over political decisions which determine their welfare

The SWOT analysis demonstrates quite clearly that the Greek tourism indus-try faces a wide range of problems and threats which will jeopardise its ability toprovide suitable tourism products in the future as well as its ability to make acontribution to the national welfare However several opportunities and chal-lenges emerge and they need to be addressed in order to strengthen the competi-tiveness of the industry Further analysis is therefore required in order to assessthe factors which generate these problems and also to identify ways to respond tothe challenges they present

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 455

Why Are We There and What Are the Implications StructuralProblems and Challenges

Despite its popularity and growth over the last 40 years the Greek tourismindustry has reached a stage where both its potential and competitiveness havebecome questionable

The seemingly unstoppable growth of this market contributed to a degreeof complacency which has led to Greece repeating some of the errors madein Spain Rapid price increases mean the country is no longer perceived bymass market clients as cheap in relation to comparable destinations in theMediterranean but much of the countryrsquos tourism infrastructure hastilybuilt in response to demand for cheap accommodation does not meet theneeds of a market less sensitive to price and more concerned with qualityand value for money (EIU 1990 45)

Richter-Papaconstantinou (1992 27) explains that tourism development inRhodes lsquotakes place without any Master Plan of the area respect of the landscapeand environment analysis whether there is demand and what the demand isafter regard to what is happening in similar situationsrsquo At the micro level theEuropean travel trade and intermediaries warn that the Greek tourism product isno longer competitive (Conway 1996 41 Touloupas 1996 Douvitsas 1994)whilst Chitiris (1991 148ndash150) outlines a range of managerial problems andmistakes in Greek resort hotels which diminish the quality of the tourismservices Hence unless the Greek tourism industry addresses a number of criticalissues immediately its future might be seriously jeopardised resulting in apotential catastrophe of the national economy The major structural problemsand challenges for the Greek tourism product can be summarised in Table 6

As a result Greece fails to attract the desired lsquohigh-quality high-expenditurersquotourists as it is increasingly unable to satisfy their requirements (Conway 199641) The deterioration of the tourism product and image leads to a lower willing-ness-to-pay by consumers which consequently leads to a further drop in qualityas the industry attempts to attract customers with lower prices This is a viciousspiral which has been destroying the essence of developing tourism in severalMediterranean destinations The concentration of bargaining power in Euro-pean distribution intermediaries and tour operators in particular in combina-tion with the inability of the Greek tourism industry to promote itself andestablish effective distribution mechanisms inevitably minimises the profitmargins of SMTEs and their ability to yield decent returns on their investmentAs a result touristsrsquo expenditure per capita in Greece gradually deteriorateswhile their volume increases (SETE 1993 35)

Thus the tourism policy often consisted in a lsquofreezingrsquo of the selling price ofthe tourist package abroad a measure which combined with the devalua-tion of the drachma and its continuous parity losses succeeded in securing alsquofictitious competitivenessrsquo for the Greek package This competitivenesshowever was seriously threatened each time there was an attempt at asubstantial increase because of important rises in cost elements(Kalogeropoulou 1993 2)

456 Current Issues in Tourism

The above issues illustrate that the Greek tourism product becomes increas-ingly incompetent Hence the inadequate lsquoproductrsquo lsquopromotionrsquo and lsquoplacersquo(distribution) elements of the tourism marketing mix reduce the willingness ofprospective consumers to pay and has disastrous implications for the pricingpolicies deteriorating the profitability of the SMTEs and the tourism economicimpacts on the destination

Ultimately the economic impacts of tourism in Greece become debatableespecially due to the inadequacy of tourism economic research and data whilethe destination has to bear the environmental social and cultural decay Encour-agingly articles in recent tourism industry publications acknowledge these chal-lenges and appreciate the dangers urging both the private and public sector totake action (Touristiki Agora Tourismos ke Oikonomia Travel News XENIA) as well

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 457

Table 6 Structural problems and challenges

Image of Greece as cheap simple unsophisticated undifferentiated sun-seadestination

Gradual deterioration of tourism product and lack of reinvestment in improvements

Increase of tourism arrivals but decrease of tourism expenditure per capita

Inadequacy of the Greek planning process

Dependence upon major tour operators for promotion and distribution

Plethora of anarchically developed and behaving SMTEs aiming at short-termprofitability

Inappropriate and ill-timed marketing campaign which has little effectiveness

Inadequacy of infrastructure to serve the ever-expanding demand

Lack of coordination at the destination and disrespect for touristsrsquo needs

Lack ofprofessionalism and training in both state andprivate tourism establishments

Individualistic behaviour by SMTEs and unwillingness to cooperate on adestination basis

Unsuccessful and inconsistent programmes of government intervention

Almost unregulated environment with nearly complete lack of control

Political intervention which allows exception policies and employment of unquali-fied staff

Development of tourism as a single regional development option

Oversupply of tourism amenities and fierce price competition

Failure of the private sector to invest in long-term projects

Deterioration of natural social and cultural resources

SMTEsrsquo inability to resist in global concentration of the tourism industry

Inadequate distribution mechanisms which generate overdependence onintermediaries

Failure of both the private and public sectors to learn from internationally gainedexperience in tourism development and marketing

Lack of tourism research to identify the impacts of tourism

Negligence with regard to new tourism demand challenges

as several influential members of the tourism industry (Josephides 1993 19941995 Skoulas 1994 Daskalantonakis 1994 Divanis 1994b Plevris 1995Papandropoulos 1995)

Political intervention limited research lack of tourism policy andplanning

Perhaps the largest obstacle in developing a competitive tourism industry inGreece has been the inconsistent and irrational political intervention Unfortunatelytourism has extensively been utilised as a political vehicle where each govern-ment uses it to gratify its political needs and friends This can be experienced in alllevels of recruitment in the public sector institutions as a change of government oreven minister results in immense changes throughout the GNTO as well as tomajor policies and regulations Thus in the last 35 years (since 1966) the leadershipof the GNTO has changed 28 times allowing each General Secretary to stay inoffice for an average of 138 months Political allies of each government use politi-cal pressure and intensive lobbying in order to achieve amendments in regula-tions incentive policies and business environment Hence the short-termprofitability and commercial interests of the friends and political allies of eachgovernment often overrule the long-term strategy and set an improper examplefor the entire industry These practices result in a great inconsistency in Greek tour-ism policy and disrupt its rationalisation Therefore a lsquodepolitisation of Greektourismrsquo towards a professionally managed public sector guided through acompromised strategic Master Plan is urgently required (Josephides 1995)

The limited existing scientific tourism research highlights the lack of comprehen-sive examination of tourism impacts in Greece while it illustrates that tourismpolicy is based on insufficient documentation (Zacharatos 1989 278 and 1988 22)Public sector research is almost non-existant while the authorities seem uninter-ested in consulting the Greek-tourism research produced by academics (for exam-ple Zacharatos 1984 1986 Komilis 1987 Loukissas 1977 Papadimitris 1988Papadopoulos 1985 Moore 1992 Tsartas 1989 Velissariou 1991 Fotis 1992Buhalis 1991 1995 2000c Buhalis amp Diamantis 2000) or the international tourismlsquobody of knowledgersquo (Zacharatos 1988 24) In addition tourism consumptionbeing characterised as a particular category of private consumption in the nationalaccounts it fails to reflect the real tourism impact on each economic sector Thusthe process of collecting information for tourism expenditure in Greece preventsthe assessment of tourism expenditure impacts on the national and regional econ-omy and therefore cannot be used in drawing scientifically founded tourismpolicy (Zacharatos 1989 277 Konsolas amp Zacharatos 1993 58) Consequentlytourism policy follows conventional wisdom and concentrates on attracting alarger volume of tourists ignoring scientific methods to assess the economicsocial cultural and environmental impacts of each tourism segment assumingthat the greater the tourism volume the better for the national economy

The lack of a comprehensive and rational tourism policy and planning or a MasterPlan for Greek tourism is primarily responsible for the aforementioned structuralproblems Policy is usually based on unsubstantiated statements published by theTourism Ministry or the GNTO (GNTO 1985b 1989a 1993) often as pre-electionpromotional material In essence Greek authorities attempt to intervene aiming tostimulate arrivals as well as to facilitate the operation and development of the

458 Current Issues in Tourism

tourism industry Based on the assumption that tourism arrivals to Greece wouldincrease indefinitely the general directions of the Greek tourism policy focusalmost invariably on the targets summarised in Table 7 (Euromonitor 1992 61GNTO 1989b 41 and 1993 1 OECD 1992 70 Skoulas 1985 194 Leontidou 199188ndash91 Apostolopoulos 1990 Zacharatos 1989 275 and 1988 21)

However as these tasks are not quantified and there is no time schedule orplanning process for their achievement it is inevitable that their implementationand assessment is subject to irrationalities and personal judgement Occa-sionally incentives for tourism development responses to lobbying from tour-ism-related associations and regions training programmes and generallegislation attempt to direct the Greek tourism industry towards the describedpolicy directions In addition an inconsistent and untargeted promotionalcampaign is implemented yearly (Touloupas 1996 130) The campaign attempts toachieve the above unspecified policy tasks while it is often a lsquolast minutersquo reactionmeasure to a forecasted decline of bookings for the current season rather than acoordinated long-term marketing policy (Jenner amp Smith 1993 143Papadopoulos 1989 304) Despite the advertising campaignrsquos positive impact onarrivals the feedback to the campaign is rather speculative as no formal researchis undertaken to identify the most cost-effective media and communication meth-ods for each target market (Papadopoulos 1989 311 and 1987 82)

Because the deficient scientific examination of Greek tourism and its impactsprevents the authorities from establishing quantifiable and measurable tourismpolicies their policies are based on subjective and personal judgements while feedbackpractices are rarely followed In addition the implementation of the vaguelydefined tourism policy as well as the targets regulations and standards are oftenbent to accommodate lobbying and political pressures (Zacharatos 1989 279)Komilis (1993 225) suggests that tourism planning in Greece is generally realisedand exercised within a socio-political environment characterised by severalfactors a limited degree of political commitment lack of social awareness andacceptability of planning actions inadequacy of scientific and technical founda-

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 459

Table 7 Greek tourism policy targets

Development of demand

Training of tourism employees

Increase arrivals and foreign exchange income

Increase competitiveness of tourism product

Improvement of services in the industry

Reduction of seasonality and expansion of tourism season

Attraction of high spenders and alternative types of tourism

Construction of facilities appealing to the upper end of the market such as luxuryhotels golf courses congress centres casinos and marinas

Development of tourism infrastructure with emphasis on transportation

Support of social tourism for low-income domestic tourists

Geographical redistribution of tourism

tion to support planning intervention and a centralised administrative-institu-tional system gathering a plethora of functions but failing to perform itscoordination and enforcing role When the conflicting interests and power of eachmember of the tourism industry are brought into the equation where differentpartners attempt to influence legislation in order to maximise their own short-termprofitability regardless of the impacts on the destination and other enterprises theplanning process becomes more complicated This results in an ineffective plan-ning system and process which produces policies unable to provide an appropri-ate balance between restrictive policies and control planning implementationMoreover the plethora of SMTEs in combination with inadequate legislationconcerning their establishment and operation seem to affect adversely thecompetitiveness of the industry and the ability to diversify and enrich local tour-ism products (Komilis 1992 11 EIU 1990 59)

Consequently several structural problems are originated jeopardising theprosperity of both SMTEs and destinations especially in overdeveloped regionsOn the supply side failure of the infrastructure to follow the dramatic expansionof the superstructure in combination with the lack of solid institutional context oftourism policy and long-term regulation result in the exploitation and inadequacyof environmental and socio-cultural resources as well as the inability of the indus-try to generate the level of economic benefits desired and expected On the tourismdemand side after the meteoric growth in the 1970s and 1980s the Greek tourismindustry has been trying to transform lsquothe country into a destination which cancompete not just on price but on value for moneyrsquo (EIU 1990 45) It is becomingapparent that the tourism population in not infinite and an adaptability andresponsiveness to touristsrsquo needs is ofgreat importance (Sezeramp Harrison 1994 83)

Structural problems jeopardise the profitability of the private sectorBecause of the aforementioned structural problems most tourism industry

enterprises are experiencing a decline in profitability Hotels in particular arebadly affected due to the high fixed assets as well as their immobility and inflexi-bility which prevents them from adjusting to demand fluctuation Several reasonsdetermine their low profitability and inability to increase prices in line with infla-tion The low occupancy levels achieved yearly is a key problem Smith and Jenner(1995 17) estimate that the lsquoyear-round bed occupancy over the range of licensedaccommodation is slightly under 30rsquo As most of the properties are closed duringthe winter months due to the seasonality problems they rely on three to six monthsto generate sufficient returns on their investment The occupancy levels of accom-modation establishments in Greek tourism are often determined by theirco-operation with travel intermediaries Based on the different seasonality patternsof different markets rooms are normally allocated a year before the summer seasonto tour operators on lsquoallotmentrsquo or lsquocommitmentrsquo contracts which effectively deter-mine the prices charged according to the security provided by tour operators forusing and paying for hoteliersrsquo rooms Once the contracts are signed hoteliers effec-tively lose their control on their inventory and their right to market their rooms toother business sources before the release period (typically 7ndash14 days before arrival)in order to avoid overbooking However should their bookings fail to match theirprogramme tour operators often utilise their buying power to cancel unwantedrooms at the beginning of the tourist season without paying compensation Smaller

460 Current Issues in Tourism

hoteliers are often left with unoccupied rooms they which are unable to promote atthe lsquolast minutersquo unless they drop their prices to unacceptable levels As a result oftheir deficient intra-channel power hotels often suffer a significant cut-back of theiroccupancy levels which has direct implications for their profitability (Buhalis 19952000c 460 Ktenas 1996)

Similarly the seasonality of the Mediterranean and Greek tourism industry hasalways been a problem for the profitability of SMTEs since enterprises operateonly for a limited period (Jenner amp Smith 1993 70 Drakatos 1987 Donatos ampZairis 1991) Attempts to promote winter tourism by developing cultural andspecial interest tourism in the islands and winter sports in several ski resorts inGreece have proved fairly unsuccessful (EIU 1986 56) This is attributed to theimage of Greece as an exclusively summer-sun destination as well as to the unco-ordinated attempts to maintain tourism enterprises active during the wintermonths (EIU 1990 57)

The average room rate is the second major determinant of hotel profitability It isbecoming apparent that employment costs and cost of capital in combination witha relatively strong currency policy reduce the ability of Greek accommodationestablishments to offer competitive pricing and maintain their profitabilityMarketing inadequacies and inability to promote the tourism product as a differ-entiated entity the rapid increase of supply in comparison to demand and theoverall dependence upon the oligopsonistic tour operators for the Greek tourismproduct promotion force hoteliers to accept contracts by tour operators whichminimise their profit margin and adversely effect the quality of their productIncreasing levels of pressure by tour operators prevent SMTEs from renovatingand investing in their properties and therefore a gradual deterioration of the prop-erties is inevitable (Richter-Papaconstantinou 1992 14 Skoulas 1985 189) Euro-pean tour operators faced with fierce competition in their markets are essentiallywilling to pay an annual price increase equal to little less than the depreciation ofthe drachma plus the inflation at the place of origin of the tourists (Ktenas 1994)This policy progressively deteriorates the profitability of the Greek tourism indus-try and has severe impacts for its prosperity The situation is worse for smalleraccommodation establishments which manage to negotiate even smaller priceincreases due to their exclusive dependence upon fewer intermediaries(Logothetis 1992 14)

The oversupply of tourism services both in Greece and worldwide also contributesto global competition for a less rapidly increasing demand (Josephides 1993 54)In Greece the average annual increase of the official hotel bed supply in 1983ndash1992was 47 while the annual average increase in international tourist bednights was27 (Epilogi 1994 271) The investment incentive Law 126282 boosted this over-supply as it generated small infeasible and uncontrollable accommodation unitsunable to offer high quality of services while it increased the concentration of tour-ism units in infrastructure-undersupplied resorts (Kriebardis amp Marmagiolis1990 51 Stavrou 1989b 5) The vast majority of the capacity growth is on the lsquoille-galrsquo unregistered self-catering and self-serviced lsquoparahoteleriarsquo sector whichprovide very low quality and priced accommodation and therefore appeal tomass tour operatorsrsquo clientele This not only increases unfair competition for theofficially registered hotels but also reduces both tax revenues and employment atthe macro level

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 461

Horwath (1994 3) concludes that

unfortunately the results in terms of return on investment in the tourismindustry are not very promising especially when compared with those ofother Greek economic sectors It is an undisputable fact that the averageGreek tourism entrepreneur is heavily dependent on the tourist packageprice which is strongly negotiated by the international tour operators It isan lsquounhealthyrsquo dependency as a result of the weak position of the Greektourist product in the international market In addition the aforemen-tioned dependency is the result of the lack of marketing activities in anaverage tourist enterprise As we all know effective marketing activitiesare based on the product place price promotion which all contribute toclient satisfaction and further to a bigger share in the international touristmarket Up to now three of the aforementioned important elements ofmarketing have been overlooked which determine the weak negotiationpower of the Greek entrepreneur

This situation has also resulted to several European companies expandingtheir operations into Greece or purchasing shares in Greek partners in order toimprove their vertical integration Should this vertical integration expand signif-icantly however lsquoGreek tourism will be in fact controlled by foreign deci-sion-making centres which will certainly operate on the basis of their owninterests and not according to the overall interests of our national economyrsquo(Kalogeropoulou 1993 2) Hence radical measures are required immediately inproduct formulation promotion strategy and distribution channels to supportboth Greek destinations and SMTEs to enhance their competitiveness profitabil-ity and prosperity Failure to react would have severe implications for the futureof the Greek tourism private sector as the essence of its existence would be jeop-ardised its costs may exceeding its returns

Structural problems generate negative tourism impactsIn addition to the profitability problems of the private sector the aforemen-

tioned structural problems have profound implications for the welfare of hostpopulations in various Greek destinations as their economic social cultural andenvironmental resources are exploited without ensuring their sustainabilityLack of comprehensive research and failure to initiate carrying-capacity limits orzoning systems contribute to the anarchic development of tourism as well asexpand negative impacts of tourism on local societies and environments Thefollowing section highlights some of the costs Greek destinations are called topay for their tourism activity whilst it suggests that these issues should beaddressed in the strategic planning process

Macro-economic negative impactsDespite the contribution of tourism to the Greek economy certain potential

risks can also be identified Not only is the competitiveness and profitability ofthe tourism industry jeopardised but also several destination regions seem tofollow a policy of developing tourism at the expense of industrial and agricul-tural growth (Stavrou 1989a 6 Vernicos 1987 105) Instead of tourism stimulat-ing agriculture it seems that it hastens its decline as the two economic activities

462 Current Issues in Tourism

compete for land and labour The lack of structural investments in industrial oragricultural sectors combined with the popularity of tourism professions in theworkforce endanger the balance of the regional economy while reducing thetourism multipliers (Briassoulis 1993 295) As a result the economic structure ofthe destination is jeopardised while a complete dependence upon tourismbecomes inevitable (Komilis 1992 7) Both opportunity costs and displacementeffects are therefore evident Moreover there is evidence that the progress ofdestinations through their life-cycle and especially the introduction of masstourism decreases their economic impacts while it makes local control of theindustry far more difficult (Loukissas 1982 537) lsquoBecause of the high degree ofdependence of Greek tourist enterprises on tour operators the actual amount oftourist spending remaining in the country is only the 40ndash50 of total touristspendingrsquo (Briassoulis 1993 296) Public-sector subsidies to the private sector invarious forms such as incentives cooperative marketing campaigns and unem-ployment benefits in the off-season as well as tax evasion and lsquoparaeconomyrsquo alsoreduce the real benefit at the macro level (Mourdoukoutas 1988 Drakatos 1987Leontidou 1991 102) Lack of scientific research on the economic impacts oftourism makes the real contribution of tourism in the economy speculativerather than based on hard evidence (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Konsolas ampZacharatos 1993)

Social and cultural negative impactsThe development of mass tourism and the lack of effective planning and

management are also responsible for a number of negative social and culturalimpacts observed in Greek host societies (Tsartas 1989 1992 Stavrou 19781979 1980 1986b) Although the degree of interaction of the population withtourists depends heavily on the geomorphology of destinations and the loca-tion of resorts (Loukissas 1982 538) touristsrsquo behaviour is often offensive tothe host population but tolerated due to the economic benefits (Castelberg-Koulma 1991 201 Kousis 1989 Wickens 1994 823) Most Greek tourismdestinations are almost crime-free zones during the winter due to the smallpopulation and personal relationships of locals Tourism however introducesseveral types of criminal activity often unknown to local people As policeforces are usually allocated according to needs of the permanent population ina destination they are often incapable of handling the demands of the summermonths and are unable to deal with visitorsrsquo misbehaviour such as hooliganismand lsquolager-lootingrsquo

The commercialisation of history cultural traditions and the Greek lifestyle isa phenomenon met in several destinations This regrettably affects the renownedGreek hospitality commercialises human relations with tourists and reduces theties of solidarity and cooperation between locals since they compete for the tour-ism market (Papadopoulos 1988b 24) As the average employee works 605hours weekly for 295 weeks a year there is little time left for social religious andcultural obligations during the season (Mourdoukoutas 1988 325) Although acertain degree of lsquodemonstration effectrsquo and lsquoxenomaniarsquo can be attributed totourism the country is equally influenced by the mass media as well as by theGreek students and professionals living abroad (Papadopoulos 1988a 30Wickens 1994 822) Moore (1995) also explains that tourism not only has had a

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 463

contribution to the increase of alcohol consumption by Greeks but has alsoshifted their taste away from locally produced wine to imported spirits and beerBriassoulis (1993 296) perhaps describes best the change in labour force valueswhen as she suggests that tourism has created a

peculiar parasitic group of tourist entrepreneurs operating tourist-servingenterprises like tavernas cafeterias etc the principal characteristics ofwhich are high profits and tax evasion Consequently a particular person-ality type is created the lsquosuccessfulrsquo entrepreneur who earns a lot with littlework has a rich erotic life and is professionally independent (in contrast topublic and private employees) This model is followed by many youngpeople who abandon other productive year-round occupations lsquoworkrsquoonly during the tourist season stay idle for the rest of the year and eventu-ally suffer from the volatility of the tourist market

The family relations and values are therefore under great transition andperhaps threat (Castelberg-Koulma 1991 201 Kousis 1989 Moore 1992)

Negative environmental impactsDespite environmental resources becoming central to destinationsrsquo competi-

tiveness most Greek destinations go through an unparalleled exploitation due toinadequate planning and reinvestment in their sustainability jeopardising theirfuture (Buhalis amp Fletcher 1995) Boniface and Cooper (1994 141) suggest thatgeographical concentration of tourism

has led to the view that Greece will become saturated with tourists and thatdamage will be done to the environment and cultural heritage in the morepopular areas Already the environment has suffered from haphazarduncontrolled building and pollution of the sea and the flora and fauna arebeing effected by waste disposal

Coastal pollution water shortages sewage treatment waste disposal trafficcongestion noise pollution overbuilding and aesthetic degradation are some ofthe impacts experienced already in a number of resorts (Briassoulis 1993 297Coccosis amp Parprairis 1992 Peterson 1990 Marinos 1983 Stavrou 1988 19 and1989a 5 Papadopoulos 1988b 24) Most of the islands also face water shortagedue to the inability of natural supplies to provide sufficient water for the tourismdemand Imported mineral water from the mainland is an expensive way tosolve this problem due to the transportation cost while it creates more waste andenvironmental damage In addition the destruction of endangered speciesrsquo habi-tats is another problem experienced on several islands (ZakynthosCaretta-Caretta and Allonissos monk-seals) (Ottaway 1992 Van Den Bergh1993 70 Prurier et al 1993) Urgent coordination with all tourism actors at thelocal level is essential while regulation is required to set objective and measurablelimits and targets in order to preserve local environmental resources Financialdifficulties in the industry only exacerbate these impacts as the private and publicsectors feel unable to reinvest in the conservation of resources

The aforementioned negative impacts emerge as a result of the structuralproblems of the Greek tourism industry and illustrate that the mass tourismorientation of the industry reduces the sovereignty of the host population over

464 Current Issues in Tourism

their land and resources whilst jeopardising their expected benefits and futurewelfare As these impacts are trade-offs for the economic gains of the tourismactivity it is important that consistent long-term strategic planning should beundertaken in order to enable the preservation of the local resources and achievesustainability at tourism destinations These tasks should all be reinforced byresearch political will and strategic planning

Where Do We Need to Go and How Are We Going ThereTowards Strengthening the Competitiveness of Greek Tourismand SMTEs

Based on the situation analysis as well as on the strategic weaknesses andstructural problems the paper attempts to provide a framework for strategicplanning which will enable the strengthening of the competitiveness of Greektourism and SMTEs Porter (1985 1) suggests that competitive strategy lsquois thesearch for a favourable competitive position in an industryrsquo which is a function ofthe attractiveness of the industry and the relative competitive position withinthat particular industry He also argues that lsquocompetitive strategy aims to estab-lish a profitable and sustainable position against the forces that determine indus-try competitionrsquo Competitiveness is therefore defined as the effort undertakenby organisations to maintain long-term profitability above the average of theparticular industry within which they operate or above alternative investmentopportunities in other industries

Traditionally the tourism industry in the majority of destinations worldwideis based on a network of SMTEs which provide all types of tourism products andservices while enabling closer interaction between the host population and visi-tors as well as facilitating a rapid infusion of tourism spending into the localeconomy As lsquotouristsrsquo overall experience is composed of numerous smallencounters with a variety of tourism service providersrsquo (Moutinho 1990 104)there is a great overlap between the customer perception of local SMTEs anddestinations which makes them almost indistinguishable Consequently thecompetitiveness and prosperity of destinations and SMTEs are closely interre-lated as the fortune of the one depends heavily upon the management andcompetitiveness of the other Therefore the generic strategy for destinationsinvolves SMTEs and vice versa

Grand strategy Strategy formulation for Greek tourism and SMTEsBased on the strategic analysis a grand strategy is proposed for the Greek

tourism industry and SMTEs in order to demonstrate the directions the destina-tions should follow in their attempt to increase their competitiveness and reducetheir vulnerability As different resorts destinations and SMTEs have dissimilarneeds only generic strategies can be drawn However these guidelines can beapplicable to destinations and SMTEs worldwide as they address strategic ratherthan operational issues The analysis is based on the assumption that SMTEsformulate leisure value-added chains or networks of wealth creation whichessentially comprise the entire destination Therefore an integrated approach isfollowed as there is a great complementarity between the strategies and strate-gic directions for both the Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 465

The grand strategy analysis is based on an examination of three general strat-egy models namely Porterrsquos generic strategies Gilbertrsquos proposition for lsquodiffer-entiation of the destinationrsquo and Poonrsquos analysis for lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo Agrand strategy is then proposed for both Greek tourism and SMTEs based oninference emerging from these three models Figure 1 illustrates the three maingeneric strategies proposed by Porter (1980 34ndash46) in order to lsquooutperform otherfirms in an industryrsquo overall cost leadership where the firm is required to minimiseits costs based on mass production and strict cost control of the main businessfunctions differentiation of products or services by lsquocreating something that isperceived industry-wide as being uniquersquo or focus on a lsquoparticular buyer groupsegment of the product line or geographical marketrsquo and achieve either cost leader-ship or product differentiation (Porter 1980 37ndash8)

Furthermore Gilbert (1984 1990) argues that destinations should differenti-ate their tourism products in order to be able to achieve a unique lsquotourist productbenefitrsquo which would enable them to establish their position in the internationaltourism market as well as to attract high spenders and loyal tourists Tourismdestinations therefore should attempt to achieve a lsquostatus arearsquo image ratherthan a lsquocommodity arearsquo one as illustrated in Figure 2 In the first case the desti-nation is heavily substitutable very sensitive to price and economic changeswhile consumers have a low awareness of any unique benefits or attributes of theregion Thus holidaymakers base their decision to visit the area merely on pricewhile the demand for the destination is incidental and destinations are unable toattract high spenders In contrast lsquostatus areasrsquo achieve intentional demand as aresult of the unique product attributes perceived by the tourism market Theseunique attributes may be genuine or imagined and thus a destination isregarded as irreplaceable increasing consumersrsquo loyalty and willingness to payGilbert (1990 24ndash5) asserts that destinations should attempt to become lsquostatusareasrsquo in order to improve their image loyalty and economic benefits

A third strategic approach is proposed by Poon (1987 1988 1989 1990 1993)based on the concept of lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo of the tourism business Inessence Poon examines the industry processes and proposes a strategy to enabletourism organisations to improve their competitiveness Poon argues that lsquoflexi-ble specialisationrsquo is a strategy of lsquopermanent innovationrsquo and lsquoceaseless changersquowhich provides for the lsquonew tourismrsquo This new tourism is flexible segmentedcustomised to the touristrsquos needs and diagonally integrated In contrast the oldtourism can be characterised as lsquomass standardised and rigidly packagedrsquo(Poon 1989 91ndash3)

466 Current Issues in Tourism

STRATEGIC ADVANTAGE

Perceived product uniqueness Cost advantage

TARGETMARKET

Industrywide Differentiation Cost Leadership

Particularsegmentsonly

Differentiation Focus Cost Focus

Figure 1 Porterrsquos three generic strategiesSource Porter 1980 39

The main sources of flexibility for service firms lie in the organisationmanagement marketing distribution and other forms of interaction andinterrelationships among guests hotels suppliers distributors What isimportant however is not each of these stand alone aspects but how theyare coupled to create competitive advantages and hence capabilities tomove with the market (Poon 1988 24)

Examination of these three main strategies illustrates that they share a similarbase Porterrsquos lsquodifferentiationrsquo Gilbertrsquos lsquostatus arearsquo and Poonrsquos lsquoflexiblespecialisationrsquo describe the attempt undertaken by firms and tourist destinationsto achieve value competitive advantages In contrast the lsquocost leadershiprsquo lsquocom-modity arearsquo and the lsquostandardisation or Fordism production modelrsquo describethe effort to achieve lsquocost competitive advantagersquo where destinations andSMTEs offer their products for less than their competitors In the first caseconsumers perceive the product as unique and are willing to pay a premiumwhile in the second case the decision is merely based on price Thus the classicalstrategic decision of lsquolow volume-high profit marginrsquo or lsquohigh volume-low profitmarginrsquo is the underlying concept of the two alternative strategies

Both Gilbert and Poon agree that destinations should aim to achieve lsquostatusarearsquo or niche orientation through differentiation in order to increase consumersatisfaction as well as to maximise the benefits for both regions and SMTEs As aresult Greek tourism and SMTEs need to focus towards the differentiation strat-egy define their niche markets and serve them accordingly This strategy isalready adopted in several resort areas such as Valencia in Spain where it isrecognised that the need for diversification and differentiation lsquohas now becomeessential owing to the level of competitiveness that has been attained (and can beforeseen) in the world tourist marketrsquo (Fayos-Sola 1992 49) Differentiation isalso particularly useful for insular destinations in microstates where a limitednumber of economic and financial resources are available (Wilkinson 1989 170)As most destinations consist of SMTEs networks there is an overlap betweentheir strategic orientations and therefore the above analysis is applicable to boththe Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Destinations implementing a lsquostatus arearsquo strategy can enhance the satisfac-tion of tourists as well as their competitiveness The formulation of unique and

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 467

CommodityArea

Statusarea

Willingness topay higher prices

StatusArea

Product attributes Product attributes

CommodityArea

Figure 2 Gilbertrsquos differentiation strategySource Adapted from Gilbert 1990 25

customised products by using flexibility and cooperation also increases touristsrsquowillingness to pay and wins their loyalty while it responds to the new tourismdemand trends However the proposed strategy should not be seen as an excusefor SMTEs and destinations not to attempt to improve their efficiency and mini-mise their production costs Although the unique service for touristsrsquo needs shouldbe their priority offering perceived value for money would determine theircompetitiveness in the marketplace As a result all Greek resorts and SMTEsshould assess their assets and strengths for serving specific target markets takingadvantage of their small size which facilitates flexibility and specialisation

It is quite apparent that the cost advantage strategy has to be avoided inmanagement of tourism destinations as regions need to preserve their scarceenvironmental and sociocultural resources and achieve sustainable develop-ment As cost advantage is based on mass production and consumption itassumes an unlimited production capacity which is inapplicable in the tourismindustry The inseparability of the tourism product determines that consumersshould be present at the time of product delivery and when combined with tour-ism seasonality it generates demand peaks which drain destinationsrsquo scarceenvironmental sociocultural resources The lsquohigh volume-low profit marginrsquostrategy has therefore harmful social and environmental impacts on destina-tions Destinations have maximum carrying capacities beyond which both thewelfare of local populations and the satisfaction of tourists are jeopardisedAlthough economic benefits can also be achieved by using the lsquocommodity arearsquoor the lsquostandard product modelrsquo it is argued that these approaches reduce tour-istsrsquo satisfaction and their willingness to pay and are opposed to the demandtrend towards individualisation

Unfortunately however some destinations can no longer be positioned asirreplaceable unique products due to their overdevelopment Tourism supplyhas exceeded the carrying capacity of these resorts and their product hasreached the saturation or decline phase of their life-cycle Several Spanish costasand some Greek resorts such as Benitses Kavos Faliraki Malia Hersonissos andNidri (Josephides 1994) have been overdeveloped to such an extent that only alsquohigh-volume low-profit marginrsquo strategy is feasible When resorts reach theirsaturation level only a lsquocost leadershiprsquo or lsquomass productionrsquo strategy can beproposed as they are unable to provide any specific lsquotourist product benefitrsquo Theattraction of the lower end of the market is inevitable and as a consequence thereare no alternative strategies The minimisation of further sociocultural and envi-ronmental damage as well as attempts to improve the surrounding environmentshould also be a primary objective of both tourism destinations and SMTEs in thiscase The ultimate aim should be to regenerate the resources of the area and torelaunch the tourism destination to attract specific markets which will be willing topay a higher price for the destination

Strategic directions objectives and tasks for Greek tourism and SMTEsTable 8 presents three pivotal strategic directions which are identified in order

to stimulate the competitiveness of both Greek tourism and SMTEs This sectionillustrates how the aforementioned grand strategy can be implemented for tour-ist destinations and SMTEs through a number of strategic directions objectivesand tasks as presented in Table 9

468 Current Issues in Tourism

Enhancing the satisfaction of tourists and delighting the customer are pivotalto ensuring the well-being of Greek destinations and SMTEs in the long term andthus the entire range of tourism service providers should aim to delight theirclients As a result of the tourism product integration consumer satisfactioncannot be achieved by independent businesses separately but by the entirenetwork of SMTEs in Greek destinations The improvement in services isperhaps the most important strategic objective Consistency of promises throughstandardisation of service delivery and implementation of a total qualitymanagement philosophy throughout the industry are essential strategic tasks forachieving this objective while flexibility in service delivery and improvementsin training are critical In line with the grand strategy the production oftailor-made tourism products should be ensured in order to satisfy the specificneeds of particular niches and the requirements of the emerging new tourismdemand Product augmentation would enable also the Greek tourism product toexceed the expectations of consumers and hence enhance their satisfaction Lifestyle segmentation would enable Greek tourism and SMTEs to design appropri-ate tourism products As tourist demand elasticity has increasingly becomedoubtful in recent years the price of the holiday is no longer considered to be themost important attribute in the decision-making process Consequently theGreek tourism industry should concentrate on providing value for money at allprice levels as well as offering at least whatever they have promised to theconsumer

Supporting the long-term competitiveness and profitability of Greek tour-ism and SMTEs is by far the most important strategic objective for the tourismindustry The first strategic objective for every SMTE has to be the increase inrevenue by maximising its occupancy or load factors and the rates it achievesThe lengthening of the operating season as well as the identification of newmarkets and the penetration into existing ones and the effective utilisation ofdistribution channels will contribute to this strategic direction Higher ratescan be achieved by targeting specialised and smaller tour operators attractingalternative types of tourists and expanding the distribution channels mix aswell as by attempting a certain degree of lsquodisintermediationrsquo by encouragingdirect sales to outgoing travel agencies or consumers Aggressive marketingand establishment of partnerships with other enterprises should be essentialfunctions of Greek tourism and SMTEs Motivation of lsquofront-of-housersquo employ-ees as salesmen and sale incentives would also increase average spending percustomer The use of CRSs and destination management systems may also bean appropriate method for achieving higher prices and better occupancy rates(Buhalis 1994) Finally yield management techniques should be utilised by alltypes of SMTEs to assist them in pricing and maximising revenue Cost control

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 469

Table 8 Pivotal strategic dimensions for Greek tourism

(1) Enhance the satisfaction of tourists and delight the customer(2) Strengthen the long-term profitability and competitiveness of Greek tourism and

SMTEs(3) Develop Greek destinations sustainably and ensure prosperity of host population

470 Current Issues in Tourism

Table 9 Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Strategic directions Strategic objectives Strategic tasks

1 Enhance the sat-isfaction of tour-ists and delightthe customer

11 Improvement of services a Standardisation of service de-livery

b Development of quality controlsystems

c Consistency of promisesd Improvements in operational

managemente Flexibility in services deliveryf Training and education im-

provementsg Smile and personal relation-

shipsh Augmentation of tourism

producti Total quality management

12 Specialisation of tourismproduct

a Niche marketingb Lifestyle targeting

13 Value for money a Quality at each price level

2 Strengthen thelong-term com-petitiveness andprofitability ofGreek tourismand SMTEs

21 Increase revenue a Increase tourist volumesb Target new markets and pene-

tration in existing marketsc Use yield managementd Expand distribution channel

mixe Aggressive marketingf Achieve high average spending

per customerg Select high-quality specialised

tour operatorsh Attract alternative types of

tourismi Use alternative distribution

channelsj Motivate front-of-house em-

ployees as salesmen

22 Cost control and rationalmanagement

a Standardise service deliveryb Increase productivityc Reduce labour costsd Rationalise supplies manage-

mente Educationtraining for manag-

ers and employeesf Use of new technologyg Integrate service delivery

within SMTEs

23 Human resources man-agement

a Internal marketingb Empowermentc Satisfactory salary and working

conditionsd Long-term relations with em-

ployeese Motivation and rewards

and rational management is the second strategic objective needed to increaseefficiency and profitability of both Greek destinations and SMTEs in the longterm Standardisation of the service delivery process and minimisation of thelabour cost through better operational management would be primary recom-mendations Managers and employees should improve their productivity andmarketing skills by intensive training In addition the rationalisation of supplymanagement and the use of new technology is expected to reduce operationalcosts Finally integration of service delivery enables SMTEs to provide comple-mentary services and achieve additional revenues without immense costs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 471

24 State and public tourismorganisation support

a Destination development andcontrol

b Incentives policies for improve-ment

c Attract European Union assis-tance

d Promotional activitye Provide financial resources

3 Develop Greekdestinationssustainably andensure prosper-ity of host popu-lation

31 Environmental protection a Carrying capacity identificationb Zoning system applicationc Architecture preservationd Installation of sewage treat-

ment systemse Reduction of noise pollutionf Natural supplies management

32 Infrastructure ameliora-tion

a Accessibility improvementsb Telecommunication improve-

mentsc Public facilities advancements

33 Transportation improve-ments

a Improvement of local timeta-bles

b Punctuality and reliabilityc Improvements of vehiclesd Flexibility to meet demand

needs

34 Economic integration a Integration with raw materialproduction

b Utilisation of local labour forcec Integration of tourism servicesd Diagonal integration of destina-

tionrsquos economy

35 Equitable return on re-sources utilised

a Establish mechanism forreinvestments

b Provide services for hostcommunity

c Invest in sustainability ofresources

d Ensure equity in distributionof wealth produced

Source Adapted from Buhalis 1991 83a

Table 9 (cont) Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Human resources management is crucial in the delivery process of tourismproducts The concept of lsquointernal marketingrsquo where employees are perceivedand treated as lsquointernal customersrsquo has to be utilised in order to ensure theirsatisfaction As Berry (1981 34) states lsquothe satisfaction of the needs and wants ofthe internal customers can upgrade their capacity for satisfying the needs andwants of their external customersrsquo and as a consequence it can contribute to thecompetitiveness and profitability of Greek tourism and SMTEs Satisfactorysalary and working conditions are prerequisites for the well-being of SMTEsrsquoemployees Long-term relationships between employees and SMTEs minimiseturnover enabling a better performance while they reduce recruitment andtraining costs Empowerment would enable employees to be involved in themanagement of SMTEs and authorise them to respond more efficiently toconsumer requests while contributing to their job satisfaction Finally thesupport of the GNTO is vital for the long-term survival of SMTEs Apart fromthe improvement in infrastructure the GNTO is expected to hold the strategicresponsibility of the destination as well as to regulate the competition in orderto enable smaller enterprises to survive Incentive policies need to reflect thespecific requirements of each resort and enable development or improvementof certain types of enterprises The GNTO is also instrumental in attractingassistance from European development funds while it should also coordinatethe majority of Greek tourism promotional activity A promotional mix whichmaximises the effectiveness of the communication message needs to be drawnwhile budgets need to be available at the time consumers go through their deci-sion-making process in order to influence their choice of destination Finally theneed for the public sector to provide affordable financial resources for SMTEs ishighlighted by the EU (EC 1993b 73)

The third strategic direction for Greek tourism and SMTEs should be thesustainable development of destinations and local areas not only for the hostpopulation but also because this is vital for both consumer satisfaction and theprofitability of SMTEs Although in most cases SMTEs are unable to incorporatethese types of strategic objectives and tasks on their own they can initiate aframework of necessary actions for sustainable destination developmentthrough their associations Environmental protection is naturally the mostimportant strategic objective as consumersrsquo environmental consciousness hasbeen raised recently Carrying capacity limits should be identified and strictregulations and guidelines for tourism development need to be drawn A zoningsystem should be implemented in order to locate tourism activities according tothe geographical morphology of the destination In addition natural resourcesmanagement is necessary as tourism demand may exhaust the resources andespecially the water supplies The installation of sewage treatment systems andthe reduction of noise pollution should be considered especially for resortswhich suffer the consequences of these problems In addition infrastructureamelioration must be one of the primary objectives as it is an essential prerequi-site for both consumersrsquo satisfaction and SMTEsrsquo development The improve-ment of accessibility public services as well as telecommunications facilities is acrucial factor Transportation is also significant in increasing both consumersatisfaction and profitability of SMTEs as it determines whether consumers canaccess the destination easily while it also provides the first impression to tour-

472 Current Issues in Tourism

ists Improvements of timetables and services reliability increasing transporta-tion capacity and an enhancement of the fleet in terms of speed cleanliness andleisure facilities are all required Furthermore greater flexibility is needed bytransportation operators in order to meet demand needs Economic integrationcan improve the economic and social benefits of tourism in the region and theefficiency of SMTEs Ultimately tourism should be utilised as the catalyst andmajor stimulant for regional development Tourism enterprises should makeevery effort to use local raw materials and labour in order to maximise the multi-plier effects within Greece Diagonal integration of destinationsrsquo economy can beachieved by rearranging the goods and service production in order to supportthe tourism industry demand and thus minimise imports Finally SMTEs andtourism organisations need to offer a fair return-on-resources utilised back to thehost community A mechanism should be established in order to reinvest part ofthe revenues in the sustainability of resources provide services for the hostcommunity such as education training health services and generally ensureequity in distribution of wealth produced from local resources As the privatesector cannot be expected to behave altruistically towards the host communitythe GNTO and other public-sector departments should probably utilise regula-tion and taxation for this purpose

Conclusion Greek Tourism Needs a Long Overdue Master Planand Comprehensive Policy

The emerging international tourism competition the hitherto mass tourismorientation of the industry the transformation of demand the development ofthe volume of tourists visiting the dependence upon intermediaries for thedistribution of the tourism product in the major target markets the lack of a widerange of managerial skills by Greek tourism entrepreneurs and the lack of acomprehensive tourism policy or Master Plan by the public sector has led thecompetitiveness of Greece tourism to decline This has several unfavourableimplications for the profitability of the private sector as well as numerous nega-tive economic sociocultural and environmental impacts for the host populationAs a result the return on resources utilised for the production of Greek tourismservices is inadequate and the sustainability of Greece as a major tourism desti-nation is rapidly becoming doubtful Based on a strategic analysis the paper illu-minates the strategic weaknesses and structural problems of both the private andpublic sectors and demonstrates that a rationalisation of the tourism industry isurgently required Consequently a grand strategy as well as a wide range of stra-tegic directions objectives and tasks are proposed for both Greece as an entityand its SMTEs Although no quantitative targets are set in this paper it isexpected that each destination will analyse its resources and adapt its strategicplanning accordingly

The GNTO is urged to rationalise its strategy and to draw up a Master Plan anda comprehensive strategy for the entire country and for each resort where a strategywould be adopted based on quantifiable objectives and tasks Extensive researchneeds to be undertaken by using credible measurement methodologies such asInput-Output models and multipliers analysis not only for the economic but alsofor the social cultural and environmental impacts (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Buhalis

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 473

amp Fletcher 1995) A holistic tourism management system is demanded to facilitatethe development and implementation of the tourism strategy through funds allo-cation and monitoring land use control and examination of tourism public- andprivate-sector practices A thorough examination of tourism impacts in eachregion would be a prerequisite for tourism planning as it will establish andprovide scientific backing to strategic targets Komilis (1994 71) explains thatalthough the various levels of planning (sectoral nationalEU spatial or regional)are not mutually exclusive but rather complementary the regional level planningis more suitable for drawing sustainable strategies especially for areas withdissimilar needs like the Greek destinations The regional planning should lsquocon-tribute to the maximisation of regional development benefits in a way that utilisesand mobilises the regional resource base realises regional inter-sectoral linkagesand is compatible with regional economic interests societal values and environ-mental assetsrsquo It should also take into consideration the uniqueness of insulareconomies as well as the cultural and environmental resources of each particularregion and the complexity of rural and urban functions The planning processshould encourage the complementarity and coexistence of economic activitiesrather than promote sectoral separation and single-sector developments In addi-tion it needs to improve the balance between regional self-sufficiency anddependence upon external inputs and finally it should promote integration withinthe European Union

The public sector has to play its long overdue role as regulator coordinatorinfrastructure provider and promoter of the destination while a multi-integrationof the tourism industry with all the involved bodies in the preparation distribu-tion and delivery of the tourism experience needs to be ensured (Wanhill 1993Hall 1994 Skoulas 1994 10 Stavrou 1988 46) The private sector also has an impor-tant role to play as it should improve the Greek tourism industry competitivenessby improving its managerial and labour force competencies enhancing the qualityof services designing appropriate marketing mixes to attract and satisfy targetmarkets and cooperating closely in order to achieve synergies and economies ofscale (Briassoulis 1993 300 Cooper amp Buhalis 1992) To reverse the vicious circleof decreasing quality is of critical importance for the Greek tourism industryBetter quality services would stimulate the competitiveness of the Greek tourismproduct strengthen its position in the international market provide principalswith distribution channel power enhance its customersrsquo willingness to pay andenable the industry to increase its prices improving the profitability at the microlevel and the economic impacts of tourism at the macrolevel Ultimately a diagonalintegration strategy for both Greek tourism and SMTEs should aim to delightconsumers enhance the long-term prosperity of SMTEs and improve the welfareof the host populations The Olympic Games in 2004 offer a unique opportunity toregenerate and rebrand Greek tourism a cause which the entire industry shouldchampion

The AuthorDimitrios Buhalis is Senior Lecturer and course leader MSc in tourism at theUniversity of Surrey He holds a BBA from the University of the Aegean as wellas an MSc and a PhD in tourism management from the University of Surrey Hisresearch interests focus on information systems and technology strategic

474 Current Issues in Tourism

management distribution channels of tourism destination management andplanning and destination integrated computer information reservation manage-ment systems

AcknowledgementsThe author would like to acknowledge Prof C Cooper and Prof J Fletcher for

their invaluable contribution to this research Financial support from the SurreyResearch Group ConTours Consultants as well as field research sponsorshipsby the University of Surrey the Greek National Tourism Organisation and theUniversity of the Aegean are gratefully appreciated

Note1 An earlier version of this paper was published as a monograph PlanningDevelop-

ment by the International Centre for Research and Studies in TourismAix-en-Provence France

CorrespondenceAny correspondence should be directed to Dr Dimitrios Buhalis Senior

Lecturer in Business Information Management SMSSS University of SurreyGuildford GU2 7XH UK (dbuhalissurreyacuk)

ReferencesApostolopoulos T (1990) New strategy of tourism development (in Greek) Tourism and

Economy (November) 228ndash38Berry C (1981) The employee as customer Journal of Retail Banking 3 33ndash40Boniface B and Cooper C (1994) The Geography of Travel and Tourism (2nd edn) London

HeinemannBriassoulis H (1993) Tourism in Greece In W Pompl and P Lavery (eds) Tourism in

Europe Structures and Developments (pp285ndash301) Oxford CAB InternationalBuckley P and Papadopoulos S (1986) Marketing Greek tourism The planning process

Tourism Management 7 86ndash100Buhalis D (1991) Strategic marketing and management for the small and medium

tourism enterprises in the periphery of the European Community A case study for theAegean islands in Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Buhalis D (1994) Information and telecommunications technologies as a strategic tool forsmall and medium tourism enterprises in the contemporary business environment InA Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 254ndash75)England J Wiley and Sons

Buhalis D (1995) The impact of information telecommunications technologies on tourismdistribution channels Implications for the small and medium sized tourismenterprisesrsquo strategic management and marketing PhD Dissertation University ofSurrey Guildford

Buhalis D (2000a) Marketing the competitive destination of the future TourismManagement (Special Issue ndash The Competitive Destination) 21 (1) 97ndash116

Buhalis D (2000b) (forthcoming) Athens Tourism-Travel Intelligence LondonBuhalis D (2000c) Relationships in the distribution channel of tourism Conflicts between

hoteliers and tour operators in the Mediterranean region Journal of InternationalHospitality Leisure and Tourism Adminstration 1 (1) 113ndash39

Buhalis D and Diamantis D (2001 forthcoming) Tourism development andsustainability on the Greek archipelagos In G Apostolopoulos and D Ioannides (eds)Tourism in the Mediterranean Routledge

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 475

Buhalis D and Fletcher J (1995) Environmental impacts on tourism destinations Aneconomic analysis In H Coccosis and P Nijkamp (eds) Sustainable Tourism Development(pp 3ndash25) London Avebury

Camison C Bigne E and Monfort VM (1994) The Spanish tourism industry Analysisof its strategies and the efficacy and achievements gained from them In A Seaton et al(eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 442ndash52) England JWiley and Sons

Castelberg-Koulma M (1991) Greek women and tourism Womenrsquos co-operatives as analternative form of organisation In N Redclift and T Sinclair (eds) Working WomenInternational Perspectives on Labour and Gender Ideology (pp 197ndash223) LondonRoutledge

Chitiris L (1991) Hotel Management (in Greek) Athens InterbooksCoccosis H and Parprairis A (1992) Assessing the interactions between environment

and tourism Case study of the island of Mykonos Paper presented in the IV WorldCongress of Regional Science International University of Balearic Islands Palma deMallorca 26ndash9 May

Conway H (1996) Greece Travel Weekly 1308 39ndash43Cooper C and Buhalis D (1992) Strategic management and marketing of small and

medium sized tourism enterprises in the Greek Aegean islands In R Teare D Adamsand S Messenger (eds) Managing Projects in Hospitality Organisations (pp 101ndash25)London Cassell

Daskalantonakis N (1994) Quality ndash The future of tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (3 July)D9

Divanis A (1994b) Tourism policy Left on its own luck (in Greek) XENIA (October)4ndash5

Donatos G and Zairis P (1991) Seasonality of foreign tourism in the Greek islands ofCrete Annals of Tourism Research 18 515ndash19

Douvitsas P (1994) Marketing Greece through British tour operators A futureperspective MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Drakatos C (1987) Seasonal concentration of tourism in Greece Annals of Tourism Research14 582ndash6

EC (1993a) Microeconomic Analysis of the Tourism Sector A study by the pH Group forEuropean Commission DGXXIII (September) Report XXIII30394-EN BrusselsEuropean Commission

EC (1993b) Growth competitiveness employment The challenges and ways forward intothe 21st century Bulletin of the European Communities Supplement 693 (White Paper)Luxembourg

Economist (1993) Last Chance Sisyphus A survey of Greece Economist (22 May) 2ndash22EIU (1986) Greece (pp 45ndash60) International tourist reports National Report No 3EIU (1990) Greece (pp 45ndash62) International tourist reports National Report No 4EIU (1993) Greece ndash Country Profile 1992ndash1993 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEIU (1994) Greece ndash Country Profile 1994ndash1995 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEpilogi (1994) Economic review ndash The Greek Economy 1994 (in Greek) AthensEuromonitor (1992) Tourism in Greece Market Research Europe (25 May) 51ndash63Fayos-Sola E (1992) A Strategic Outlook for Regional Tourism Policy The White Paper

on Valencian Tourism Tourism Management 13 45ndash9Fotis J (1992) Vacational lifestyle segmentation of tourists on the island of Rhodes

Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey GuildfordGilbert D (1984) The need for countries to differentiate their tourist product and how to

do so Seminar papers for Ministers of Tourism and Directors of National TouristOrganisations Tourism Managing for Results University of Surrey Guildford

Gilbert D (1990) Strategic marketing planning for national tourism Tourist Review 45 (1)18ndash27

GNTO (1985a) Survey of attributes of foreign tourists 1984ndash1985 (in Greek) Greek NationalStatistical Services Athens GNTO

476 Current Issues in Tourism

GNTO (1985b) EOT-Tourism rsquo85 Development ndash Participation ndash Quality of Life (in Greek)Greek National Statistical Services Athens GNTO

GNTO (1989a) Annual report 1988 ndash Forecast 89 Towards Quality Athens GNTOGNTO (1989b) The study of tourism promotion With special reference to the measures to

increase Japanese tourists to Greece Draft final report Japan InternationalCooperation Agency

GNTO (1993) Tourism towards the 2000 (in Greek) Greek National Tourism OrganisationAthens GNTO

Hall M (1994) Tourism and Politics Policy Power and Place J Wiley and SonsHorwath (annual) The Greek Hotel Industry (in Greek) Annual reports Pireus HorwathJenner P and Smith C (1993) Tourism in the Mediterranean Research report London

Economist Intelligence UnitJosephides N (1993) Environmental Concern ndash Whatrsquos In It for the Tourism Industry (pp 51ndash6)

Proceedings of the conference Tourism and the environment Challenges and choicesfor the 1990rsquos 16ndash17 November 1992 Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre LondonBrussels European Union

Josephides N (1994) Tourism analysis Presentation in Philoxenia international tourismexhibition Thessaloniki Greece

Josephides N (1995) A sorry state for beautiful Greece Travel Weekly 1261 (5 April)11Kalogeropoulou H (1993) Greece ndash Prospects for the tourism industry within the context

of the European Single Market of 1993 Tourism Review 48 (1) 2ndash4Kassimati K Thanopoulou M and Tsartas P (1994) Womenrsquos Employment in the

Tourist Sector Study of the Greek Labour Market and Identification of Future ProspectsDGV Equal Opportunities Unit Document V40994-EN European CommissionBrussels

Komilis P (1987) Spatial analysis of tourism in Greece (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planningand Economic Research

Komilis P (1992) The spatial structure of tourism and physical planning practices inGreece Paper presented in conference Tourism and environment Issues ofpolicyplanningmanagement 23ndash4 October University of the Aegean Dept ofEnvironment Lesvos

Komilis P (1993) Values in the Tourism Planning and Policy Making Process (pp 224ndash9)Proceedings of the conference Values and the environment 23ndash4 September GuildfordUniversity of Surrey

Komilis P (1994) Tourism and sustainable regional development In A Seaton et al (eds)Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 65ndash73) England JWiley andSons

Konsolas N and Zacharatos G (1993) Regionalization of tourism activity in GreeceProblems and policies In H Briassoulis and J Van der Straaten (eds) Tourism andEnvironment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 57ndash65) Dordrecht Kluer AcademicPublisher

Kousis M (1989) Tourism and the family in a rural Cretan community Annals of TourismResearch 16 318ndash32

Kriebardis S and Marmagiolis I (1990) Tourism Activity in Greece Problems and Perspectives(pp 45ndash54) (in Greek) Economic Report of Commercial Bank AprilndashJune AthensCommercial Bank

Ktenas S (1994) Hoteliers ask for 15 to 20 increases for 1995 (in Greek) TO BHMA (3July) D9

Ktenas S (1996) Crisis in Greek tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (7 April) D16Leontidou L (1991) Greece Prospects and contradictions of tourism in the 1980rsquos In AM

Williams and GJ Shaw (eds) Tourism and Economic Development Western EuropeanExperiences (2nd edn) (pp 94ndash106) London Belhaven Press

Logothetis M (1990) The Economy of Dodekanisos During 1988ndash1989 Developments andPerspectives (in Greek) Rhodes Regional association of municipalities of Dodekanisos

Logothetis M (1992) Touristiki Sigkiria (in Greek) Rhodes Institute of Tourist and HotelResearch

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 477

Loukissas P (1977) The impact of tourism on regional development A comparativeanalysis of the Greek islands PhD Dissertation Cornell University USA

Loukissas P (1982) Tourismrsquos regional development impacts A comparative analysis ofthe Greek islands Annals of Tourism Research 9 523ndash43

Marinos P (1983) Small island tourism-the case of Zakynthos in Greece TourismManagement 4 212ndash15

Moore R (1992) From shepherds to shopkeepers The development of tourism in a centralGreek town PhD Dissertation University of California at Berkeley USA

Moore R (1995) Gender and alcohol use in a Greek tourist town Annals of Tourism Research22 300ndash13

Mourdoukoutas P (1988) Seasonal employment seasonal unemployment andunemployment compensation The case of the tourism industry of the Greek islandsAmerican Journal of Economics and Sociology 47 315ndash29

NSSG (l983) Tourism Statistics 1981 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (l985) Tourism Statistics 1982ndash1983 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1987) Tourism Statistics 1984ndash1985 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1990) Tourism Statistics 1986ndash1987 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1993) Tourism Statistics 1988ndash1990 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceOECD (1992) Greece Tourism Policy and International Tourism in OECD Member Countries (pp

70ndash8) Paris OECDOttaway M (1992) Turtle power Sunday Times Travel and Style (28 June)Ottaway M (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 1 Sunday Times (17 January)

57ndash59Panagiotopoulou R (1990) The problem and perspectives of the European insular regions

(in Greek) Working paper University of the Aegean ChiosPapadimitris G (1988) Short run and long run prospects of the Greek tourism industry

PhD Dissertation University of Manchester ManchesterPapadopoulos S (1985) An economic analysis of foreign tourism in Greece An

examination of the growth and structure of foreign tourism to Greece 1960ndash1984 with aplanning model and marketing policy recommendations PhD Thesis University ofBradford Management Centre Bradford

Papadopoulos S (1987) Strategic marketing techniques in international tourismInternational Marketing Review (summer) 71ndash84

Papadopoulos S (1988a) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (1) 29ndash30

Papadopoulos S (1988b) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (2) 24ndash7

Papadopoulos S (1989) Greek marketing strategies in the Europe tourism market ServiceIndustries Journal 9 297ndash314

Papadopoulos S and Mirza H (1985) Foreign tourism in Greece An economic analysisTourism Management 6 125ndash37

Papandropoulos A (1995) The crisis in tourism is evident (in Greek) OikonomikosTachydromos (29 June) 26ndash8

Papanikos G (1999) The year 2004 olympic games and their influence upon the Greektourism (in Greek) ITEP (Research Institute for Tourism) Athens

Paulopoulos P (1999) The Size and Dynamics of the Tourism Sector (in Greek) ResearchInstitute for Tourism Athens

Peterson C (1990) Greece tackles overbuilding in tourism areas EnvironmentalConservation 17 166ndash8

Plevris V (1995) Alarm bells from the Hellenic Federation of Hotels (in Greek) XENIA128 (May) 6ndash7

Poon A (1987) Information technology and innovation in international tourism ndashimplications for the Caribbean tourism industry PhD thesis Science Policy ResearchUnit University of Sussex Brighton

Poon A (1988) Flexible specialisation and small size ndash the case of Caribbean tourism DRCDiscussion Paper 57 SPRU Brighton University of Sussex

478 Current Issues in Tourism

Poon A (1989) Competitive strategies for new tourism In C Cooper (ed) Progress inTourism Recreation and Hospitality Management (vol 1) (pp 91ndash102) London BelhavenPress

Poon A (1990) Flexible specialisation at small size The case of Caribbean tourism WorldDevelopment 18 109ndash23

Poon A (1993) Tourism Technology and Competitive Strategies Oxford CAB InternationalPorter M (1980) Competitive Strategy Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors

New York Free PressPorter M (1985) Competitive Advantage Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance New

York Free PressPorter M (1990) The Competitive Advantage of Nations New York Free PressPrurier E Sweeney A and Geen A (1993) Tourism and the environment The case of

Zakynthos Tourism Management 14 137ndash9Psoinos P (1994a) Research on the foreign touristsrsquo attributes in Greece (in Greek) Athens

Greek National Tourism OrganisationPsoinos P (1994b) Research on the attributes of foreigners who have never visited Greece (in

Greek) Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationRichter-Papaconstantinou C (1992) Tourism development of Rhodes Cahiers du Tourisme

(Serie B) 67 Aix en Provence Centre des Hautes Eacutetudes TouristiquesRomanos A (1998) Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites (in Greek) Athens

Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites SASETE (1993) Tourism Developments and problems (in Greek) Athens Association of Greek

Tourism EnterprisesSezer H and Harrison A (1994) Tourism in Greece and Turkey An economic view for

planners In A Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposiumpp74ndash84 England Wiley and Sons

Skoulas N (1985) Holidays and travel in the year 2035 ndash Contribution of the NationalTourist Organisation of Greece SDI Schriftey Wirtschafts und Unternehmenspolitik 40181ndash99

Skoulas N (1994) Quality improvement of tourism services (in Greek) Paper presentedin the conference Competitiveness of tourism enterprises ndash the role of quality 1 AprilHoliday Inn Athens Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises

Smith C and Jenner P (1995) Greece International Tourism Reports 3 5ndash21Stavrou S (1978) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Kos Island (in Greek) Research and

Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationStavrou S (1979) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Mykonos and Naxos Islands (in

Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1980) Research on Tourism Awareness on the Islands Kalymnos and Leros (in Greek)Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1984) Tourism Development in Greece during 1969ndash1982 (in Greek) Research andDevelopment Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986a) Research for the Characteristics of Foreign Tourist Demand in Greece in theYears 8485 (in Greek) Research Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1986b) Research on the Tourism Awareness on Paros Santorini Kythira Islands (inGreek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986c) Critical Review of Tourism Activity in the Years 8385 (in Greek) Researchand Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1988) Tourism in the Northern Aegean Islands Presentation of GNTO for the TourismDevelopment of the Periphery (in Greek) Proceedings of the first conference for thedevelopment of the Northern Aegean islands Homereum cultural centre Chios 11November Chios Periphery of Northern Aegean islands

Stavrou S (1989a) GNTO Presentation for the Tourism Development Possibilities for theSouthern Aegean Islands (in Greek) Conference for the development of Southern Aegean

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 479

islands Syros 30 September ndash 2 OctoberStavrou S (1989b) The Contribution of the Development Law 126282 in the Development of the

Country (in Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A5 Athens GreekNational Tourism Organisation

Stereopoulos N (1995) It is regarded ideal it became problematic (in Greek) OikonomikosTachidromos (21 December) 151ndash3

Touloupas P (1996) Greece as a tourist destination for the British tour operators Ananalysis from a marketing perspective in the particular context of the United KingdomMSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Tourismos ke Oikonomia (1993) 20 years 1973ndash1993 (in Greek) Special Issue AthensTourismos ke Oikonomia (1994) ICAP tourism enterprises Drastic reduction of loses in 1993

(in Greek) December 14ndash15Touristiki Agora (various issues) (Monthly tourism industry periodical in Greek) Business

Press AthensTruett D and Truett L (1987) The response of tourism to international economic

conditions Greece Mexico and Spain Journal of Developing Areas 21 177ndash90Tsartas P (1989) Socioeconomic Impacts of Tourism Development in Cyclades Region with Special

Reference on Ios and Serifos Islands During 1950ndash1980 (in Greek) Athens National Centrefor Social Research

Tsartas P (1992) Socioeconomic impacts of tourism on two Greek isles Annals of TourismResearch 19 516ndash33

Van Den Bergh J (1993) Tourism development and natural environment Aneconomicndashecological model for the Sporades islands In H Briassoulis and J Van DerStraaten (eds) Tourism and Environment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 67ndash83)Dordrecht Kluer Academic Publishers

Velissariou E (1991) Die Wirtschaftlichen Effekte des Tourismus Dargestell am Beispiel Kretas(The Economic Impacts of Tourism on Crete) PhD Dissertation University of MunichFrankfurt Peter Lang

Vernikos N (1987) The study of Mediterranean small islands Emerging theoreticalissues Ekistics 54 (323ndash4) 101ndash9

Wanhill S (1993) Government organisations In C Cooper J Fletcher D Gilbert and SWanhill (eds) Tourism Principle and Practice (pp 145ndash60) London Pitman

Wickens D (1994) Consumption of the authentic The hedonistic tourist in Greece In ASeaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 819ndash25)England JWiley and Sons

Wickens E (2000) Rethinking touristsrsquo experiences In M Robinson et al (eds) MotivationsBehaviour and Tourist Types (pp 455ndash72) Business Education Publishers Sunderland

Wickers D (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 2 Sunday Times 57ndash510Wilkinson PF (1989) Strategies for tourism in islands microstates Annals of Tourism

Research 16 153ndash77XENIA (various issues) (Monthly bulletin of the Greek Hotel Chamber in Greek) AthensZacharatos G (1984) Tourismus und Wirtschafts-Struktur Dargestellt am Beispiel

Griechenlands Europaische Hochschulschriften Reihex Band 7 Frankfurt am MainZacharatos G (1986) Tourism consumption (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planning and

Economic ResearchZacharatos G (1988) The simplistic empiricism Tourism policy and the time of crisis

(1992) (in Greek) Sychrona Themata 11 (May) 21ndash6Zacharatos G (1989) The problems and perspectives of tourism in Greece (in Greek) In H

Katsoulis T Giannitsis and P Kazakos (eds) Politics and Society Economy and ForeignRelationships (pp 273ndash89) Athens Papazisis

Zacharatos G (1993) The necessity of multimedia use in the tourism education in Greece(in Greek) Paper presented at the international conference Overcomingisolation-telematics and regional development University of the Aegean Chios 30April ndash 2 May

480 Current Issues in Tourism

Page 12: Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challengescore.ac.uk/download/pdf/101686.pdf · Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challenges Dimitrios Buhalis School of Management

the railtrack These developments will change the entire infrastructure of thecountry

The implementation of the Greek national tourism policy is supervised by theGreek National Tourism Organisation (GNTO) and the Ministry of TourismThe two organisations share the responsibilities for planning implementationand promotion of Greek tourism at national and regional level as well as coordi-nating the involvement of the public and private sectors in all tourism activitiesPublic investment in commercial facilities was utilised in the early days ofGreek tourism to stimulate both tourism demand and the private sectorrsquos confi-dence to invest The GNTO operates 21 regional and 25 overseas offices in 18countries worldwide (Konsolas amp Zacharatos 1993 59 Leontidou 1991Briassoulis 1993)

The Greek tourism product is distributed to the international market predomi-nantly through European tour operators which organise package holidays andinclude resorts in their programmes Some 800 tour operators distribute the Greektourism product More than 7000 incoming travel agencies often act as tour opera-torsrsquo handling agencies while providing a variety of tourism services such asorganisation of excursions currency exchange and accommodation bookingsdirectly to consumers They usually participate in negotiations between tour oper-ators and accommodation establishments as well as cooperate with tour operatorsrsquorepresentatives at destinations In addition the GNTO operates several informa-tion offices at major resorts whilst several local authorities provide tourist infor-mation as well as distribute promotional material and make local bookings Theglobal GNTO network distributes information material to potential tourists aswell as undertakes all the marketing and public relations functions both for indi-vidual and institutional customers

SWOT analysis for Greek tourism and small and medium-sized tourismenterprises

A SWOT analysis is undertaken for the Greek tourism as well as its SMTEs inorder to assess their present and projected competitiveness based on strategicmanagement research undertaken for the Aegean islands (Buhalis 1991 Cooperamp Buhalis 1992) The interrelations between SMTEs and destinations are quiteapparent illustrating that a destinationsrsquo weaknesses and threats are reflected inthe SMTEsrsquo competitiveness and vice versa As illustrated in Table 5 the SWOTanalysis concentrates on the strategic rather than operational strengths andweaknesses of SMTEs

As far as strengths of the Greek tourism and SMTEs are concerned their flexi-bility and ability to tailor products to consumersrsquo needs are of great importanceto their existence SMTEs can identify profitable niches in the market establishtheir requirements and attempt to satisfy specialised needs Direct control byentrepreneurs permits quick and efficient managerial reaction to external chal-lenges Fewer hierarchical levels facilitate closer and more effective control overthe service delivery process enabling personal services to customers In addi-tion archaeological heritage natural and cultural resources as well as the localcharacter are also significant assets As a result tourists benefit from localresources which are ideally situated to offer special-interest holidays SMTEsalso capitalise on personal relationships with consumers suppliers labour and

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 451

the entire tourism industry in general Their size enables the provision of apersonal finish to all products provided while it is not unusual for customers tobecome friends and to be treated accordingly Similarly strong relations withemployees support labour loyalty and low turnover The proprietorrsquos family isnormally directly involved with every aspect of the business reacting efficientlyand promptly to any problem arising Their involvement in running the enter-prise provides considerable benefits especially in having a very flexiblemulti-skilled and dedicated workforce which tolerates unsociable workingschedules Family members feel committed to the long-term prosperity of theenterprise and often do not distinguish between their professional and familylife Thus a better matching between tourism demand and SMTEsrsquo supply isachieved

A close-up of the weaknesses of Greek tourism and SMTEs is critical for under-standing the ability of the industry to compete in the global tourism arenaAlthough entrepreneurs are normally an asset it seems that a number of manage-

452 Current Issues in Tourism

Table 5 Greek tourism and SMTEsrsquo SWOT analysis

Strengths

Flexibility

Tailor-made product delivery

Entrepreneurial activity

Family involvement

Natural and cultural resources

Strong local character

Personalised relationships

Labour loyalty and low turnover

Weaknesses

Management

Marketing

Information technologies illiteracy

Dependence upon tour operators

Supporting markets

Lack of economies of scale

Human resources management

Education and training

Transportation and accessibility

Financial management and resources

Seasonality

Lack of standardisation

Lack of quality assurances

Opportunities

European Union support

European redistribution of labour

Increase in tourism demand size

Trends in tourism demand

Low cost of living in periphery

Information technology

Infrastructure development

Transportation

Olympic Games

Threats

Environmental degradation

Concentration and globalisation

Oversupply

Lack of visibility in CRSs

Infrastructure

Warsterrorism

Political intervention

Source Adapted from Buhalis 1991 60c and Cooper and Buhalis 1992 108

rial problems often arise Lack of strategic and operational managementknow-how generates inconsistency in the creation and delivery of tourism prod-ucts This has direct implications for consumersrsquo satisfaction and the projectedimage of the industry There is often a complete lack of strategic vision and enter-prises are often treated as an extension of proprietorsrsquo domestic environmentEntrepreneurs recruit family members and relatives as personnel and supplierseven though more appropriatequalified alternatives can be found in the market-place Therefore the management of SMTEs clearly projects the proprietorrsquosfamily life-style and decision-making processes onto an enterprise Marketing isanother significant weakness for most entrepreneurs and Greek resorts as they areoften completely unaware of the techniques available and thus follow a prod-uct-oriented rather than a consumer-orientated approach Consequently uncoor-dinated isolated trouble-shooting marketing activities are occasionallyundertaken rather than a consistent and well-planned marketing campaign Lackof marketing research debilitates knowledge of consumersrsquo needs and makes itdifficult to identify methods for improving services in order to meet consumersrsquoexpectations Inability to finance and execute advertising campaigns and otherpromotional techniques reduces their visibility in their markets These weak-nesses in combination with the fact that many entrepreneurs are unfamiliar withinformation technology (IT) add to the problems of SMTEs in promoting them-selves effectively Consequently both Greek SMTEs and destinations sufferfrom over-dependence on the tourism distribution channels to promote anddistribute their product In particular intermediaries and especially tour opera-tors have enormous power within the channel and are capable of determiningthe Greek tourism product marketing distribution and pricing mixes (Buhalis1995) Hence the marketing campaign and the visibility of Greek tourism to itsmain target markets are often determined by the coverage space photographsand description in tour operatorsrsquo brochures European tour operators alsocontrol accessibility to Mediterranean or long-haul destinations as they ownmost charter airlines which provide direct and inexpensive flights to these desti-nations

As most resorts are located in peripheral areas there is usually little economicdevelopment in the supplying sectors Therefore remote destinations have toimport essential raw and construction materials from elsewhere while SMTEsoften face transportation delivery and purchasing problems and excessivetransportation costs Moreover lack of economies of scale in purchasing rawmaterial low bargaining power and lack of advanced facilities are additionaloperational disadvantages This essentially means that SMTEs have to payhigher prices for products than their larger counterparts Lack of specialisedpersonnel and inadequate training procedures mean that human resourcesmanagement is a major weakness of Greek tourism In most SMTEs personnelhave to cover a wide range of positions a loose job description is usuallyprovided and multi-skilled personnel are required The labour turnover due tothe seasonality of the tourism industry reduces the availability of qualified andexperienced personnel and makes tourism product delivery not only variablebut also unprofessional The small size of operation provides little opportunityfor the division of tasks professional employees and proper training Since noquality standards are introduced service delivery varies according to the occu-

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 453

pancy service provider and timing Transportation and accessibility to remotedestinations may also be a weakness as most enterprises are located in periph-eral and often inaccessible regions SMTEs tend to feel frustrated because theyare unable to attract consumers simply because they cannot provide conve-nient reliable and affordable transportation The formulation of charter aircarriers by destination areas such as Turkey and Spain as well as the emergingderegulation policies in the European Union may diminish this problem in thenear future Moreover SMTEs face significant financial constraints as on theone hand they are required to invest in fixed assets at the beginning of theiroperations and on the other hand there is a discrimination against them byfinancial institutions since they normally have very few assets Consequentlythey are forced to accept unfavourable financial deals Finally the Greek tour-ism industry and SMTEs suffer from seasonality problems and have to produceadequate income within a limited period every year Lack of diversified invest-ment in other economic activities forces proprietors to work intensively in thepeak months and rest in the off-peak months while their pay-back period isinevitably unfavourable As the tourism industry becomes more professionalembraces quality management and responds to an increasingly discerningcustomer SMTEsrsquo typical lack of business expertise and minimal standardisa-tion may become an increasing liability especially for some target markets(Cooper amp Buhalis 1992 102)

Recent developments in the external environment present numerous opportu-nities for the Greek tourism industry and SMTEs Firstly the European Uniontakes several actions to support small and medium-sized enterprises (EC 1993b72) while it supports infrastructure development of peripheral regions andcontributes significantly to the prosperity of SMTEs The country is going througha major transformation as a result of several public projects supported by theEuropean Commission including the Attico Metro the new Athens Airport thedevelopment of the peripheral motorway Elefsina-Spata and the peripheralmotorway of Immitos The unification of the heritage sites and thepedestrianisation of the Athens city centre aims to develop an open archaeologi-cal park and deal with the traffic and pollution problems The Olympic Games in2004 provide a unique challenge and opportunity for the city and the country torebrand and redevelop itself and demonstrate its unparalleled heritage andcultural resources The Games also provide the resources and funding as well asa lsquodeadlinersquo for several infrastructural projects that were already scheduled butperhaps delayed In addition several projects are anticipated to improve thesuperstructure of the industry through both renovation of existing propertiesand through the development of new hotels and other facilities It is anticipatedthat the regeneration of the city and the country in general will provide majoropportunities for the attractiveness and competitiveness of the tourism industry(Buhalis 2000b Papanikos 1999 Romanos 1998)

It is anticipated that there will be a gradual redistribution of Europeanlabour providing support for each region to specialise in the production ofgoods and services where it can achieve competitive advantages Traditionallyremote and insular destinations where most Greek resorts and SMTEs arebased achieve a competitive advantage in tourism and therefore greatersupport is anticipated Greek tourism benefits from the continuous growth of

454 Current Issues in Tourism

global tourism demand as more people require holiday services while SMTEsare expected to increase their share as they tend to satisfy the emerging special-ised and sophisticated demand better than larger organisations Informationand telecommunication technologies can provide strategic tools for tourismdestinations and SMTEs enabling them to manage their product more effi-ciently disseminate information and establish a distribution mechanismthrough destination management systems (Buhalis 1994) New technologiesalso offer opportunities for developing innovative tourism products such asteleworking for tourists who would like to spend time working during theirstay at the destination Finally Greek tourism tends to achieve a cost advan-tage since it employs unpaid family members and operates in inexpensiveperipheral regions which often have a lower cost of living in comparison withmetropolitan areas

In terms of external threats environmental degradation through inappropriatewaste management and excessive usage of natural resources can be observedLack of know-how and funds effectively increases environmental problemsConsequently several resorts suffer severe damage while entrepreneurs and localauthorities feel powerless to take remedial measures Moreover oversupply oftourism service providers and lack of well-defined carrying capacity limits inseveral destinations have placed numerous Greek resorts and SMTEs in a disad-vantaged position as they cannot achieve sufficient income Similarly the concen-tration of power in fewer tourism industry enterprises through emergingglobalisation also threatens the ability of Greek SMTEs to survive as internationalvertically integrated tourism organisations acquire control over local enterprisesThe dependence upon channel partners for the promotion and distribution ofGreek tourism is exaggerated by the relatively low presence of Greek suppliers inthe major CRSs (Computer Reservation Systems) which is caused by the seasonal-ity and scale of the tourism production on the one hand and the tariffs of thesesystems on the other The issue of infrastructure is closely related to the oversup-ply which attracts higher demand than planned Destinations often have limitedinfrastructure provisions which fail to follow the pace of development generatingpressure on the existing inadequate facilities Finally the tourism industry suffersfrom its geographical proximity to the Balkans and the Middle East and as a conse-quence is often associated by consumers with wars and terrorism activities Greektourism and SMTEs have limited means of dealing with unfavourable situationsand thus are more vulnerable to their impacts Political intervention perhapsthrough the public sector decisions and the legislator framework often damagesthe prosperity of SMTEs As SMTEs have little lobbying power they have limitedinfluence over political decisions which determine their welfare

The SWOT analysis demonstrates quite clearly that the Greek tourism indus-try faces a wide range of problems and threats which will jeopardise its ability toprovide suitable tourism products in the future as well as its ability to make acontribution to the national welfare However several opportunities and chal-lenges emerge and they need to be addressed in order to strengthen the competi-tiveness of the industry Further analysis is therefore required in order to assessthe factors which generate these problems and also to identify ways to respond tothe challenges they present

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 455

Why Are We There and What Are the Implications StructuralProblems and Challenges

Despite its popularity and growth over the last 40 years the Greek tourismindustry has reached a stage where both its potential and competitiveness havebecome questionable

The seemingly unstoppable growth of this market contributed to a degreeof complacency which has led to Greece repeating some of the errors madein Spain Rapid price increases mean the country is no longer perceived bymass market clients as cheap in relation to comparable destinations in theMediterranean but much of the countryrsquos tourism infrastructure hastilybuilt in response to demand for cheap accommodation does not meet theneeds of a market less sensitive to price and more concerned with qualityand value for money (EIU 1990 45)

Richter-Papaconstantinou (1992 27) explains that tourism development inRhodes lsquotakes place without any Master Plan of the area respect of the landscapeand environment analysis whether there is demand and what the demand isafter regard to what is happening in similar situationsrsquo At the micro level theEuropean travel trade and intermediaries warn that the Greek tourism product isno longer competitive (Conway 1996 41 Touloupas 1996 Douvitsas 1994)whilst Chitiris (1991 148ndash150) outlines a range of managerial problems andmistakes in Greek resort hotels which diminish the quality of the tourismservices Hence unless the Greek tourism industry addresses a number of criticalissues immediately its future might be seriously jeopardised resulting in apotential catastrophe of the national economy The major structural problemsand challenges for the Greek tourism product can be summarised in Table 6

As a result Greece fails to attract the desired lsquohigh-quality high-expenditurersquotourists as it is increasingly unable to satisfy their requirements (Conway 199641) The deterioration of the tourism product and image leads to a lower willing-ness-to-pay by consumers which consequently leads to a further drop in qualityas the industry attempts to attract customers with lower prices This is a viciousspiral which has been destroying the essence of developing tourism in severalMediterranean destinations The concentration of bargaining power in Euro-pean distribution intermediaries and tour operators in particular in combina-tion with the inability of the Greek tourism industry to promote itself andestablish effective distribution mechanisms inevitably minimises the profitmargins of SMTEs and their ability to yield decent returns on their investmentAs a result touristsrsquo expenditure per capita in Greece gradually deteriorateswhile their volume increases (SETE 1993 35)

Thus the tourism policy often consisted in a lsquofreezingrsquo of the selling price ofthe tourist package abroad a measure which combined with the devalua-tion of the drachma and its continuous parity losses succeeded in securing alsquofictitious competitivenessrsquo for the Greek package This competitivenesshowever was seriously threatened each time there was an attempt at asubstantial increase because of important rises in cost elements(Kalogeropoulou 1993 2)

456 Current Issues in Tourism

The above issues illustrate that the Greek tourism product becomes increas-ingly incompetent Hence the inadequate lsquoproductrsquo lsquopromotionrsquo and lsquoplacersquo(distribution) elements of the tourism marketing mix reduce the willingness ofprospective consumers to pay and has disastrous implications for the pricingpolicies deteriorating the profitability of the SMTEs and the tourism economicimpacts on the destination

Ultimately the economic impacts of tourism in Greece become debatableespecially due to the inadequacy of tourism economic research and data whilethe destination has to bear the environmental social and cultural decay Encour-agingly articles in recent tourism industry publications acknowledge these chal-lenges and appreciate the dangers urging both the private and public sector totake action (Touristiki Agora Tourismos ke Oikonomia Travel News XENIA) as well

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 457

Table 6 Structural problems and challenges

Image of Greece as cheap simple unsophisticated undifferentiated sun-seadestination

Gradual deterioration of tourism product and lack of reinvestment in improvements

Increase of tourism arrivals but decrease of tourism expenditure per capita

Inadequacy of the Greek planning process

Dependence upon major tour operators for promotion and distribution

Plethora of anarchically developed and behaving SMTEs aiming at short-termprofitability

Inappropriate and ill-timed marketing campaign which has little effectiveness

Inadequacy of infrastructure to serve the ever-expanding demand

Lack of coordination at the destination and disrespect for touristsrsquo needs

Lack ofprofessionalism and training in both state andprivate tourism establishments

Individualistic behaviour by SMTEs and unwillingness to cooperate on adestination basis

Unsuccessful and inconsistent programmes of government intervention

Almost unregulated environment with nearly complete lack of control

Political intervention which allows exception policies and employment of unquali-fied staff

Development of tourism as a single regional development option

Oversupply of tourism amenities and fierce price competition

Failure of the private sector to invest in long-term projects

Deterioration of natural social and cultural resources

SMTEsrsquo inability to resist in global concentration of the tourism industry

Inadequate distribution mechanisms which generate overdependence onintermediaries

Failure of both the private and public sectors to learn from internationally gainedexperience in tourism development and marketing

Lack of tourism research to identify the impacts of tourism

Negligence with regard to new tourism demand challenges

as several influential members of the tourism industry (Josephides 1993 19941995 Skoulas 1994 Daskalantonakis 1994 Divanis 1994b Plevris 1995Papandropoulos 1995)

Political intervention limited research lack of tourism policy andplanning

Perhaps the largest obstacle in developing a competitive tourism industry inGreece has been the inconsistent and irrational political intervention Unfortunatelytourism has extensively been utilised as a political vehicle where each govern-ment uses it to gratify its political needs and friends This can be experienced in alllevels of recruitment in the public sector institutions as a change of government oreven minister results in immense changes throughout the GNTO as well as tomajor policies and regulations Thus in the last 35 years (since 1966) the leadershipof the GNTO has changed 28 times allowing each General Secretary to stay inoffice for an average of 138 months Political allies of each government use politi-cal pressure and intensive lobbying in order to achieve amendments in regula-tions incentive policies and business environment Hence the short-termprofitability and commercial interests of the friends and political allies of eachgovernment often overrule the long-term strategy and set an improper examplefor the entire industry These practices result in a great inconsistency in Greek tour-ism policy and disrupt its rationalisation Therefore a lsquodepolitisation of Greektourismrsquo towards a professionally managed public sector guided through acompromised strategic Master Plan is urgently required (Josephides 1995)

The limited existing scientific tourism research highlights the lack of comprehen-sive examination of tourism impacts in Greece while it illustrates that tourismpolicy is based on insufficient documentation (Zacharatos 1989 278 and 1988 22)Public sector research is almost non-existant while the authorities seem uninter-ested in consulting the Greek-tourism research produced by academics (for exam-ple Zacharatos 1984 1986 Komilis 1987 Loukissas 1977 Papadimitris 1988Papadopoulos 1985 Moore 1992 Tsartas 1989 Velissariou 1991 Fotis 1992Buhalis 1991 1995 2000c Buhalis amp Diamantis 2000) or the international tourismlsquobody of knowledgersquo (Zacharatos 1988 24) In addition tourism consumptionbeing characterised as a particular category of private consumption in the nationalaccounts it fails to reflect the real tourism impact on each economic sector Thusthe process of collecting information for tourism expenditure in Greece preventsthe assessment of tourism expenditure impacts on the national and regional econ-omy and therefore cannot be used in drawing scientifically founded tourismpolicy (Zacharatos 1989 277 Konsolas amp Zacharatos 1993 58) Consequentlytourism policy follows conventional wisdom and concentrates on attracting alarger volume of tourists ignoring scientific methods to assess the economicsocial cultural and environmental impacts of each tourism segment assumingthat the greater the tourism volume the better for the national economy

The lack of a comprehensive and rational tourism policy and planning or a MasterPlan for Greek tourism is primarily responsible for the aforementioned structuralproblems Policy is usually based on unsubstantiated statements published by theTourism Ministry or the GNTO (GNTO 1985b 1989a 1993) often as pre-electionpromotional material In essence Greek authorities attempt to intervene aiming tostimulate arrivals as well as to facilitate the operation and development of the

458 Current Issues in Tourism

tourism industry Based on the assumption that tourism arrivals to Greece wouldincrease indefinitely the general directions of the Greek tourism policy focusalmost invariably on the targets summarised in Table 7 (Euromonitor 1992 61GNTO 1989b 41 and 1993 1 OECD 1992 70 Skoulas 1985 194 Leontidou 199188ndash91 Apostolopoulos 1990 Zacharatos 1989 275 and 1988 21)

However as these tasks are not quantified and there is no time schedule orplanning process for their achievement it is inevitable that their implementationand assessment is subject to irrationalities and personal judgement Occa-sionally incentives for tourism development responses to lobbying from tour-ism-related associations and regions training programmes and generallegislation attempt to direct the Greek tourism industry towards the describedpolicy directions In addition an inconsistent and untargeted promotionalcampaign is implemented yearly (Touloupas 1996 130) The campaign attempts toachieve the above unspecified policy tasks while it is often a lsquolast minutersquo reactionmeasure to a forecasted decline of bookings for the current season rather than acoordinated long-term marketing policy (Jenner amp Smith 1993 143Papadopoulos 1989 304) Despite the advertising campaignrsquos positive impact onarrivals the feedback to the campaign is rather speculative as no formal researchis undertaken to identify the most cost-effective media and communication meth-ods for each target market (Papadopoulos 1989 311 and 1987 82)

Because the deficient scientific examination of Greek tourism and its impactsprevents the authorities from establishing quantifiable and measurable tourismpolicies their policies are based on subjective and personal judgements while feedbackpractices are rarely followed In addition the implementation of the vaguelydefined tourism policy as well as the targets regulations and standards are oftenbent to accommodate lobbying and political pressures (Zacharatos 1989 279)Komilis (1993 225) suggests that tourism planning in Greece is generally realisedand exercised within a socio-political environment characterised by severalfactors a limited degree of political commitment lack of social awareness andacceptability of planning actions inadequacy of scientific and technical founda-

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 459

Table 7 Greek tourism policy targets

Development of demand

Training of tourism employees

Increase arrivals and foreign exchange income

Increase competitiveness of tourism product

Improvement of services in the industry

Reduction of seasonality and expansion of tourism season

Attraction of high spenders and alternative types of tourism

Construction of facilities appealing to the upper end of the market such as luxuryhotels golf courses congress centres casinos and marinas

Development of tourism infrastructure with emphasis on transportation

Support of social tourism for low-income domestic tourists

Geographical redistribution of tourism

tion to support planning intervention and a centralised administrative-institu-tional system gathering a plethora of functions but failing to perform itscoordination and enforcing role When the conflicting interests and power of eachmember of the tourism industry are brought into the equation where differentpartners attempt to influence legislation in order to maximise their own short-termprofitability regardless of the impacts on the destination and other enterprises theplanning process becomes more complicated This results in an ineffective plan-ning system and process which produces policies unable to provide an appropri-ate balance between restrictive policies and control planning implementationMoreover the plethora of SMTEs in combination with inadequate legislationconcerning their establishment and operation seem to affect adversely thecompetitiveness of the industry and the ability to diversify and enrich local tour-ism products (Komilis 1992 11 EIU 1990 59)

Consequently several structural problems are originated jeopardising theprosperity of both SMTEs and destinations especially in overdeveloped regionsOn the supply side failure of the infrastructure to follow the dramatic expansionof the superstructure in combination with the lack of solid institutional context oftourism policy and long-term regulation result in the exploitation and inadequacyof environmental and socio-cultural resources as well as the inability of the indus-try to generate the level of economic benefits desired and expected On the tourismdemand side after the meteoric growth in the 1970s and 1980s the Greek tourismindustry has been trying to transform lsquothe country into a destination which cancompete not just on price but on value for moneyrsquo (EIU 1990 45) It is becomingapparent that the tourism population in not infinite and an adaptability andresponsiveness to touristsrsquo needs is ofgreat importance (Sezeramp Harrison 1994 83)

Structural problems jeopardise the profitability of the private sectorBecause of the aforementioned structural problems most tourism industry

enterprises are experiencing a decline in profitability Hotels in particular arebadly affected due to the high fixed assets as well as their immobility and inflexi-bility which prevents them from adjusting to demand fluctuation Several reasonsdetermine their low profitability and inability to increase prices in line with infla-tion The low occupancy levels achieved yearly is a key problem Smith and Jenner(1995 17) estimate that the lsquoyear-round bed occupancy over the range of licensedaccommodation is slightly under 30rsquo As most of the properties are closed duringthe winter months due to the seasonality problems they rely on three to six monthsto generate sufficient returns on their investment The occupancy levels of accom-modation establishments in Greek tourism are often determined by theirco-operation with travel intermediaries Based on the different seasonality patternsof different markets rooms are normally allocated a year before the summer seasonto tour operators on lsquoallotmentrsquo or lsquocommitmentrsquo contracts which effectively deter-mine the prices charged according to the security provided by tour operators forusing and paying for hoteliersrsquo rooms Once the contracts are signed hoteliers effec-tively lose their control on their inventory and their right to market their rooms toother business sources before the release period (typically 7ndash14 days before arrival)in order to avoid overbooking However should their bookings fail to match theirprogramme tour operators often utilise their buying power to cancel unwantedrooms at the beginning of the tourist season without paying compensation Smaller

460 Current Issues in Tourism

hoteliers are often left with unoccupied rooms they which are unable to promote atthe lsquolast minutersquo unless they drop their prices to unacceptable levels As a result oftheir deficient intra-channel power hotels often suffer a significant cut-back of theiroccupancy levels which has direct implications for their profitability (Buhalis 19952000c 460 Ktenas 1996)

Similarly the seasonality of the Mediterranean and Greek tourism industry hasalways been a problem for the profitability of SMTEs since enterprises operateonly for a limited period (Jenner amp Smith 1993 70 Drakatos 1987 Donatos ampZairis 1991) Attempts to promote winter tourism by developing cultural andspecial interest tourism in the islands and winter sports in several ski resorts inGreece have proved fairly unsuccessful (EIU 1986 56) This is attributed to theimage of Greece as an exclusively summer-sun destination as well as to the unco-ordinated attempts to maintain tourism enterprises active during the wintermonths (EIU 1990 57)

The average room rate is the second major determinant of hotel profitability It isbecoming apparent that employment costs and cost of capital in combination witha relatively strong currency policy reduce the ability of Greek accommodationestablishments to offer competitive pricing and maintain their profitabilityMarketing inadequacies and inability to promote the tourism product as a differ-entiated entity the rapid increase of supply in comparison to demand and theoverall dependence upon the oligopsonistic tour operators for the Greek tourismproduct promotion force hoteliers to accept contracts by tour operators whichminimise their profit margin and adversely effect the quality of their productIncreasing levels of pressure by tour operators prevent SMTEs from renovatingand investing in their properties and therefore a gradual deterioration of the prop-erties is inevitable (Richter-Papaconstantinou 1992 14 Skoulas 1985 189) Euro-pean tour operators faced with fierce competition in their markets are essentiallywilling to pay an annual price increase equal to little less than the depreciation ofthe drachma plus the inflation at the place of origin of the tourists (Ktenas 1994)This policy progressively deteriorates the profitability of the Greek tourism indus-try and has severe impacts for its prosperity The situation is worse for smalleraccommodation establishments which manage to negotiate even smaller priceincreases due to their exclusive dependence upon fewer intermediaries(Logothetis 1992 14)

The oversupply of tourism services both in Greece and worldwide also contributesto global competition for a less rapidly increasing demand (Josephides 1993 54)In Greece the average annual increase of the official hotel bed supply in 1983ndash1992was 47 while the annual average increase in international tourist bednights was27 (Epilogi 1994 271) The investment incentive Law 126282 boosted this over-supply as it generated small infeasible and uncontrollable accommodation unitsunable to offer high quality of services while it increased the concentration of tour-ism units in infrastructure-undersupplied resorts (Kriebardis amp Marmagiolis1990 51 Stavrou 1989b 5) The vast majority of the capacity growth is on the lsquoille-galrsquo unregistered self-catering and self-serviced lsquoparahoteleriarsquo sector whichprovide very low quality and priced accommodation and therefore appeal tomass tour operatorsrsquo clientele This not only increases unfair competition for theofficially registered hotels but also reduces both tax revenues and employment atthe macro level

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 461

Horwath (1994 3) concludes that

unfortunately the results in terms of return on investment in the tourismindustry are not very promising especially when compared with those ofother Greek economic sectors It is an undisputable fact that the averageGreek tourism entrepreneur is heavily dependent on the tourist packageprice which is strongly negotiated by the international tour operators It isan lsquounhealthyrsquo dependency as a result of the weak position of the Greektourist product in the international market In addition the aforemen-tioned dependency is the result of the lack of marketing activities in anaverage tourist enterprise As we all know effective marketing activitiesare based on the product place price promotion which all contribute toclient satisfaction and further to a bigger share in the international touristmarket Up to now three of the aforementioned important elements ofmarketing have been overlooked which determine the weak negotiationpower of the Greek entrepreneur

This situation has also resulted to several European companies expandingtheir operations into Greece or purchasing shares in Greek partners in order toimprove their vertical integration Should this vertical integration expand signif-icantly however lsquoGreek tourism will be in fact controlled by foreign deci-sion-making centres which will certainly operate on the basis of their owninterests and not according to the overall interests of our national economyrsquo(Kalogeropoulou 1993 2) Hence radical measures are required immediately inproduct formulation promotion strategy and distribution channels to supportboth Greek destinations and SMTEs to enhance their competitiveness profitabil-ity and prosperity Failure to react would have severe implications for the futureof the Greek tourism private sector as the essence of its existence would be jeop-ardised its costs may exceeding its returns

Structural problems generate negative tourism impactsIn addition to the profitability problems of the private sector the aforemen-

tioned structural problems have profound implications for the welfare of hostpopulations in various Greek destinations as their economic social cultural andenvironmental resources are exploited without ensuring their sustainabilityLack of comprehensive research and failure to initiate carrying-capacity limits orzoning systems contribute to the anarchic development of tourism as well asexpand negative impacts of tourism on local societies and environments Thefollowing section highlights some of the costs Greek destinations are called topay for their tourism activity whilst it suggests that these issues should beaddressed in the strategic planning process

Macro-economic negative impactsDespite the contribution of tourism to the Greek economy certain potential

risks can also be identified Not only is the competitiveness and profitability ofthe tourism industry jeopardised but also several destination regions seem tofollow a policy of developing tourism at the expense of industrial and agricul-tural growth (Stavrou 1989a 6 Vernicos 1987 105) Instead of tourism stimulat-ing agriculture it seems that it hastens its decline as the two economic activities

462 Current Issues in Tourism

compete for land and labour The lack of structural investments in industrial oragricultural sectors combined with the popularity of tourism professions in theworkforce endanger the balance of the regional economy while reducing thetourism multipliers (Briassoulis 1993 295) As a result the economic structure ofthe destination is jeopardised while a complete dependence upon tourismbecomes inevitable (Komilis 1992 7) Both opportunity costs and displacementeffects are therefore evident Moreover there is evidence that the progress ofdestinations through their life-cycle and especially the introduction of masstourism decreases their economic impacts while it makes local control of theindustry far more difficult (Loukissas 1982 537) lsquoBecause of the high degree ofdependence of Greek tourist enterprises on tour operators the actual amount oftourist spending remaining in the country is only the 40ndash50 of total touristspendingrsquo (Briassoulis 1993 296) Public-sector subsidies to the private sector invarious forms such as incentives cooperative marketing campaigns and unem-ployment benefits in the off-season as well as tax evasion and lsquoparaeconomyrsquo alsoreduce the real benefit at the macro level (Mourdoukoutas 1988 Drakatos 1987Leontidou 1991 102) Lack of scientific research on the economic impacts oftourism makes the real contribution of tourism in the economy speculativerather than based on hard evidence (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Konsolas ampZacharatos 1993)

Social and cultural negative impactsThe development of mass tourism and the lack of effective planning and

management are also responsible for a number of negative social and culturalimpacts observed in Greek host societies (Tsartas 1989 1992 Stavrou 19781979 1980 1986b) Although the degree of interaction of the population withtourists depends heavily on the geomorphology of destinations and the loca-tion of resorts (Loukissas 1982 538) touristsrsquo behaviour is often offensive tothe host population but tolerated due to the economic benefits (Castelberg-Koulma 1991 201 Kousis 1989 Wickens 1994 823) Most Greek tourismdestinations are almost crime-free zones during the winter due to the smallpopulation and personal relationships of locals Tourism however introducesseveral types of criminal activity often unknown to local people As policeforces are usually allocated according to needs of the permanent population ina destination they are often incapable of handling the demands of the summermonths and are unable to deal with visitorsrsquo misbehaviour such as hooliganismand lsquolager-lootingrsquo

The commercialisation of history cultural traditions and the Greek lifestyle isa phenomenon met in several destinations This regrettably affects the renownedGreek hospitality commercialises human relations with tourists and reduces theties of solidarity and cooperation between locals since they compete for the tour-ism market (Papadopoulos 1988b 24) As the average employee works 605hours weekly for 295 weeks a year there is little time left for social religious andcultural obligations during the season (Mourdoukoutas 1988 325) Although acertain degree of lsquodemonstration effectrsquo and lsquoxenomaniarsquo can be attributed totourism the country is equally influenced by the mass media as well as by theGreek students and professionals living abroad (Papadopoulos 1988a 30Wickens 1994 822) Moore (1995) also explains that tourism not only has had a

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 463

contribution to the increase of alcohol consumption by Greeks but has alsoshifted their taste away from locally produced wine to imported spirits and beerBriassoulis (1993 296) perhaps describes best the change in labour force valueswhen as she suggests that tourism has created a

peculiar parasitic group of tourist entrepreneurs operating tourist-servingenterprises like tavernas cafeterias etc the principal characteristics ofwhich are high profits and tax evasion Consequently a particular person-ality type is created the lsquosuccessfulrsquo entrepreneur who earns a lot with littlework has a rich erotic life and is professionally independent (in contrast topublic and private employees) This model is followed by many youngpeople who abandon other productive year-round occupations lsquoworkrsquoonly during the tourist season stay idle for the rest of the year and eventu-ally suffer from the volatility of the tourist market

The family relations and values are therefore under great transition andperhaps threat (Castelberg-Koulma 1991 201 Kousis 1989 Moore 1992)

Negative environmental impactsDespite environmental resources becoming central to destinationsrsquo competi-

tiveness most Greek destinations go through an unparalleled exploitation due toinadequate planning and reinvestment in their sustainability jeopardising theirfuture (Buhalis amp Fletcher 1995) Boniface and Cooper (1994 141) suggest thatgeographical concentration of tourism

has led to the view that Greece will become saturated with tourists and thatdamage will be done to the environment and cultural heritage in the morepopular areas Already the environment has suffered from haphazarduncontrolled building and pollution of the sea and the flora and fauna arebeing effected by waste disposal

Coastal pollution water shortages sewage treatment waste disposal trafficcongestion noise pollution overbuilding and aesthetic degradation are some ofthe impacts experienced already in a number of resorts (Briassoulis 1993 297Coccosis amp Parprairis 1992 Peterson 1990 Marinos 1983 Stavrou 1988 19 and1989a 5 Papadopoulos 1988b 24) Most of the islands also face water shortagedue to the inability of natural supplies to provide sufficient water for the tourismdemand Imported mineral water from the mainland is an expensive way tosolve this problem due to the transportation cost while it creates more waste andenvironmental damage In addition the destruction of endangered speciesrsquo habi-tats is another problem experienced on several islands (ZakynthosCaretta-Caretta and Allonissos monk-seals) (Ottaway 1992 Van Den Bergh1993 70 Prurier et al 1993) Urgent coordination with all tourism actors at thelocal level is essential while regulation is required to set objective and measurablelimits and targets in order to preserve local environmental resources Financialdifficulties in the industry only exacerbate these impacts as the private and publicsectors feel unable to reinvest in the conservation of resources

The aforementioned negative impacts emerge as a result of the structuralproblems of the Greek tourism industry and illustrate that the mass tourismorientation of the industry reduces the sovereignty of the host population over

464 Current Issues in Tourism

their land and resources whilst jeopardising their expected benefits and futurewelfare As these impacts are trade-offs for the economic gains of the tourismactivity it is important that consistent long-term strategic planning should beundertaken in order to enable the preservation of the local resources and achievesustainability at tourism destinations These tasks should all be reinforced byresearch political will and strategic planning

Where Do We Need to Go and How Are We Going ThereTowards Strengthening the Competitiveness of Greek Tourismand SMTEs

Based on the situation analysis as well as on the strategic weaknesses andstructural problems the paper attempts to provide a framework for strategicplanning which will enable the strengthening of the competitiveness of Greektourism and SMTEs Porter (1985 1) suggests that competitive strategy lsquois thesearch for a favourable competitive position in an industryrsquo which is a function ofthe attractiveness of the industry and the relative competitive position withinthat particular industry He also argues that lsquocompetitive strategy aims to estab-lish a profitable and sustainable position against the forces that determine indus-try competitionrsquo Competitiveness is therefore defined as the effort undertakenby organisations to maintain long-term profitability above the average of theparticular industry within which they operate or above alternative investmentopportunities in other industries

Traditionally the tourism industry in the majority of destinations worldwideis based on a network of SMTEs which provide all types of tourism products andservices while enabling closer interaction between the host population and visi-tors as well as facilitating a rapid infusion of tourism spending into the localeconomy As lsquotouristsrsquo overall experience is composed of numerous smallencounters with a variety of tourism service providersrsquo (Moutinho 1990 104)there is a great overlap between the customer perception of local SMTEs anddestinations which makes them almost indistinguishable Consequently thecompetitiveness and prosperity of destinations and SMTEs are closely interre-lated as the fortune of the one depends heavily upon the management andcompetitiveness of the other Therefore the generic strategy for destinationsinvolves SMTEs and vice versa

Grand strategy Strategy formulation for Greek tourism and SMTEsBased on the strategic analysis a grand strategy is proposed for the Greek

tourism industry and SMTEs in order to demonstrate the directions the destina-tions should follow in their attempt to increase their competitiveness and reducetheir vulnerability As different resorts destinations and SMTEs have dissimilarneeds only generic strategies can be drawn However these guidelines can beapplicable to destinations and SMTEs worldwide as they address strategic ratherthan operational issues The analysis is based on the assumption that SMTEsformulate leisure value-added chains or networks of wealth creation whichessentially comprise the entire destination Therefore an integrated approach isfollowed as there is a great complementarity between the strategies and strate-gic directions for both the Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 465

The grand strategy analysis is based on an examination of three general strat-egy models namely Porterrsquos generic strategies Gilbertrsquos proposition for lsquodiffer-entiation of the destinationrsquo and Poonrsquos analysis for lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo Agrand strategy is then proposed for both Greek tourism and SMTEs based oninference emerging from these three models Figure 1 illustrates the three maingeneric strategies proposed by Porter (1980 34ndash46) in order to lsquooutperform otherfirms in an industryrsquo overall cost leadership where the firm is required to minimiseits costs based on mass production and strict cost control of the main businessfunctions differentiation of products or services by lsquocreating something that isperceived industry-wide as being uniquersquo or focus on a lsquoparticular buyer groupsegment of the product line or geographical marketrsquo and achieve either cost leader-ship or product differentiation (Porter 1980 37ndash8)

Furthermore Gilbert (1984 1990) argues that destinations should differenti-ate their tourism products in order to be able to achieve a unique lsquotourist productbenefitrsquo which would enable them to establish their position in the internationaltourism market as well as to attract high spenders and loyal tourists Tourismdestinations therefore should attempt to achieve a lsquostatus arearsquo image ratherthan a lsquocommodity arearsquo one as illustrated in Figure 2 In the first case the desti-nation is heavily substitutable very sensitive to price and economic changeswhile consumers have a low awareness of any unique benefits or attributes of theregion Thus holidaymakers base their decision to visit the area merely on pricewhile the demand for the destination is incidental and destinations are unable toattract high spenders In contrast lsquostatus areasrsquo achieve intentional demand as aresult of the unique product attributes perceived by the tourism market Theseunique attributes may be genuine or imagined and thus a destination isregarded as irreplaceable increasing consumersrsquo loyalty and willingness to payGilbert (1990 24ndash5) asserts that destinations should attempt to become lsquostatusareasrsquo in order to improve their image loyalty and economic benefits

A third strategic approach is proposed by Poon (1987 1988 1989 1990 1993)based on the concept of lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo of the tourism business Inessence Poon examines the industry processes and proposes a strategy to enabletourism organisations to improve their competitiveness Poon argues that lsquoflexi-ble specialisationrsquo is a strategy of lsquopermanent innovationrsquo and lsquoceaseless changersquowhich provides for the lsquonew tourismrsquo This new tourism is flexible segmentedcustomised to the touristrsquos needs and diagonally integrated In contrast the oldtourism can be characterised as lsquomass standardised and rigidly packagedrsquo(Poon 1989 91ndash3)

466 Current Issues in Tourism

STRATEGIC ADVANTAGE

Perceived product uniqueness Cost advantage

TARGETMARKET

Industrywide Differentiation Cost Leadership

Particularsegmentsonly

Differentiation Focus Cost Focus

Figure 1 Porterrsquos three generic strategiesSource Porter 1980 39

The main sources of flexibility for service firms lie in the organisationmanagement marketing distribution and other forms of interaction andinterrelationships among guests hotels suppliers distributors What isimportant however is not each of these stand alone aspects but how theyare coupled to create competitive advantages and hence capabilities tomove with the market (Poon 1988 24)

Examination of these three main strategies illustrates that they share a similarbase Porterrsquos lsquodifferentiationrsquo Gilbertrsquos lsquostatus arearsquo and Poonrsquos lsquoflexiblespecialisationrsquo describe the attempt undertaken by firms and tourist destinationsto achieve value competitive advantages In contrast the lsquocost leadershiprsquo lsquocom-modity arearsquo and the lsquostandardisation or Fordism production modelrsquo describethe effort to achieve lsquocost competitive advantagersquo where destinations andSMTEs offer their products for less than their competitors In the first caseconsumers perceive the product as unique and are willing to pay a premiumwhile in the second case the decision is merely based on price Thus the classicalstrategic decision of lsquolow volume-high profit marginrsquo or lsquohigh volume-low profitmarginrsquo is the underlying concept of the two alternative strategies

Both Gilbert and Poon agree that destinations should aim to achieve lsquostatusarearsquo or niche orientation through differentiation in order to increase consumersatisfaction as well as to maximise the benefits for both regions and SMTEs As aresult Greek tourism and SMTEs need to focus towards the differentiation strat-egy define their niche markets and serve them accordingly This strategy isalready adopted in several resort areas such as Valencia in Spain where it isrecognised that the need for diversification and differentiation lsquohas now becomeessential owing to the level of competitiveness that has been attained (and can beforeseen) in the world tourist marketrsquo (Fayos-Sola 1992 49) Differentiation isalso particularly useful for insular destinations in microstates where a limitednumber of economic and financial resources are available (Wilkinson 1989 170)As most destinations consist of SMTEs networks there is an overlap betweentheir strategic orientations and therefore the above analysis is applicable to boththe Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Destinations implementing a lsquostatus arearsquo strategy can enhance the satisfac-tion of tourists as well as their competitiveness The formulation of unique and

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 467

CommodityArea

Statusarea

Willingness topay higher prices

StatusArea

Product attributes Product attributes

CommodityArea

Figure 2 Gilbertrsquos differentiation strategySource Adapted from Gilbert 1990 25

customised products by using flexibility and cooperation also increases touristsrsquowillingness to pay and wins their loyalty while it responds to the new tourismdemand trends However the proposed strategy should not be seen as an excusefor SMTEs and destinations not to attempt to improve their efficiency and mini-mise their production costs Although the unique service for touristsrsquo needs shouldbe their priority offering perceived value for money would determine theircompetitiveness in the marketplace As a result all Greek resorts and SMTEsshould assess their assets and strengths for serving specific target markets takingadvantage of their small size which facilitates flexibility and specialisation

It is quite apparent that the cost advantage strategy has to be avoided inmanagement of tourism destinations as regions need to preserve their scarceenvironmental and sociocultural resources and achieve sustainable develop-ment As cost advantage is based on mass production and consumption itassumes an unlimited production capacity which is inapplicable in the tourismindustry The inseparability of the tourism product determines that consumersshould be present at the time of product delivery and when combined with tour-ism seasonality it generates demand peaks which drain destinationsrsquo scarceenvironmental sociocultural resources The lsquohigh volume-low profit marginrsquostrategy has therefore harmful social and environmental impacts on destina-tions Destinations have maximum carrying capacities beyond which both thewelfare of local populations and the satisfaction of tourists are jeopardisedAlthough economic benefits can also be achieved by using the lsquocommodity arearsquoor the lsquostandard product modelrsquo it is argued that these approaches reduce tour-istsrsquo satisfaction and their willingness to pay and are opposed to the demandtrend towards individualisation

Unfortunately however some destinations can no longer be positioned asirreplaceable unique products due to their overdevelopment Tourism supplyhas exceeded the carrying capacity of these resorts and their product hasreached the saturation or decline phase of their life-cycle Several Spanish costasand some Greek resorts such as Benitses Kavos Faliraki Malia Hersonissos andNidri (Josephides 1994) have been overdeveloped to such an extent that only alsquohigh-volume low-profit marginrsquo strategy is feasible When resorts reach theirsaturation level only a lsquocost leadershiprsquo or lsquomass productionrsquo strategy can beproposed as they are unable to provide any specific lsquotourist product benefitrsquo Theattraction of the lower end of the market is inevitable and as a consequence thereare no alternative strategies The minimisation of further sociocultural and envi-ronmental damage as well as attempts to improve the surrounding environmentshould also be a primary objective of both tourism destinations and SMTEs in thiscase The ultimate aim should be to regenerate the resources of the area and torelaunch the tourism destination to attract specific markets which will be willing topay a higher price for the destination

Strategic directions objectives and tasks for Greek tourism and SMTEsTable 8 presents three pivotal strategic directions which are identified in order

to stimulate the competitiveness of both Greek tourism and SMTEs This sectionillustrates how the aforementioned grand strategy can be implemented for tour-ist destinations and SMTEs through a number of strategic directions objectivesand tasks as presented in Table 9

468 Current Issues in Tourism

Enhancing the satisfaction of tourists and delighting the customer are pivotalto ensuring the well-being of Greek destinations and SMTEs in the long term andthus the entire range of tourism service providers should aim to delight theirclients As a result of the tourism product integration consumer satisfactioncannot be achieved by independent businesses separately but by the entirenetwork of SMTEs in Greek destinations The improvement in services isperhaps the most important strategic objective Consistency of promises throughstandardisation of service delivery and implementation of a total qualitymanagement philosophy throughout the industry are essential strategic tasks forachieving this objective while flexibility in service delivery and improvementsin training are critical In line with the grand strategy the production oftailor-made tourism products should be ensured in order to satisfy the specificneeds of particular niches and the requirements of the emerging new tourismdemand Product augmentation would enable also the Greek tourism product toexceed the expectations of consumers and hence enhance their satisfaction Lifestyle segmentation would enable Greek tourism and SMTEs to design appropri-ate tourism products As tourist demand elasticity has increasingly becomedoubtful in recent years the price of the holiday is no longer considered to be themost important attribute in the decision-making process Consequently theGreek tourism industry should concentrate on providing value for money at allprice levels as well as offering at least whatever they have promised to theconsumer

Supporting the long-term competitiveness and profitability of Greek tour-ism and SMTEs is by far the most important strategic objective for the tourismindustry The first strategic objective for every SMTE has to be the increase inrevenue by maximising its occupancy or load factors and the rates it achievesThe lengthening of the operating season as well as the identification of newmarkets and the penetration into existing ones and the effective utilisation ofdistribution channels will contribute to this strategic direction Higher ratescan be achieved by targeting specialised and smaller tour operators attractingalternative types of tourists and expanding the distribution channels mix aswell as by attempting a certain degree of lsquodisintermediationrsquo by encouragingdirect sales to outgoing travel agencies or consumers Aggressive marketingand establishment of partnerships with other enterprises should be essentialfunctions of Greek tourism and SMTEs Motivation of lsquofront-of-housersquo employ-ees as salesmen and sale incentives would also increase average spending percustomer The use of CRSs and destination management systems may also bean appropriate method for achieving higher prices and better occupancy rates(Buhalis 1994) Finally yield management techniques should be utilised by alltypes of SMTEs to assist them in pricing and maximising revenue Cost control

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 469

Table 8 Pivotal strategic dimensions for Greek tourism

(1) Enhance the satisfaction of tourists and delight the customer(2) Strengthen the long-term profitability and competitiveness of Greek tourism and

SMTEs(3) Develop Greek destinations sustainably and ensure prosperity of host population

470 Current Issues in Tourism

Table 9 Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Strategic directions Strategic objectives Strategic tasks

1 Enhance the sat-isfaction of tour-ists and delightthe customer

11 Improvement of services a Standardisation of service de-livery

b Development of quality controlsystems

c Consistency of promisesd Improvements in operational

managemente Flexibility in services deliveryf Training and education im-

provementsg Smile and personal relation-

shipsh Augmentation of tourism

producti Total quality management

12 Specialisation of tourismproduct

a Niche marketingb Lifestyle targeting

13 Value for money a Quality at each price level

2 Strengthen thelong-term com-petitiveness andprofitability ofGreek tourismand SMTEs

21 Increase revenue a Increase tourist volumesb Target new markets and pene-

tration in existing marketsc Use yield managementd Expand distribution channel

mixe Aggressive marketingf Achieve high average spending

per customerg Select high-quality specialised

tour operatorsh Attract alternative types of

tourismi Use alternative distribution

channelsj Motivate front-of-house em-

ployees as salesmen

22 Cost control and rationalmanagement

a Standardise service deliveryb Increase productivityc Reduce labour costsd Rationalise supplies manage-

mente Educationtraining for manag-

ers and employeesf Use of new technologyg Integrate service delivery

within SMTEs

23 Human resources man-agement

a Internal marketingb Empowermentc Satisfactory salary and working

conditionsd Long-term relations with em-

ployeese Motivation and rewards

and rational management is the second strategic objective needed to increaseefficiency and profitability of both Greek destinations and SMTEs in the longterm Standardisation of the service delivery process and minimisation of thelabour cost through better operational management would be primary recom-mendations Managers and employees should improve their productivity andmarketing skills by intensive training In addition the rationalisation of supplymanagement and the use of new technology is expected to reduce operationalcosts Finally integration of service delivery enables SMTEs to provide comple-mentary services and achieve additional revenues without immense costs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 471

24 State and public tourismorganisation support

a Destination development andcontrol

b Incentives policies for improve-ment

c Attract European Union assis-tance

d Promotional activitye Provide financial resources

3 Develop Greekdestinationssustainably andensure prosper-ity of host popu-lation

31 Environmental protection a Carrying capacity identificationb Zoning system applicationc Architecture preservationd Installation of sewage treat-

ment systemse Reduction of noise pollutionf Natural supplies management

32 Infrastructure ameliora-tion

a Accessibility improvementsb Telecommunication improve-

mentsc Public facilities advancements

33 Transportation improve-ments

a Improvement of local timeta-bles

b Punctuality and reliabilityc Improvements of vehiclesd Flexibility to meet demand

needs

34 Economic integration a Integration with raw materialproduction

b Utilisation of local labour forcec Integration of tourism servicesd Diagonal integration of destina-

tionrsquos economy

35 Equitable return on re-sources utilised

a Establish mechanism forreinvestments

b Provide services for hostcommunity

c Invest in sustainability ofresources

d Ensure equity in distributionof wealth produced

Source Adapted from Buhalis 1991 83a

Table 9 (cont) Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Human resources management is crucial in the delivery process of tourismproducts The concept of lsquointernal marketingrsquo where employees are perceivedand treated as lsquointernal customersrsquo has to be utilised in order to ensure theirsatisfaction As Berry (1981 34) states lsquothe satisfaction of the needs and wants ofthe internal customers can upgrade their capacity for satisfying the needs andwants of their external customersrsquo and as a consequence it can contribute to thecompetitiveness and profitability of Greek tourism and SMTEs Satisfactorysalary and working conditions are prerequisites for the well-being of SMTEsrsquoemployees Long-term relationships between employees and SMTEs minimiseturnover enabling a better performance while they reduce recruitment andtraining costs Empowerment would enable employees to be involved in themanagement of SMTEs and authorise them to respond more efficiently toconsumer requests while contributing to their job satisfaction Finally thesupport of the GNTO is vital for the long-term survival of SMTEs Apart fromthe improvement in infrastructure the GNTO is expected to hold the strategicresponsibility of the destination as well as to regulate the competition in orderto enable smaller enterprises to survive Incentive policies need to reflect thespecific requirements of each resort and enable development or improvementof certain types of enterprises The GNTO is also instrumental in attractingassistance from European development funds while it should also coordinatethe majority of Greek tourism promotional activity A promotional mix whichmaximises the effectiveness of the communication message needs to be drawnwhile budgets need to be available at the time consumers go through their deci-sion-making process in order to influence their choice of destination Finally theneed for the public sector to provide affordable financial resources for SMTEs ishighlighted by the EU (EC 1993b 73)

The third strategic direction for Greek tourism and SMTEs should be thesustainable development of destinations and local areas not only for the hostpopulation but also because this is vital for both consumer satisfaction and theprofitability of SMTEs Although in most cases SMTEs are unable to incorporatethese types of strategic objectives and tasks on their own they can initiate aframework of necessary actions for sustainable destination developmentthrough their associations Environmental protection is naturally the mostimportant strategic objective as consumersrsquo environmental consciousness hasbeen raised recently Carrying capacity limits should be identified and strictregulations and guidelines for tourism development need to be drawn A zoningsystem should be implemented in order to locate tourism activities according tothe geographical morphology of the destination In addition natural resourcesmanagement is necessary as tourism demand may exhaust the resources andespecially the water supplies The installation of sewage treatment systems andthe reduction of noise pollution should be considered especially for resortswhich suffer the consequences of these problems In addition infrastructureamelioration must be one of the primary objectives as it is an essential prerequi-site for both consumersrsquo satisfaction and SMTEsrsquo development The improve-ment of accessibility public services as well as telecommunications facilities is acrucial factor Transportation is also significant in increasing both consumersatisfaction and profitability of SMTEs as it determines whether consumers canaccess the destination easily while it also provides the first impression to tour-

472 Current Issues in Tourism

ists Improvements of timetables and services reliability increasing transporta-tion capacity and an enhancement of the fleet in terms of speed cleanliness andleisure facilities are all required Furthermore greater flexibility is needed bytransportation operators in order to meet demand needs Economic integrationcan improve the economic and social benefits of tourism in the region and theefficiency of SMTEs Ultimately tourism should be utilised as the catalyst andmajor stimulant for regional development Tourism enterprises should makeevery effort to use local raw materials and labour in order to maximise the multi-plier effects within Greece Diagonal integration of destinationsrsquo economy can beachieved by rearranging the goods and service production in order to supportthe tourism industry demand and thus minimise imports Finally SMTEs andtourism organisations need to offer a fair return-on-resources utilised back to thehost community A mechanism should be established in order to reinvest part ofthe revenues in the sustainability of resources provide services for the hostcommunity such as education training health services and generally ensureequity in distribution of wealth produced from local resources As the privatesector cannot be expected to behave altruistically towards the host communitythe GNTO and other public-sector departments should probably utilise regula-tion and taxation for this purpose

Conclusion Greek Tourism Needs a Long Overdue Master Planand Comprehensive Policy

The emerging international tourism competition the hitherto mass tourismorientation of the industry the transformation of demand the development ofthe volume of tourists visiting the dependence upon intermediaries for thedistribution of the tourism product in the major target markets the lack of a widerange of managerial skills by Greek tourism entrepreneurs and the lack of acomprehensive tourism policy or Master Plan by the public sector has led thecompetitiveness of Greece tourism to decline This has several unfavourableimplications for the profitability of the private sector as well as numerous nega-tive economic sociocultural and environmental impacts for the host populationAs a result the return on resources utilised for the production of Greek tourismservices is inadequate and the sustainability of Greece as a major tourism desti-nation is rapidly becoming doubtful Based on a strategic analysis the paper illu-minates the strategic weaknesses and structural problems of both the private andpublic sectors and demonstrates that a rationalisation of the tourism industry isurgently required Consequently a grand strategy as well as a wide range of stra-tegic directions objectives and tasks are proposed for both Greece as an entityand its SMTEs Although no quantitative targets are set in this paper it isexpected that each destination will analyse its resources and adapt its strategicplanning accordingly

The GNTO is urged to rationalise its strategy and to draw up a Master Plan anda comprehensive strategy for the entire country and for each resort where a strategywould be adopted based on quantifiable objectives and tasks Extensive researchneeds to be undertaken by using credible measurement methodologies such asInput-Output models and multipliers analysis not only for the economic but alsofor the social cultural and environmental impacts (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Buhalis

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 473

amp Fletcher 1995) A holistic tourism management system is demanded to facilitatethe development and implementation of the tourism strategy through funds allo-cation and monitoring land use control and examination of tourism public- andprivate-sector practices A thorough examination of tourism impacts in eachregion would be a prerequisite for tourism planning as it will establish andprovide scientific backing to strategic targets Komilis (1994 71) explains thatalthough the various levels of planning (sectoral nationalEU spatial or regional)are not mutually exclusive but rather complementary the regional level planningis more suitable for drawing sustainable strategies especially for areas withdissimilar needs like the Greek destinations The regional planning should lsquocon-tribute to the maximisation of regional development benefits in a way that utilisesand mobilises the regional resource base realises regional inter-sectoral linkagesand is compatible with regional economic interests societal values and environ-mental assetsrsquo It should also take into consideration the uniqueness of insulareconomies as well as the cultural and environmental resources of each particularregion and the complexity of rural and urban functions The planning processshould encourage the complementarity and coexistence of economic activitiesrather than promote sectoral separation and single-sector developments In addi-tion it needs to improve the balance between regional self-sufficiency anddependence upon external inputs and finally it should promote integration withinthe European Union

The public sector has to play its long overdue role as regulator coordinatorinfrastructure provider and promoter of the destination while a multi-integrationof the tourism industry with all the involved bodies in the preparation distribu-tion and delivery of the tourism experience needs to be ensured (Wanhill 1993Hall 1994 Skoulas 1994 10 Stavrou 1988 46) The private sector also has an impor-tant role to play as it should improve the Greek tourism industry competitivenessby improving its managerial and labour force competencies enhancing the qualityof services designing appropriate marketing mixes to attract and satisfy targetmarkets and cooperating closely in order to achieve synergies and economies ofscale (Briassoulis 1993 300 Cooper amp Buhalis 1992) To reverse the vicious circleof decreasing quality is of critical importance for the Greek tourism industryBetter quality services would stimulate the competitiveness of the Greek tourismproduct strengthen its position in the international market provide principalswith distribution channel power enhance its customersrsquo willingness to pay andenable the industry to increase its prices improving the profitability at the microlevel and the economic impacts of tourism at the macrolevel Ultimately a diagonalintegration strategy for both Greek tourism and SMTEs should aim to delightconsumers enhance the long-term prosperity of SMTEs and improve the welfareof the host populations The Olympic Games in 2004 offer a unique opportunity toregenerate and rebrand Greek tourism a cause which the entire industry shouldchampion

The AuthorDimitrios Buhalis is Senior Lecturer and course leader MSc in tourism at theUniversity of Surrey He holds a BBA from the University of the Aegean as wellas an MSc and a PhD in tourism management from the University of Surrey Hisresearch interests focus on information systems and technology strategic

474 Current Issues in Tourism

management distribution channels of tourism destination management andplanning and destination integrated computer information reservation manage-ment systems

AcknowledgementsThe author would like to acknowledge Prof C Cooper and Prof J Fletcher for

their invaluable contribution to this research Financial support from the SurreyResearch Group ConTours Consultants as well as field research sponsorshipsby the University of Surrey the Greek National Tourism Organisation and theUniversity of the Aegean are gratefully appreciated

Note1 An earlier version of this paper was published as a monograph PlanningDevelop-

ment by the International Centre for Research and Studies in TourismAix-en-Provence France

CorrespondenceAny correspondence should be directed to Dr Dimitrios Buhalis Senior

Lecturer in Business Information Management SMSSS University of SurreyGuildford GU2 7XH UK (dbuhalissurreyacuk)

ReferencesApostolopoulos T (1990) New strategy of tourism development (in Greek) Tourism and

Economy (November) 228ndash38Berry C (1981) The employee as customer Journal of Retail Banking 3 33ndash40Boniface B and Cooper C (1994) The Geography of Travel and Tourism (2nd edn) London

HeinemannBriassoulis H (1993) Tourism in Greece In W Pompl and P Lavery (eds) Tourism in

Europe Structures and Developments (pp285ndash301) Oxford CAB InternationalBuckley P and Papadopoulos S (1986) Marketing Greek tourism The planning process

Tourism Management 7 86ndash100Buhalis D (1991) Strategic marketing and management for the small and medium

tourism enterprises in the periphery of the European Community A case study for theAegean islands in Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Buhalis D (1994) Information and telecommunications technologies as a strategic tool forsmall and medium tourism enterprises in the contemporary business environment InA Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 254ndash75)England J Wiley and Sons

Buhalis D (1995) The impact of information telecommunications technologies on tourismdistribution channels Implications for the small and medium sized tourismenterprisesrsquo strategic management and marketing PhD Dissertation University ofSurrey Guildford

Buhalis D (2000a) Marketing the competitive destination of the future TourismManagement (Special Issue ndash The Competitive Destination) 21 (1) 97ndash116

Buhalis D (2000b) (forthcoming) Athens Tourism-Travel Intelligence LondonBuhalis D (2000c) Relationships in the distribution channel of tourism Conflicts between

hoteliers and tour operators in the Mediterranean region Journal of InternationalHospitality Leisure and Tourism Adminstration 1 (1) 113ndash39

Buhalis D and Diamantis D (2001 forthcoming) Tourism development andsustainability on the Greek archipelagos In G Apostolopoulos and D Ioannides (eds)Tourism in the Mediterranean Routledge

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 475

Buhalis D and Fletcher J (1995) Environmental impacts on tourism destinations Aneconomic analysis In H Coccosis and P Nijkamp (eds) Sustainable Tourism Development(pp 3ndash25) London Avebury

Camison C Bigne E and Monfort VM (1994) The Spanish tourism industry Analysisof its strategies and the efficacy and achievements gained from them In A Seaton et al(eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 442ndash52) England JWiley and Sons

Castelberg-Koulma M (1991) Greek women and tourism Womenrsquos co-operatives as analternative form of organisation In N Redclift and T Sinclair (eds) Working WomenInternational Perspectives on Labour and Gender Ideology (pp 197ndash223) LondonRoutledge

Chitiris L (1991) Hotel Management (in Greek) Athens InterbooksCoccosis H and Parprairis A (1992) Assessing the interactions between environment

and tourism Case study of the island of Mykonos Paper presented in the IV WorldCongress of Regional Science International University of Balearic Islands Palma deMallorca 26ndash9 May

Conway H (1996) Greece Travel Weekly 1308 39ndash43Cooper C and Buhalis D (1992) Strategic management and marketing of small and

medium sized tourism enterprises in the Greek Aegean islands In R Teare D Adamsand S Messenger (eds) Managing Projects in Hospitality Organisations (pp 101ndash25)London Cassell

Daskalantonakis N (1994) Quality ndash The future of tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (3 July)D9

Divanis A (1994b) Tourism policy Left on its own luck (in Greek) XENIA (October)4ndash5

Donatos G and Zairis P (1991) Seasonality of foreign tourism in the Greek islands ofCrete Annals of Tourism Research 18 515ndash19

Douvitsas P (1994) Marketing Greece through British tour operators A futureperspective MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Drakatos C (1987) Seasonal concentration of tourism in Greece Annals of Tourism Research14 582ndash6

EC (1993a) Microeconomic Analysis of the Tourism Sector A study by the pH Group forEuropean Commission DGXXIII (September) Report XXIII30394-EN BrusselsEuropean Commission

EC (1993b) Growth competitiveness employment The challenges and ways forward intothe 21st century Bulletin of the European Communities Supplement 693 (White Paper)Luxembourg

Economist (1993) Last Chance Sisyphus A survey of Greece Economist (22 May) 2ndash22EIU (1986) Greece (pp 45ndash60) International tourist reports National Report No 3EIU (1990) Greece (pp 45ndash62) International tourist reports National Report No 4EIU (1993) Greece ndash Country Profile 1992ndash1993 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEIU (1994) Greece ndash Country Profile 1994ndash1995 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEpilogi (1994) Economic review ndash The Greek Economy 1994 (in Greek) AthensEuromonitor (1992) Tourism in Greece Market Research Europe (25 May) 51ndash63Fayos-Sola E (1992) A Strategic Outlook for Regional Tourism Policy The White Paper

on Valencian Tourism Tourism Management 13 45ndash9Fotis J (1992) Vacational lifestyle segmentation of tourists on the island of Rhodes

Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey GuildfordGilbert D (1984) The need for countries to differentiate their tourist product and how to

do so Seminar papers for Ministers of Tourism and Directors of National TouristOrganisations Tourism Managing for Results University of Surrey Guildford

Gilbert D (1990) Strategic marketing planning for national tourism Tourist Review 45 (1)18ndash27

GNTO (1985a) Survey of attributes of foreign tourists 1984ndash1985 (in Greek) Greek NationalStatistical Services Athens GNTO

476 Current Issues in Tourism

GNTO (1985b) EOT-Tourism rsquo85 Development ndash Participation ndash Quality of Life (in Greek)Greek National Statistical Services Athens GNTO

GNTO (1989a) Annual report 1988 ndash Forecast 89 Towards Quality Athens GNTOGNTO (1989b) The study of tourism promotion With special reference to the measures to

increase Japanese tourists to Greece Draft final report Japan InternationalCooperation Agency

GNTO (1993) Tourism towards the 2000 (in Greek) Greek National Tourism OrganisationAthens GNTO

Hall M (1994) Tourism and Politics Policy Power and Place J Wiley and SonsHorwath (annual) The Greek Hotel Industry (in Greek) Annual reports Pireus HorwathJenner P and Smith C (1993) Tourism in the Mediterranean Research report London

Economist Intelligence UnitJosephides N (1993) Environmental Concern ndash Whatrsquos In It for the Tourism Industry (pp 51ndash6)

Proceedings of the conference Tourism and the environment Challenges and choicesfor the 1990rsquos 16ndash17 November 1992 Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre LondonBrussels European Union

Josephides N (1994) Tourism analysis Presentation in Philoxenia international tourismexhibition Thessaloniki Greece

Josephides N (1995) A sorry state for beautiful Greece Travel Weekly 1261 (5 April)11Kalogeropoulou H (1993) Greece ndash Prospects for the tourism industry within the context

of the European Single Market of 1993 Tourism Review 48 (1) 2ndash4Kassimati K Thanopoulou M and Tsartas P (1994) Womenrsquos Employment in the

Tourist Sector Study of the Greek Labour Market and Identification of Future ProspectsDGV Equal Opportunities Unit Document V40994-EN European CommissionBrussels

Komilis P (1987) Spatial analysis of tourism in Greece (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planningand Economic Research

Komilis P (1992) The spatial structure of tourism and physical planning practices inGreece Paper presented in conference Tourism and environment Issues ofpolicyplanningmanagement 23ndash4 October University of the Aegean Dept ofEnvironment Lesvos

Komilis P (1993) Values in the Tourism Planning and Policy Making Process (pp 224ndash9)Proceedings of the conference Values and the environment 23ndash4 September GuildfordUniversity of Surrey

Komilis P (1994) Tourism and sustainable regional development In A Seaton et al (eds)Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 65ndash73) England JWiley andSons

Konsolas N and Zacharatos G (1993) Regionalization of tourism activity in GreeceProblems and policies In H Briassoulis and J Van der Straaten (eds) Tourism andEnvironment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 57ndash65) Dordrecht Kluer AcademicPublisher

Kousis M (1989) Tourism and the family in a rural Cretan community Annals of TourismResearch 16 318ndash32

Kriebardis S and Marmagiolis I (1990) Tourism Activity in Greece Problems and Perspectives(pp 45ndash54) (in Greek) Economic Report of Commercial Bank AprilndashJune AthensCommercial Bank

Ktenas S (1994) Hoteliers ask for 15 to 20 increases for 1995 (in Greek) TO BHMA (3July) D9

Ktenas S (1996) Crisis in Greek tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (7 April) D16Leontidou L (1991) Greece Prospects and contradictions of tourism in the 1980rsquos In AM

Williams and GJ Shaw (eds) Tourism and Economic Development Western EuropeanExperiences (2nd edn) (pp 94ndash106) London Belhaven Press

Logothetis M (1990) The Economy of Dodekanisos During 1988ndash1989 Developments andPerspectives (in Greek) Rhodes Regional association of municipalities of Dodekanisos

Logothetis M (1992) Touristiki Sigkiria (in Greek) Rhodes Institute of Tourist and HotelResearch

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 477

Loukissas P (1977) The impact of tourism on regional development A comparativeanalysis of the Greek islands PhD Dissertation Cornell University USA

Loukissas P (1982) Tourismrsquos regional development impacts A comparative analysis ofthe Greek islands Annals of Tourism Research 9 523ndash43

Marinos P (1983) Small island tourism-the case of Zakynthos in Greece TourismManagement 4 212ndash15

Moore R (1992) From shepherds to shopkeepers The development of tourism in a centralGreek town PhD Dissertation University of California at Berkeley USA

Moore R (1995) Gender and alcohol use in a Greek tourist town Annals of Tourism Research22 300ndash13

Mourdoukoutas P (1988) Seasonal employment seasonal unemployment andunemployment compensation The case of the tourism industry of the Greek islandsAmerican Journal of Economics and Sociology 47 315ndash29

NSSG (l983) Tourism Statistics 1981 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (l985) Tourism Statistics 1982ndash1983 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1987) Tourism Statistics 1984ndash1985 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1990) Tourism Statistics 1986ndash1987 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1993) Tourism Statistics 1988ndash1990 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceOECD (1992) Greece Tourism Policy and International Tourism in OECD Member Countries (pp

70ndash8) Paris OECDOttaway M (1992) Turtle power Sunday Times Travel and Style (28 June)Ottaway M (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 1 Sunday Times (17 January)

57ndash59Panagiotopoulou R (1990) The problem and perspectives of the European insular regions

(in Greek) Working paper University of the Aegean ChiosPapadimitris G (1988) Short run and long run prospects of the Greek tourism industry

PhD Dissertation University of Manchester ManchesterPapadopoulos S (1985) An economic analysis of foreign tourism in Greece An

examination of the growth and structure of foreign tourism to Greece 1960ndash1984 with aplanning model and marketing policy recommendations PhD Thesis University ofBradford Management Centre Bradford

Papadopoulos S (1987) Strategic marketing techniques in international tourismInternational Marketing Review (summer) 71ndash84

Papadopoulos S (1988a) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (1) 29ndash30

Papadopoulos S (1988b) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (2) 24ndash7

Papadopoulos S (1989) Greek marketing strategies in the Europe tourism market ServiceIndustries Journal 9 297ndash314

Papadopoulos S and Mirza H (1985) Foreign tourism in Greece An economic analysisTourism Management 6 125ndash37

Papandropoulos A (1995) The crisis in tourism is evident (in Greek) OikonomikosTachydromos (29 June) 26ndash8

Papanikos G (1999) The year 2004 olympic games and their influence upon the Greektourism (in Greek) ITEP (Research Institute for Tourism) Athens

Paulopoulos P (1999) The Size and Dynamics of the Tourism Sector (in Greek) ResearchInstitute for Tourism Athens

Peterson C (1990) Greece tackles overbuilding in tourism areas EnvironmentalConservation 17 166ndash8

Plevris V (1995) Alarm bells from the Hellenic Federation of Hotels (in Greek) XENIA128 (May) 6ndash7

Poon A (1987) Information technology and innovation in international tourism ndashimplications for the Caribbean tourism industry PhD thesis Science Policy ResearchUnit University of Sussex Brighton

Poon A (1988) Flexible specialisation and small size ndash the case of Caribbean tourism DRCDiscussion Paper 57 SPRU Brighton University of Sussex

478 Current Issues in Tourism

Poon A (1989) Competitive strategies for new tourism In C Cooper (ed) Progress inTourism Recreation and Hospitality Management (vol 1) (pp 91ndash102) London BelhavenPress

Poon A (1990) Flexible specialisation at small size The case of Caribbean tourism WorldDevelopment 18 109ndash23

Poon A (1993) Tourism Technology and Competitive Strategies Oxford CAB InternationalPorter M (1980) Competitive Strategy Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors

New York Free PressPorter M (1985) Competitive Advantage Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance New

York Free PressPorter M (1990) The Competitive Advantage of Nations New York Free PressPrurier E Sweeney A and Geen A (1993) Tourism and the environment The case of

Zakynthos Tourism Management 14 137ndash9Psoinos P (1994a) Research on the foreign touristsrsquo attributes in Greece (in Greek) Athens

Greek National Tourism OrganisationPsoinos P (1994b) Research on the attributes of foreigners who have never visited Greece (in

Greek) Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationRichter-Papaconstantinou C (1992) Tourism development of Rhodes Cahiers du Tourisme

(Serie B) 67 Aix en Provence Centre des Hautes Eacutetudes TouristiquesRomanos A (1998) Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites (in Greek) Athens

Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites SASETE (1993) Tourism Developments and problems (in Greek) Athens Association of Greek

Tourism EnterprisesSezer H and Harrison A (1994) Tourism in Greece and Turkey An economic view for

planners In A Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposiumpp74ndash84 England Wiley and Sons

Skoulas N (1985) Holidays and travel in the year 2035 ndash Contribution of the NationalTourist Organisation of Greece SDI Schriftey Wirtschafts und Unternehmenspolitik 40181ndash99

Skoulas N (1994) Quality improvement of tourism services (in Greek) Paper presentedin the conference Competitiveness of tourism enterprises ndash the role of quality 1 AprilHoliday Inn Athens Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises

Smith C and Jenner P (1995) Greece International Tourism Reports 3 5ndash21Stavrou S (1978) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Kos Island (in Greek) Research and

Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationStavrou S (1979) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Mykonos and Naxos Islands (in

Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1980) Research on Tourism Awareness on the Islands Kalymnos and Leros (in Greek)Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1984) Tourism Development in Greece during 1969ndash1982 (in Greek) Research andDevelopment Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986a) Research for the Characteristics of Foreign Tourist Demand in Greece in theYears 8485 (in Greek) Research Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1986b) Research on the Tourism Awareness on Paros Santorini Kythira Islands (inGreek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986c) Critical Review of Tourism Activity in the Years 8385 (in Greek) Researchand Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1988) Tourism in the Northern Aegean Islands Presentation of GNTO for the TourismDevelopment of the Periphery (in Greek) Proceedings of the first conference for thedevelopment of the Northern Aegean islands Homereum cultural centre Chios 11November Chios Periphery of Northern Aegean islands

Stavrou S (1989a) GNTO Presentation for the Tourism Development Possibilities for theSouthern Aegean Islands (in Greek) Conference for the development of Southern Aegean

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 479

islands Syros 30 September ndash 2 OctoberStavrou S (1989b) The Contribution of the Development Law 126282 in the Development of the

Country (in Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A5 Athens GreekNational Tourism Organisation

Stereopoulos N (1995) It is regarded ideal it became problematic (in Greek) OikonomikosTachidromos (21 December) 151ndash3

Touloupas P (1996) Greece as a tourist destination for the British tour operators Ananalysis from a marketing perspective in the particular context of the United KingdomMSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Tourismos ke Oikonomia (1993) 20 years 1973ndash1993 (in Greek) Special Issue AthensTourismos ke Oikonomia (1994) ICAP tourism enterprises Drastic reduction of loses in 1993

(in Greek) December 14ndash15Touristiki Agora (various issues) (Monthly tourism industry periodical in Greek) Business

Press AthensTruett D and Truett L (1987) The response of tourism to international economic

conditions Greece Mexico and Spain Journal of Developing Areas 21 177ndash90Tsartas P (1989) Socioeconomic Impacts of Tourism Development in Cyclades Region with Special

Reference on Ios and Serifos Islands During 1950ndash1980 (in Greek) Athens National Centrefor Social Research

Tsartas P (1992) Socioeconomic impacts of tourism on two Greek isles Annals of TourismResearch 19 516ndash33

Van Den Bergh J (1993) Tourism development and natural environment Aneconomicndashecological model for the Sporades islands In H Briassoulis and J Van DerStraaten (eds) Tourism and Environment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 67ndash83)Dordrecht Kluer Academic Publishers

Velissariou E (1991) Die Wirtschaftlichen Effekte des Tourismus Dargestell am Beispiel Kretas(The Economic Impacts of Tourism on Crete) PhD Dissertation University of MunichFrankfurt Peter Lang

Vernikos N (1987) The study of Mediterranean small islands Emerging theoreticalissues Ekistics 54 (323ndash4) 101ndash9

Wanhill S (1993) Government organisations In C Cooper J Fletcher D Gilbert and SWanhill (eds) Tourism Principle and Practice (pp 145ndash60) London Pitman

Wickens D (1994) Consumption of the authentic The hedonistic tourist in Greece In ASeaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 819ndash25)England JWiley and Sons

Wickens E (2000) Rethinking touristsrsquo experiences In M Robinson et al (eds) MotivationsBehaviour and Tourist Types (pp 455ndash72) Business Education Publishers Sunderland

Wickers D (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 2 Sunday Times 57ndash510Wilkinson PF (1989) Strategies for tourism in islands microstates Annals of Tourism

Research 16 153ndash77XENIA (various issues) (Monthly bulletin of the Greek Hotel Chamber in Greek) AthensZacharatos G (1984) Tourismus und Wirtschafts-Struktur Dargestellt am Beispiel

Griechenlands Europaische Hochschulschriften Reihex Band 7 Frankfurt am MainZacharatos G (1986) Tourism consumption (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planning and

Economic ResearchZacharatos G (1988) The simplistic empiricism Tourism policy and the time of crisis

(1992) (in Greek) Sychrona Themata 11 (May) 21ndash6Zacharatos G (1989) The problems and perspectives of tourism in Greece (in Greek) In H

Katsoulis T Giannitsis and P Kazakos (eds) Politics and Society Economy and ForeignRelationships (pp 273ndash89) Athens Papazisis

Zacharatos G (1993) The necessity of multimedia use in the tourism education in Greece(in Greek) Paper presented at the international conference Overcomingisolation-telematics and regional development University of the Aegean Chios 30April ndash 2 May

480 Current Issues in Tourism

Page 13: Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challengescore.ac.uk/download/pdf/101686.pdf · Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challenges Dimitrios Buhalis School of Management

the entire tourism industry in general Their size enables the provision of apersonal finish to all products provided while it is not unusual for customers tobecome friends and to be treated accordingly Similarly strong relations withemployees support labour loyalty and low turnover The proprietorrsquos family isnormally directly involved with every aspect of the business reacting efficientlyand promptly to any problem arising Their involvement in running the enter-prise provides considerable benefits especially in having a very flexiblemulti-skilled and dedicated workforce which tolerates unsociable workingschedules Family members feel committed to the long-term prosperity of theenterprise and often do not distinguish between their professional and familylife Thus a better matching between tourism demand and SMTEsrsquo supply isachieved

A close-up of the weaknesses of Greek tourism and SMTEs is critical for under-standing the ability of the industry to compete in the global tourism arenaAlthough entrepreneurs are normally an asset it seems that a number of manage-

452 Current Issues in Tourism

Table 5 Greek tourism and SMTEsrsquo SWOT analysis

Strengths

Flexibility

Tailor-made product delivery

Entrepreneurial activity

Family involvement

Natural and cultural resources

Strong local character

Personalised relationships

Labour loyalty and low turnover

Weaknesses

Management

Marketing

Information technologies illiteracy

Dependence upon tour operators

Supporting markets

Lack of economies of scale

Human resources management

Education and training

Transportation and accessibility

Financial management and resources

Seasonality

Lack of standardisation

Lack of quality assurances

Opportunities

European Union support

European redistribution of labour

Increase in tourism demand size

Trends in tourism demand

Low cost of living in periphery

Information technology

Infrastructure development

Transportation

Olympic Games

Threats

Environmental degradation

Concentration and globalisation

Oversupply

Lack of visibility in CRSs

Infrastructure

Warsterrorism

Political intervention

Source Adapted from Buhalis 1991 60c and Cooper and Buhalis 1992 108

rial problems often arise Lack of strategic and operational managementknow-how generates inconsistency in the creation and delivery of tourism prod-ucts This has direct implications for consumersrsquo satisfaction and the projectedimage of the industry There is often a complete lack of strategic vision and enter-prises are often treated as an extension of proprietorsrsquo domestic environmentEntrepreneurs recruit family members and relatives as personnel and supplierseven though more appropriatequalified alternatives can be found in the market-place Therefore the management of SMTEs clearly projects the proprietorrsquosfamily life-style and decision-making processes onto an enterprise Marketing isanother significant weakness for most entrepreneurs and Greek resorts as they areoften completely unaware of the techniques available and thus follow a prod-uct-oriented rather than a consumer-orientated approach Consequently uncoor-dinated isolated trouble-shooting marketing activities are occasionallyundertaken rather than a consistent and well-planned marketing campaign Lackof marketing research debilitates knowledge of consumersrsquo needs and makes itdifficult to identify methods for improving services in order to meet consumersrsquoexpectations Inability to finance and execute advertising campaigns and otherpromotional techniques reduces their visibility in their markets These weak-nesses in combination with the fact that many entrepreneurs are unfamiliar withinformation technology (IT) add to the problems of SMTEs in promoting them-selves effectively Consequently both Greek SMTEs and destinations sufferfrom over-dependence on the tourism distribution channels to promote anddistribute their product In particular intermediaries and especially tour opera-tors have enormous power within the channel and are capable of determiningthe Greek tourism product marketing distribution and pricing mixes (Buhalis1995) Hence the marketing campaign and the visibility of Greek tourism to itsmain target markets are often determined by the coverage space photographsand description in tour operatorsrsquo brochures European tour operators alsocontrol accessibility to Mediterranean or long-haul destinations as they ownmost charter airlines which provide direct and inexpensive flights to these desti-nations

As most resorts are located in peripheral areas there is usually little economicdevelopment in the supplying sectors Therefore remote destinations have toimport essential raw and construction materials from elsewhere while SMTEsoften face transportation delivery and purchasing problems and excessivetransportation costs Moreover lack of economies of scale in purchasing rawmaterial low bargaining power and lack of advanced facilities are additionaloperational disadvantages This essentially means that SMTEs have to payhigher prices for products than their larger counterparts Lack of specialisedpersonnel and inadequate training procedures mean that human resourcesmanagement is a major weakness of Greek tourism In most SMTEs personnelhave to cover a wide range of positions a loose job description is usuallyprovided and multi-skilled personnel are required The labour turnover due tothe seasonality of the tourism industry reduces the availability of qualified andexperienced personnel and makes tourism product delivery not only variablebut also unprofessional The small size of operation provides little opportunityfor the division of tasks professional employees and proper training Since noquality standards are introduced service delivery varies according to the occu-

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 453

pancy service provider and timing Transportation and accessibility to remotedestinations may also be a weakness as most enterprises are located in periph-eral and often inaccessible regions SMTEs tend to feel frustrated because theyare unable to attract consumers simply because they cannot provide conve-nient reliable and affordable transportation The formulation of charter aircarriers by destination areas such as Turkey and Spain as well as the emergingderegulation policies in the European Union may diminish this problem in thenear future Moreover SMTEs face significant financial constraints as on theone hand they are required to invest in fixed assets at the beginning of theiroperations and on the other hand there is a discrimination against them byfinancial institutions since they normally have very few assets Consequentlythey are forced to accept unfavourable financial deals Finally the Greek tour-ism industry and SMTEs suffer from seasonality problems and have to produceadequate income within a limited period every year Lack of diversified invest-ment in other economic activities forces proprietors to work intensively in thepeak months and rest in the off-peak months while their pay-back period isinevitably unfavourable As the tourism industry becomes more professionalembraces quality management and responds to an increasingly discerningcustomer SMTEsrsquo typical lack of business expertise and minimal standardisa-tion may become an increasing liability especially for some target markets(Cooper amp Buhalis 1992 102)

Recent developments in the external environment present numerous opportu-nities for the Greek tourism industry and SMTEs Firstly the European Uniontakes several actions to support small and medium-sized enterprises (EC 1993b72) while it supports infrastructure development of peripheral regions andcontributes significantly to the prosperity of SMTEs The country is going througha major transformation as a result of several public projects supported by theEuropean Commission including the Attico Metro the new Athens Airport thedevelopment of the peripheral motorway Elefsina-Spata and the peripheralmotorway of Immitos The unification of the heritage sites and thepedestrianisation of the Athens city centre aims to develop an open archaeologi-cal park and deal with the traffic and pollution problems The Olympic Games in2004 provide a unique challenge and opportunity for the city and the country torebrand and redevelop itself and demonstrate its unparalleled heritage andcultural resources The Games also provide the resources and funding as well asa lsquodeadlinersquo for several infrastructural projects that were already scheduled butperhaps delayed In addition several projects are anticipated to improve thesuperstructure of the industry through both renovation of existing propertiesand through the development of new hotels and other facilities It is anticipatedthat the regeneration of the city and the country in general will provide majoropportunities for the attractiveness and competitiveness of the tourism industry(Buhalis 2000b Papanikos 1999 Romanos 1998)

It is anticipated that there will be a gradual redistribution of Europeanlabour providing support for each region to specialise in the production ofgoods and services where it can achieve competitive advantages Traditionallyremote and insular destinations where most Greek resorts and SMTEs arebased achieve a competitive advantage in tourism and therefore greatersupport is anticipated Greek tourism benefits from the continuous growth of

454 Current Issues in Tourism

global tourism demand as more people require holiday services while SMTEsare expected to increase their share as they tend to satisfy the emerging special-ised and sophisticated demand better than larger organisations Informationand telecommunication technologies can provide strategic tools for tourismdestinations and SMTEs enabling them to manage their product more effi-ciently disseminate information and establish a distribution mechanismthrough destination management systems (Buhalis 1994) New technologiesalso offer opportunities for developing innovative tourism products such asteleworking for tourists who would like to spend time working during theirstay at the destination Finally Greek tourism tends to achieve a cost advan-tage since it employs unpaid family members and operates in inexpensiveperipheral regions which often have a lower cost of living in comparison withmetropolitan areas

In terms of external threats environmental degradation through inappropriatewaste management and excessive usage of natural resources can be observedLack of know-how and funds effectively increases environmental problemsConsequently several resorts suffer severe damage while entrepreneurs and localauthorities feel powerless to take remedial measures Moreover oversupply oftourism service providers and lack of well-defined carrying capacity limits inseveral destinations have placed numerous Greek resorts and SMTEs in a disad-vantaged position as they cannot achieve sufficient income Similarly the concen-tration of power in fewer tourism industry enterprises through emergingglobalisation also threatens the ability of Greek SMTEs to survive as internationalvertically integrated tourism organisations acquire control over local enterprisesThe dependence upon channel partners for the promotion and distribution ofGreek tourism is exaggerated by the relatively low presence of Greek suppliers inthe major CRSs (Computer Reservation Systems) which is caused by the seasonal-ity and scale of the tourism production on the one hand and the tariffs of thesesystems on the other The issue of infrastructure is closely related to the oversup-ply which attracts higher demand than planned Destinations often have limitedinfrastructure provisions which fail to follow the pace of development generatingpressure on the existing inadequate facilities Finally the tourism industry suffersfrom its geographical proximity to the Balkans and the Middle East and as a conse-quence is often associated by consumers with wars and terrorism activities Greektourism and SMTEs have limited means of dealing with unfavourable situationsand thus are more vulnerable to their impacts Political intervention perhapsthrough the public sector decisions and the legislator framework often damagesthe prosperity of SMTEs As SMTEs have little lobbying power they have limitedinfluence over political decisions which determine their welfare

The SWOT analysis demonstrates quite clearly that the Greek tourism indus-try faces a wide range of problems and threats which will jeopardise its ability toprovide suitable tourism products in the future as well as its ability to make acontribution to the national welfare However several opportunities and chal-lenges emerge and they need to be addressed in order to strengthen the competi-tiveness of the industry Further analysis is therefore required in order to assessthe factors which generate these problems and also to identify ways to respond tothe challenges they present

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 455

Why Are We There and What Are the Implications StructuralProblems and Challenges

Despite its popularity and growth over the last 40 years the Greek tourismindustry has reached a stage where both its potential and competitiveness havebecome questionable

The seemingly unstoppable growth of this market contributed to a degreeof complacency which has led to Greece repeating some of the errors madein Spain Rapid price increases mean the country is no longer perceived bymass market clients as cheap in relation to comparable destinations in theMediterranean but much of the countryrsquos tourism infrastructure hastilybuilt in response to demand for cheap accommodation does not meet theneeds of a market less sensitive to price and more concerned with qualityand value for money (EIU 1990 45)

Richter-Papaconstantinou (1992 27) explains that tourism development inRhodes lsquotakes place without any Master Plan of the area respect of the landscapeand environment analysis whether there is demand and what the demand isafter regard to what is happening in similar situationsrsquo At the micro level theEuropean travel trade and intermediaries warn that the Greek tourism product isno longer competitive (Conway 1996 41 Touloupas 1996 Douvitsas 1994)whilst Chitiris (1991 148ndash150) outlines a range of managerial problems andmistakes in Greek resort hotels which diminish the quality of the tourismservices Hence unless the Greek tourism industry addresses a number of criticalissues immediately its future might be seriously jeopardised resulting in apotential catastrophe of the national economy The major structural problemsand challenges for the Greek tourism product can be summarised in Table 6

As a result Greece fails to attract the desired lsquohigh-quality high-expenditurersquotourists as it is increasingly unable to satisfy their requirements (Conway 199641) The deterioration of the tourism product and image leads to a lower willing-ness-to-pay by consumers which consequently leads to a further drop in qualityas the industry attempts to attract customers with lower prices This is a viciousspiral which has been destroying the essence of developing tourism in severalMediterranean destinations The concentration of bargaining power in Euro-pean distribution intermediaries and tour operators in particular in combina-tion with the inability of the Greek tourism industry to promote itself andestablish effective distribution mechanisms inevitably minimises the profitmargins of SMTEs and their ability to yield decent returns on their investmentAs a result touristsrsquo expenditure per capita in Greece gradually deteriorateswhile their volume increases (SETE 1993 35)

Thus the tourism policy often consisted in a lsquofreezingrsquo of the selling price ofthe tourist package abroad a measure which combined with the devalua-tion of the drachma and its continuous parity losses succeeded in securing alsquofictitious competitivenessrsquo for the Greek package This competitivenesshowever was seriously threatened each time there was an attempt at asubstantial increase because of important rises in cost elements(Kalogeropoulou 1993 2)

456 Current Issues in Tourism

The above issues illustrate that the Greek tourism product becomes increas-ingly incompetent Hence the inadequate lsquoproductrsquo lsquopromotionrsquo and lsquoplacersquo(distribution) elements of the tourism marketing mix reduce the willingness ofprospective consumers to pay and has disastrous implications for the pricingpolicies deteriorating the profitability of the SMTEs and the tourism economicimpacts on the destination

Ultimately the economic impacts of tourism in Greece become debatableespecially due to the inadequacy of tourism economic research and data whilethe destination has to bear the environmental social and cultural decay Encour-agingly articles in recent tourism industry publications acknowledge these chal-lenges and appreciate the dangers urging both the private and public sector totake action (Touristiki Agora Tourismos ke Oikonomia Travel News XENIA) as well

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 457

Table 6 Structural problems and challenges

Image of Greece as cheap simple unsophisticated undifferentiated sun-seadestination

Gradual deterioration of tourism product and lack of reinvestment in improvements

Increase of tourism arrivals but decrease of tourism expenditure per capita

Inadequacy of the Greek planning process

Dependence upon major tour operators for promotion and distribution

Plethora of anarchically developed and behaving SMTEs aiming at short-termprofitability

Inappropriate and ill-timed marketing campaign which has little effectiveness

Inadequacy of infrastructure to serve the ever-expanding demand

Lack of coordination at the destination and disrespect for touristsrsquo needs

Lack ofprofessionalism and training in both state andprivate tourism establishments

Individualistic behaviour by SMTEs and unwillingness to cooperate on adestination basis

Unsuccessful and inconsistent programmes of government intervention

Almost unregulated environment with nearly complete lack of control

Political intervention which allows exception policies and employment of unquali-fied staff

Development of tourism as a single regional development option

Oversupply of tourism amenities and fierce price competition

Failure of the private sector to invest in long-term projects

Deterioration of natural social and cultural resources

SMTEsrsquo inability to resist in global concentration of the tourism industry

Inadequate distribution mechanisms which generate overdependence onintermediaries

Failure of both the private and public sectors to learn from internationally gainedexperience in tourism development and marketing

Lack of tourism research to identify the impacts of tourism

Negligence with regard to new tourism demand challenges

as several influential members of the tourism industry (Josephides 1993 19941995 Skoulas 1994 Daskalantonakis 1994 Divanis 1994b Plevris 1995Papandropoulos 1995)

Political intervention limited research lack of tourism policy andplanning

Perhaps the largest obstacle in developing a competitive tourism industry inGreece has been the inconsistent and irrational political intervention Unfortunatelytourism has extensively been utilised as a political vehicle where each govern-ment uses it to gratify its political needs and friends This can be experienced in alllevels of recruitment in the public sector institutions as a change of government oreven minister results in immense changes throughout the GNTO as well as tomajor policies and regulations Thus in the last 35 years (since 1966) the leadershipof the GNTO has changed 28 times allowing each General Secretary to stay inoffice for an average of 138 months Political allies of each government use politi-cal pressure and intensive lobbying in order to achieve amendments in regula-tions incentive policies and business environment Hence the short-termprofitability and commercial interests of the friends and political allies of eachgovernment often overrule the long-term strategy and set an improper examplefor the entire industry These practices result in a great inconsistency in Greek tour-ism policy and disrupt its rationalisation Therefore a lsquodepolitisation of Greektourismrsquo towards a professionally managed public sector guided through acompromised strategic Master Plan is urgently required (Josephides 1995)

The limited existing scientific tourism research highlights the lack of comprehen-sive examination of tourism impacts in Greece while it illustrates that tourismpolicy is based on insufficient documentation (Zacharatos 1989 278 and 1988 22)Public sector research is almost non-existant while the authorities seem uninter-ested in consulting the Greek-tourism research produced by academics (for exam-ple Zacharatos 1984 1986 Komilis 1987 Loukissas 1977 Papadimitris 1988Papadopoulos 1985 Moore 1992 Tsartas 1989 Velissariou 1991 Fotis 1992Buhalis 1991 1995 2000c Buhalis amp Diamantis 2000) or the international tourismlsquobody of knowledgersquo (Zacharatos 1988 24) In addition tourism consumptionbeing characterised as a particular category of private consumption in the nationalaccounts it fails to reflect the real tourism impact on each economic sector Thusthe process of collecting information for tourism expenditure in Greece preventsthe assessment of tourism expenditure impacts on the national and regional econ-omy and therefore cannot be used in drawing scientifically founded tourismpolicy (Zacharatos 1989 277 Konsolas amp Zacharatos 1993 58) Consequentlytourism policy follows conventional wisdom and concentrates on attracting alarger volume of tourists ignoring scientific methods to assess the economicsocial cultural and environmental impacts of each tourism segment assumingthat the greater the tourism volume the better for the national economy

The lack of a comprehensive and rational tourism policy and planning or a MasterPlan for Greek tourism is primarily responsible for the aforementioned structuralproblems Policy is usually based on unsubstantiated statements published by theTourism Ministry or the GNTO (GNTO 1985b 1989a 1993) often as pre-electionpromotional material In essence Greek authorities attempt to intervene aiming tostimulate arrivals as well as to facilitate the operation and development of the

458 Current Issues in Tourism

tourism industry Based on the assumption that tourism arrivals to Greece wouldincrease indefinitely the general directions of the Greek tourism policy focusalmost invariably on the targets summarised in Table 7 (Euromonitor 1992 61GNTO 1989b 41 and 1993 1 OECD 1992 70 Skoulas 1985 194 Leontidou 199188ndash91 Apostolopoulos 1990 Zacharatos 1989 275 and 1988 21)

However as these tasks are not quantified and there is no time schedule orplanning process for their achievement it is inevitable that their implementationand assessment is subject to irrationalities and personal judgement Occa-sionally incentives for tourism development responses to lobbying from tour-ism-related associations and regions training programmes and generallegislation attempt to direct the Greek tourism industry towards the describedpolicy directions In addition an inconsistent and untargeted promotionalcampaign is implemented yearly (Touloupas 1996 130) The campaign attempts toachieve the above unspecified policy tasks while it is often a lsquolast minutersquo reactionmeasure to a forecasted decline of bookings for the current season rather than acoordinated long-term marketing policy (Jenner amp Smith 1993 143Papadopoulos 1989 304) Despite the advertising campaignrsquos positive impact onarrivals the feedback to the campaign is rather speculative as no formal researchis undertaken to identify the most cost-effective media and communication meth-ods for each target market (Papadopoulos 1989 311 and 1987 82)

Because the deficient scientific examination of Greek tourism and its impactsprevents the authorities from establishing quantifiable and measurable tourismpolicies their policies are based on subjective and personal judgements while feedbackpractices are rarely followed In addition the implementation of the vaguelydefined tourism policy as well as the targets regulations and standards are oftenbent to accommodate lobbying and political pressures (Zacharatos 1989 279)Komilis (1993 225) suggests that tourism planning in Greece is generally realisedand exercised within a socio-political environment characterised by severalfactors a limited degree of political commitment lack of social awareness andacceptability of planning actions inadequacy of scientific and technical founda-

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 459

Table 7 Greek tourism policy targets

Development of demand

Training of tourism employees

Increase arrivals and foreign exchange income

Increase competitiveness of tourism product

Improvement of services in the industry

Reduction of seasonality and expansion of tourism season

Attraction of high spenders and alternative types of tourism

Construction of facilities appealing to the upper end of the market such as luxuryhotels golf courses congress centres casinos and marinas

Development of tourism infrastructure with emphasis on transportation

Support of social tourism for low-income domestic tourists

Geographical redistribution of tourism

tion to support planning intervention and a centralised administrative-institu-tional system gathering a plethora of functions but failing to perform itscoordination and enforcing role When the conflicting interests and power of eachmember of the tourism industry are brought into the equation where differentpartners attempt to influence legislation in order to maximise their own short-termprofitability regardless of the impacts on the destination and other enterprises theplanning process becomes more complicated This results in an ineffective plan-ning system and process which produces policies unable to provide an appropri-ate balance between restrictive policies and control planning implementationMoreover the plethora of SMTEs in combination with inadequate legislationconcerning their establishment and operation seem to affect adversely thecompetitiveness of the industry and the ability to diversify and enrich local tour-ism products (Komilis 1992 11 EIU 1990 59)

Consequently several structural problems are originated jeopardising theprosperity of both SMTEs and destinations especially in overdeveloped regionsOn the supply side failure of the infrastructure to follow the dramatic expansionof the superstructure in combination with the lack of solid institutional context oftourism policy and long-term regulation result in the exploitation and inadequacyof environmental and socio-cultural resources as well as the inability of the indus-try to generate the level of economic benefits desired and expected On the tourismdemand side after the meteoric growth in the 1970s and 1980s the Greek tourismindustry has been trying to transform lsquothe country into a destination which cancompete not just on price but on value for moneyrsquo (EIU 1990 45) It is becomingapparent that the tourism population in not infinite and an adaptability andresponsiveness to touristsrsquo needs is ofgreat importance (Sezeramp Harrison 1994 83)

Structural problems jeopardise the profitability of the private sectorBecause of the aforementioned structural problems most tourism industry

enterprises are experiencing a decline in profitability Hotels in particular arebadly affected due to the high fixed assets as well as their immobility and inflexi-bility which prevents them from adjusting to demand fluctuation Several reasonsdetermine their low profitability and inability to increase prices in line with infla-tion The low occupancy levels achieved yearly is a key problem Smith and Jenner(1995 17) estimate that the lsquoyear-round bed occupancy over the range of licensedaccommodation is slightly under 30rsquo As most of the properties are closed duringthe winter months due to the seasonality problems they rely on three to six monthsto generate sufficient returns on their investment The occupancy levels of accom-modation establishments in Greek tourism are often determined by theirco-operation with travel intermediaries Based on the different seasonality patternsof different markets rooms are normally allocated a year before the summer seasonto tour operators on lsquoallotmentrsquo or lsquocommitmentrsquo contracts which effectively deter-mine the prices charged according to the security provided by tour operators forusing and paying for hoteliersrsquo rooms Once the contracts are signed hoteliers effec-tively lose their control on their inventory and their right to market their rooms toother business sources before the release period (typically 7ndash14 days before arrival)in order to avoid overbooking However should their bookings fail to match theirprogramme tour operators often utilise their buying power to cancel unwantedrooms at the beginning of the tourist season without paying compensation Smaller

460 Current Issues in Tourism

hoteliers are often left with unoccupied rooms they which are unable to promote atthe lsquolast minutersquo unless they drop their prices to unacceptable levels As a result oftheir deficient intra-channel power hotels often suffer a significant cut-back of theiroccupancy levels which has direct implications for their profitability (Buhalis 19952000c 460 Ktenas 1996)

Similarly the seasonality of the Mediterranean and Greek tourism industry hasalways been a problem for the profitability of SMTEs since enterprises operateonly for a limited period (Jenner amp Smith 1993 70 Drakatos 1987 Donatos ampZairis 1991) Attempts to promote winter tourism by developing cultural andspecial interest tourism in the islands and winter sports in several ski resorts inGreece have proved fairly unsuccessful (EIU 1986 56) This is attributed to theimage of Greece as an exclusively summer-sun destination as well as to the unco-ordinated attempts to maintain tourism enterprises active during the wintermonths (EIU 1990 57)

The average room rate is the second major determinant of hotel profitability It isbecoming apparent that employment costs and cost of capital in combination witha relatively strong currency policy reduce the ability of Greek accommodationestablishments to offer competitive pricing and maintain their profitabilityMarketing inadequacies and inability to promote the tourism product as a differ-entiated entity the rapid increase of supply in comparison to demand and theoverall dependence upon the oligopsonistic tour operators for the Greek tourismproduct promotion force hoteliers to accept contracts by tour operators whichminimise their profit margin and adversely effect the quality of their productIncreasing levels of pressure by tour operators prevent SMTEs from renovatingand investing in their properties and therefore a gradual deterioration of the prop-erties is inevitable (Richter-Papaconstantinou 1992 14 Skoulas 1985 189) Euro-pean tour operators faced with fierce competition in their markets are essentiallywilling to pay an annual price increase equal to little less than the depreciation ofthe drachma plus the inflation at the place of origin of the tourists (Ktenas 1994)This policy progressively deteriorates the profitability of the Greek tourism indus-try and has severe impacts for its prosperity The situation is worse for smalleraccommodation establishments which manage to negotiate even smaller priceincreases due to their exclusive dependence upon fewer intermediaries(Logothetis 1992 14)

The oversupply of tourism services both in Greece and worldwide also contributesto global competition for a less rapidly increasing demand (Josephides 1993 54)In Greece the average annual increase of the official hotel bed supply in 1983ndash1992was 47 while the annual average increase in international tourist bednights was27 (Epilogi 1994 271) The investment incentive Law 126282 boosted this over-supply as it generated small infeasible and uncontrollable accommodation unitsunable to offer high quality of services while it increased the concentration of tour-ism units in infrastructure-undersupplied resorts (Kriebardis amp Marmagiolis1990 51 Stavrou 1989b 5) The vast majority of the capacity growth is on the lsquoille-galrsquo unregistered self-catering and self-serviced lsquoparahoteleriarsquo sector whichprovide very low quality and priced accommodation and therefore appeal tomass tour operatorsrsquo clientele This not only increases unfair competition for theofficially registered hotels but also reduces both tax revenues and employment atthe macro level

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 461

Horwath (1994 3) concludes that

unfortunately the results in terms of return on investment in the tourismindustry are not very promising especially when compared with those ofother Greek economic sectors It is an undisputable fact that the averageGreek tourism entrepreneur is heavily dependent on the tourist packageprice which is strongly negotiated by the international tour operators It isan lsquounhealthyrsquo dependency as a result of the weak position of the Greektourist product in the international market In addition the aforemen-tioned dependency is the result of the lack of marketing activities in anaverage tourist enterprise As we all know effective marketing activitiesare based on the product place price promotion which all contribute toclient satisfaction and further to a bigger share in the international touristmarket Up to now three of the aforementioned important elements ofmarketing have been overlooked which determine the weak negotiationpower of the Greek entrepreneur

This situation has also resulted to several European companies expandingtheir operations into Greece or purchasing shares in Greek partners in order toimprove their vertical integration Should this vertical integration expand signif-icantly however lsquoGreek tourism will be in fact controlled by foreign deci-sion-making centres which will certainly operate on the basis of their owninterests and not according to the overall interests of our national economyrsquo(Kalogeropoulou 1993 2) Hence radical measures are required immediately inproduct formulation promotion strategy and distribution channels to supportboth Greek destinations and SMTEs to enhance their competitiveness profitabil-ity and prosperity Failure to react would have severe implications for the futureof the Greek tourism private sector as the essence of its existence would be jeop-ardised its costs may exceeding its returns

Structural problems generate negative tourism impactsIn addition to the profitability problems of the private sector the aforemen-

tioned structural problems have profound implications for the welfare of hostpopulations in various Greek destinations as their economic social cultural andenvironmental resources are exploited without ensuring their sustainabilityLack of comprehensive research and failure to initiate carrying-capacity limits orzoning systems contribute to the anarchic development of tourism as well asexpand negative impacts of tourism on local societies and environments Thefollowing section highlights some of the costs Greek destinations are called topay for their tourism activity whilst it suggests that these issues should beaddressed in the strategic planning process

Macro-economic negative impactsDespite the contribution of tourism to the Greek economy certain potential

risks can also be identified Not only is the competitiveness and profitability ofthe tourism industry jeopardised but also several destination regions seem tofollow a policy of developing tourism at the expense of industrial and agricul-tural growth (Stavrou 1989a 6 Vernicos 1987 105) Instead of tourism stimulat-ing agriculture it seems that it hastens its decline as the two economic activities

462 Current Issues in Tourism

compete for land and labour The lack of structural investments in industrial oragricultural sectors combined with the popularity of tourism professions in theworkforce endanger the balance of the regional economy while reducing thetourism multipliers (Briassoulis 1993 295) As a result the economic structure ofthe destination is jeopardised while a complete dependence upon tourismbecomes inevitable (Komilis 1992 7) Both opportunity costs and displacementeffects are therefore evident Moreover there is evidence that the progress ofdestinations through their life-cycle and especially the introduction of masstourism decreases their economic impacts while it makes local control of theindustry far more difficult (Loukissas 1982 537) lsquoBecause of the high degree ofdependence of Greek tourist enterprises on tour operators the actual amount oftourist spending remaining in the country is only the 40ndash50 of total touristspendingrsquo (Briassoulis 1993 296) Public-sector subsidies to the private sector invarious forms such as incentives cooperative marketing campaigns and unem-ployment benefits in the off-season as well as tax evasion and lsquoparaeconomyrsquo alsoreduce the real benefit at the macro level (Mourdoukoutas 1988 Drakatos 1987Leontidou 1991 102) Lack of scientific research on the economic impacts oftourism makes the real contribution of tourism in the economy speculativerather than based on hard evidence (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Konsolas ampZacharatos 1993)

Social and cultural negative impactsThe development of mass tourism and the lack of effective planning and

management are also responsible for a number of negative social and culturalimpacts observed in Greek host societies (Tsartas 1989 1992 Stavrou 19781979 1980 1986b) Although the degree of interaction of the population withtourists depends heavily on the geomorphology of destinations and the loca-tion of resorts (Loukissas 1982 538) touristsrsquo behaviour is often offensive tothe host population but tolerated due to the economic benefits (Castelberg-Koulma 1991 201 Kousis 1989 Wickens 1994 823) Most Greek tourismdestinations are almost crime-free zones during the winter due to the smallpopulation and personal relationships of locals Tourism however introducesseveral types of criminal activity often unknown to local people As policeforces are usually allocated according to needs of the permanent population ina destination they are often incapable of handling the demands of the summermonths and are unable to deal with visitorsrsquo misbehaviour such as hooliganismand lsquolager-lootingrsquo

The commercialisation of history cultural traditions and the Greek lifestyle isa phenomenon met in several destinations This regrettably affects the renownedGreek hospitality commercialises human relations with tourists and reduces theties of solidarity and cooperation between locals since they compete for the tour-ism market (Papadopoulos 1988b 24) As the average employee works 605hours weekly for 295 weeks a year there is little time left for social religious andcultural obligations during the season (Mourdoukoutas 1988 325) Although acertain degree of lsquodemonstration effectrsquo and lsquoxenomaniarsquo can be attributed totourism the country is equally influenced by the mass media as well as by theGreek students and professionals living abroad (Papadopoulos 1988a 30Wickens 1994 822) Moore (1995) also explains that tourism not only has had a

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 463

contribution to the increase of alcohol consumption by Greeks but has alsoshifted their taste away from locally produced wine to imported spirits and beerBriassoulis (1993 296) perhaps describes best the change in labour force valueswhen as she suggests that tourism has created a

peculiar parasitic group of tourist entrepreneurs operating tourist-servingenterprises like tavernas cafeterias etc the principal characteristics ofwhich are high profits and tax evasion Consequently a particular person-ality type is created the lsquosuccessfulrsquo entrepreneur who earns a lot with littlework has a rich erotic life and is professionally independent (in contrast topublic and private employees) This model is followed by many youngpeople who abandon other productive year-round occupations lsquoworkrsquoonly during the tourist season stay idle for the rest of the year and eventu-ally suffer from the volatility of the tourist market

The family relations and values are therefore under great transition andperhaps threat (Castelberg-Koulma 1991 201 Kousis 1989 Moore 1992)

Negative environmental impactsDespite environmental resources becoming central to destinationsrsquo competi-

tiveness most Greek destinations go through an unparalleled exploitation due toinadequate planning and reinvestment in their sustainability jeopardising theirfuture (Buhalis amp Fletcher 1995) Boniface and Cooper (1994 141) suggest thatgeographical concentration of tourism

has led to the view that Greece will become saturated with tourists and thatdamage will be done to the environment and cultural heritage in the morepopular areas Already the environment has suffered from haphazarduncontrolled building and pollution of the sea and the flora and fauna arebeing effected by waste disposal

Coastal pollution water shortages sewage treatment waste disposal trafficcongestion noise pollution overbuilding and aesthetic degradation are some ofthe impacts experienced already in a number of resorts (Briassoulis 1993 297Coccosis amp Parprairis 1992 Peterson 1990 Marinos 1983 Stavrou 1988 19 and1989a 5 Papadopoulos 1988b 24) Most of the islands also face water shortagedue to the inability of natural supplies to provide sufficient water for the tourismdemand Imported mineral water from the mainland is an expensive way tosolve this problem due to the transportation cost while it creates more waste andenvironmental damage In addition the destruction of endangered speciesrsquo habi-tats is another problem experienced on several islands (ZakynthosCaretta-Caretta and Allonissos monk-seals) (Ottaway 1992 Van Den Bergh1993 70 Prurier et al 1993) Urgent coordination with all tourism actors at thelocal level is essential while regulation is required to set objective and measurablelimits and targets in order to preserve local environmental resources Financialdifficulties in the industry only exacerbate these impacts as the private and publicsectors feel unable to reinvest in the conservation of resources

The aforementioned negative impacts emerge as a result of the structuralproblems of the Greek tourism industry and illustrate that the mass tourismorientation of the industry reduces the sovereignty of the host population over

464 Current Issues in Tourism

their land and resources whilst jeopardising their expected benefits and futurewelfare As these impacts are trade-offs for the economic gains of the tourismactivity it is important that consistent long-term strategic planning should beundertaken in order to enable the preservation of the local resources and achievesustainability at tourism destinations These tasks should all be reinforced byresearch political will and strategic planning

Where Do We Need to Go and How Are We Going ThereTowards Strengthening the Competitiveness of Greek Tourismand SMTEs

Based on the situation analysis as well as on the strategic weaknesses andstructural problems the paper attempts to provide a framework for strategicplanning which will enable the strengthening of the competitiveness of Greektourism and SMTEs Porter (1985 1) suggests that competitive strategy lsquois thesearch for a favourable competitive position in an industryrsquo which is a function ofthe attractiveness of the industry and the relative competitive position withinthat particular industry He also argues that lsquocompetitive strategy aims to estab-lish a profitable and sustainable position against the forces that determine indus-try competitionrsquo Competitiveness is therefore defined as the effort undertakenby organisations to maintain long-term profitability above the average of theparticular industry within which they operate or above alternative investmentopportunities in other industries

Traditionally the tourism industry in the majority of destinations worldwideis based on a network of SMTEs which provide all types of tourism products andservices while enabling closer interaction between the host population and visi-tors as well as facilitating a rapid infusion of tourism spending into the localeconomy As lsquotouristsrsquo overall experience is composed of numerous smallencounters with a variety of tourism service providersrsquo (Moutinho 1990 104)there is a great overlap between the customer perception of local SMTEs anddestinations which makes them almost indistinguishable Consequently thecompetitiveness and prosperity of destinations and SMTEs are closely interre-lated as the fortune of the one depends heavily upon the management andcompetitiveness of the other Therefore the generic strategy for destinationsinvolves SMTEs and vice versa

Grand strategy Strategy formulation for Greek tourism and SMTEsBased on the strategic analysis a grand strategy is proposed for the Greek

tourism industry and SMTEs in order to demonstrate the directions the destina-tions should follow in their attempt to increase their competitiveness and reducetheir vulnerability As different resorts destinations and SMTEs have dissimilarneeds only generic strategies can be drawn However these guidelines can beapplicable to destinations and SMTEs worldwide as they address strategic ratherthan operational issues The analysis is based on the assumption that SMTEsformulate leisure value-added chains or networks of wealth creation whichessentially comprise the entire destination Therefore an integrated approach isfollowed as there is a great complementarity between the strategies and strate-gic directions for both the Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 465

The grand strategy analysis is based on an examination of three general strat-egy models namely Porterrsquos generic strategies Gilbertrsquos proposition for lsquodiffer-entiation of the destinationrsquo and Poonrsquos analysis for lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo Agrand strategy is then proposed for both Greek tourism and SMTEs based oninference emerging from these three models Figure 1 illustrates the three maingeneric strategies proposed by Porter (1980 34ndash46) in order to lsquooutperform otherfirms in an industryrsquo overall cost leadership where the firm is required to minimiseits costs based on mass production and strict cost control of the main businessfunctions differentiation of products or services by lsquocreating something that isperceived industry-wide as being uniquersquo or focus on a lsquoparticular buyer groupsegment of the product line or geographical marketrsquo and achieve either cost leader-ship or product differentiation (Porter 1980 37ndash8)

Furthermore Gilbert (1984 1990) argues that destinations should differenti-ate their tourism products in order to be able to achieve a unique lsquotourist productbenefitrsquo which would enable them to establish their position in the internationaltourism market as well as to attract high spenders and loyal tourists Tourismdestinations therefore should attempt to achieve a lsquostatus arearsquo image ratherthan a lsquocommodity arearsquo one as illustrated in Figure 2 In the first case the desti-nation is heavily substitutable very sensitive to price and economic changeswhile consumers have a low awareness of any unique benefits or attributes of theregion Thus holidaymakers base their decision to visit the area merely on pricewhile the demand for the destination is incidental and destinations are unable toattract high spenders In contrast lsquostatus areasrsquo achieve intentional demand as aresult of the unique product attributes perceived by the tourism market Theseunique attributes may be genuine or imagined and thus a destination isregarded as irreplaceable increasing consumersrsquo loyalty and willingness to payGilbert (1990 24ndash5) asserts that destinations should attempt to become lsquostatusareasrsquo in order to improve their image loyalty and economic benefits

A third strategic approach is proposed by Poon (1987 1988 1989 1990 1993)based on the concept of lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo of the tourism business Inessence Poon examines the industry processes and proposes a strategy to enabletourism organisations to improve their competitiveness Poon argues that lsquoflexi-ble specialisationrsquo is a strategy of lsquopermanent innovationrsquo and lsquoceaseless changersquowhich provides for the lsquonew tourismrsquo This new tourism is flexible segmentedcustomised to the touristrsquos needs and diagonally integrated In contrast the oldtourism can be characterised as lsquomass standardised and rigidly packagedrsquo(Poon 1989 91ndash3)

466 Current Issues in Tourism

STRATEGIC ADVANTAGE

Perceived product uniqueness Cost advantage

TARGETMARKET

Industrywide Differentiation Cost Leadership

Particularsegmentsonly

Differentiation Focus Cost Focus

Figure 1 Porterrsquos three generic strategiesSource Porter 1980 39

The main sources of flexibility for service firms lie in the organisationmanagement marketing distribution and other forms of interaction andinterrelationships among guests hotels suppliers distributors What isimportant however is not each of these stand alone aspects but how theyare coupled to create competitive advantages and hence capabilities tomove with the market (Poon 1988 24)

Examination of these three main strategies illustrates that they share a similarbase Porterrsquos lsquodifferentiationrsquo Gilbertrsquos lsquostatus arearsquo and Poonrsquos lsquoflexiblespecialisationrsquo describe the attempt undertaken by firms and tourist destinationsto achieve value competitive advantages In contrast the lsquocost leadershiprsquo lsquocom-modity arearsquo and the lsquostandardisation or Fordism production modelrsquo describethe effort to achieve lsquocost competitive advantagersquo where destinations andSMTEs offer their products for less than their competitors In the first caseconsumers perceive the product as unique and are willing to pay a premiumwhile in the second case the decision is merely based on price Thus the classicalstrategic decision of lsquolow volume-high profit marginrsquo or lsquohigh volume-low profitmarginrsquo is the underlying concept of the two alternative strategies

Both Gilbert and Poon agree that destinations should aim to achieve lsquostatusarearsquo or niche orientation through differentiation in order to increase consumersatisfaction as well as to maximise the benefits for both regions and SMTEs As aresult Greek tourism and SMTEs need to focus towards the differentiation strat-egy define their niche markets and serve them accordingly This strategy isalready adopted in several resort areas such as Valencia in Spain where it isrecognised that the need for diversification and differentiation lsquohas now becomeessential owing to the level of competitiveness that has been attained (and can beforeseen) in the world tourist marketrsquo (Fayos-Sola 1992 49) Differentiation isalso particularly useful for insular destinations in microstates where a limitednumber of economic and financial resources are available (Wilkinson 1989 170)As most destinations consist of SMTEs networks there is an overlap betweentheir strategic orientations and therefore the above analysis is applicable to boththe Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Destinations implementing a lsquostatus arearsquo strategy can enhance the satisfac-tion of tourists as well as their competitiveness The formulation of unique and

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 467

CommodityArea

Statusarea

Willingness topay higher prices

StatusArea

Product attributes Product attributes

CommodityArea

Figure 2 Gilbertrsquos differentiation strategySource Adapted from Gilbert 1990 25

customised products by using flexibility and cooperation also increases touristsrsquowillingness to pay and wins their loyalty while it responds to the new tourismdemand trends However the proposed strategy should not be seen as an excusefor SMTEs and destinations not to attempt to improve their efficiency and mini-mise their production costs Although the unique service for touristsrsquo needs shouldbe their priority offering perceived value for money would determine theircompetitiveness in the marketplace As a result all Greek resorts and SMTEsshould assess their assets and strengths for serving specific target markets takingadvantage of their small size which facilitates flexibility and specialisation

It is quite apparent that the cost advantage strategy has to be avoided inmanagement of tourism destinations as regions need to preserve their scarceenvironmental and sociocultural resources and achieve sustainable develop-ment As cost advantage is based on mass production and consumption itassumes an unlimited production capacity which is inapplicable in the tourismindustry The inseparability of the tourism product determines that consumersshould be present at the time of product delivery and when combined with tour-ism seasonality it generates demand peaks which drain destinationsrsquo scarceenvironmental sociocultural resources The lsquohigh volume-low profit marginrsquostrategy has therefore harmful social and environmental impacts on destina-tions Destinations have maximum carrying capacities beyond which both thewelfare of local populations and the satisfaction of tourists are jeopardisedAlthough economic benefits can also be achieved by using the lsquocommodity arearsquoor the lsquostandard product modelrsquo it is argued that these approaches reduce tour-istsrsquo satisfaction and their willingness to pay and are opposed to the demandtrend towards individualisation

Unfortunately however some destinations can no longer be positioned asirreplaceable unique products due to their overdevelopment Tourism supplyhas exceeded the carrying capacity of these resorts and their product hasreached the saturation or decline phase of their life-cycle Several Spanish costasand some Greek resorts such as Benitses Kavos Faliraki Malia Hersonissos andNidri (Josephides 1994) have been overdeveloped to such an extent that only alsquohigh-volume low-profit marginrsquo strategy is feasible When resorts reach theirsaturation level only a lsquocost leadershiprsquo or lsquomass productionrsquo strategy can beproposed as they are unable to provide any specific lsquotourist product benefitrsquo Theattraction of the lower end of the market is inevitable and as a consequence thereare no alternative strategies The minimisation of further sociocultural and envi-ronmental damage as well as attempts to improve the surrounding environmentshould also be a primary objective of both tourism destinations and SMTEs in thiscase The ultimate aim should be to regenerate the resources of the area and torelaunch the tourism destination to attract specific markets which will be willing topay a higher price for the destination

Strategic directions objectives and tasks for Greek tourism and SMTEsTable 8 presents three pivotal strategic directions which are identified in order

to stimulate the competitiveness of both Greek tourism and SMTEs This sectionillustrates how the aforementioned grand strategy can be implemented for tour-ist destinations and SMTEs through a number of strategic directions objectivesand tasks as presented in Table 9

468 Current Issues in Tourism

Enhancing the satisfaction of tourists and delighting the customer are pivotalto ensuring the well-being of Greek destinations and SMTEs in the long term andthus the entire range of tourism service providers should aim to delight theirclients As a result of the tourism product integration consumer satisfactioncannot be achieved by independent businesses separately but by the entirenetwork of SMTEs in Greek destinations The improvement in services isperhaps the most important strategic objective Consistency of promises throughstandardisation of service delivery and implementation of a total qualitymanagement philosophy throughout the industry are essential strategic tasks forachieving this objective while flexibility in service delivery and improvementsin training are critical In line with the grand strategy the production oftailor-made tourism products should be ensured in order to satisfy the specificneeds of particular niches and the requirements of the emerging new tourismdemand Product augmentation would enable also the Greek tourism product toexceed the expectations of consumers and hence enhance their satisfaction Lifestyle segmentation would enable Greek tourism and SMTEs to design appropri-ate tourism products As tourist demand elasticity has increasingly becomedoubtful in recent years the price of the holiday is no longer considered to be themost important attribute in the decision-making process Consequently theGreek tourism industry should concentrate on providing value for money at allprice levels as well as offering at least whatever they have promised to theconsumer

Supporting the long-term competitiveness and profitability of Greek tour-ism and SMTEs is by far the most important strategic objective for the tourismindustry The first strategic objective for every SMTE has to be the increase inrevenue by maximising its occupancy or load factors and the rates it achievesThe lengthening of the operating season as well as the identification of newmarkets and the penetration into existing ones and the effective utilisation ofdistribution channels will contribute to this strategic direction Higher ratescan be achieved by targeting specialised and smaller tour operators attractingalternative types of tourists and expanding the distribution channels mix aswell as by attempting a certain degree of lsquodisintermediationrsquo by encouragingdirect sales to outgoing travel agencies or consumers Aggressive marketingand establishment of partnerships with other enterprises should be essentialfunctions of Greek tourism and SMTEs Motivation of lsquofront-of-housersquo employ-ees as salesmen and sale incentives would also increase average spending percustomer The use of CRSs and destination management systems may also bean appropriate method for achieving higher prices and better occupancy rates(Buhalis 1994) Finally yield management techniques should be utilised by alltypes of SMTEs to assist them in pricing and maximising revenue Cost control

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 469

Table 8 Pivotal strategic dimensions for Greek tourism

(1) Enhance the satisfaction of tourists and delight the customer(2) Strengthen the long-term profitability and competitiveness of Greek tourism and

SMTEs(3) Develop Greek destinations sustainably and ensure prosperity of host population

470 Current Issues in Tourism

Table 9 Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Strategic directions Strategic objectives Strategic tasks

1 Enhance the sat-isfaction of tour-ists and delightthe customer

11 Improvement of services a Standardisation of service de-livery

b Development of quality controlsystems

c Consistency of promisesd Improvements in operational

managemente Flexibility in services deliveryf Training and education im-

provementsg Smile and personal relation-

shipsh Augmentation of tourism

producti Total quality management

12 Specialisation of tourismproduct

a Niche marketingb Lifestyle targeting

13 Value for money a Quality at each price level

2 Strengthen thelong-term com-petitiveness andprofitability ofGreek tourismand SMTEs

21 Increase revenue a Increase tourist volumesb Target new markets and pene-

tration in existing marketsc Use yield managementd Expand distribution channel

mixe Aggressive marketingf Achieve high average spending

per customerg Select high-quality specialised

tour operatorsh Attract alternative types of

tourismi Use alternative distribution

channelsj Motivate front-of-house em-

ployees as salesmen

22 Cost control and rationalmanagement

a Standardise service deliveryb Increase productivityc Reduce labour costsd Rationalise supplies manage-

mente Educationtraining for manag-

ers and employeesf Use of new technologyg Integrate service delivery

within SMTEs

23 Human resources man-agement

a Internal marketingb Empowermentc Satisfactory salary and working

conditionsd Long-term relations with em-

ployeese Motivation and rewards

and rational management is the second strategic objective needed to increaseefficiency and profitability of both Greek destinations and SMTEs in the longterm Standardisation of the service delivery process and minimisation of thelabour cost through better operational management would be primary recom-mendations Managers and employees should improve their productivity andmarketing skills by intensive training In addition the rationalisation of supplymanagement and the use of new technology is expected to reduce operationalcosts Finally integration of service delivery enables SMTEs to provide comple-mentary services and achieve additional revenues without immense costs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 471

24 State and public tourismorganisation support

a Destination development andcontrol

b Incentives policies for improve-ment

c Attract European Union assis-tance

d Promotional activitye Provide financial resources

3 Develop Greekdestinationssustainably andensure prosper-ity of host popu-lation

31 Environmental protection a Carrying capacity identificationb Zoning system applicationc Architecture preservationd Installation of sewage treat-

ment systemse Reduction of noise pollutionf Natural supplies management

32 Infrastructure ameliora-tion

a Accessibility improvementsb Telecommunication improve-

mentsc Public facilities advancements

33 Transportation improve-ments

a Improvement of local timeta-bles

b Punctuality and reliabilityc Improvements of vehiclesd Flexibility to meet demand

needs

34 Economic integration a Integration with raw materialproduction

b Utilisation of local labour forcec Integration of tourism servicesd Diagonal integration of destina-

tionrsquos economy

35 Equitable return on re-sources utilised

a Establish mechanism forreinvestments

b Provide services for hostcommunity

c Invest in sustainability ofresources

d Ensure equity in distributionof wealth produced

Source Adapted from Buhalis 1991 83a

Table 9 (cont) Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Human resources management is crucial in the delivery process of tourismproducts The concept of lsquointernal marketingrsquo where employees are perceivedand treated as lsquointernal customersrsquo has to be utilised in order to ensure theirsatisfaction As Berry (1981 34) states lsquothe satisfaction of the needs and wants ofthe internal customers can upgrade their capacity for satisfying the needs andwants of their external customersrsquo and as a consequence it can contribute to thecompetitiveness and profitability of Greek tourism and SMTEs Satisfactorysalary and working conditions are prerequisites for the well-being of SMTEsrsquoemployees Long-term relationships between employees and SMTEs minimiseturnover enabling a better performance while they reduce recruitment andtraining costs Empowerment would enable employees to be involved in themanagement of SMTEs and authorise them to respond more efficiently toconsumer requests while contributing to their job satisfaction Finally thesupport of the GNTO is vital for the long-term survival of SMTEs Apart fromthe improvement in infrastructure the GNTO is expected to hold the strategicresponsibility of the destination as well as to regulate the competition in orderto enable smaller enterprises to survive Incentive policies need to reflect thespecific requirements of each resort and enable development or improvementof certain types of enterprises The GNTO is also instrumental in attractingassistance from European development funds while it should also coordinatethe majority of Greek tourism promotional activity A promotional mix whichmaximises the effectiveness of the communication message needs to be drawnwhile budgets need to be available at the time consumers go through their deci-sion-making process in order to influence their choice of destination Finally theneed for the public sector to provide affordable financial resources for SMTEs ishighlighted by the EU (EC 1993b 73)

The third strategic direction for Greek tourism and SMTEs should be thesustainable development of destinations and local areas not only for the hostpopulation but also because this is vital for both consumer satisfaction and theprofitability of SMTEs Although in most cases SMTEs are unable to incorporatethese types of strategic objectives and tasks on their own they can initiate aframework of necessary actions for sustainable destination developmentthrough their associations Environmental protection is naturally the mostimportant strategic objective as consumersrsquo environmental consciousness hasbeen raised recently Carrying capacity limits should be identified and strictregulations and guidelines for tourism development need to be drawn A zoningsystem should be implemented in order to locate tourism activities according tothe geographical morphology of the destination In addition natural resourcesmanagement is necessary as tourism demand may exhaust the resources andespecially the water supplies The installation of sewage treatment systems andthe reduction of noise pollution should be considered especially for resortswhich suffer the consequences of these problems In addition infrastructureamelioration must be one of the primary objectives as it is an essential prerequi-site for both consumersrsquo satisfaction and SMTEsrsquo development The improve-ment of accessibility public services as well as telecommunications facilities is acrucial factor Transportation is also significant in increasing both consumersatisfaction and profitability of SMTEs as it determines whether consumers canaccess the destination easily while it also provides the first impression to tour-

472 Current Issues in Tourism

ists Improvements of timetables and services reliability increasing transporta-tion capacity and an enhancement of the fleet in terms of speed cleanliness andleisure facilities are all required Furthermore greater flexibility is needed bytransportation operators in order to meet demand needs Economic integrationcan improve the economic and social benefits of tourism in the region and theefficiency of SMTEs Ultimately tourism should be utilised as the catalyst andmajor stimulant for regional development Tourism enterprises should makeevery effort to use local raw materials and labour in order to maximise the multi-plier effects within Greece Diagonal integration of destinationsrsquo economy can beachieved by rearranging the goods and service production in order to supportthe tourism industry demand and thus minimise imports Finally SMTEs andtourism organisations need to offer a fair return-on-resources utilised back to thehost community A mechanism should be established in order to reinvest part ofthe revenues in the sustainability of resources provide services for the hostcommunity such as education training health services and generally ensureequity in distribution of wealth produced from local resources As the privatesector cannot be expected to behave altruistically towards the host communitythe GNTO and other public-sector departments should probably utilise regula-tion and taxation for this purpose

Conclusion Greek Tourism Needs a Long Overdue Master Planand Comprehensive Policy

The emerging international tourism competition the hitherto mass tourismorientation of the industry the transformation of demand the development ofthe volume of tourists visiting the dependence upon intermediaries for thedistribution of the tourism product in the major target markets the lack of a widerange of managerial skills by Greek tourism entrepreneurs and the lack of acomprehensive tourism policy or Master Plan by the public sector has led thecompetitiveness of Greece tourism to decline This has several unfavourableimplications for the profitability of the private sector as well as numerous nega-tive economic sociocultural and environmental impacts for the host populationAs a result the return on resources utilised for the production of Greek tourismservices is inadequate and the sustainability of Greece as a major tourism desti-nation is rapidly becoming doubtful Based on a strategic analysis the paper illu-minates the strategic weaknesses and structural problems of both the private andpublic sectors and demonstrates that a rationalisation of the tourism industry isurgently required Consequently a grand strategy as well as a wide range of stra-tegic directions objectives and tasks are proposed for both Greece as an entityand its SMTEs Although no quantitative targets are set in this paper it isexpected that each destination will analyse its resources and adapt its strategicplanning accordingly

The GNTO is urged to rationalise its strategy and to draw up a Master Plan anda comprehensive strategy for the entire country and for each resort where a strategywould be adopted based on quantifiable objectives and tasks Extensive researchneeds to be undertaken by using credible measurement methodologies such asInput-Output models and multipliers analysis not only for the economic but alsofor the social cultural and environmental impacts (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Buhalis

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 473

amp Fletcher 1995) A holistic tourism management system is demanded to facilitatethe development and implementation of the tourism strategy through funds allo-cation and monitoring land use control and examination of tourism public- andprivate-sector practices A thorough examination of tourism impacts in eachregion would be a prerequisite for tourism planning as it will establish andprovide scientific backing to strategic targets Komilis (1994 71) explains thatalthough the various levels of planning (sectoral nationalEU spatial or regional)are not mutually exclusive but rather complementary the regional level planningis more suitable for drawing sustainable strategies especially for areas withdissimilar needs like the Greek destinations The regional planning should lsquocon-tribute to the maximisation of regional development benefits in a way that utilisesand mobilises the regional resource base realises regional inter-sectoral linkagesand is compatible with regional economic interests societal values and environ-mental assetsrsquo It should also take into consideration the uniqueness of insulareconomies as well as the cultural and environmental resources of each particularregion and the complexity of rural and urban functions The planning processshould encourage the complementarity and coexistence of economic activitiesrather than promote sectoral separation and single-sector developments In addi-tion it needs to improve the balance between regional self-sufficiency anddependence upon external inputs and finally it should promote integration withinthe European Union

The public sector has to play its long overdue role as regulator coordinatorinfrastructure provider and promoter of the destination while a multi-integrationof the tourism industry with all the involved bodies in the preparation distribu-tion and delivery of the tourism experience needs to be ensured (Wanhill 1993Hall 1994 Skoulas 1994 10 Stavrou 1988 46) The private sector also has an impor-tant role to play as it should improve the Greek tourism industry competitivenessby improving its managerial and labour force competencies enhancing the qualityof services designing appropriate marketing mixes to attract and satisfy targetmarkets and cooperating closely in order to achieve synergies and economies ofscale (Briassoulis 1993 300 Cooper amp Buhalis 1992) To reverse the vicious circleof decreasing quality is of critical importance for the Greek tourism industryBetter quality services would stimulate the competitiveness of the Greek tourismproduct strengthen its position in the international market provide principalswith distribution channel power enhance its customersrsquo willingness to pay andenable the industry to increase its prices improving the profitability at the microlevel and the economic impacts of tourism at the macrolevel Ultimately a diagonalintegration strategy for both Greek tourism and SMTEs should aim to delightconsumers enhance the long-term prosperity of SMTEs and improve the welfareof the host populations The Olympic Games in 2004 offer a unique opportunity toregenerate and rebrand Greek tourism a cause which the entire industry shouldchampion

The AuthorDimitrios Buhalis is Senior Lecturer and course leader MSc in tourism at theUniversity of Surrey He holds a BBA from the University of the Aegean as wellas an MSc and a PhD in tourism management from the University of Surrey Hisresearch interests focus on information systems and technology strategic

474 Current Issues in Tourism

management distribution channels of tourism destination management andplanning and destination integrated computer information reservation manage-ment systems

AcknowledgementsThe author would like to acknowledge Prof C Cooper and Prof J Fletcher for

their invaluable contribution to this research Financial support from the SurreyResearch Group ConTours Consultants as well as field research sponsorshipsby the University of Surrey the Greek National Tourism Organisation and theUniversity of the Aegean are gratefully appreciated

Note1 An earlier version of this paper was published as a monograph PlanningDevelop-

ment by the International Centre for Research and Studies in TourismAix-en-Provence France

CorrespondenceAny correspondence should be directed to Dr Dimitrios Buhalis Senior

Lecturer in Business Information Management SMSSS University of SurreyGuildford GU2 7XH UK (dbuhalissurreyacuk)

ReferencesApostolopoulos T (1990) New strategy of tourism development (in Greek) Tourism and

Economy (November) 228ndash38Berry C (1981) The employee as customer Journal of Retail Banking 3 33ndash40Boniface B and Cooper C (1994) The Geography of Travel and Tourism (2nd edn) London

HeinemannBriassoulis H (1993) Tourism in Greece In W Pompl and P Lavery (eds) Tourism in

Europe Structures and Developments (pp285ndash301) Oxford CAB InternationalBuckley P and Papadopoulos S (1986) Marketing Greek tourism The planning process

Tourism Management 7 86ndash100Buhalis D (1991) Strategic marketing and management for the small and medium

tourism enterprises in the periphery of the European Community A case study for theAegean islands in Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Buhalis D (1994) Information and telecommunications technologies as a strategic tool forsmall and medium tourism enterprises in the contemporary business environment InA Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 254ndash75)England J Wiley and Sons

Buhalis D (1995) The impact of information telecommunications technologies on tourismdistribution channels Implications for the small and medium sized tourismenterprisesrsquo strategic management and marketing PhD Dissertation University ofSurrey Guildford

Buhalis D (2000a) Marketing the competitive destination of the future TourismManagement (Special Issue ndash The Competitive Destination) 21 (1) 97ndash116

Buhalis D (2000b) (forthcoming) Athens Tourism-Travel Intelligence LondonBuhalis D (2000c) Relationships in the distribution channel of tourism Conflicts between

hoteliers and tour operators in the Mediterranean region Journal of InternationalHospitality Leisure and Tourism Adminstration 1 (1) 113ndash39

Buhalis D and Diamantis D (2001 forthcoming) Tourism development andsustainability on the Greek archipelagos In G Apostolopoulos and D Ioannides (eds)Tourism in the Mediterranean Routledge

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 475

Buhalis D and Fletcher J (1995) Environmental impacts on tourism destinations Aneconomic analysis In H Coccosis and P Nijkamp (eds) Sustainable Tourism Development(pp 3ndash25) London Avebury

Camison C Bigne E and Monfort VM (1994) The Spanish tourism industry Analysisof its strategies and the efficacy and achievements gained from them In A Seaton et al(eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 442ndash52) England JWiley and Sons

Castelberg-Koulma M (1991) Greek women and tourism Womenrsquos co-operatives as analternative form of organisation In N Redclift and T Sinclair (eds) Working WomenInternational Perspectives on Labour and Gender Ideology (pp 197ndash223) LondonRoutledge

Chitiris L (1991) Hotel Management (in Greek) Athens InterbooksCoccosis H and Parprairis A (1992) Assessing the interactions between environment

and tourism Case study of the island of Mykonos Paper presented in the IV WorldCongress of Regional Science International University of Balearic Islands Palma deMallorca 26ndash9 May

Conway H (1996) Greece Travel Weekly 1308 39ndash43Cooper C and Buhalis D (1992) Strategic management and marketing of small and

medium sized tourism enterprises in the Greek Aegean islands In R Teare D Adamsand S Messenger (eds) Managing Projects in Hospitality Organisations (pp 101ndash25)London Cassell

Daskalantonakis N (1994) Quality ndash The future of tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (3 July)D9

Divanis A (1994b) Tourism policy Left on its own luck (in Greek) XENIA (October)4ndash5

Donatos G and Zairis P (1991) Seasonality of foreign tourism in the Greek islands ofCrete Annals of Tourism Research 18 515ndash19

Douvitsas P (1994) Marketing Greece through British tour operators A futureperspective MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Drakatos C (1987) Seasonal concentration of tourism in Greece Annals of Tourism Research14 582ndash6

EC (1993a) Microeconomic Analysis of the Tourism Sector A study by the pH Group forEuropean Commission DGXXIII (September) Report XXIII30394-EN BrusselsEuropean Commission

EC (1993b) Growth competitiveness employment The challenges and ways forward intothe 21st century Bulletin of the European Communities Supplement 693 (White Paper)Luxembourg

Economist (1993) Last Chance Sisyphus A survey of Greece Economist (22 May) 2ndash22EIU (1986) Greece (pp 45ndash60) International tourist reports National Report No 3EIU (1990) Greece (pp 45ndash62) International tourist reports National Report No 4EIU (1993) Greece ndash Country Profile 1992ndash1993 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEIU (1994) Greece ndash Country Profile 1994ndash1995 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEpilogi (1994) Economic review ndash The Greek Economy 1994 (in Greek) AthensEuromonitor (1992) Tourism in Greece Market Research Europe (25 May) 51ndash63Fayos-Sola E (1992) A Strategic Outlook for Regional Tourism Policy The White Paper

on Valencian Tourism Tourism Management 13 45ndash9Fotis J (1992) Vacational lifestyle segmentation of tourists on the island of Rhodes

Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey GuildfordGilbert D (1984) The need for countries to differentiate their tourist product and how to

do so Seminar papers for Ministers of Tourism and Directors of National TouristOrganisations Tourism Managing for Results University of Surrey Guildford

Gilbert D (1990) Strategic marketing planning for national tourism Tourist Review 45 (1)18ndash27

GNTO (1985a) Survey of attributes of foreign tourists 1984ndash1985 (in Greek) Greek NationalStatistical Services Athens GNTO

476 Current Issues in Tourism

GNTO (1985b) EOT-Tourism rsquo85 Development ndash Participation ndash Quality of Life (in Greek)Greek National Statistical Services Athens GNTO

GNTO (1989a) Annual report 1988 ndash Forecast 89 Towards Quality Athens GNTOGNTO (1989b) The study of tourism promotion With special reference to the measures to

increase Japanese tourists to Greece Draft final report Japan InternationalCooperation Agency

GNTO (1993) Tourism towards the 2000 (in Greek) Greek National Tourism OrganisationAthens GNTO

Hall M (1994) Tourism and Politics Policy Power and Place J Wiley and SonsHorwath (annual) The Greek Hotel Industry (in Greek) Annual reports Pireus HorwathJenner P and Smith C (1993) Tourism in the Mediterranean Research report London

Economist Intelligence UnitJosephides N (1993) Environmental Concern ndash Whatrsquos In It for the Tourism Industry (pp 51ndash6)

Proceedings of the conference Tourism and the environment Challenges and choicesfor the 1990rsquos 16ndash17 November 1992 Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre LondonBrussels European Union

Josephides N (1994) Tourism analysis Presentation in Philoxenia international tourismexhibition Thessaloniki Greece

Josephides N (1995) A sorry state for beautiful Greece Travel Weekly 1261 (5 April)11Kalogeropoulou H (1993) Greece ndash Prospects for the tourism industry within the context

of the European Single Market of 1993 Tourism Review 48 (1) 2ndash4Kassimati K Thanopoulou M and Tsartas P (1994) Womenrsquos Employment in the

Tourist Sector Study of the Greek Labour Market and Identification of Future ProspectsDGV Equal Opportunities Unit Document V40994-EN European CommissionBrussels

Komilis P (1987) Spatial analysis of tourism in Greece (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planningand Economic Research

Komilis P (1992) The spatial structure of tourism and physical planning practices inGreece Paper presented in conference Tourism and environment Issues ofpolicyplanningmanagement 23ndash4 October University of the Aegean Dept ofEnvironment Lesvos

Komilis P (1993) Values in the Tourism Planning and Policy Making Process (pp 224ndash9)Proceedings of the conference Values and the environment 23ndash4 September GuildfordUniversity of Surrey

Komilis P (1994) Tourism and sustainable regional development In A Seaton et al (eds)Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 65ndash73) England JWiley andSons

Konsolas N and Zacharatos G (1993) Regionalization of tourism activity in GreeceProblems and policies In H Briassoulis and J Van der Straaten (eds) Tourism andEnvironment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 57ndash65) Dordrecht Kluer AcademicPublisher

Kousis M (1989) Tourism and the family in a rural Cretan community Annals of TourismResearch 16 318ndash32

Kriebardis S and Marmagiolis I (1990) Tourism Activity in Greece Problems and Perspectives(pp 45ndash54) (in Greek) Economic Report of Commercial Bank AprilndashJune AthensCommercial Bank

Ktenas S (1994) Hoteliers ask for 15 to 20 increases for 1995 (in Greek) TO BHMA (3July) D9

Ktenas S (1996) Crisis in Greek tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (7 April) D16Leontidou L (1991) Greece Prospects and contradictions of tourism in the 1980rsquos In AM

Williams and GJ Shaw (eds) Tourism and Economic Development Western EuropeanExperiences (2nd edn) (pp 94ndash106) London Belhaven Press

Logothetis M (1990) The Economy of Dodekanisos During 1988ndash1989 Developments andPerspectives (in Greek) Rhodes Regional association of municipalities of Dodekanisos

Logothetis M (1992) Touristiki Sigkiria (in Greek) Rhodes Institute of Tourist and HotelResearch

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 477

Loukissas P (1977) The impact of tourism on regional development A comparativeanalysis of the Greek islands PhD Dissertation Cornell University USA

Loukissas P (1982) Tourismrsquos regional development impacts A comparative analysis ofthe Greek islands Annals of Tourism Research 9 523ndash43

Marinos P (1983) Small island tourism-the case of Zakynthos in Greece TourismManagement 4 212ndash15

Moore R (1992) From shepherds to shopkeepers The development of tourism in a centralGreek town PhD Dissertation University of California at Berkeley USA

Moore R (1995) Gender and alcohol use in a Greek tourist town Annals of Tourism Research22 300ndash13

Mourdoukoutas P (1988) Seasonal employment seasonal unemployment andunemployment compensation The case of the tourism industry of the Greek islandsAmerican Journal of Economics and Sociology 47 315ndash29

NSSG (l983) Tourism Statistics 1981 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (l985) Tourism Statistics 1982ndash1983 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1987) Tourism Statistics 1984ndash1985 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1990) Tourism Statistics 1986ndash1987 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1993) Tourism Statistics 1988ndash1990 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceOECD (1992) Greece Tourism Policy and International Tourism in OECD Member Countries (pp

70ndash8) Paris OECDOttaway M (1992) Turtle power Sunday Times Travel and Style (28 June)Ottaway M (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 1 Sunday Times (17 January)

57ndash59Panagiotopoulou R (1990) The problem and perspectives of the European insular regions

(in Greek) Working paper University of the Aegean ChiosPapadimitris G (1988) Short run and long run prospects of the Greek tourism industry

PhD Dissertation University of Manchester ManchesterPapadopoulos S (1985) An economic analysis of foreign tourism in Greece An

examination of the growth and structure of foreign tourism to Greece 1960ndash1984 with aplanning model and marketing policy recommendations PhD Thesis University ofBradford Management Centre Bradford

Papadopoulos S (1987) Strategic marketing techniques in international tourismInternational Marketing Review (summer) 71ndash84

Papadopoulos S (1988a) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (1) 29ndash30

Papadopoulos S (1988b) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (2) 24ndash7

Papadopoulos S (1989) Greek marketing strategies in the Europe tourism market ServiceIndustries Journal 9 297ndash314

Papadopoulos S and Mirza H (1985) Foreign tourism in Greece An economic analysisTourism Management 6 125ndash37

Papandropoulos A (1995) The crisis in tourism is evident (in Greek) OikonomikosTachydromos (29 June) 26ndash8

Papanikos G (1999) The year 2004 olympic games and their influence upon the Greektourism (in Greek) ITEP (Research Institute for Tourism) Athens

Paulopoulos P (1999) The Size and Dynamics of the Tourism Sector (in Greek) ResearchInstitute for Tourism Athens

Peterson C (1990) Greece tackles overbuilding in tourism areas EnvironmentalConservation 17 166ndash8

Plevris V (1995) Alarm bells from the Hellenic Federation of Hotels (in Greek) XENIA128 (May) 6ndash7

Poon A (1987) Information technology and innovation in international tourism ndashimplications for the Caribbean tourism industry PhD thesis Science Policy ResearchUnit University of Sussex Brighton

Poon A (1988) Flexible specialisation and small size ndash the case of Caribbean tourism DRCDiscussion Paper 57 SPRU Brighton University of Sussex

478 Current Issues in Tourism

Poon A (1989) Competitive strategies for new tourism In C Cooper (ed) Progress inTourism Recreation and Hospitality Management (vol 1) (pp 91ndash102) London BelhavenPress

Poon A (1990) Flexible specialisation at small size The case of Caribbean tourism WorldDevelopment 18 109ndash23

Poon A (1993) Tourism Technology and Competitive Strategies Oxford CAB InternationalPorter M (1980) Competitive Strategy Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors

New York Free PressPorter M (1985) Competitive Advantage Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance New

York Free PressPorter M (1990) The Competitive Advantage of Nations New York Free PressPrurier E Sweeney A and Geen A (1993) Tourism and the environment The case of

Zakynthos Tourism Management 14 137ndash9Psoinos P (1994a) Research on the foreign touristsrsquo attributes in Greece (in Greek) Athens

Greek National Tourism OrganisationPsoinos P (1994b) Research on the attributes of foreigners who have never visited Greece (in

Greek) Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationRichter-Papaconstantinou C (1992) Tourism development of Rhodes Cahiers du Tourisme

(Serie B) 67 Aix en Provence Centre des Hautes Eacutetudes TouristiquesRomanos A (1998) Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites (in Greek) Athens

Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites SASETE (1993) Tourism Developments and problems (in Greek) Athens Association of Greek

Tourism EnterprisesSezer H and Harrison A (1994) Tourism in Greece and Turkey An economic view for

planners In A Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposiumpp74ndash84 England Wiley and Sons

Skoulas N (1985) Holidays and travel in the year 2035 ndash Contribution of the NationalTourist Organisation of Greece SDI Schriftey Wirtschafts und Unternehmenspolitik 40181ndash99

Skoulas N (1994) Quality improvement of tourism services (in Greek) Paper presentedin the conference Competitiveness of tourism enterprises ndash the role of quality 1 AprilHoliday Inn Athens Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises

Smith C and Jenner P (1995) Greece International Tourism Reports 3 5ndash21Stavrou S (1978) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Kos Island (in Greek) Research and

Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationStavrou S (1979) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Mykonos and Naxos Islands (in

Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1980) Research on Tourism Awareness on the Islands Kalymnos and Leros (in Greek)Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1984) Tourism Development in Greece during 1969ndash1982 (in Greek) Research andDevelopment Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986a) Research for the Characteristics of Foreign Tourist Demand in Greece in theYears 8485 (in Greek) Research Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1986b) Research on the Tourism Awareness on Paros Santorini Kythira Islands (inGreek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986c) Critical Review of Tourism Activity in the Years 8385 (in Greek) Researchand Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1988) Tourism in the Northern Aegean Islands Presentation of GNTO for the TourismDevelopment of the Periphery (in Greek) Proceedings of the first conference for thedevelopment of the Northern Aegean islands Homereum cultural centre Chios 11November Chios Periphery of Northern Aegean islands

Stavrou S (1989a) GNTO Presentation for the Tourism Development Possibilities for theSouthern Aegean Islands (in Greek) Conference for the development of Southern Aegean

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 479

islands Syros 30 September ndash 2 OctoberStavrou S (1989b) The Contribution of the Development Law 126282 in the Development of the

Country (in Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A5 Athens GreekNational Tourism Organisation

Stereopoulos N (1995) It is regarded ideal it became problematic (in Greek) OikonomikosTachidromos (21 December) 151ndash3

Touloupas P (1996) Greece as a tourist destination for the British tour operators Ananalysis from a marketing perspective in the particular context of the United KingdomMSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Tourismos ke Oikonomia (1993) 20 years 1973ndash1993 (in Greek) Special Issue AthensTourismos ke Oikonomia (1994) ICAP tourism enterprises Drastic reduction of loses in 1993

(in Greek) December 14ndash15Touristiki Agora (various issues) (Monthly tourism industry periodical in Greek) Business

Press AthensTruett D and Truett L (1987) The response of tourism to international economic

conditions Greece Mexico and Spain Journal of Developing Areas 21 177ndash90Tsartas P (1989) Socioeconomic Impacts of Tourism Development in Cyclades Region with Special

Reference on Ios and Serifos Islands During 1950ndash1980 (in Greek) Athens National Centrefor Social Research

Tsartas P (1992) Socioeconomic impacts of tourism on two Greek isles Annals of TourismResearch 19 516ndash33

Van Den Bergh J (1993) Tourism development and natural environment Aneconomicndashecological model for the Sporades islands In H Briassoulis and J Van DerStraaten (eds) Tourism and Environment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 67ndash83)Dordrecht Kluer Academic Publishers

Velissariou E (1991) Die Wirtschaftlichen Effekte des Tourismus Dargestell am Beispiel Kretas(The Economic Impacts of Tourism on Crete) PhD Dissertation University of MunichFrankfurt Peter Lang

Vernikos N (1987) The study of Mediterranean small islands Emerging theoreticalissues Ekistics 54 (323ndash4) 101ndash9

Wanhill S (1993) Government organisations In C Cooper J Fletcher D Gilbert and SWanhill (eds) Tourism Principle and Practice (pp 145ndash60) London Pitman

Wickens D (1994) Consumption of the authentic The hedonistic tourist in Greece In ASeaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 819ndash25)England JWiley and Sons

Wickens E (2000) Rethinking touristsrsquo experiences In M Robinson et al (eds) MotivationsBehaviour and Tourist Types (pp 455ndash72) Business Education Publishers Sunderland

Wickers D (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 2 Sunday Times 57ndash510Wilkinson PF (1989) Strategies for tourism in islands microstates Annals of Tourism

Research 16 153ndash77XENIA (various issues) (Monthly bulletin of the Greek Hotel Chamber in Greek) AthensZacharatos G (1984) Tourismus und Wirtschafts-Struktur Dargestellt am Beispiel

Griechenlands Europaische Hochschulschriften Reihex Band 7 Frankfurt am MainZacharatos G (1986) Tourism consumption (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planning and

Economic ResearchZacharatos G (1988) The simplistic empiricism Tourism policy and the time of crisis

(1992) (in Greek) Sychrona Themata 11 (May) 21ndash6Zacharatos G (1989) The problems and perspectives of tourism in Greece (in Greek) In H

Katsoulis T Giannitsis and P Kazakos (eds) Politics and Society Economy and ForeignRelationships (pp 273ndash89) Athens Papazisis

Zacharatos G (1993) The necessity of multimedia use in the tourism education in Greece(in Greek) Paper presented at the international conference Overcomingisolation-telematics and regional development University of the Aegean Chios 30April ndash 2 May

480 Current Issues in Tourism

Page 14: Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challengescore.ac.uk/download/pdf/101686.pdf · Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challenges Dimitrios Buhalis School of Management

rial problems often arise Lack of strategic and operational managementknow-how generates inconsistency in the creation and delivery of tourism prod-ucts This has direct implications for consumersrsquo satisfaction and the projectedimage of the industry There is often a complete lack of strategic vision and enter-prises are often treated as an extension of proprietorsrsquo domestic environmentEntrepreneurs recruit family members and relatives as personnel and supplierseven though more appropriatequalified alternatives can be found in the market-place Therefore the management of SMTEs clearly projects the proprietorrsquosfamily life-style and decision-making processes onto an enterprise Marketing isanother significant weakness for most entrepreneurs and Greek resorts as they areoften completely unaware of the techniques available and thus follow a prod-uct-oriented rather than a consumer-orientated approach Consequently uncoor-dinated isolated trouble-shooting marketing activities are occasionallyundertaken rather than a consistent and well-planned marketing campaign Lackof marketing research debilitates knowledge of consumersrsquo needs and makes itdifficult to identify methods for improving services in order to meet consumersrsquoexpectations Inability to finance and execute advertising campaigns and otherpromotional techniques reduces their visibility in their markets These weak-nesses in combination with the fact that many entrepreneurs are unfamiliar withinformation technology (IT) add to the problems of SMTEs in promoting them-selves effectively Consequently both Greek SMTEs and destinations sufferfrom over-dependence on the tourism distribution channels to promote anddistribute their product In particular intermediaries and especially tour opera-tors have enormous power within the channel and are capable of determiningthe Greek tourism product marketing distribution and pricing mixes (Buhalis1995) Hence the marketing campaign and the visibility of Greek tourism to itsmain target markets are often determined by the coverage space photographsand description in tour operatorsrsquo brochures European tour operators alsocontrol accessibility to Mediterranean or long-haul destinations as they ownmost charter airlines which provide direct and inexpensive flights to these desti-nations

As most resorts are located in peripheral areas there is usually little economicdevelopment in the supplying sectors Therefore remote destinations have toimport essential raw and construction materials from elsewhere while SMTEsoften face transportation delivery and purchasing problems and excessivetransportation costs Moreover lack of economies of scale in purchasing rawmaterial low bargaining power and lack of advanced facilities are additionaloperational disadvantages This essentially means that SMTEs have to payhigher prices for products than their larger counterparts Lack of specialisedpersonnel and inadequate training procedures mean that human resourcesmanagement is a major weakness of Greek tourism In most SMTEs personnelhave to cover a wide range of positions a loose job description is usuallyprovided and multi-skilled personnel are required The labour turnover due tothe seasonality of the tourism industry reduces the availability of qualified andexperienced personnel and makes tourism product delivery not only variablebut also unprofessional The small size of operation provides little opportunityfor the division of tasks professional employees and proper training Since noquality standards are introduced service delivery varies according to the occu-

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 453

pancy service provider and timing Transportation and accessibility to remotedestinations may also be a weakness as most enterprises are located in periph-eral and often inaccessible regions SMTEs tend to feel frustrated because theyare unable to attract consumers simply because they cannot provide conve-nient reliable and affordable transportation The formulation of charter aircarriers by destination areas such as Turkey and Spain as well as the emergingderegulation policies in the European Union may diminish this problem in thenear future Moreover SMTEs face significant financial constraints as on theone hand they are required to invest in fixed assets at the beginning of theiroperations and on the other hand there is a discrimination against them byfinancial institutions since they normally have very few assets Consequentlythey are forced to accept unfavourable financial deals Finally the Greek tour-ism industry and SMTEs suffer from seasonality problems and have to produceadequate income within a limited period every year Lack of diversified invest-ment in other economic activities forces proprietors to work intensively in thepeak months and rest in the off-peak months while their pay-back period isinevitably unfavourable As the tourism industry becomes more professionalembraces quality management and responds to an increasingly discerningcustomer SMTEsrsquo typical lack of business expertise and minimal standardisa-tion may become an increasing liability especially for some target markets(Cooper amp Buhalis 1992 102)

Recent developments in the external environment present numerous opportu-nities for the Greek tourism industry and SMTEs Firstly the European Uniontakes several actions to support small and medium-sized enterprises (EC 1993b72) while it supports infrastructure development of peripheral regions andcontributes significantly to the prosperity of SMTEs The country is going througha major transformation as a result of several public projects supported by theEuropean Commission including the Attico Metro the new Athens Airport thedevelopment of the peripheral motorway Elefsina-Spata and the peripheralmotorway of Immitos The unification of the heritage sites and thepedestrianisation of the Athens city centre aims to develop an open archaeologi-cal park and deal with the traffic and pollution problems The Olympic Games in2004 provide a unique challenge and opportunity for the city and the country torebrand and redevelop itself and demonstrate its unparalleled heritage andcultural resources The Games also provide the resources and funding as well asa lsquodeadlinersquo for several infrastructural projects that were already scheduled butperhaps delayed In addition several projects are anticipated to improve thesuperstructure of the industry through both renovation of existing propertiesand through the development of new hotels and other facilities It is anticipatedthat the regeneration of the city and the country in general will provide majoropportunities for the attractiveness and competitiveness of the tourism industry(Buhalis 2000b Papanikos 1999 Romanos 1998)

It is anticipated that there will be a gradual redistribution of Europeanlabour providing support for each region to specialise in the production ofgoods and services where it can achieve competitive advantages Traditionallyremote and insular destinations where most Greek resorts and SMTEs arebased achieve a competitive advantage in tourism and therefore greatersupport is anticipated Greek tourism benefits from the continuous growth of

454 Current Issues in Tourism

global tourism demand as more people require holiday services while SMTEsare expected to increase their share as they tend to satisfy the emerging special-ised and sophisticated demand better than larger organisations Informationand telecommunication technologies can provide strategic tools for tourismdestinations and SMTEs enabling them to manage their product more effi-ciently disseminate information and establish a distribution mechanismthrough destination management systems (Buhalis 1994) New technologiesalso offer opportunities for developing innovative tourism products such asteleworking for tourists who would like to spend time working during theirstay at the destination Finally Greek tourism tends to achieve a cost advan-tage since it employs unpaid family members and operates in inexpensiveperipheral regions which often have a lower cost of living in comparison withmetropolitan areas

In terms of external threats environmental degradation through inappropriatewaste management and excessive usage of natural resources can be observedLack of know-how and funds effectively increases environmental problemsConsequently several resorts suffer severe damage while entrepreneurs and localauthorities feel powerless to take remedial measures Moreover oversupply oftourism service providers and lack of well-defined carrying capacity limits inseveral destinations have placed numerous Greek resorts and SMTEs in a disad-vantaged position as they cannot achieve sufficient income Similarly the concen-tration of power in fewer tourism industry enterprises through emergingglobalisation also threatens the ability of Greek SMTEs to survive as internationalvertically integrated tourism organisations acquire control over local enterprisesThe dependence upon channel partners for the promotion and distribution ofGreek tourism is exaggerated by the relatively low presence of Greek suppliers inthe major CRSs (Computer Reservation Systems) which is caused by the seasonal-ity and scale of the tourism production on the one hand and the tariffs of thesesystems on the other The issue of infrastructure is closely related to the oversup-ply which attracts higher demand than planned Destinations often have limitedinfrastructure provisions which fail to follow the pace of development generatingpressure on the existing inadequate facilities Finally the tourism industry suffersfrom its geographical proximity to the Balkans and the Middle East and as a conse-quence is often associated by consumers with wars and terrorism activities Greektourism and SMTEs have limited means of dealing with unfavourable situationsand thus are more vulnerable to their impacts Political intervention perhapsthrough the public sector decisions and the legislator framework often damagesthe prosperity of SMTEs As SMTEs have little lobbying power they have limitedinfluence over political decisions which determine their welfare

The SWOT analysis demonstrates quite clearly that the Greek tourism indus-try faces a wide range of problems and threats which will jeopardise its ability toprovide suitable tourism products in the future as well as its ability to make acontribution to the national welfare However several opportunities and chal-lenges emerge and they need to be addressed in order to strengthen the competi-tiveness of the industry Further analysis is therefore required in order to assessthe factors which generate these problems and also to identify ways to respond tothe challenges they present

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 455

Why Are We There and What Are the Implications StructuralProblems and Challenges

Despite its popularity and growth over the last 40 years the Greek tourismindustry has reached a stage where both its potential and competitiveness havebecome questionable

The seemingly unstoppable growth of this market contributed to a degreeof complacency which has led to Greece repeating some of the errors madein Spain Rapid price increases mean the country is no longer perceived bymass market clients as cheap in relation to comparable destinations in theMediterranean but much of the countryrsquos tourism infrastructure hastilybuilt in response to demand for cheap accommodation does not meet theneeds of a market less sensitive to price and more concerned with qualityand value for money (EIU 1990 45)

Richter-Papaconstantinou (1992 27) explains that tourism development inRhodes lsquotakes place without any Master Plan of the area respect of the landscapeand environment analysis whether there is demand and what the demand isafter regard to what is happening in similar situationsrsquo At the micro level theEuropean travel trade and intermediaries warn that the Greek tourism product isno longer competitive (Conway 1996 41 Touloupas 1996 Douvitsas 1994)whilst Chitiris (1991 148ndash150) outlines a range of managerial problems andmistakes in Greek resort hotels which diminish the quality of the tourismservices Hence unless the Greek tourism industry addresses a number of criticalissues immediately its future might be seriously jeopardised resulting in apotential catastrophe of the national economy The major structural problemsand challenges for the Greek tourism product can be summarised in Table 6

As a result Greece fails to attract the desired lsquohigh-quality high-expenditurersquotourists as it is increasingly unable to satisfy their requirements (Conway 199641) The deterioration of the tourism product and image leads to a lower willing-ness-to-pay by consumers which consequently leads to a further drop in qualityas the industry attempts to attract customers with lower prices This is a viciousspiral which has been destroying the essence of developing tourism in severalMediterranean destinations The concentration of bargaining power in Euro-pean distribution intermediaries and tour operators in particular in combina-tion with the inability of the Greek tourism industry to promote itself andestablish effective distribution mechanisms inevitably minimises the profitmargins of SMTEs and their ability to yield decent returns on their investmentAs a result touristsrsquo expenditure per capita in Greece gradually deteriorateswhile their volume increases (SETE 1993 35)

Thus the tourism policy often consisted in a lsquofreezingrsquo of the selling price ofthe tourist package abroad a measure which combined with the devalua-tion of the drachma and its continuous parity losses succeeded in securing alsquofictitious competitivenessrsquo for the Greek package This competitivenesshowever was seriously threatened each time there was an attempt at asubstantial increase because of important rises in cost elements(Kalogeropoulou 1993 2)

456 Current Issues in Tourism

The above issues illustrate that the Greek tourism product becomes increas-ingly incompetent Hence the inadequate lsquoproductrsquo lsquopromotionrsquo and lsquoplacersquo(distribution) elements of the tourism marketing mix reduce the willingness ofprospective consumers to pay and has disastrous implications for the pricingpolicies deteriorating the profitability of the SMTEs and the tourism economicimpacts on the destination

Ultimately the economic impacts of tourism in Greece become debatableespecially due to the inadequacy of tourism economic research and data whilethe destination has to bear the environmental social and cultural decay Encour-agingly articles in recent tourism industry publications acknowledge these chal-lenges and appreciate the dangers urging both the private and public sector totake action (Touristiki Agora Tourismos ke Oikonomia Travel News XENIA) as well

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 457

Table 6 Structural problems and challenges

Image of Greece as cheap simple unsophisticated undifferentiated sun-seadestination

Gradual deterioration of tourism product and lack of reinvestment in improvements

Increase of tourism arrivals but decrease of tourism expenditure per capita

Inadequacy of the Greek planning process

Dependence upon major tour operators for promotion and distribution

Plethora of anarchically developed and behaving SMTEs aiming at short-termprofitability

Inappropriate and ill-timed marketing campaign which has little effectiveness

Inadequacy of infrastructure to serve the ever-expanding demand

Lack of coordination at the destination and disrespect for touristsrsquo needs

Lack ofprofessionalism and training in both state andprivate tourism establishments

Individualistic behaviour by SMTEs and unwillingness to cooperate on adestination basis

Unsuccessful and inconsistent programmes of government intervention

Almost unregulated environment with nearly complete lack of control

Political intervention which allows exception policies and employment of unquali-fied staff

Development of tourism as a single regional development option

Oversupply of tourism amenities and fierce price competition

Failure of the private sector to invest in long-term projects

Deterioration of natural social and cultural resources

SMTEsrsquo inability to resist in global concentration of the tourism industry

Inadequate distribution mechanisms which generate overdependence onintermediaries

Failure of both the private and public sectors to learn from internationally gainedexperience in tourism development and marketing

Lack of tourism research to identify the impacts of tourism

Negligence with regard to new tourism demand challenges

as several influential members of the tourism industry (Josephides 1993 19941995 Skoulas 1994 Daskalantonakis 1994 Divanis 1994b Plevris 1995Papandropoulos 1995)

Political intervention limited research lack of tourism policy andplanning

Perhaps the largest obstacle in developing a competitive tourism industry inGreece has been the inconsistent and irrational political intervention Unfortunatelytourism has extensively been utilised as a political vehicle where each govern-ment uses it to gratify its political needs and friends This can be experienced in alllevels of recruitment in the public sector institutions as a change of government oreven minister results in immense changes throughout the GNTO as well as tomajor policies and regulations Thus in the last 35 years (since 1966) the leadershipof the GNTO has changed 28 times allowing each General Secretary to stay inoffice for an average of 138 months Political allies of each government use politi-cal pressure and intensive lobbying in order to achieve amendments in regula-tions incentive policies and business environment Hence the short-termprofitability and commercial interests of the friends and political allies of eachgovernment often overrule the long-term strategy and set an improper examplefor the entire industry These practices result in a great inconsistency in Greek tour-ism policy and disrupt its rationalisation Therefore a lsquodepolitisation of Greektourismrsquo towards a professionally managed public sector guided through acompromised strategic Master Plan is urgently required (Josephides 1995)

The limited existing scientific tourism research highlights the lack of comprehen-sive examination of tourism impacts in Greece while it illustrates that tourismpolicy is based on insufficient documentation (Zacharatos 1989 278 and 1988 22)Public sector research is almost non-existant while the authorities seem uninter-ested in consulting the Greek-tourism research produced by academics (for exam-ple Zacharatos 1984 1986 Komilis 1987 Loukissas 1977 Papadimitris 1988Papadopoulos 1985 Moore 1992 Tsartas 1989 Velissariou 1991 Fotis 1992Buhalis 1991 1995 2000c Buhalis amp Diamantis 2000) or the international tourismlsquobody of knowledgersquo (Zacharatos 1988 24) In addition tourism consumptionbeing characterised as a particular category of private consumption in the nationalaccounts it fails to reflect the real tourism impact on each economic sector Thusthe process of collecting information for tourism expenditure in Greece preventsthe assessment of tourism expenditure impacts on the national and regional econ-omy and therefore cannot be used in drawing scientifically founded tourismpolicy (Zacharatos 1989 277 Konsolas amp Zacharatos 1993 58) Consequentlytourism policy follows conventional wisdom and concentrates on attracting alarger volume of tourists ignoring scientific methods to assess the economicsocial cultural and environmental impacts of each tourism segment assumingthat the greater the tourism volume the better for the national economy

The lack of a comprehensive and rational tourism policy and planning or a MasterPlan for Greek tourism is primarily responsible for the aforementioned structuralproblems Policy is usually based on unsubstantiated statements published by theTourism Ministry or the GNTO (GNTO 1985b 1989a 1993) often as pre-electionpromotional material In essence Greek authorities attempt to intervene aiming tostimulate arrivals as well as to facilitate the operation and development of the

458 Current Issues in Tourism

tourism industry Based on the assumption that tourism arrivals to Greece wouldincrease indefinitely the general directions of the Greek tourism policy focusalmost invariably on the targets summarised in Table 7 (Euromonitor 1992 61GNTO 1989b 41 and 1993 1 OECD 1992 70 Skoulas 1985 194 Leontidou 199188ndash91 Apostolopoulos 1990 Zacharatos 1989 275 and 1988 21)

However as these tasks are not quantified and there is no time schedule orplanning process for their achievement it is inevitable that their implementationand assessment is subject to irrationalities and personal judgement Occa-sionally incentives for tourism development responses to lobbying from tour-ism-related associations and regions training programmes and generallegislation attempt to direct the Greek tourism industry towards the describedpolicy directions In addition an inconsistent and untargeted promotionalcampaign is implemented yearly (Touloupas 1996 130) The campaign attempts toachieve the above unspecified policy tasks while it is often a lsquolast minutersquo reactionmeasure to a forecasted decline of bookings for the current season rather than acoordinated long-term marketing policy (Jenner amp Smith 1993 143Papadopoulos 1989 304) Despite the advertising campaignrsquos positive impact onarrivals the feedback to the campaign is rather speculative as no formal researchis undertaken to identify the most cost-effective media and communication meth-ods for each target market (Papadopoulos 1989 311 and 1987 82)

Because the deficient scientific examination of Greek tourism and its impactsprevents the authorities from establishing quantifiable and measurable tourismpolicies their policies are based on subjective and personal judgements while feedbackpractices are rarely followed In addition the implementation of the vaguelydefined tourism policy as well as the targets regulations and standards are oftenbent to accommodate lobbying and political pressures (Zacharatos 1989 279)Komilis (1993 225) suggests that tourism planning in Greece is generally realisedand exercised within a socio-political environment characterised by severalfactors a limited degree of political commitment lack of social awareness andacceptability of planning actions inadequacy of scientific and technical founda-

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 459

Table 7 Greek tourism policy targets

Development of demand

Training of tourism employees

Increase arrivals and foreign exchange income

Increase competitiveness of tourism product

Improvement of services in the industry

Reduction of seasonality and expansion of tourism season

Attraction of high spenders and alternative types of tourism

Construction of facilities appealing to the upper end of the market such as luxuryhotels golf courses congress centres casinos and marinas

Development of tourism infrastructure with emphasis on transportation

Support of social tourism for low-income domestic tourists

Geographical redistribution of tourism

tion to support planning intervention and a centralised administrative-institu-tional system gathering a plethora of functions but failing to perform itscoordination and enforcing role When the conflicting interests and power of eachmember of the tourism industry are brought into the equation where differentpartners attempt to influence legislation in order to maximise their own short-termprofitability regardless of the impacts on the destination and other enterprises theplanning process becomes more complicated This results in an ineffective plan-ning system and process which produces policies unable to provide an appropri-ate balance between restrictive policies and control planning implementationMoreover the plethora of SMTEs in combination with inadequate legislationconcerning their establishment and operation seem to affect adversely thecompetitiveness of the industry and the ability to diversify and enrich local tour-ism products (Komilis 1992 11 EIU 1990 59)

Consequently several structural problems are originated jeopardising theprosperity of both SMTEs and destinations especially in overdeveloped regionsOn the supply side failure of the infrastructure to follow the dramatic expansionof the superstructure in combination with the lack of solid institutional context oftourism policy and long-term regulation result in the exploitation and inadequacyof environmental and socio-cultural resources as well as the inability of the indus-try to generate the level of economic benefits desired and expected On the tourismdemand side after the meteoric growth in the 1970s and 1980s the Greek tourismindustry has been trying to transform lsquothe country into a destination which cancompete not just on price but on value for moneyrsquo (EIU 1990 45) It is becomingapparent that the tourism population in not infinite and an adaptability andresponsiveness to touristsrsquo needs is ofgreat importance (Sezeramp Harrison 1994 83)

Structural problems jeopardise the profitability of the private sectorBecause of the aforementioned structural problems most tourism industry

enterprises are experiencing a decline in profitability Hotels in particular arebadly affected due to the high fixed assets as well as their immobility and inflexi-bility which prevents them from adjusting to demand fluctuation Several reasonsdetermine their low profitability and inability to increase prices in line with infla-tion The low occupancy levels achieved yearly is a key problem Smith and Jenner(1995 17) estimate that the lsquoyear-round bed occupancy over the range of licensedaccommodation is slightly under 30rsquo As most of the properties are closed duringthe winter months due to the seasonality problems they rely on three to six monthsto generate sufficient returns on their investment The occupancy levels of accom-modation establishments in Greek tourism are often determined by theirco-operation with travel intermediaries Based on the different seasonality patternsof different markets rooms are normally allocated a year before the summer seasonto tour operators on lsquoallotmentrsquo or lsquocommitmentrsquo contracts which effectively deter-mine the prices charged according to the security provided by tour operators forusing and paying for hoteliersrsquo rooms Once the contracts are signed hoteliers effec-tively lose their control on their inventory and their right to market their rooms toother business sources before the release period (typically 7ndash14 days before arrival)in order to avoid overbooking However should their bookings fail to match theirprogramme tour operators often utilise their buying power to cancel unwantedrooms at the beginning of the tourist season without paying compensation Smaller

460 Current Issues in Tourism

hoteliers are often left with unoccupied rooms they which are unable to promote atthe lsquolast minutersquo unless they drop their prices to unacceptable levels As a result oftheir deficient intra-channel power hotels often suffer a significant cut-back of theiroccupancy levels which has direct implications for their profitability (Buhalis 19952000c 460 Ktenas 1996)

Similarly the seasonality of the Mediterranean and Greek tourism industry hasalways been a problem for the profitability of SMTEs since enterprises operateonly for a limited period (Jenner amp Smith 1993 70 Drakatos 1987 Donatos ampZairis 1991) Attempts to promote winter tourism by developing cultural andspecial interest tourism in the islands and winter sports in several ski resorts inGreece have proved fairly unsuccessful (EIU 1986 56) This is attributed to theimage of Greece as an exclusively summer-sun destination as well as to the unco-ordinated attempts to maintain tourism enterprises active during the wintermonths (EIU 1990 57)

The average room rate is the second major determinant of hotel profitability It isbecoming apparent that employment costs and cost of capital in combination witha relatively strong currency policy reduce the ability of Greek accommodationestablishments to offer competitive pricing and maintain their profitabilityMarketing inadequacies and inability to promote the tourism product as a differ-entiated entity the rapid increase of supply in comparison to demand and theoverall dependence upon the oligopsonistic tour operators for the Greek tourismproduct promotion force hoteliers to accept contracts by tour operators whichminimise their profit margin and adversely effect the quality of their productIncreasing levels of pressure by tour operators prevent SMTEs from renovatingand investing in their properties and therefore a gradual deterioration of the prop-erties is inevitable (Richter-Papaconstantinou 1992 14 Skoulas 1985 189) Euro-pean tour operators faced with fierce competition in their markets are essentiallywilling to pay an annual price increase equal to little less than the depreciation ofthe drachma plus the inflation at the place of origin of the tourists (Ktenas 1994)This policy progressively deteriorates the profitability of the Greek tourism indus-try and has severe impacts for its prosperity The situation is worse for smalleraccommodation establishments which manage to negotiate even smaller priceincreases due to their exclusive dependence upon fewer intermediaries(Logothetis 1992 14)

The oversupply of tourism services both in Greece and worldwide also contributesto global competition for a less rapidly increasing demand (Josephides 1993 54)In Greece the average annual increase of the official hotel bed supply in 1983ndash1992was 47 while the annual average increase in international tourist bednights was27 (Epilogi 1994 271) The investment incentive Law 126282 boosted this over-supply as it generated small infeasible and uncontrollable accommodation unitsunable to offer high quality of services while it increased the concentration of tour-ism units in infrastructure-undersupplied resorts (Kriebardis amp Marmagiolis1990 51 Stavrou 1989b 5) The vast majority of the capacity growth is on the lsquoille-galrsquo unregistered self-catering and self-serviced lsquoparahoteleriarsquo sector whichprovide very low quality and priced accommodation and therefore appeal tomass tour operatorsrsquo clientele This not only increases unfair competition for theofficially registered hotels but also reduces both tax revenues and employment atthe macro level

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 461

Horwath (1994 3) concludes that

unfortunately the results in terms of return on investment in the tourismindustry are not very promising especially when compared with those ofother Greek economic sectors It is an undisputable fact that the averageGreek tourism entrepreneur is heavily dependent on the tourist packageprice which is strongly negotiated by the international tour operators It isan lsquounhealthyrsquo dependency as a result of the weak position of the Greektourist product in the international market In addition the aforemen-tioned dependency is the result of the lack of marketing activities in anaverage tourist enterprise As we all know effective marketing activitiesare based on the product place price promotion which all contribute toclient satisfaction and further to a bigger share in the international touristmarket Up to now three of the aforementioned important elements ofmarketing have been overlooked which determine the weak negotiationpower of the Greek entrepreneur

This situation has also resulted to several European companies expandingtheir operations into Greece or purchasing shares in Greek partners in order toimprove their vertical integration Should this vertical integration expand signif-icantly however lsquoGreek tourism will be in fact controlled by foreign deci-sion-making centres which will certainly operate on the basis of their owninterests and not according to the overall interests of our national economyrsquo(Kalogeropoulou 1993 2) Hence radical measures are required immediately inproduct formulation promotion strategy and distribution channels to supportboth Greek destinations and SMTEs to enhance their competitiveness profitabil-ity and prosperity Failure to react would have severe implications for the futureof the Greek tourism private sector as the essence of its existence would be jeop-ardised its costs may exceeding its returns

Structural problems generate negative tourism impactsIn addition to the profitability problems of the private sector the aforemen-

tioned structural problems have profound implications for the welfare of hostpopulations in various Greek destinations as their economic social cultural andenvironmental resources are exploited without ensuring their sustainabilityLack of comprehensive research and failure to initiate carrying-capacity limits orzoning systems contribute to the anarchic development of tourism as well asexpand negative impacts of tourism on local societies and environments Thefollowing section highlights some of the costs Greek destinations are called topay for their tourism activity whilst it suggests that these issues should beaddressed in the strategic planning process

Macro-economic negative impactsDespite the contribution of tourism to the Greek economy certain potential

risks can also be identified Not only is the competitiveness and profitability ofthe tourism industry jeopardised but also several destination regions seem tofollow a policy of developing tourism at the expense of industrial and agricul-tural growth (Stavrou 1989a 6 Vernicos 1987 105) Instead of tourism stimulat-ing agriculture it seems that it hastens its decline as the two economic activities

462 Current Issues in Tourism

compete for land and labour The lack of structural investments in industrial oragricultural sectors combined with the popularity of tourism professions in theworkforce endanger the balance of the regional economy while reducing thetourism multipliers (Briassoulis 1993 295) As a result the economic structure ofthe destination is jeopardised while a complete dependence upon tourismbecomes inevitable (Komilis 1992 7) Both opportunity costs and displacementeffects are therefore evident Moreover there is evidence that the progress ofdestinations through their life-cycle and especially the introduction of masstourism decreases their economic impacts while it makes local control of theindustry far more difficult (Loukissas 1982 537) lsquoBecause of the high degree ofdependence of Greek tourist enterprises on tour operators the actual amount oftourist spending remaining in the country is only the 40ndash50 of total touristspendingrsquo (Briassoulis 1993 296) Public-sector subsidies to the private sector invarious forms such as incentives cooperative marketing campaigns and unem-ployment benefits in the off-season as well as tax evasion and lsquoparaeconomyrsquo alsoreduce the real benefit at the macro level (Mourdoukoutas 1988 Drakatos 1987Leontidou 1991 102) Lack of scientific research on the economic impacts oftourism makes the real contribution of tourism in the economy speculativerather than based on hard evidence (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Konsolas ampZacharatos 1993)

Social and cultural negative impactsThe development of mass tourism and the lack of effective planning and

management are also responsible for a number of negative social and culturalimpacts observed in Greek host societies (Tsartas 1989 1992 Stavrou 19781979 1980 1986b) Although the degree of interaction of the population withtourists depends heavily on the geomorphology of destinations and the loca-tion of resorts (Loukissas 1982 538) touristsrsquo behaviour is often offensive tothe host population but tolerated due to the economic benefits (Castelberg-Koulma 1991 201 Kousis 1989 Wickens 1994 823) Most Greek tourismdestinations are almost crime-free zones during the winter due to the smallpopulation and personal relationships of locals Tourism however introducesseveral types of criminal activity often unknown to local people As policeforces are usually allocated according to needs of the permanent population ina destination they are often incapable of handling the demands of the summermonths and are unable to deal with visitorsrsquo misbehaviour such as hooliganismand lsquolager-lootingrsquo

The commercialisation of history cultural traditions and the Greek lifestyle isa phenomenon met in several destinations This regrettably affects the renownedGreek hospitality commercialises human relations with tourists and reduces theties of solidarity and cooperation between locals since they compete for the tour-ism market (Papadopoulos 1988b 24) As the average employee works 605hours weekly for 295 weeks a year there is little time left for social religious andcultural obligations during the season (Mourdoukoutas 1988 325) Although acertain degree of lsquodemonstration effectrsquo and lsquoxenomaniarsquo can be attributed totourism the country is equally influenced by the mass media as well as by theGreek students and professionals living abroad (Papadopoulos 1988a 30Wickens 1994 822) Moore (1995) also explains that tourism not only has had a

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 463

contribution to the increase of alcohol consumption by Greeks but has alsoshifted their taste away from locally produced wine to imported spirits and beerBriassoulis (1993 296) perhaps describes best the change in labour force valueswhen as she suggests that tourism has created a

peculiar parasitic group of tourist entrepreneurs operating tourist-servingenterprises like tavernas cafeterias etc the principal characteristics ofwhich are high profits and tax evasion Consequently a particular person-ality type is created the lsquosuccessfulrsquo entrepreneur who earns a lot with littlework has a rich erotic life and is professionally independent (in contrast topublic and private employees) This model is followed by many youngpeople who abandon other productive year-round occupations lsquoworkrsquoonly during the tourist season stay idle for the rest of the year and eventu-ally suffer from the volatility of the tourist market

The family relations and values are therefore under great transition andperhaps threat (Castelberg-Koulma 1991 201 Kousis 1989 Moore 1992)

Negative environmental impactsDespite environmental resources becoming central to destinationsrsquo competi-

tiveness most Greek destinations go through an unparalleled exploitation due toinadequate planning and reinvestment in their sustainability jeopardising theirfuture (Buhalis amp Fletcher 1995) Boniface and Cooper (1994 141) suggest thatgeographical concentration of tourism

has led to the view that Greece will become saturated with tourists and thatdamage will be done to the environment and cultural heritage in the morepopular areas Already the environment has suffered from haphazarduncontrolled building and pollution of the sea and the flora and fauna arebeing effected by waste disposal

Coastal pollution water shortages sewage treatment waste disposal trafficcongestion noise pollution overbuilding and aesthetic degradation are some ofthe impacts experienced already in a number of resorts (Briassoulis 1993 297Coccosis amp Parprairis 1992 Peterson 1990 Marinos 1983 Stavrou 1988 19 and1989a 5 Papadopoulos 1988b 24) Most of the islands also face water shortagedue to the inability of natural supplies to provide sufficient water for the tourismdemand Imported mineral water from the mainland is an expensive way tosolve this problem due to the transportation cost while it creates more waste andenvironmental damage In addition the destruction of endangered speciesrsquo habi-tats is another problem experienced on several islands (ZakynthosCaretta-Caretta and Allonissos monk-seals) (Ottaway 1992 Van Den Bergh1993 70 Prurier et al 1993) Urgent coordination with all tourism actors at thelocal level is essential while regulation is required to set objective and measurablelimits and targets in order to preserve local environmental resources Financialdifficulties in the industry only exacerbate these impacts as the private and publicsectors feel unable to reinvest in the conservation of resources

The aforementioned negative impacts emerge as a result of the structuralproblems of the Greek tourism industry and illustrate that the mass tourismorientation of the industry reduces the sovereignty of the host population over

464 Current Issues in Tourism

their land and resources whilst jeopardising their expected benefits and futurewelfare As these impacts are trade-offs for the economic gains of the tourismactivity it is important that consistent long-term strategic planning should beundertaken in order to enable the preservation of the local resources and achievesustainability at tourism destinations These tasks should all be reinforced byresearch political will and strategic planning

Where Do We Need to Go and How Are We Going ThereTowards Strengthening the Competitiveness of Greek Tourismand SMTEs

Based on the situation analysis as well as on the strategic weaknesses andstructural problems the paper attempts to provide a framework for strategicplanning which will enable the strengthening of the competitiveness of Greektourism and SMTEs Porter (1985 1) suggests that competitive strategy lsquois thesearch for a favourable competitive position in an industryrsquo which is a function ofthe attractiveness of the industry and the relative competitive position withinthat particular industry He also argues that lsquocompetitive strategy aims to estab-lish a profitable and sustainable position against the forces that determine indus-try competitionrsquo Competitiveness is therefore defined as the effort undertakenby organisations to maintain long-term profitability above the average of theparticular industry within which they operate or above alternative investmentopportunities in other industries

Traditionally the tourism industry in the majority of destinations worldwideis based on a network of SMTEs which provide all types of tourism products andservices while enabling closer interaction between the host population and visi-tors as well as facilitating a rapid infusion of tourism spending into the localeconomy As lsquotouristsrsquo overall experience is composed of numerous smallencounters with a variety of tourism service providersrsquo (Moutinho 1990 104)there is a great overlap between the customer perception of local SMTEs anddestinations which makes them almost indistinguishable Consequently thecompetitiveness and prosperity of destinations and SMTEs are closely interre-lated as the fortune of the one depends heavily upon the management andcompetitiveness of the other Therefore the generic strategy for destinationsinvolves SMTEs and vice versa

Grand strategy Strategy formulation for Greek tourism and SMTEsBased on the strategic analysis a grand strategy is proposed for the Greek

tourism industry and SMTEs in order to demonstrate the directions the destina-tions should follow in their attempt to increase their competitiveness and reducetheir vulnerability As different resorts destinations and SMTEs have dissimilarneeds only generic strategies can be drawn However these guidelines can beapplicable to destinations and SMTEs worldwide as they address strategic ratherthan operational issues The analysis is based on the assumption that SMTEsformulate leisure value-added chains or networks of wealth creation whichessentially comprise the entire destination Therefore an integrated approach isfollowed as there is a great complementarity between the strategies and strate-gic directions for both the Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 465

The grand strategy analysis is based on an examination of three general strat-egy models namely Porterrsquos generic strategies Gilbertrsquos proposition for lsquodiffer-entiation of the destinationrsquo and Poonrsquos analysis for lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo Agrand strategy is then proposed for both Greek tourism and SMTEs based oninference emerging from these three models Figure 1 illustrates the three maingeneric strategies proposed by Porter (1980 34ndash46) in order to lsquooutperform otherfirms in an industryrsquo overall cost leadership where the firm is required to minimiseits costs based on mass production and strict cost control of the main businessfunctions differentiation of products or services by lsquocreating something that isperceived industry-wide as being uniquersquo or focus on a lsquoparticular buyer groupsegment of the product line or geographical marketrsquo and achieve either cost leader-ship or product differentiation (Porter 1980 37ndash8)

Furthermore Gilbert (1984 1990) argues that destinations should differenti-ate their tourism products in order to be able to achieve a unique lsquotourist productbenefitrsquo which would enable them to establish their position in the internationaltourism market as well as to attract high spenders and loyal tourists Tourismdestinations therefore should attempt to achieve a lsquostatus arearsquo image ratherthan a lsquocommodity arearsquo one as illustrated in Figure 2 In the first case the desti-nation is heavily substitutable very sensitive to price and economic changeswhile consumers have a low awareness of any unique benefits or attributes of theregion Thus holidaymakers base their decision to visit the area merely on pricewhile the demand for the destination is incidental and destinations are unable toattract high spenders In contrast lsquostatus areasrsquo achieve intentional demand as aresult of the unique product attributes perceived by the tourism market Theseunique attributes may be genuine or imagined and thus a destination isregarded as irreplaceable increasing consumersrsquo loyalty and willingness to payGilbert (1990 24ndash5) asserts that destinations should attempt to become lsquostatusareasrsquo in order to improve their image loyalty and economic benefits

A third strategic approach is proposed by Poon (1987 1988 1989 1990 1993)based on the concept of lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo of the tourism business Inessence Poon examines the industry processes and proposes a strategy to enabletourism organisations to improve their competitiveness Poon argues that lsquoflexi-ble specialisationrsquo is a strategy of lsquopermanent innovationrsquo and lsquoceaseless changersquowhich provides for the lsquonew tourismrsquo This new tourism is flexible segmentedcustomised to the touristrsquos needs and diagonally integrated In contrast the oldtourism can be characterised as lsquomass standardised and rigidly packagedrsquo(Poon 1989 91ndash3)

466 Current Issues in Tourism

STRATEGIC ADVANTAGE

Perceived product uniqueness Cost advantage

TARGETMARKET

Industrywide Differentiation Cost Leadership

Particularsegmentsonly

Differentiation Focus Cost Focus

Figure 1 Porterrsquos three generic strategiesSource Porter 1980 39

The main sources of flexibility for service firms lie in the organisationmanagement marketing distribution and other forms of interaction andinterrelationships among guests hotels suppliers distributors What isimportant however is not each of these stand alone aspects but how theyare coupled to create competitive advantages and hence capabilities tomove with the market (Poon 1988 24)

Examination of these three main strategies illustrates that they share a similarbase Porterrsquos lsquodifferentiationrsquo Gilbertrsquos lsquostatus arearsquo and Poonrsquos lsquoflexiblespecialisationrsquo describe the attempt undertaken by firms and tourist destinationsto achieve value competitive advantages In contrast the lsquocost leadershiprsquo lsquocom-modity arearsquo and the lsquostandardisation or Fordism production modelrsquo describethe effort to achieve lsquocost competitive advantagersquo where destinations andSMTEs offer their products for less than their competitors In the first caseconsumers perceive the product as unique and are willing to pay a premiumwhile in the second case the decision is merely based on price Thus the classicalstrategic decision of lsquolow volume-high profit marginrsquo or lsquohigh volume-low profitmarginrsquo is the underlying concept of the two alternative strategies

Both Gilbert and Poon agree that destinations should aim to achieve lsquostatusarearsquo or niche orientation through differentiation in order to increase consumersatisfaction as well as to maximise the benefits for both regions and SMTEs As aresult Greek tourism and SMTEs need to focus towards the differentiation strat-egy define their niche markets and serve them accordingly This strategy isalready adopted in several resort areas such as Valencia in Spain where it isrecognised that the need for diversification and differentiation lsquohas now becomeessential owing to the level of competitiveness that has been attained (and can beforeseen) in the world tourist marketrsquo (Fayos-Sola 1992 49) Differentiation isalso particularly useful for insular destinations in microstates where a limitednumber of economic and financial resources are available (Wilkinson 1989 170)As most destinations consist of SMTEs networks there is an overlap betweentheir strategic orientations and therefore the above analysis is applicable to boththe Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Destinations implementing a lsquostatus arearsquo strategy can enhance the satisfac-tion of tourists as well as their competitiveness The formulation of unique and

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 467

CommodityArea

Statusarea

Willingness topay higher prices

StatusArea

Product attributes Product attributes

CommodityArea

Figure 2 Gilbertrsquos differentiation strategySource Adapted from Gilbert 1990 25

customised products by using flexibility and cooperation also increases touristsrsquowillingness to pay and wins their loyalty while it responds to the new tourismdemand trends However the proposed strategy should not be seen as an excusefor SMTEs and destinations not to attempt to improve their efficiency and mini-mise their production costs Although the unique service for touristsrsquo needs shouldbe their priority offering perceived value for money would determine theircompetitiveness in the marketplace As a result all Greek resorts and SMTEsshould assess their assets and strengths for serving specific target markets takingadvantage of their small size which facilitates flexibility and specialisation

It is quite apparent that the cost advantage strategy has to be avoided inmanagement of tourism destinations as regions need to preserve their scarceenvironmental and sociocultural resources and achieve sustainable develop-ment As cost advantage is based on mass production and consumption itassumes an unlimited production capacity which is inapplicable in the tourismindustry The inseparability of the tourism product determines that consumersshould be present at the time of product delivery and when combined with tour-ism seasonality it generates demand peaks which drain destinationsrsquo scarceenvironmental sociocultural resources The lsquohigh volume-low profit marginrsquostrategy has therefore harmful social and environmental impacts on destina-tions Destinations have maximum carrying capacities beyond which both thewelfare of local populations and the satisfaction of tourists are jeopardisedAlthough economic benefits can also be achieved by using the lsquocommodity arearsquoor the lsquostandard product modelrsquo it is argued that these approaches reduce tour-istsrsquo satisfaction and their willingness to pay and are opposed to the demandtrend towards individualisation

Unfortunately however some destinations can no longer be positioned asirreplaceable unique products due to their overdevelopment Tourism supplyhas exceeded the carrying capacity of these resorts and their product hasreached the saturation or decline phase of their life-cycle Several Spanish costasand some Greek resorts such as Benitses Kavos Faliraki Malia Hersonissos andNidri (Josephides 1994) have been overdeveloped to such an extent that only alsquohigh-volume low-profit marginrsquo strategy is feasible When resorts reach theirsaturation level only a lsquocost leadershiprsquo or lsquomass productionrsquo strategy can beproposed as they are unable to provide any specific lsquotourist product benefitrsquo Theattraction of the lower end of the market is inevitable and as a consequence thereare no alternative strategies The minimisation of further sociocultural and envi-ronmental damage as well as attempts to improve the surrounding environmentshould also be a primary objective of both tourism destinations and SMTEs in thiscase The ultimate aim should be to regenerate the resources of the area and torelaunch the tourism destination to attract specific markets which will be willing topay a higher price for the destination

Strategic directions objectives and tasks for Greek tourism and SMTEsTable 8 presents three pivotal strategic directions which are identified in order

to stimulate the competitiveness of both Greek tourism and SMTEs This sectionillustrates how the aforementioned grand strategy can be implemented for tour-ist destinations and SMTEs through a number of strategic directions objectivesand tasks as presented in Table 9

468 Current Issues in Tourism

Enhancing the satisfaction of tourists and delighting the customer are pivotalto ensuring the well-being of Greek destinations and SMTEs in the long term andthus the entire range of tourism service providers should aim to delight theirclients As a result of the tourism product integration consumer satisfactioncannot be achieved by independent businesses separately but by the entirenetwork of SMTEs in Greek destinations The improvement in services isperhaps the most important strategic objective Consistency of promises throughstandardisation of service delivery and implementation of a total qualitymanagement philosophy throughout the industry are essential strategic tasks forachieving this objective while flexibility in service delivery and improvementsin training are critical In line with the grand strategy the production oftailor-made tourism products should be ensured in order to satisfy the specificneeds of particular niches and the requirements of the emerging new tourismdemand Product augmentation would enable also the Greek tourism product toexceed the expectations of consumers and hence enhance their satisfaction Lifestyle segmentation would enable Greek tourism and SMTEs to design appropri-ate tourism products As tourist demand elasticity has increasingly becomedoubtful in recent years the price of the holiday is no longer considered to be themost important attribute in the decision-making process Consequently theGreek tourism industry should concentrate on providing value for money at allprice levels as well as offering at least whatever they have promised to theconsumer

Supporting the long-term competitiveness and profitability of Greek tour-ism and SMTEs is by far the most important strategic objective for the tourismindustry The first strategic objective for every SMTE has to be the increase inrevenue by maximising its occupancy or load factors and the rates it achievesThe lengthening of the operating season as well as the identification of newmarkets and the penetration into existing ones and the effective utilisation ofdistribution channels will contribute to this strategic direction Higher ratescan be achieved by targeting specialised and smaller tour operators attractingalternative types of tourists and expanding the distribution channels mix aswell as by attempting a certain degree of lsquodisintermediationrsquo by encouragingdirect sales to outgoing travel agencies or consumers Aggressive marketingand establishment of partnerships with other enterprises should be essentialfunctions of Greek tourism and SMTEs Motivation of lsquofront-of-housersquo employ-ees as salesmen and sale incentives would also increase average spending percustomer The use of CRSs and destination management systems may also bean appropriate method for achieving higher prices and better occupancy rates(Buhalis 1994) Finally yield management techniques should be utilised by alltypes of SMTEs to assist them in pricing and maximising revenue Cost control

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 469

Table 8 Pivotal strategic dimensions for Greek tourism

(1) Enhance the satisfaction of tourists and delight the customer(2) Strengthen the long-term profitability and competitiveness of Greek tourism and

SMTEs(3) Develop Greek destinations sustainably and ensure prosperity of host population

470 Current Issues in Tourism

Table 9 Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Strategic directions Strategic objectives Strategic tasks

1 Enhance the sat-isfaction of tour-ists and delightthe customer

11 Improvement of services a Standardisation of service de-livery

b Development of quality controlsystems

c Consistency of promisesd Improvements in operational

managemente Flexibility in services deliveryf Training and education im-

provementsg Smile and personal relation-

shipsh Augmentation of tourism

producti Total quality management

12 Specialisation of tourismproduct

a Niche marketingb Lifestyle targeting

13 Value for money a Quality at each price level

2 Strengthen thelong-term com-petitiveness andprofitability ofGreek tourismand SMTEs

21 Increase revenue a Increase tourist volumesb Target new markets and pene-

tration in existing marketsc Use yield managementd Expand distribution channel

mixe Aggressive marketingf Achieve high average spending

per customerg Select high-quality specialised

tour operatorsh Attract alternative types of

tourismi Use alternative distribution

channelsj Motivate front-of-house em-

ployees as salesmen

22 Cost control and rationalmanagement

a Standardise service deliveryb Increase productivityc Reduce labour costsd Rationalise supplies manage-

mente Educationtraining for manag-

ers and employeesf Use of new technologyg Integrate service delivery

within SMTEs

23 Human resources man-agement

a Internal marketingb Empowermentc Satisfactory salary and working

conditionsd Long-term relations with em-

ployeese Motivation and rewards

and rational management is the second strategic objective needed to increaseefficiency and profitability of both Greek destinations and SMTEs in the longterm Standardisation of the service delivery process and minimisation of thelabour cost through better operational management would be primary recom-mendations Managers and employees should improve their productivity andmarketing skills by intensive training In addition the rationalisation of supplymanagement and the use of new technology is expected to reduce operationalcosts Finally integration of service delivery enables SMTEs to provide comple-mentary services and achieve additional revenues without immense costs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 471

24 State and public tourismorganisation support

a Destination development andcontrol

b Incentives policies for improve-ment

c Attract European Union assis-tance

d Promotional activitye Provide financial resources

3 Develop Greekdestinationssustainably andensure prosper-ity of host popu-lation

31 Environmental protection a Carrying capacity identificationb Zoning system applicationc Architecture preservationd Installation of sewage treat-

ment systemse Reduction of noise pollutionf Natural supplies management

32 Infrastructure ameliora-tion

a Accessibility improvementsb Telecommunication improve-

mentsc Public facilities advancements

33 Transportation improve-ments

a Improvement of local timeta-bles

b Punctuality and reliabilityc Improvements of vehiclesd Flexibility to meet demand

needs

34 Economic integration a Integration with raw materialproduction

b Utilisation of local labour forcec Integration of tourism servicesd Diagonal integration of destina-

tionrsquos economy

35 Equitable return on re-sources utilised

a Establish mechanism forreinvestments

b Provide services for hostcommunity

c Invest in sustainability ofresources

d Ensure equity in distributionof wealth produced

Source Adapted from Buhalis 1991 83a

Table 9 (cont) Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Human resources management is crucial in the delivery process of tourismproducts The concept of lsquointernal marketingrsquo where employees are perceivedand treated as lsquointernal customersrsquo has to be utilised in order to ensure theirsatisfaction As Berry (1981 34) states lsquothe satisfaction of the needs and wants ofthe internal customers can upgrade their capacity for satisfying the needs andwants of their external customersrsquo and as a consequence it can contribute to thecompetitiveness and profitability of Greek tourism and SMTEs Satisfactorysalary and working conditions are prerequisites for the well-being of SMTEsrsquoemployees Long-term relationships between employees and SMTEs minimiseturnover enabling a better performance while they reduce recruitment andtraining costs Empowerment would enable employees to be involved in themanagement of SMTEs and authorise them to respond more efficiently toconsumer requests while contributing to their job satisfaction Finally thesupport of the GNTO is vital for the long-term survival of SMTEs Apart fromthe improvement in infrastructure the GNTO is expected to hold the strategicresponsibility of the destination as well as to regulate the competition in orderto enable smaller enterprises to survive Incentive policies need to reflect thespecific requirements of each resort and enable development or improvementof certain types of enterprises The GNTO is also instrumental in attractingassistance from European development funds while it should also coordinatethe majority of Greek tourism promotional activity A promotional mix whichmaximises the effectiveness of the communication message needs to be drawnwhile budgets need to be available at the time consumers go through their deci-sion-making process in order to influence their choice of destination Finally theneed for the public sector to provide affordable financial resources for SMTEs ishighlighted by the EU (EC 1993b 73)

The third strategic direction for Greek tourism and SMTEs should be thesustainable development of destinations and local areas not only for the hostpopulation but also because this is vital for both consumer satisfaction and theprofitability of SMTEs Although in most cases SMTEs are unable to incorporatethese types of strategic objectives and tasks on their own they can initiate aframework of necessary actions for sustainable destination developmentthrough their associations Environmental protection is naturally the mostimportant strategic objective as consumersrsquo environmental consciousness hasbeen raised recently Carrying capacity limits should be identified and strictregulations and guidelines for tourism development need to be drawn A zoningsystem should be implemented in order to locate tourism activities according tothe geographical morphology of the destination In addition natural resourcesmanagement is necessary as tourism demand may exhaust the resources andespecially the water supplies The installation of sewage treatment systems andthe reduction of noise pollution should be considered especially for resortswhich suffer the consequences of these problems In addition infrastructureamelioration must be one of the primary objectives as it is an essential prerequi-site for both consumersrsquo satisfaction and SMTEsrsquo development The improve-ment of accessibility public services as well as telecommunications facilities is acrucial factor Transportation is also significant in increasing both consumersatisfaction and profitability of SMTEs as it determines whether consumers canaccess the destination easily while it also provides the first impression to tour-

472 Current Issues in Tourism

ists Improvements of timetables and services reliability increasing transporta-tion capacity and an enhancement of the fleet in terms of speed cleanliness andleisure facilities are all required Furthermore greater flexibility is needed bytransportation operators in order to meet demand needs Economic integrationcan improve the economic and social benefits of tourism in the region and theefficiency of SMTEs Ultimately tourism should be utilised as the catalyst andmajor stimulant for regional development Tourism enterprises should makeevery effort to use local raw materials and labour in order to maximise the multi-plier effects within Greece Diagonal integration of destinationsrsquo economy can beachieved by rearranging the goods and service production in order to supportthe tourism industry demand and thus minimise imports Finally SMTEs andtourism organisations need to offer a fair return-on-resources utilised back to thehost community A mechanism should be established in order to reinvest part ofthe revenues in the sustainability of resources provide services for the hostcommunity such as education training health services and generally ensureequity in distribution of wealth produced from local resources As the privatesector cannot be expected to behave altruistically towards the host communitythe GNTO and other public-sector departments should probably utilise regula-tion and taxation for this purpose

Conclusion Greek Tourism Needs a Long Overdue Master Planand Comprehensive Policy

The emerging international tourism competition the hitherto mass tourismorientation of the industry the transformation of demand the development ofthe volume of tourists visiting the dependence upon intermediaries for thedistribution of the tourism product in the major target markets the lack of a widerange of managerial skills by Greek tourism entrepreneurs and the lack of acomprehensive tourism policy or Master Plan by the public sector has led thecompetitiveness of Greece tourism to decline This has several unfavourableimplications for the profitability of the private sector as well as numerous nega-tive economic sociocultural and environmental impacts for the host populationAs a result the return on resources utilised for the production of Greek tourismservices is inadequate and the sustainability of Greece as a major tourism desti-nation is rapidly becoming doubtful Based on a strategic analysis the paper illu-minates the strategic weaknesses and structural problems of both the private andpublic sectors and demonstrates that a rationalisation of the tourism industry isurgently required Consequently a grand strategy as well as a wide range of stra-tegic directions objectives and tasks are proposed for both Greece as an entityand its SMTEs Although no quantitative targets are set in this paper it isexpected that each destination will analyse its resources and adapt its strategicplanning accordingly

The GNTO is urged to rationalise its strategy and to draw up a Master Plan anda comprehensive strategy for the entire country and for each resort where a strategywould be adopted based on quantifiable objectives and tasks Extensive researchneeds to be undertaken by using credible measurement methodologies such asInput-Output models and multipliers analysis not only for the economic but alsofor the social cultural and environmental impacts (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Buhalis

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 473

amp Fletcher 1995) A holistic tourism management system is demanded to facilitatethe development and implementation of the tourism strategy through funds allo-cation and monitoring land use control and examination of tourism public- andprivate-sector practices A thorough examination of tourism impacts in eachregion would be a prerequisite for tourism planning as it will establish andprovide scientific backing to strategic targets Komilis (1994 71) explains thatalthough the various levels of planning (sectoral nationalEU spatial or regional)are not mutually exclusive but rather complementary the regional level planningis more suitable for drawing sustainable strategies especially for areas withdissimilar needs like the Greek destinations The regional planning should lsquocon-tribute to the maximisation of regional development benefits in a way that utilisesand mobilises the regional resource base realises regional inter-sectoral linkagesand is compatible with regional economic interests societal values and environ-mental assetsrsquo It should also take into consideration the uniqueness of insulareconomies as well as the cultural and environmental resources of each particularregion and the complexity of rural and urban functions The planning processshould encourage the complementarity and coexistence of economic activitiesrather than promote sectoral separation and single-sector developments In addi-tion it needs to improve the balance between regional self-sufficiency anddependence upon external inputs and finally it should promote integration withinthe European Union

The public sector has to play its long overdue role as regulator coordinatorinfrastructure provider and promoter of the destination while a multi-integrationof the tourism industry with all the involved bodies in the preparation distribu-tion and delivery of the tourism experience needs to be ensured (Wanhill 1993Hall 1994 Skoulas 1994 10 Stavrou 1988 46) The private sector also has an impor-tant role to play as it should improve the Greek tourism industry competitivenessby improving its managerial and labour force competencies enhancing the qualityof services designing appropriate marketing mixes to attract and satisfy targetmarkets and cooperating closely in order to achieve synergies and economies ofscale (Briassoulis 1993 300 Cooper amp Buhalis 1992) To reverse the vicious circleof decreasing quality is of critical importance for the Greek tourism industryBetter quality services would stimulate the competitiveness of the Greek tourismproduct strengthen its position in the international market provide principalswith distribution channel power enhance its customersrsquo willingness to pay andenable the industry to increase its prices improving the profitability at the microlevel and the economic impacts of tourism at the macrolevel Ultimately a diagonalintegration strategy for both Greek tourism and SMTEs should aim to delightconsumers enhance the long-term prosperity of SMTEs and improve the welfareof the host populations The Olympic Games in 2004 offer a unique opportunity toregenerate and rebrand Greek tourism a cause which the entire industry shouldchampion

The AuthorDimitrios Buhalis is Senior Lecturer and course leader MSc in tourism at theUniversity of Surrey He holds a BBA from the University of the Aegean as wellas an MSc and a PhD in tourism management from the University of Surrey Hisresearch interests focus on information systems and technology strategic

474 Current Issues in Tourism

management distribution channels of tourism destination management andplanning and destination integrated computer information reservation manage-ment systems

AcknowledgementsThe author would like to acknowledge Prof C Cooper and Prof J Fletcher for

their invaluable contribution to this research Financial support from the SurreyResearch Group ConTours Consultants as well as field research sponsorshipsby the University of Surrey the Greek National Tourism Organisation and theUniversity of the Aegean are gratefully appreciated

Note1 An earlier version of this paper was published as a monograph PlanningDevelop-

ment by the International Centre for Research and Studies in TourismAix-en-Provence France

CorrespondenceAny correspondence should be directed to Dr Dimitrios Buhalis Senior

Lecturer in Business Information Management SMSSS University of SurreyGuildford GU2 7XH UK (dbuhalissurreyacuk)

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Economy (November) 228ndash38Berry C (1981) The employee as customer Journal of Retail Banking 3 33ndash40Boniface B and Cooper C (1994) The Geography of Travel and Tourism (2nd edn) London

HeinemannBriassoulis H (1993) Tourism in Greece In W Pompl and P Lavery (eds) Tourism in

Europe Structures and Developments (pp285ndash301) Oxford CAB InternationalBuckley P and Papadopoulos S (1986) Marketing Greek tourism The planning process

Tourism Management 7 86ndash100Buhalis D (1991) Strategic marketing and management for the small and medium

tourism enterprises in the periphery of the European Community A case study for theAegean islands in Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Buhalis D (1994) Information and telecommunications technologies as a strategic tool forsmall and medium tourism enterprises in the contemporary business environment InA Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 254ndash75)England J Wiley and Sons

Buhalis D (1995) The impact of information telecommunications technologies on tourismdistribution channels Implications for the small and medium sized tourismenterprisesrsquo strategic management and marketing PhD Dissertation University ofSurrey Guildford

Buhalis D (2000a) Marketing the competitive destination of the future TourismManagement (Special Issue ndash The Competitive Destination) 21 (1) 97ndash116

Buhalis D (2000b) (forthcoming) Athens Tourism-Travel Intelligence LondonBuhalis D (2000c) Relationships in the distribution channel of tourism Conflicts between

hoteliers and tour operators in the Mediterranean region Journal of InternationalHospitality Leisure and Tourism Adminstration 1 (1) 113ndash39

Buhalis D and Diamantis D (2001 forthcoming) Tourism development andsustainability on the Greek archipelagos In G Apostolopoulos and D Ioannides (eds)Tourism in the Mediterranean Routledge

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 475

Buhalis D and Fletcher J (1995) Environmental impacts on tourism destinations Aneconomic analysis In H Coccosis and P Nijkamp (eds) Sustainable Tourism Development(pp 3ndash25) London Avebury

Camison C Bigne E and Monfort VM (1994) The Spanish tourism industry Analysisof its strategies and the efficacy and achievements gained from them In A Seaton et al(eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 442ndash52) England JWiley and Sons

Castelberg-Koulma M (1991) Greek women and tourism Womenrsquos co-operatives as analternative form of organisation In N Redclift and T Sinclair (eds) Working WomenInternational Perspectives on Labour and Gender Ideology (pp 197ndash223) LondonRoutledge

Chitiris L (1991) Hotel Management (in Greek) Athens InterbooksCoccosis H and Parprairis A (1992) Assessing the interactions between environment

and tourism Case study of the island of Mykonos Paper presented in the IV WorldCongress of Regional Science International University of Balearic Islands Palma deMallorca 26ndash9 May

Conway H (1996) Greece Travel Weekly 1308 39ndash43Cooper C and Buhalis D (1992) Strategic management and marketing of small and

medium sized tourism enterprises in the Greek Aegean islands In R Teare D Adamsand S Messenger (eds) Managing Projects in Hospitality Organisations (pp 101ndash25)London Cassell

Daskalantonakis N (1994) Quality ndash The future of tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (3 July)D9

Divanis A (1994b) Tourism policy Left on its own luck (in Greek) XENIA (October)4ndash5

Donatos G and Zairis P (1991) Seasonality of foreign tourism in the Greek islands ofCrete Annals of Tourism Research 18 515ndash19

Douvitsas P (1994) Marketing Greece through British tour operators A futureperspective MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Drakatos C (1987) Seasonal concentration of tourism in Greece Annals of Tourism Research14 582ndash6

EC (1993a) Microeconomic Analysis of the Tourism Sector A study by the pH Group forEuropean Commission DGXXIII (September) Report XXIII30394-EN BrusselsEuropean Commission

EC (1993b) Growth competitiveness employment The challenges and ways forward intothe 21st century Bulletin of the European Communities Supplement 693 (White Paper)Luxembourg

Economist (1993) Last Chance Sisyphus A survey of Greece Economist (22 May) 2ndash22EIU (1986) Greece (pp 45ndash60) International tourist reports National Report No 3EIU (1990) Greece (pp 45ndash62) International tourist reports National Report No 4EIU (1993) Greece ndash Country Profile 1992ndash1993 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEIU (1994) Greece ndash Country Profile 1994ndash1995 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEpilogi (1994) Economic review ndash The Greek Economy 1994 (in Greek) AthensEuromonitor (1992) Tourism in Greece Market Research Europe (25 May) 51ndash63Fayos-Sola E (1992) A Strategic Outlook for Regional Tourism Policy The White Paper

on Valencian Tourism Tourism Management 13 45ndash9Fotis J (1992) Vacational lifestyle segmentation of tourists on the island of Rhodes

Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey GuildfordGilbert D (1984) The need for countries to differentiate their tourist product and how to

do so Seminar papers for Ministers of Tourism and Directors of National TouristOrganisations Tourism Managing for Results University of Surrey Guildford

Gilbert D (1990) Strategic marketing planning for national tourism Tourist Review 45 (1)18ndash27

GNTO (1985a) Survey of attributes of foreign tourists 1984ndash1985 (in Greek) Greek NationalStatistical Services Athens GNTO

476 Current Issues in Tourism

GNTO (1985b) EOT-Tourism rsquo85 Development ndash Participation ndash Quality of Life (in Greek)Greek National Statistical Services Athens GNTO

GNTO (1989a) Annual report 1988 ndash Forecast 89 Towards Quality Athens GNTOGNTO (1989b) The study of tourism promotion With special reference to the measures to

increase Japanese tourists to Greece Draft final report Japan InternationalCooperation Agency

GNTO (1993) Tourism towards the 2000 (in Greek) Greek National Tourism OrganisationAthens GNTO

Hall M (1994) Tourism and Politics Policy Power and Place J Wiley and SonsHorwath (annual) The Greek Hotel Industry (in Greek) Annual reports Pireus HorwathJenner P and Smith C (1993) Tourism in the Mediterranean Research report London

Economist Intelligence UnitJosephides N (1993) Environmental Concern ndash Whatrsquos In It for the Tourism Industry (pp 51ndash6)

Proceedings of the conference Tourism and the environment Challenges and choicesfor the 1990rsquos 16ndash17 November 1992 Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre LondonBrussels European Union

Josephides N (1994) Tourism analysis Presentation in Philoxenia international tourismexhibition Thessaloniki Greece

Josephides N (1995) A sorry state for beautiful Greece Travel Weekly 1261 (5 April)11Kalogeropoulou H (1993) Greece ndash Prospects for the tourism industry within the context

of the European Single Market of 1993 Tourism Review 48 (1) 2ndash4Kassimati K Thanopoulou M and Tsartas P (1994) Womenrsquos Employment in the

Tourist Sector Study of the Greek Labour Market and Identification of Future ProspectsDGV Equal Opportunities Unit Document V40994-EN European CommissionBrussels

Komilis P (1987) Spatial analysis of tourism in Greece (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planningand Economic Research

Komilis P (1992) The spatial structure of tourism and physical planning practices inGreece Paper presented in conference Tourism and environment Issues ofpolicyplanningmanagement 23ndash4 October University of the Aegean Dept ofEnvironment Lesvos

Komilis P (1993) Values in the Tourism Planning and Policy Making Process (pp 224ndash9)Proceedings of the conference Values and the environment 23ndash4 September GuildfordUniversity of Surrey

Komilis P (1994) Tourism and sustainable regional development In A Seaton et al (eds)Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 65ndash73) England JWiley andSons

Konsolas N and Zacharatos G (1993) Regionalization of tourism activity in GreeceProblems and policies In H Briassoulis and J Van der Straaten (eds) Tourism andEnvironment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 57ndash65) Dordrecht Kluer AcademicPublisher

Kousis M (1989) Tourism and the family in a rural Cretan community Annals of TourismResearch 16 318ndash32

Kriebardis S and Marmagiolis I (1990) Tourism Activity in Greece Problems and Perspectives(pp 45ndash54) (in Greek) Economic Report of Commercial Bank AprilndashJune AthensCommercial Bank

Ktenas S (1994) Hoteliers ask for 15 to 20 increases for 1995 (in Greek) TO BHMA (3July) D9

Ktenas S (1996) Crisis in Greek tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (7 April) D16Leontidou L (1991) Greece Prospects and contradictions of tourism in the 1980rsquos In AM

Williams and GJ Shaw (eds) Tourism and Economic Development Western EuropeanExperiences (2nd edn) (pp 94ndash106) London Belhaven Press

Logothetis M (1990) The Economy of Dodekanisos During 1988ndash1989 Developments andPerspectives (in Greek) Rhodes Regional association of municipalities of Dodekanisos

Logothetis M (1992) Touristiki Sigkiria (in Greek) Rhodes Institute of Tourist and HotelResearch

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 477

Loukissas P (1977) The impact of tourism on regional development A comparativeanalysis of the Greek islands PhD Dissertation Cornell University USA

Loukissas P (1982) Tourismrsquos regional development impacts A comparative analysis ofthe Greek islands Annals of Tourism Research 9 523ndash43

Marinos P (1983) Small island tourism-the case of Zakynthos in Greece TourismManagement 4 212ndash15

Moore R (1992) From shepherds to shopkeepers The development of tourism in a centralGreek town PhD Dissertation University of California at Berkeley USA

Moore R (1995) Gender and alcohol use in a Greek tourist town Annals of Tourism Research22 300ndash13

Mourdoukoutas P (1988) Seasonal employment seasonal unemployment andunemployment compensation The case of the tourism industry of the Greek islandsAmerican Journal of Economics and Sociology 47 315ndash29

NSSG (l983) Tourism Statistics 1981 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (l985) Tourism Statistics 1982ndash1983 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1987) Tourism Statistics 1984ndash1985 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1990) Tourism Statistics 1986ndash1987 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1993) Tourism Statistics 1988ndash1990 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceOECD (1992) Greece Tourism Policy and International Tourism in OECD Member Countries (pp

70ndash8) Paris OECDOttaway M (1992) Turtle power Sunday Times Travel and Style (28 June)Ottaway M (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 1 Sunday Times (17 January)

57ndash59Panagiotopoulou R (1990) The problem and perspectives of the European insular regions

(in Greek) Working paper University of the Aegean ChiosPapadimitris G (1988) Short run and long run prospects of the Greek tourism industry

PhD Dissertation University of Manchester ManchesterPapadopoulos S (1985) An economic analysis of foreign tourism in Greece An

examination of the growth and structure of foreign tourism to Greece 1960ndash1984 with aplanning model and marketing policy recommendations PhD Thesis University ofBradford Management Centre Bradford

Papadopoulos S (1987) Strategic marketing techniques in international tourismInternational Marketing Review (summer) 71ndash84

Papadopoulos S (1988a) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (1) 29ndash30

Papadopoulos S (1988b) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (2) 24ndash7

Papadopoulos S (1989) Greek marketing strategies in the Europe tourism market ServiceIndustries Journal 9 297ndash314

Papadopoulos S and Mirza H (1985) Foreign tourism in Greece An economic analysisTourism Management 6 125ndash37

Papandropoulos A (1995) The crisis in tourism is evident (in Greek) OikonomikosTachydromos (29 June) 26ndash8

Papanikos G (1999) The year 2004 olympic games and their influence upon the Greektourism (in Greek) ITEP (Research Institute for Tourism) Athens

Paulopoulos P (1999) The Size and Dynamics of the Tourism Sector (in Greek) ResearchInstitute for Tourism Athens

Peterson C (1990) Greece tackles overbuilding in tourism areas EnvironmentalConservation 17 166ndash8

Plevris V (1995) Alarm bells from the Hellenic Federation of Hotels (in Greek) XENIA128 (May) 6ndash7

Poon A (1987) Information technology and innovation in international tourism ndashimplications for the Caribbean tourism industry PhD thesis Science Policy ResearchUnit University of Sussex Brighton

Poon A (1988) Flexible specialisation and small size ndash the case of Caribbean tourism DRCDiscussion Paper 57 SPRU Brighton University of Sussex

478 Current Issues in Tourism

Poon A (1989) Competitive strategies for new tourism In C Cooper (ed) Progress inTourism Recreation and Hospitality Management (vol 1) (pp 91ndash102) London BelhavenPress

Poon A (1990) Flexible specialisation at small size The case of Caribbean tourism WorldDevelopment 18 109ndash23

Poon A (1993) Tourism Technology and Competitive Strategies Oxford CAB InternationalPorter M (1980) Competitive Strategy Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors

New York Free PressPorter M (1985) Competitive Advantage Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance New

York Free PressPorter M (1990) The Competitive Advantage of Nations New York Free PressPrurier E Sweeney A and Geen A (1993) Tourism and the environment The case of

Zakynthos Tourism Management 14 137ndash9Psoinos P (1994a) Research on the foreign touristsrsquo attributes in Greece (in Greek) Athens

Greek National Tourism OrganisationPsoinos P (1994b) Research on the attributes of foreigners who have never visited Greece (in

Greek) Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationRichter-Papaconstantinou C (1992) Tourism development of Rhodes Cahiers du Tourisme

(Serie B) 67 Aix en Provence Centre des Hautes Eacutetudes TouristiquesRomanos A (1998) Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites (in Greek) Athens

Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites SASETE (1993) Tourism Developments and problems (in Greek) Athens Association of Greek

Tourism EnterprisesSezer H and Harrison A (1994) Tourism in Greece and Turkey An economic view for

planners In A Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposiumpp74ndash84 England Wiley and Sons

Skoulas N (1985) Holidays and travel in the year 2035 ndash Contribution of the NationalTourist Organisation of Greece SDI Schriftey Wirtschafts und Unternehmenspolitik 40181ndash99

Skoulas N (1994) Quality improvement of tourism services (in Greek) Paper presentedin the conference Competitiveness of tourism enterprises ndash the role of quality 1 AprilHoliday Inn Athens Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises

Smith C and Jenner P (1995) Greece International Tourism Reports 3 5ndash21Stavrou S (1978) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Kos Island (in Greek) Research and

Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationStavrou S (1979) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Mykonos and Naxos Islands (in

Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1980) Research on Tourism Awareness on the Islands Kalymnos and Leros (in Greek)Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1984) Tourism Development in Greece during 1969ndash1982 (in Greek) Research andDevelopment Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986a) Research for the Characteristics of Foreign Tourist Demand in Greece in theYears 8485 (in Greek) Research Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1986b) Research on the Tourism Awareness on Paros Santorini Kythira Islands (inGreek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986c) Critical Review of Tourism Activity in the Years 8385 (in Greek) Researchand Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1988) Tourism in the Northern Aegean Islands Presentation of GNTO for the TourismDevelopment of the Periphery (in Greek) Proceedings of the first conference for thedevelopment of the Northern Aegean islands Homereum cultural centre Chios 11November Chios Periphery of Northern Aegean islands

Stavrou S (1989a) GNTO Presentation for the Tourism Development Possibilities for theSouthern Aegean Islands (in Greek) Conference for the development of Southern Aegean

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 479

islands Syros 30 September ndash 2 OctoberStavrou S (1989b) The Contribution of the Development Law 126282 in the Development of the

Country (in Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A5 Athens GreekNational Tourism Organisation

Stereopoulos N (1995) It is regarded ideal it became problematic (in Greek) OikonomikosTachidromos (21 December) 151ndash3

Touloupas P (1996) Greece as a tourist destination for the British tour operators Ananalysis from a marketing perspective in the particular context of the United KingdomMSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Tourismos ke Oikonomia (1993) 20 years 1973ndash1993 (in Greek) Special Issue AthensTourismos ke Oikonomia (1994) ICAP tourism enterprises Drastic reduction of loses in 1993

(in Greek) December 14ndash15Touristiki Agora (various issues) (Monthly tourism industry periodical in Greek) Business

Press AthensTruett D and Truett L (1987) The response of tourism to international economic

conditions Greece Mexico and Spain Journal of Developing Areas 21 177ndash90Tsartas P (1989) Socioeconomic Impacts of Tourism Development in Cyclades Region with Special

Reference on Ios and Serifos Islands During 1950ndash1980 (in Greek) Athens National Centrefor Social Research

Tsartas P (1992) Socioeconomic impacts of tourism on two Greek isles Annals of TourismResearch 19 516ndash33

Van Den Bergh J (1993) Tourism development and natural environment Aneconomicndashecological model for the Sporades islands In H Briassoulis and J Van DerStraaten (eds) Tourism and Environment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 67ndash83)Dordrecht Kluer Academic Publishers

Velissariou E (1991) Die Wirtschaftlichen Effekte des Tourismus Dargestell am Beispiel Kretas(The Economic Impacts of Tourism on Crete) PhD Dissertation University of MunichFrankfurt Peter Lang

Vernikos N (1987) The study of Mediterranean small islands Emerging theoreticalissues Ekistics 54 (323ndash4) 101ndash9

Wanhill S (1993) Government organisations In C Cooper J Fletcher D Gilbert and SWanhill (eds) Tourism Principle and Practice (pp 145ndash60) London Pitman

Wickens D (1994) Consumption of the authentic The hedonistic tourist in Greece In ASeaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 819ndash25)England JWiley and Sons

Wickens E (2000) Rethinking touristsrsquo experiences In M Robinson et al (eds) MotivationsBehaviour and Tourist Types (pp 455ndash72) Business Education Publishers Sunderland

Wickers D (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 2 Sunday Times 57ndash510Wilkinson PF (1989) Strategies for tourism in islands microstates Annals of Tourism

Research 16 153ndash77XENIA (various issues) (Monthly bulletin of the Greek Hotel Chamber in Greek) AthensZacharatos G (1984) Tourismus und Wirtschafts-Struktur Dargestellt am Beispiel

Griechenlands Europaische Hochschulschriften Reihex Band 7 Frankfurt am MainZacharatos G (1986) Tourism consumption (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planning and

Economic ResearchZacharatos G (1988) The simplistic empiricism Tourism policy and the time of crisis

(1992) (in Greek) Sychrona Themata 11 (May) 21ndash6Zacharatos G (1989) The problems and perspectives of tourism in Greece (in Greek) In H

Katsoulis T Giannitsis and P Kazakos (eds) Politics and Society Economy and ForeignRelationships (pp 273ndash89) Athens Papazisis

Zacharatos G (1993) The necessity of multimedia use in the tourism education in Greece(in Greek) Paper presented at the international conference Overcomingisolation-telematics and regional development University of the Aegean Chios 30April ndash 2 May

480 Current Issues in Tourism

Page 15: Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challengescore.ac.uk/download/pdf/101686.pdf · Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challenges Dimitrios Buhalis School of Management

pancy service provider and timing Transportation and accessibility to remotedestinations may also be a weakness as most enterprises are located in periph-eral and often inaccessible regions SMTEs tend to feel frustrated because theyare unable to attract consumers simply because they cannot provide conve-nient reliable and affordable transportation The formulation of charter aircarriers by destination areas such as Turkey and Spain as well as the emergingderegulation policies in the European Union may diminish this problem in thenear future Moreover SMTEs face significant financial constraints as on theone hand they are required to invest in fixed assets at the beginning of theiroperations and on the other hand there is a discrimination against them byfinancial institutions since they normally have very few assets Consequentlythey are forced to accept unfavourable financial deals Finally the Greek tour-ism industry and SMTEs suffer from seasonality problems and have to produceadequate income within a limited period every year Lack of diversified invest-ment in other economic activities forces proprietors to work intensively in thepeak months and rest in the off-peak months while their pay-back period isinevitably unfavourable As the tourism industry becomes more professionalembraces quality management and responds to an increasingly discerningcustomer SMTEsrsquo typical lack of business expertise and minimal standardisa-tion may become an increasing liability especially for some target markets(Cooper amp Buhalis 1992 102)

Recent developments in the external environment present numerous opportu-nities for the Greek tourism industry and SMTEs Firstly the European Uniontakes several actions to support small and medium-sized enterprises (EC 1993b72) while it supports infrastructure development of peripheral regions andcontributes significantly to the prosperity of SMTEs The country is going througha major transformation as a result of several public projects supported by theEuropean Commission including the Attico Metro the new Athens Airport thedevelopment of the peripheral motorway Elefsina-Spata and the peripheralmotorway of Immitos The unification of the heritage sites and thepedestrianisation of the Athens city centre aims to develop an open archaeologi-cal park and deal with the traffic and pollution problems The Olympic Games in2004 provide a unique challenge and opportunity for the city and the country torebrand and redevelop itself and demonstrate its unparalleled heritage andcultural resources The Games also provide the resources and funding as well asa lsquodeadlinersquo for several infrastructural projects that were already scheduled butperhaps delayed In addition several projects are anticipated to improve thesuperstructure of the industry through both renovation of existing propertiesand through the development of new hotels and other facilities It is anticipatedthat the regeneration of the city and the country in general will provide majoropportunities for the attractiveness and competitiveness of the tourism industry(Buhalis 2000b Papanikos 1999 Romanos 1998)

It is anticipated that there will be a gradual redistribution of Europeanlabour providing support for each region to specialise in the production ofgoods and services where it can achieve competitive advantages Traditionallyremote and insular destinations where most Greek resorts and SMTEs arebased achieve a competitive advantage in tourism and therefore greatersupport is anticipated Greek tourism benefits from the continuous growth of

454 Current Issues in Tourism

global tourism demand as more people require holiday services while SMTEsare expected to increase their share as they tend to satisfy the emerging special-ised and sophisticated demand better than larger organisations Informationand telecommunication technologies can provide strategic tools for tourismdestinations and SMTEs enabling them to manage their product more effi-ciently disseminate information and establish a distribution mechanismthrough destination management systems (Buhalis 1994) New technologiesalso offer opportunities for developing innovative tourism products such asteleworking for tourists who would like to spend time working during theirstay at the destination Finally Greek tourism tends to achieve a cost advan-tage since it employs unpaid family members and operates in inexpensiveperipheral regions which often have a lower cost of living in comparison withmetropolitan areas

In terms of external threats environmental degradation through inappropriatewaste management and excessive usage of natural resources can be observedLack of know-how and funds effectively increases environmental problemsConsequently several resorts suffer severe damage while entrepreneurs and localauthorities feel powerless to take remedial measures Moreover oversupply oftourism service providers and lack of well-defined carrying capacity limits inseveral destinations have placed numerous Greek resorts and SMTEs in a disad-vantaged position as they cannot achieve sufficient income Similarly the concen-tration of power in fewer tourism industry enterprises through emergingglobalisation also threatens the ability of Greek SMTEs to survive as internationalvertically integrated tourism organisations acquire control over local enterprisesThe dependence upon channel partners for the promotion and distribution ofGreek tourism is exaggerated by the relatively low presence of Greek suppliers inthe major CRSs (Computer Reservation Systems) which is caused by the seasonal-ity and scale of the tourism production on the one hand and the tariffs of thesesystems on the other The issue of infrastructure is closely related to the oversup-ply which attracts higher demand than planned Destinations often have limitedinfrastructure provisions which fail to follow the pace of development generatingpressure on the existing inadequate facilities Finally the tourism industry suffersfrom its geographical proximity to the Balkans and the Middle East and as a conse-quence is often associated by consumers with wars and terrorism activities Greektourism and SMTEs have limited means of dealing with unfavourable situationsand thus are more vulnerable to their impacts Political intervention perhapsthrough the public sector decisions and the legislator framework often damagesthe prosperity of SMTEs As SMTEs have little lobbying power they have limitedinfluence over political decisions which determine their welfare

The SWOT analysis demonstrates quite clearly that the Greek tourism indus-try faces a wide range of problems and threats which will jeopardise its ability toprovide suitable tourism products in the future as well as its ability to make acontribution to the national welfare However several opportunities and chal-lenges emerge and they need to be addressed in order to strengthen the competi-tiveness of the industry Further analysis is therefore required in order to assessthe factors which generate these problems and also to identify ways to respond tothe challenges they present

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 455

Why Are We There and What Are the Implications StructuralProblems and Challenges

Despite its popularity and growth over the last 40 years the Greek tourismindustry has reached a stage where both its potential and competitiveness havebecome questionable

The seemingly unstoppable growth of this market contributed to a degreeof complacency which has led to Greece repeating some of the errors madein Spain Rapid price increases mean the country is no longer perceived bymass market clients as cheap in relation to comparable destinations in theMediterranean but much of the countryrsquos tourism infrastructure hastilybuilt in response to demand for cheap accommodation does not meet theneeds of a market less sensitive to price and more concerned with qualityand value for money (EIU 1990 45)

Richter-Papaconstantinou (1992 27) explains that tourism development inRhodes lsquotakes place without any Master Plan of the area respect of the landscapeand environment analysis whether there is demand and what the demand isafter regard to what is happening in similar situationsrsquo At the micro level theEuropean travel trade and intermediaries warn that the Greek tourism product isno longer competitive (Conway 1996 41 Touloupas 1996 Douvitsas 1994)whilst Chitiris (1991 148ndash150) outlines a range of managerial problems andmistakes in Greek resort hotels which diminish the quality of the tourismservices Hence unless the Greek tourism industry addresses a number of criticalissues immediately its future might be seriously jeopardised resulting in apotential catastrophe of the national economy The major structural problemsand challenges for the Greek tourism product can be summarised in Table 6

As a result Greece fails to attract the desired lsquohigh-quality high-expenditurersquotourists as it is increasingly unable to satisfy their requirements (Conway 199641) The deterioration of the tourism product and image leads to a lower willing-ness-to-pay by consumers which consequently leads to a further drop in qualityas the industry attempts to attract customers with lower prices This is a viciousspiral which has been destroying the essence of developing tourism in severalMediterranean destinations The concentration of bargaining power in Euro-pean distribution intermediaries and tour operators in particular in combina-tion with the inability of the Greek tourism industry to promote itself andestablish effective distribution mechanisms inevitably minimises the profitmargins of SMTEs and their ability to yield decent returns on their investmentAs a result touristsrsquo expenditure per capita in Greece gradually deteriorateswhile their volume increases (SETE 1993 35)

Thus the tourism policy often consisted in a lsquofreezingrsquo of the selling price ofthe tourist package abroad a measure which combined with the devalua-tion of the drachma and its continuous parity losses succeeded in securing alsquofictitious competitivenessrsquo for the Greek package This competitivenesshowever was seriously threatened each time there was an attempt at asubstantial increase because of important rises in cost elements(Kalogeropoulou 1993 2)

456 Current Issues in Tourism

The above issues illustrate that the Greek tourism product becomes increas-ingly incompetent Hence the inadequate lsquoproductrsquo lsquopromotionrsquo and lsquoplacersquo(distribution) elements of the tourism marketing mix reduce the willingness ofprospective consumers to pay and has disastrous implications for the pricingpolicies deteriorating the profitability of the SMTEs and the tourism economicimpacts on the destination

Ultimately the economic impacts of tourism in Greece become debatableespecially due to the inadequacy of tourism economic research and data whilethe destination has to bear the environmental social and cultural decay Encour-agingly articles in recent tourism industry publications acknowledge these chal-lenges and appreciate the dangers urging both the private and public sector totake action (Touristiki Agora Tourismos ke Oikonomia Travel News XENIA) as well

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 457

Table 6 Structural problems and challenges

Image of Greece as cheap simple unsophisticated undifferentiated sun-seadestination

Gradual deterioration of tourism product and lack of reinvestment in improvements

Increase of tourism arrivals but decrease of tourism expenditure per capita

Inadequacy of the Greek planning process

Dependence upon major tour operators for promotion and distribution

Plethora of anarchically developed and behaving SMTEs aiming at short-termprofitability

Inappropriate and ill-timed marketing campaign which has little effectiveness

Inadequacy of infrastructure to serve the ever-expanding demand

Lack of coordination at the destination and disrespect for touristsrsquo needs

Lack ofprofessionalism and training in both state andprivate tourism establishments

Individualistic behaviour by SMTEs and unwillingness to cooperate on adestination basis

Unsuccessful and inconsistent programmes of government intervention

Almost unregulated environment with nearly complete lack of control

Political intervention which allows exception policies and employment of unquali-fied staff

Development of tourism as a single regional development option

Oversupply of tourism amenities and fierce price competition

Failure of the private sector to invest in long-term projects

Deterioration of natural social and cultural resources

SMTEsrsquo inability to resist in global concentration of the tourism industry

Inadequate distribution mechanisms which generate overdependence onintermediaries

Failure of both the private and public sectors to learn from internationally gainedexperience in tourism development and marketing

Lack of tourism research to identify the impacts of tourism

Negligence with regard to new tourism demand challenges

as several influential members of the tourism industry (Josephides 1993 19941995 Skoulas 1994 Daskalantonakis 1994 Divanis 1994b Plevris 1995Papandropoulos 1995)

Political intervention limited research lack of tourism policy andplanning

Perhaps the largest obstacle in developing a competitive tourism industry inGreece has been the inconsistent and irrational political intervention Unfortunatelytourism has extensively been utilised as a political vehicle where each govern-ment uses it to gratify its political needs and friends This can be experienced in alllevels of recruitment in the public sector institutions as a change of government oreven minister results in immense changes throughout the GNTO as well as tomajor policies and regulations Thus in the last 35 years (since 1966) the leadershipof the GNTO has changed 28 times allowing each General Secretary to stay inoffice for an average of 138 months Political allies of each government use politi-cal pressure and intensive lobbying in order to achieve amendments in regula-tions incentive policies and business environment Hence the short-termprofitability and commercial interests of the friends and political allies of eachgovernment often overrule the long-term strategy and set an improper examplefor the entire industry These practices result in a great inconsistency in Greek tour-ism policy and disrupt its rationalisation Therefore a lsquodepolitisation of Greektourismrsquo towards a professionally managed public sector guided through acompromised strategic Master Plan is urgently required (Josephides 1995)

The limited existing scientific tourism research highlights the lack of comprehen-sive examination of tourism impacts in Greece while it illustrates that tourismpolicy is based on insufficient documentation (Zacharatos 1989 278 and 1988 22)Public sector research is almost non-existant while the authorities seem uninter-ested in consulting the Greek-tourism research produced by academics (for exam-ple Zacharatos 1984 1986 Komilis 1987 Loukissas 1977 Papadimitris 1988Papadopoulos 1985 Moore 1992 Tsartas 1989 Velissariou 1991 Fotis 1992Buhalis 1991 1995 2000c Buhalis amp Diamantis 2000) or the international tourismlsquobody of knowledgersquo (Zacharatos 1988 24) In addition tourism consumptionbeing characterised as a particular category of private consumption in the nationalaccounts it fails to reflect the real tourism impact on each economic sector Thusthe process of collecting information for tourism expenditure in Greece preventsthe assessment of tourism expenditure impacts on the national and regional econ-omy and therefore cannot be used in drawing scientifically founded tourismpolicy (Zacharatos 1989 277 Konsolas amp Zacharatos 1993 58) Consequentlytourism policy follows conventional wisdom and concentrates on attracting alarger volume of tourists ignoring scientific methods to assess the economicsocial cultural and environmental impacts of each tourism segment assumingthat the greater the tourism volume the better for the national economy

The lack of a comprehensive and rational tourism policy and planning or a MasterPlan for Greek tourism is primarily responsible for the aforementioned structuralproblems Policy is usually based on unsubstantiated statements published by theTourism Ministry or the GNTO (GNTO 1985b 1989a 1993) often as pre-electionpromotional material In essence Greek authorities attempt to intervene aiming tostimulate arrivals as well as to facilitate the operation and development of the

458 Current Issues in Tourism

tourism industry Based on the assumption that tourism arrivals to Greece wouldincrease indefinitely the general directions of the Greek tourism policy focusalmost invariably on the targets summarised in Table 7 (Euromonitor 1992 61GNTO 1989b 41 and 1993 1 OECD 1992 70 Skoulas 1985 194 Leontidou 199188ndash91 Apostolopoulos 1990 Zacharatos 1989 275 and 1988 21)

However as these tasks are not quantified and there is no time schedule orplanning process for their achievement it is inevitable that their implementationand assessment is subject to irrationalities and personal judgement Occa-sionally incentives for tourism development responses to lobbying from tour-ism-related associations and regions training programmes and generallegislation attempt to direct the Greek tourism industry towards the describedpolicy directions In addition an inconsistent and untargeted promotionalcampaign is implemented yearly (Touloupas 1996 130) The campaign attempts toachieve the above unspecified policy tasks while it is often a lsquolast minutersquo reactionmeasure to a forecasted decline of bookings for the current season rather than acoordinated long-term marketing policy (Jenner amp Smith 1993 143Papadopoulos 1989 304) Despite the advertising campaignrsquos positive impact onarrivals the feedback to the campaign is rather speculative as no formal researchis undertaken to identify the most cost-effective media and communication meth-ods for each target market (Papadopoulos 1989 311 and 1987 82)

Because the deficient scientific examination of Greek tourism and its impactsprevents the authorities from establishing quantifiable and measurable tourismpolicies their policies are based on subjective and personal judgements while feedbackpractices are rarely followed In addition the implementation of the vaguelydefined tourism policy as well as the targets regulations and standards are oftenbent to accommodate lobbying and political pressures (Zacharatos 1989 279)Komilis (1993 225) suggests that tourism planning in Greece is generally realisedand exercised within a socio-political environment characterised by severalfactors a limited degree of political commitment lack of social awareness andacceptability of planning actions inadequacy of scientific and technical founda-

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 459

Table 7 Greek tourism policy targets

Development of demand

Training of tourism employees

Increase arrivals and foreign exchange income

Increase competitiveness of tourism product

Improvement of services in the industry

Reduction of seasonality and expansion of tourism season

Attraction of high spenders and alternative types of tourism

Construction of facilities appealing to the upper end of the market such as luxuryhotels golf courses congress centres casinos and marinas

Development of tourism infrastructure with emphasis on transportation

Support of social tourism for low-income domestic tourists

Geographical redistribution of tourism

tion to support planning intervention and a centralised administrative-institu-tional system gathering a plethora of functions but failing to perform itscoordination and enforcing role When the conflicting interests and power of eachmember of the tourism industry are brought into the equation where differentpartners attempt to influence legislation in order to maximise their own short-termprofitability regardless of the impacts on the destination and other enterprises theplanning process becomes more complicated This results in an ineffective plan-ning system and process which produces policies unable to provide an appropri-ate balance between restrictive policies and control planning implementationMoreover the plethora of SMTEs in combination with inadequate legislationconcerning their establishment and operation seem to affect adversely thecompetitiveness of the industry and the ability to diversify and enrich local tour-ism products (Komilis 1992 11 EIU 1990 59)

Consequently several structural problems are originated jeopardising theprosperity of both SMTEs and destinations especially in overdeveloped regionsOn the supply side failure of the infrastructure to follow the dramatic expansionof the superstructure in combination with the lack of solid institutional context oftourism policy and long-term regulation result in the exploitation and inadequacyof environmental and socio-cultural resources as well as the inability of the indus-try to generate the level of economic benefits desired and expected On the tourismdemand side after the meteoric growth in the 1970s and 1980s the Greek tourismindustry has been trying to transform lsquothe country into a destination which cancompete not just on price but on value for moneyrsquo (EIU 1990 45) It is becomingapparent that the tourism population in not infinite and an adaptability andresponsiveness to touristsrsquo needs is ofgreat importance (Sezeramp Harrison 1994 83)

Structural problems jeopardise the profitability of the private sectorBecause of the aforementioned structural problems most tourism industry

enterprises are experiencing a decline in profitability Hotels in particular arebadly affected due to the high fixed assets as well as their immobility and inflexi-bility which prevents them from adjusting to demand fluctuation Several reasonsdetermine their low profitability and inability to increase prices in line with infla-tion The low occupancy levels achieved yearly is a key problem Smith and Jenner(1995 17) estimate that the lsquoyear-round bed occupancy over the range of licensedaccommodation is slightly under 30rsquo As most of the properties are closed duringthe winter months due to the seasonality problems they rely on three to six monthsto generate sufficient returns on their investment The occupancy levels of accom-modation establishments in Greek tourism are often determined by theirco-operation with travel intermediaries Based on the different seasonality patternsof different markets rooms are normally allocated a year before the summer seasonto tour operators on lsquoallotmentrsquo or lsquocommitmentrsquo contracts which effectively deter-mine the prices charged according to the security provided by tour operators forusing and paying for hoteliersrsquo rooms Once the contracts are signed hoteliers effec-tively lose their control on their inventory and their right to market their rooms toother business sources before the release period (typically 7ndash14 days before arrival)in order to avoid overbooking However should their bookings fail to match theirprogramme tour operators often utilise their buying power to cancel unwantedrooms at the beginning of the tourist season without paying compensation Smaller

460 Current Issues in Tourism

hoteliers are often left with unoccupied rooms they which are unable to promote atthe lsquolast minutersquo unless they drop their prices to unacceptable levels As a result oftheir deficient intra-channel power hotels often suffer a significant cut-back of theiroccupancy levels which has direct implications for their profitability (Buhalis 19952000c 460 Ktenas 1996)

Similarly the seasonality of the Mediterranean and Greek tourism industry hasalways been a problem for the profitability of SMTEs since enterprises operateonly for a limited period (Jenner amp Smith 1993 70 Drakatos 1987 Donatos ampZairis 1991) Attempts to promote winter tourism by developing cultural andspecial interest tourism in the islands and winter sports in several ski resorts inGreece have proved fairly unsuccessful (EIU 1986 56) This is attributed to theimage of Greece as an exclusively summer-sun destination as well as to the unco-ordinated attempts to maintain tourism enterprises active during the wintermonths (EIU 1990 57)

The average room rate is the second major determinant of hotel profitability It isbecoming apparent that employment costs and cost of capital in combination witha relatively strong currency policy reduce the ability of Greek accommodationestablishments to offer competitive pricing and maintain their profitabilityMarketing inadequacies and inability to promote the tourism product as a differ-entiated entity the rapid increase of supply in comparison to demand and theoverall dependence upon the oligopsonistic tour operators for the Greek tourismproduct promotion force hoteliers to accept contracts by tour operators whichminimise their profit margin and adversely effect the quality of their productIncreasing levels of pressure by tour operators prevent SMTEs from renovatingand investing in their properties and therefore a gradual deterioration of the prop-erties is inevitable (Richter-Papaconstantinou 1992 14 Skoulas 1985 189) Euro-pean tour operators faced with fierce competition in their markets are essentiallywilling to pay an annual price increase equal to little less than the depreciation ofthe drachma plus the inflation at the place of origin of the tourists (Ktenas 1994)This policy progressively deteriorates the profitability of the Greek tourism indus-try and has severe impacts for its prosperity The situation is worse for smalleraccommodation establishments which manage to negotiate even smaller priceincreases due to their exclusive dependence upon fewer intermediaries(Logothetis 1992 14)

The oversupply of tourism services both in Greece and worldwide also contributesto global competition for a less rapidly increasing demand (Josephides 1993 54)In Greece the average annual increase of the official hotel bed supply in 1983ndash1992was 47 while the annual average increase in international tourist bednights was27 (Epilogi 1994 271) The investment incentive Law 126282 boosted this over-supply as it generated small infeasible and uncontrollable accommodation unitsunable to offer high quality of services while it increased the concentration of tour-ism units in infrastructure-undersupplied resorts (Kriebardis amp Marmagiolis1990 51 Stavrou 1989b 5) The vast majority of the capacity growth is on the lsquoille-galrsquo unregistered self-catering and self-serviced lsquoparahoteleriarsquo sector whichprovide very low quality and priced accommodation and therefore appeal tomass tour operatorsrsquo clientele This not only increases unfair competition for theofficially registered hotels but also reduces both tax revenues and employment atthe macro level

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 461

Horwath (1994 3) concludes that

unfortunately the results in terms of return on investment in the tourismindustry are not very promising especially when compared with those ofother Greek economic sectors It is an undisputable fact that the averageGreek tourism entrepreneur is heavily dependent on the tourist packageprice which is strongly negotiated by the international tour operators It isan lsquounhealthyrsquo dependency as a result of the weak position of the Greektourist product in the international market In addition the aforemen-tioned dependency is the result of the lack of marketing activities in anaverage tourist enterprise As we all know effective marketing activitiesare based on the product place price promotion which all contribute toclient satisfaction and further to a bigger share in the international touristmarket Up to now three of the aforementioned important elements ofmarketing have been overlooked which determine the weak negotiationpower of the Greek entrepreneur

This situation has also resulted to several European companies expandingtheir operations into Greece or purchasing shares in Greek partners in order toimprove their vertical integration Should this vertical integration expand signif-icantly however lsquoGreek tourism will be in fact controlled by foreign deci-sion-making centres which will certainly operate on the basis of their owninterests and not according to the overall interests of our national economyrsquo(Kalogeropoulou 1993 2) Hence radical measures are required immediately inproduct formulation promotion strategy and distribution channels to supportboth Greek destinations and SMTEs to enhance their competitiveness profitabil-ity and prosperity Failure to react would have severe implications for the futureof the Greek tourism private sector as the essence of its existence would be jeop-ardised its costs may exceeding its returns

Structural problems generate negative tourism impactsIn addition to the profitability problems of the private sector the aforemen-

tioned structural problems have profound implications for the welfare of hostpopulations in various Greek destinations as their economic social cultural andenvironmental resources are exploited without ensuring their sustainabilityLack of comprehensive research and failure to initiate carrying-capacity limits orzoning systems contribute to the anarchic development of tourism as well asexpand negative impacts of tourism on local societies and environments Thefollowing section highlights some of the costs Greek destinations are called topay for their tourism activity whilst it suggests that these issues should beaddressed in the strategic planning process

Macro-economic negative impactsDespite the contribution of tourism to the Greek economy certain potential

risks can also be identified Not only is the competitiveness and profitability ofthe tourism industry jeopardised but also several destination regions seem tofollow a policy of developing tourism at the expense of industrial and agricul-tural growth (Stavrou 1989a 6 Vernicos 1987 105) Instead of tourism stimulat-ing agriculture it seems that it hastens its decline as the two economic activities

462 Current Issues in Tourism

compete for land and labour The lack of structural investments in industrial oragricultural sectors combined with the popularity of tourism professions in theworkforce endanger the balance of the regional economy while reducing thetourism multipliers (Briassoulis 1993 295) As a result the economic structure ofthe destination is jeopardised while a complete dependence upon tourismbecomes inevitable (Komilis 1992 7) Both opportunity costs and displacementeffects are therefore evident Moreover there is evidence that the progress ofdestinations through their life-cycle and especially the introduction of masstourism decreases their economic impacts while it makes local control of theindustry far more difficult (Loukissas 1982 537) lsquoBecause of the high degree ofdependence of Greek tourist enterprises on tour operators the actual amount oftourist spending remaining in the country is only the 40ndash50 of total touristspendingrsquo (Briassoulis 1993 296) Public-sector subsidies to the private sector invarious forms such as incentives cooperative marketing campaigns and unem-ployment benefits in the off-season as well as tax evasion and lsquoparaeconomyrsquo alsoreduce the real benefit at the macro level (Mourdoukoutas 1988 Drakatos 1987Leontidou 1991 102) Lack of scientific research on the economic impacts oftourism makes the real contribution of tourism in the economy speculativerather than based on hard evidence (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Konsolas ampZacharatos 1993)

Social and cultural negative impactsThe development of mass tourism and the lack of effective planning and

management are also responsible for a number of negative social and culturalimpacts observed in Greek host societies (Tsartas 1989 1992 Stavrou 19781979 1980 1986b) Although the degree of interaction of the population withtourists depends heavily on the geomorphology of destinations and the loca-tion of resorts (Loukissas 1982 538) touristsrsquo behaviour is often offensive tothe host population but tolerated due to the economic benefits (Castelberg-Koulma 1991 201 Kousis 1989 Wickens 1994 823) Most Greek tourismdestinations are almost crime-free zones during the winter due to the smallpopulation and personal relationships of locals Tourism however introducesseveral types of criminal activity often unknown to local people As policeforces are usually allocated according to needs of the permanent population ina destination they are often incapable of handling the demands of the summermonths and are unable to deal with visitorsrsquo misbehaviour such as hooliganismand lsquolager-lootingrsquo

The commercialisation of history cultural traditions and the Greek lifestyle isa phenomenon met in several destinations This regrettably affects the renownedGreek hospitality commercialises human relations with tourists and reduces theties of solidarity and cooperation between locals since they compete for the tour-ism market (Papadopoulos 1988b 24) As the average employee works 605hours weekly for 295 weeks a year there is little time left for social religious andcultural obligations during the season (Mourdoukoutas 1988 325) Although acertain degree of lsquodemonstration effectrsquo and lsquoxenomaniarsquo can be attributed totourism the country is equally influenced by the mass media as well as by theGreek students and professionals living abroad (Papadopoulos 1988a 30Wickens 1994 822) Moore (1995) also explains that tourism not only has had a

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 463

contribution to the increase of alcohol consumption by Greeks but has alsoshifted their taste away from locally produced wine to imported spirits and beerBriassoulis (1993 296) perhaps describes best the change in labour force valueswhen as she suggests that tourism has created a

peculiar parasitic group of tourist entrepreneurs operating tourist-servingenterprises like tavernas cafeterias etc the principal characteristics ofwhich are high profits and tax evasion Consequently a particular person-ality type is created the lsquosuccessfulrsquo entrepreneur who earns a lot with littlework has a rich erotic life and is professionally independent (in contrast topublic and private employees) This model is followed by many youngpeople who abandon other productive year-round occupations lsquoworkrsquoonly during the tourist season stay idle for the rest of the year and eventu-ally suffer from the volatility of the tourist market

The family relations and values are therefore under great transition andperhaps threat (Castelberg-Koulma 1991 201 Kousis 1989 Moore 1992)

Negative environmental impactsDespite environmental resources becoming central to destinationsrsquo competi-

tiveness most Greek destinations go through an unparalleled exploitation due toinadequate planning and reinvestment in their sustainability jeopardising theirfuture (Buhalis amp Fletcher 1995) Boniface and Cooper (1994 141) suggest thatgeographical concentration of tourism

has led to the view that Greece will become saturated with tourists and thatdamage will be done to the environment and cultural heritage in the morepopular areas Already the environment has suffered from haphazarduncontrolled building and pollution of the sea and the flora and fauna arebeing effected by waste disposal

Coastal pollution water shortages sewage treatment waste disposal trafficcongestion noise pollution overbuilding and aesthetic degradation are some ofthe impacts experienced already in a number of resorts (Briassoulis 1993 297Coccosis amp Parprairis 1992 Peterson 1990 Marinos 1983 Stavrou 1988 19 and1989a 5 Papadopoulos 1988b 24) Most of the islands also face water shortagedue to the inability of natural supplies to provide sufficient water for the tourismdemand Imported mineral water from the mainland is an expensive way tosolve this problem due to the transportation cost while it creates more waste andenvironmental damage In addition the destruction of endangered speciesrsquo habi-tats is another problem experienced on several islands (ZakynthosCaretta-Caretta and Allonissos monk-seals) (Ottaway 1992 Van Den Bergh1993 70 Prurier et al 1993) Urgent coordination with all tourism actors at thelocal level is essential while regulation is required to set objective and measurablelimits and targets in order to preserve local environmental resources Financialdifficulties in the industry only exacerbate these impacts as the private and publicsectors feel unable to reinvest in the conservation of resources

The aforementioned negative impacts emerge as a result of the structuralproblems of the Greek tourism industry and illustrate that the mass tourismorientation of the industry reduces the sovereignty of the host population over

464 Current Issues in Tourism

their land and resources whilst jeopardising their expected benefits and futurewelfare As these impacts are trade-offs for the economic gains of the tourismactivity it is important that consistent long-term strategic planning should beundertaken in order to enable the preservation of the local resources and achievesustainability at tourism destinations These tasks should all be reinforced byresearch political will and strategic planning

Where Do We Need to Go and How Are We Going ThereTowards Strengthening the Competitiveness of Greek Tourismand SMTEs

Based on the situation analysis as well as on the strategic weaknesses andstructural problems the paper attempts to provide a framework for strategicplanning which will enable the strengthening of the competitiveness of Greektourism and SMTEs Porter (1985 1) suggests that competitive strategy lsquois thesearch for a favourable competitive position in an industryrsquo which is a function ofthe attractiveness of the industry and the relative competitive position withinthat particular industry He also argues that lsquocompetitive strategy aims to estab-lish a profitable and sustainable position against the forces that determine indus-try competitionrsquo Competitiveness is therefore defined as the effort undertakenby organisations to maintain long-term profitability above the average of theparticular industry within which they operate or above alternative investmentopportunities in other industries

Traditionally the tourism industry in the majority of destinations worldwideis based on a network of SMTEs which provide all types of tourism products andservices while enabling closer interaction between the host population and visi-tors as well as facilitating a rapid infusion of tourism spending into the localeconomy As lsquotouristsrsquo overall experience is composed of numerous smallencounters with a variety of tourism service providersrsquo (Moutinho 1990 104)there is a great overlap between the customer perception of local SMTEs anddestinations which makes them almost indistinguishable Consequently thecompetitiveness and prosperity of destinations and SMTEs are closely interre-lated as the fortune of the one depends heavily upon the management andcompetitiveness of the other Therefore the generic strategy for destinationsinvolves SMTEs and vice versa

Grand strategy Strategy formulation for Greek tourism and SMTEsBased on the strategic analysis a grand strategy is proposed for the Greek

tourism industry and SMTEs in order to demonstrate the directions the destina-tions should follow in their attempt to increase their competitiveness and reducetheir vulnerability As different resorts destinations and SMTEs have dissimilarneeds only generic strategies can be drawn However these guidelines can beapplicable to destinations and SMTEs worldwide as they address strategic ratherthan operational issues The analysis is based on the assumption that SMTEsformulate leisure value-added chains or networks of wealth creation whichessentially comprise the entire destination Therefore an integrated approach isfollowed as there is a great complementarity between the strategies and strate-gic directions for both the Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 465

The grand strategy analysis is based on an examination of three general strat-egy models namely Porterrsquos generic strategies Gilbertrsquos proposition for lsquodiffer-entiation of the destinationrsquo and Poonrsquos analysis for lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo Agrand strategy is then proposed for both Greek tourism and SMTEs based oninference emerging from these three models Figure 1 illustrates the three maingeneric strategies proposed by Porter (1980 34ndash46) in order to lsquooutperform otherfirms in an industryrsquo overall cost leadership where the firm is required to minimiseits costs based on mass production and strict cost control of the main businessfunctions differentiation of products or services by lsquocreating something that isperceived industry-wide as being uniquersquo or focus on a lsquoparticular buyer groupsegment of the product line or geographical marketrsquo and achieve either cost leader-ship or product differentiation (Porter 1980 37ndash8)

Furthermore Gilbert (1984 1990) argues that destinations should differenti-ate their tourism products in order to be able to achieve a unique lsquotourist productbenefitrsquo which would enable them to establish their position in the internationaltourism market as well as to attract high spenders and loyal tourists Tourismdestinations therefore should attempt to achieve a lsquostatus arearsquo image ratherthan a lsquocommodity arearsquo one as illustrated in Figure 2 In the first case the desti-nation is heavily substitutable very sensitive to price and economic changeswhile consumers have a low awareness of any unique benefits or attributes of theregion Thus holidaymakers base their decision to visit the area merely on pricewhile the demand for the destination is incidental and destinations are unable toattract high spenders In contrast lsquostatus areasrsquo achieve intentional demand as aresult of the unique product attributes perceived by the tourism market Theseunique attributes may be genuine or imagined and thus a destination isregarded as irreplaceable increasing consumersrsquo loyalty and willingness to payGilbert (1990 24ndash5) asserts that destinations should attempt to become lsquostatusareasrsquo in order to improve their image loyalty and economic benefits

A third strategic approach is proposed by Poon (1987 1988 1989 1990 1993)based on the concept of lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo of the tourism business Inessence Poon examines the industry processes and proposes a strategy to enabletourism organisations to improve their competitiveness Poon argues that lsquoflexi-ble specialisationrsquo is a strategy of lsquopermanent innovationrsquo and lsquoceaseless changersquowhich provides for the lsquonew tourismrsquo This new tourism is flexible segmentedcustomised to the touristrsquos needs and diagonally integrated In contrast the oldtourism can be characterised as lsquomass standardised and rigidly packagedrsquo(Poon 1989 91ndash3)

466 Current Issues in Tourism

STRATEGIC ADVANTAGE

Perceived product uniqueness Cost advantage

TARGETMARKET

Industrywide Differentiation Cost Leadership

Particularsegmentsonly

Differentiation Focus Cost Focus

Figure 1 Porterrsquos three generic strategiesSource Porter 1980 39

The main sources of flexibility for service firms lie in the organisationmanagement marketing distribution and other forms of interaction andinterrelationships among guests hotels suppliers distributors What isimportant however is not each of these stand alone aspects but how theyare coupled to create competitive advantages and hence capabilities tomove with the market (Poon 1988 24)

Examination of these three main strategies illustrates that they share a similarbase Porterrsquos lsquodifferentiationrsquo Gilbertrsquos lsquostatus arearsquo and Poonrsquos lsquoflexiblespecialisationrsquo describe the attempt undertaken by firms and tourist destinationsto achieve value competitive advantages In contrast the lsquocost leadershiprsquo lsquocom-modity arearsquo and the lsquostandardisation or Fordism production modelrsquo describethe effort to achieve lsquocost competitive advantagersquo where destinations andSMTEs offer their products for less than their competitors In the first caseconsumers perceive the product as unique and are willing to pay a premiumwhile in the second case the decision is merely based on price Thus the classicalstrategic decision of lsquolow volume-high profit marginrsquo or lsquohigh volume-low profitmarginrsquo is the underlying concept of the two alternative strategies

Both Gilbert and Poon agree that destinations should aim to achieve lsquostatusarearsquo or niche orientation through differentiation in order to increase consumersatisfaction as well as to maximise the benefits for both regions and SMTEs As aresult Greek tourism and SMTEs need to focus towards the differentiation strat-egy define their niche markets and serve them accordingly This strategy isalready adopted in several resort areas such as Valencia in Spain where it isrecognised that the need for diversification and differentiation lsquohas now becomeessential owing to the level of competitiveness that has been attained (and can beforeseen) in the world tourist marketrsquo (Fayos-Sola 1992 49) Differentiation isalso particularly useful for insular destinations in microstates where a limitednumber of economic and financial resources are available (Wilkinson 1989 170)As most destinations consist of SMTEs networks there is an overlap betweentheir strategic orientations and therefore the above analysis is applicable to boththe Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Destinations implementing a lsquostatus arearsquo strategy can enhance the satisfac-tion of tourists as well as their competitiveness The formulation of unique and

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 467

CommodityArea

Statusarea

Willingness topay higher prices

StatusArea

Product attributes Product attributes

CommodityArea

Figure 2 Gilbertrsquos differentiation strategySource Adapted from Gilbert 1990 25

customised products by using flexibility and cooperation also increases touristsrsquowillingness to pay and wins their loyalty while it responds to the new tourismdemand trends However the proposed strategy should not be seen as an excusefor SMTEs and destinations not to attempt to improve their efficiency and mini-mise their production costs Although the unique service for touristsrsquo needs shouldbe their priority offering perceived value for money would determine theircompetitiveness in the marketplace As a result all Greek resorts and SMTEsshould assess their assets and strengths for serving specific target markets takingadvantage of their small size which facilitates flexibility and specialisation

It is quite apparent that the cost advantage strategy has to be avoided inmanagement of tourism destinations as regions need to preserve their scarceenvironmental and sociocultural resources and achieve sustainable develop-ment As cost advantage is based on mass production and consumption itassumes an unlimited production capacity which is inapplicable in the tourismindustry The inseparability of the tourism product determines that consumersshould be present at the time of product delivery and when combined with tour-ism seasonality it generates demand peaks which drain destinationsrsquo scarceenvironmental sociocultural resources The lsquohigh volume-low profit marginrsquostrategy has therefore harmful social and environmental impacts on destina-tions Destinations have maximum carrying capacities beyond which both thewelfare of local populations and the satisfaction of tourists are jeopardisedAlthough economic benefits can also be achieved by using the lsquocommodity arearsquoor the lsquostandard product modelrsquo it is argued that these approaches reduce tour-istsrsquo satisfaction and their willingness to pay and are opposed to the demandtrend towards individualisation

Unfortunately however some destinations can no longer be positioned asirreplaceable unique products due to their overdevelopment Tourism supplyhas exceeded the carrying capacity of these resorts and their product hasreached the saturation or decline phase of their life-cycle Several Spanish costasand some Greek resorts such as Benitses Kavos Faliraki Malia Hersonissos andNidri (Josephides 1994) have been overdeveloped to such an extent that only alsquohigh-volume low-profit marginrsquo strategy is feasible When resorts reach theirsaturation level only a lsquocost leadershiprsquo or lsquomass productionrsquo strategy can beproposed as they are unable to provide any specific lsquotourist product benefitrsquo Theattraction of the lower end of the market is inevitable and as a consequence thereare no alternative strategies The minimisation of further sociocultural and envi-ronmental damage as well as attempts to improve the surrounding environmentshould also be a primary objective of both tourism destinations and SMTEs in thiscase The ultimate aim should be to regenerate the resources of the area and torelaunch the tourism destination to attract specific markets which will be willing topay a higher price for the destination

Strategic directions objectives and tasks for Greek tourism and SMTEsTable 8 presents three pivotal strategic directions which are identified in order

to stimulate the competitiveness of both Greek tourism and SMTEs This sectionillustrates how the aforementioned grand strategy can be implemented for tour-ist destinations and SMTEs through a number of strategic directions objectivesand tasks as presented in Table 9

468 Current Issues in Tourism

Enhancing the satisfaction of tourists and delighting the customer are pivotalto ensuring the well-being of Greek destinations and SMTEs in the long term andthus the entire range of tourism service providers should aim to delight theirclients As a result of the tourism product integration consumer satisfactioncannot be achieved by independent businesses separately but by the entirenetwork of SMTEs in Greek destinations The improvement in services isperhaps the most important strategic objective Consistency of promises throughstandardisation of service delivery and implementation of a total qualitymanagement philosophy throughout the industry are essential strategic tasks forachieving this objective while flexibility in service delivery and improvementsin training are critical In line with the grand strategy the production oftailor-made tourism products should be ensured in order to satisfy the specificneeds of particular niches and the requirements of the emerging new tourismdemand Product augmentation would enable also the Greek tourism product toexceed the expectations of consumers and hence enhance their satisfaction Lifestyle segmentation would enable Greek tourism and SMTEs to design appropri-ate tourism products As tourist demand elasticity has increasingly becomedoubtful in recent years the price of the holiday is no longer considered to be themost important attribute in the decision-making process Consequently theGreek tourism industry should concentrate on providing value for money at allprice levels as well as offering at least whatever they have promised to theconsumer

Supporting the long-term competitiveness and profitability of Greek tour-ism and SMTEs is by far the most important strategic objective for the tourismindustry The first strategic objective for every SMTE has to be the increase inrevenue by maximising its occupancy or load factors and the rates it achievesThe lengthening of the operating season as well as the identification of newmarkets and the penetration into existing ones and the effective utilisation ofdistribution channels will contribute to this strategic direction Higher ratescan be achieved by targeting specialised and smaller tour operators attractingalternative types of tourists and expanding the distribution channels mix aswell as by attempting a certain degree of lsquodisintermediationrsquo by encouragingdirect sales to outgoing travel agencies or consumers Aggressive marketingand establishment of partnerships with other enterprises should be essentialfunctions of Greek tourism and SMTEs Motivation of lsquofront-of-housersquo employ-ees as salesmen and sale incentives would also increase average spending percustomer The use of CRSs and destination management systems may also bean appropriate method for achieving higher prices and better occupancy rates(Buhalis 1994) Finally yield management techniques should be utilised by alltypes of SMTEs to assist them in pricing and maximising revenue Cost control

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 469

Table 8 Pivotal strategic dimensions for Greek tourism

(1) Enhance the satisfaction of tourists and delight the customer(2) Strengthen the long-term profitability and competitiveness of Greek tourism and

SMTEs(3) Develop Greek destinations sustainably and ensure prosperity of host population

470 Current Issues in Tourism

Table 9 Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Strategic directions Strategic objectives Strategic tasks

1 Enhance the sat-isfaction of tour-ists and delightthe customer

11 Improvement of services a Standardisation of service de-livery

b Development of quality controlsystems

c Consistency of promisesd Improvements in operational

managemente Flexibility in services deliveryf Training and education im-

provementsg Smile and personal relation-

shipsh Augmentation of tourism

producti Total quality management

12 Specialisation of tourismproduct

a Niche marketingb Lifestyle targeting

13 Value for money a Quality at each price level

2 Strengthen thelong-term com-petitiveness andprofitability ofGreek tourismand SMTEs

21 Increase revenue a Increase tourist volumesb Target new markets and pene-

tration in existing marketsc Use yield managementd Expand distribution channel

mixe Aggressive marketingf Achieve high average spending

per customerg Select high-quality specialised

tour operatorsh Attract alternative types of

tourismi Use alternative distribution

channelsj Motivate front-of-house em-

ployees as salesmen

22 Cost control and rationalmanagement

a Standardise service deliveryb Increase productivityc Reduce labour costsd Rationalise supplies manage-

mente Educationtraining for manag-

ers and employeesf Use of new technologyg Integrate service delivery

within SMTEs

23 Human resources man-agement

a Internal marketingb Empowermentc Satisfactory salary and working

conditionsd Long-term relations with em-

ployeese Motivation and rewards

and rational management is the second strategic objective needed to increaseefficiency and profitability of both Greek destinations and SMTEs in the longterm Standardisation of the service delivery process and minimisation of thelabour cost through better operational management would be primary recom-mendations Managers and employees should improve their productivity andmarketing skills by intensive training In addition the rationalisation of supplymanagement and the use of new technology is expected to reduce operationalcosts Finally integration of service delivery enables SMTEs to provide comple-mentary services and achieve additional revenues without immense costs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 471

24 State and public tourismorganisation support

a Destination development andcontrol

b Incentives policies for improve-ment

c Attract European Union assis-tance

d Promotional activitye Provide financial resources

3 Develop Greekdestinationssustainably andensure prosper-ity of host popu-lation

31 Environmental protection a Carrying capacity identificationb Zoning system applicationc Architecture preservationd Installation of sewage treat-

ment systemse Reduction of noise pollutionf Natural supplies management

32 Infrastructure ameliora-tion

a Accessibility improvementsb Telecommunication improve-

mentsc Public facilities advancements

33 Transportation improve-ments

a Improvement of local timeta-bles

b Punctuality and reliabilityc Improvements of vehiclesd Flexibility to meet demand

needs

34 Economic integration a Integration with raw materialproduction

b Utilisation of local labour forcec Integration of tourism servicesd Diagonal integration of destina-

tionrsquos economy

35 Equitable return on re-sources utilised

a Establish mechanism forreinvestments

b Provide services for hostcommunity

c Invest in sustainability ofresources

d Ensure equity in distributionof wealth produced

Source Adapted from Buhalis 1991 83a

Table 9 (cont) Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Human resources management is crucial in the delivery process of tourismproducts The concept of lsquointernal marketingrsquo where employees are perceivedand treated as lsquointernal customersrsquo has to be utilised in order to ensure theirsatisfaction As Berry (1981 34) states lsquothe satisfaction of the needs and wants ofthe internal customers can upgrade their capacity for satisfying the needs andwants of their external customersrsquo and as a consequence it can contribute to thecompetitiveness and profitability of Greek tourism and SMTEs Satisfactorysalary and working conditions are prerequisites for the well-being of SMTEsrsquoemployees Long-term relationships between employees and SMTEs minimiseturnover enabling a better performance while they reduce recruitment andtraining costs Empowerment would enable employees to be involved in themanagement of SMTEs and authorise them to respond more efficiently toconsumer requests while contributing to their job satisfaction Finally thesupport of the GNTO is vital for the long-term survival of SMTEs Apart fromthe improvement in infrastructure the GNTO is expected to hold the strategicresponsibility of the destination as well as to regulate the competition in orderto enable smaller enterprises to survive Incentive policies need to reflect thespecific requirements of each resort and enable development or improvementof certain types of enterprises The GNTO is also instrumental in attractingassistance from European development funds while it should also coordinatethe majority of Greek tourism promotional activity A promotional mix whichmaximises the effectiveness of the communication message needs to be drawnwhile budgets need to be available at the time consumers go through their deci-sion-making process in order to influence their choice of destination Finally theneed for the public sector to provide affordable financial resources for SMTEs ishighlighted by the EU (EC 1993b 73)

The third strategic direction for Greek tourism and SMTEs should be thesustainable development of destinations and local areas not only for the hostpopulation but also because this is vital for both consumer satisfaction and theprofitability of SMTEs Although in most cases SMTEs are unable to incorporatethese types of strategic objectives and tasks on their own they can initiate aframework of necessary actions for sustainable destination developmentthrough their associations Environmental protection is naturally the mostimportant strategic objective as consumersrsquo environmental consciousness hasbeen raised recently Carrying capacity limits should be identified and strictregulations and guidelines for tourism development need to be drawn A zoningsystem should be implemented in order to locate tourism activities according tothe geographical morphology of the destination In addition natural resourcesmanagement is necessary as tourism demand may exhaust the resources andespecially the water supplies The installation of sewage treatment systems andthe reduction of noise pollution should be considered especially for resortswhich suffer the consequences of these problems In addition infrastructureamelioration must be one of the primary objectives as it is an essential prerequi-site for both consumersrsquo satisfaction and SMTEsrsquo development The improve-ment of accessibility public services as well as telecommunications facilities is acrucial factor Transportation is also significant in increasing both consumersatisfaction and profitability of SMTEs as it determines whether consumers canaccess the destination easily while it also provides the first impression to tour-

472 Current Issues in Tourism

ists Improvements of timetables and services reliability increasing transporta-tion capacity and an enhancement of the fleet in terms of speed cleanliness andleisure facilities are all required Furthermore greater flexibility is needed bytransportation operators in order to meet demand needs Economic integrationcan improve the economic and social benefits of tourism in the region and theefficiency of SMTEs Ultimately tourism should be utilised as the catalyst andmajor stimulant for regional development Tourism enterprises should makeevery effort to use local raw materials and labour in order to maximise the multi-plier effects within Greece Diagonal integration of destinationsrsquo economy can beachieved by rearranging the goods and service production in order to supportthe tourism industry demand and thus minimise imports Finally SMTEs andtourism organisations need to offer a fair return-on-resources utilised back to thehost community A mechanism should be established in order to reinvest part ofthe revenues in the sustainability of resources provide services for the hostcommunity such as education training health services and generally ensureequity in distribution of wealth produced from local resources As the privatesector cannot be expected to behave altruistically towards the host communitythe GNTO and other public-sector departments should probably utilise regula-tion and taxation for this purpose

Conclusion Greek Tourism Needs a Long Overdue Master Planand Comprehensive Policy

The emerging international tourism competition the hitherto mass tourismorientation of the industry the transformation of demand the development ofthe volume of tourists visiting the dependence upon intermediaries for thedistribution of the tourism product in the major target markets the lack of a widerange of managerial skills by Greek tourism entrepreneurs and the lack of acomprehensive tourism policy or Master Plan by the public sector has led thecompetitiveness of Greece tourism to decline This has several unfavourableimplications for the profitability of the private sector as well as numerous nega-tive economic sociocultural and environmental impacts for the host populationAs a result the return on resources utilised for the production of Greek tourismservices is inadequate and the sustainability of Greece as a major tourism desti-nation is rapidly becoming doubtful Based on a strategic analysis the paper illu-minates the strategic weaknesses and structural problems of both the private andpublic sectors and demonstrates that a rationalisation of the tourism industry isurgently required Consequently a grand strategy as well as a wide range of stra-tegic directions objectives and tasks are proposed for both Greece as an entityand its SMTEs Although no quantitative targets are set in this paper it isexpected that each destination will analyse its resources and adapt its strategicplanning accordingly

The GNTO is urged to rationalise its strategy and to draw up a Master Plan anda comprehensive strategy for the entire country and for each resort where a strategywould be adopted based on quantifiable objectives and tasks Extensive researchneeds to be undertaken by using credible measurement methodologies such asInput-Output models and multipliers analysis not only for the economic but alsofor the social cultural and environmental impacts (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Buhalis

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 473

amp Fletcher 1995) A holistic tourism management system is demanded to facilitatethe development and implementation of the tourism strategy through funds allo-cation and monitoring land use control and examination of tourism public- andprivate-sector practices A thorough examination of tourism impacts in eachregion would be a prerequisite for tourism planning as it will establish andprovide scientific backing to strategic targets Komilis (1994 71) explains thatalthough the various levels of planning (sectoral nationalEU spatial or regional)are not mutually exclusive but rather complementary the regional level planningis more suitable for drawing sustainable strategies especially for areas withdissimilar needs like the Greek destinations The regional planning should lsquocon-tribute to the maximisation of regional development benefits in a way that utilisesand mobilises the regional resource base realises regional inter-sectoral linkagesand is compatible with regional economic interests societal values and environ-mental assetsrsquo It should also take into consideration the uniqueness of insulareconomies as well as the cultural and environmental resources of each particularregion and the complexity of rural and urban functions The planning processshould encourage the complementarity and coexistence of economic activitiesrather than promote sectoral separation and single-sector developments In addi-tion it needs to improve the balance between regional self-sufficiency anddependence upon external inputs and finally it should promote integration withinthe European Union

The public sector has to play its long overdue role as regulator coordinatorinfrastructure provider and promoter of the destination while a multi-integrationof the tourism industry with all the involved bodies in the preparation distribu-tion and delivery of the tourism experience needs to be ensured (Wanhill 1993Hall 1994 Skoulas 1994 10 Stavrou 1988 46) The private sector also has an impor-tant role to play as it should improve the Greek tourism industry competitivenessby improving its managerial and labour force competencies enhancing the qualityof services designing appropriate marketing mixes to attract and satisfy targetmarkets and cooperating closely in order to achieve synergies and economies ofscale (Briassoulis 1993 300 Cooper amp Buhalis 1992) To reverse the vicious circleof decreasing quality is of critical importance for the Greek tourism industryBetter quality services would stimulate the competitiveness of the Greek tourismproduct strengthen its position in the international market provide principalswith distribution channel power enhance its customersrsquo willingness to pay andenable the industry to increase its prices improving the profitability at the microlevel and the economic impacts of tourism at the macrolevel Ultimately a diagonalintegration strategy for both Greek tourism and SMTEs should aim to delightconsumers enhance the long-term prosperity of SMTEs and improve the welfareof the host populations The Olympic Games in 2004 offer a unique opportunity toregenerate and rebrand Greek tourism a cause which the entire industry shouldchampion

The AuthorDimitrios Buhalis is Senior Lecturer and course leader MSc in tourism at theUniversity of Surrey He holds a BBA from the University of the Aegean as wellas an MSc and a PhD in tourism management from the University of Surrey Hisresearch interests focus on information systems and technology strategic

474 Current Issues in Tourism

management distribution channels of tourism destination management andplanning and destination integrated computer information reservation manage-ment systems

AcknowledgementsThe author would like to acknowledge Prof C Cooper and Prof J Fletcher for

their invaluable contribution to this research Financial support from the SurreyResearch Group ConTours Consultants as well as field research sponsorshipsby the University of Surrey the Greek National Tourism Organisation and theUniversity of the Aegean are gratefully appreciated

Note1 An earlier version of this paper was published as a monograph PlanningDevelop-

ment by the International Centre for Research and Studies in TourismAix-en-Provence France

CorrespondenceAny correspondence should be directed to Dr Dimitrios Buhalis Senior

Lecturer in Business Information Management SMSSS University of SurreyGuildford GU2 7XH UK (dbuhalissurreyacuk)

ReferencesApostolopoulos T (1990) New strategy of tourism development (in Greek) Tourism and

Economy (November) 228ndash38Berry C (1981) The employee as customer Journal of Retail Banking 3 33ndash40Boniface B and Cooper C (1994) The Geography of Travel and Tourism (2nd edn) London

HeinemannBriassoulis H (1993) Tourism in Greece In W Pompl and P Lavery (eds) Tourism in

Europe Structures and Developments (pp285ndash301) Oxford CAB InternationalBuckley P and Papadopoulos S (1986) Marketing Greek tourism The planning process

Tourism Management 7 86ndash100Buhalis D (1991) Strategic marketing and management for the small and medium

tourism enterprises in the periphery of the European Community A case study for theAegean islands in Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Buhalis D (1994) Information and telecommunications technologies as a strategic tool forsmall and medium tourism enterprises in the contemporary business environment InA Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 254ndash75)England J Wiley and Sons

Buhalis D (1995) The impact of information telecommunications technologies on tourismdistribution channels Implications for the small and medium sized tourismenterprisesrsquo strategic management and marketing PhD Dissertation University ofSurrey Guildford

Buhalis D (2000a) Marketing the competitive destination of the future TourismManagement (Special Issue ndash The Competitive Destination) 21 (1) 97ndash116

Buhalis D (2000b) (forthcoming) Athens Tourism-Travel Intelligence LondonBuhalis D (2000c) Relationships in the distribution channel of tourism Conflicts between

hoteliers and tour operators in the Mediterranean region Journal of InternationalHospitality Leisure and Tourism Adminstration 1 (1) 113ndash39

Buhalis D and Diamantis D (2001 forthcoming) Tourism development andsustainability on the Greek archipelagos In G Apostolopoulos and D Ioannides (eds)Tourism in the Mediterranean Routledge

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 475

Buhalis D and Fletcher J (1995) Environmental impacts on tourism destinations Aneconomic analysis In H Coccosis and P Nijkamp (eds) Sustainable Tourism Development(pp 3ndash25) London Avebury

Camison C Bigne E and Monfort VM (1994) The Spanish tourism industry Analysisof its strategies and the efficacy and achievements gained from them In A Seaton et al(eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 442ndash52) England JWiley and Sons

Castelberg-Koulma M (1991) Greek women and tourism Womenrsquos co-operatives as analternative form of organisation In N Redclift and T Sinclair (eds) Working WomenInternational Perspectives on Labour and Gender Ideology (pp 197ndash223) LondonRoutledge

Chitiris L (1991) Hotel Management (in Greek) Athens InterbooksCoccosis H and Parprairis A (1992) Assessing the interactions between environment

and tourism Case study of the island of Mykonos Paper presented in the IV WorldCongress of Regional Science International University of Balearic Islands Palma deMallorca 26ndash9 May

Conway H (1996) Greece Travel Weekly 1308 39ndash43Cooper C and Buhalis D (1992) Strategic management and marketing of small and

medium sized tourism enterprises in the Greek Aegean islands In R Teare D Adamsand S Messenger (eds) Managing Projects in Hospitality Organisations (pp 101ndash25)London Cassell

Daskalantonakis N (1994) Quality ndash The future of tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (3 July)D9

Divanis A (1994b) Tourism policy Left on its own luck (in Greek) XENIA (October)4ndash5

Donatos G and Zairis P (1991) Seasonality of foreign tourism in the Greek islands ofCrete Annals of Tourism Research 18 515ndash19

Douvitsas P (1994) Marketing Greece through British tour operators A futureperspective MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Drakatos C (1987) Seasonal concentration of tourism in Greece Annals of Tourism Research14 582ndash6

EC (1993a) Microeconomic Analysis of the Tourism Sector A study by the pH Group forEuropean Commission DGXXIII (September) Report XXIII30394-EN BrusselsEuropean Commission

EC (1993b) Growth competitiveness employment The challenges and ways forward intothe 21st century Bulletin of the European Communities Supplement 693 (White Paper)Luxembourg

Economist (1993) Last Chance Sisyphus A survey of Greece Economist (22 May) 2ndash22EIU (1986) Greece (pp 45ndash60) International tourist reports National Report No 3EIU (1990) Greece (pp 45ndash62) International tourist reports National Report No 4EIU (1993) Greece ndash Country Profile 1992ndash1993 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEIU (1994) Greece ndash Country Profile 1994ndash1995 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEpilogi (1994) Economic review ndash The Greek Economy 1994 (in Greek) AthensEuromonitor (1992) Tourism in Greece Market Research Europe (25 May) 51ndash63Fayos-Sola E (1992) A Strategic Outlook for Regional Tourism Policy The White Paper

on Valencian Tourism Tourism Management 13 45ndash9Fotis J (1992) Vacational lifestyle segmentation of tourists on the island of Rhodes

Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey GuildfordGilbert D (1984) The need for countries to differentiate their tourist product and how to

do so Seminar papers for Ministers of Tourism and Directors of National TouristOrganisations Tourism Managing for Results University of Surrey Guildford

Gilbert D (1990) Strategic marketing planning for national tourism Tourist Review 45 (1)18ndash27

GNTO (1985a) Survey of attributes of foreign tourists 1984ndash1985 (in Greek) Greek NationalStatistical Services Athens GNTO

476 Current Issues in Tourism

GNTO (1985b) EOT-Tourism rsquo85 Development ndash Participation ndash Quality of Life (in Greek)Greek National Statistical Services Athens GNTO

GNTO (1989a) Annual report 1988 ndash Forecast 89 Towards Quality Athens GNTOGNTO (1989b) The study of tourism promotion With special reference to the measures to

increase Japanese tourists to Greece Draft final report Japan InternationalCooperation Agency

GNTO (1993) Tourism towards the 2000 (in Greek) Greek National Tourism OrganisationAthens GNTO

Hall M (1994) Tourism and Politics Policy Power and Place J Wiley and SonsHorwath (annual) The Greek Hotel Industry (in Greek) Annual reports Pireus HorwathJenner P and Smith C (1993) Tourism in the Mediterranean Research report London

Economist Intelligence UnitJosephides N (1993) Environmental Concern ndash Whatrsquos In It for the Tourism Industry (pp 51ndash6)

Proceedings of the conference Tourism and the environment Challenges and choicesfor the 1990rsquos 16ndash17 November 1992 Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre LondonBrussels European Union

Josephides N (1994) Tourism analysis Presentation in Philoxenia international tourismexhibition Thessaloniki Greece

Josephides N (1995) A sorry state for beautiful Greece Travel Weekly 1261 (5 April)11Kalogeropoulou H (1993) Greece ndash Prospects for the tourism industry within the context

of the European Single Market of 1993 Tourism Review 48 (1) 2ndash4Kassimati K Thanopoulou M and Tsartas P (1994) Womenrsquos Employment in the

Tourist Sector Study of the Greek Labour Market and Identification of Future ProspectsDGV Equal Opportunities Unit Document V40994-EN European CommissionBrussels

Komilis P (1987) Spatial analysis of tourism in Greece (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planningand Economic Research

Komilis P (1992) The spatial structure of tourism and physical planning practices inGreece Paper presented in conference Tourism and environment Issues ofpolicyplanningmanagement 23ndash4 October University of the Aegean Dept ofEnvironment Lesvos

Komilis P (1993) Values in the Tourism Planning and Policy Making Process (pp 224ndash9)Proceedings of the conference Values and the environment 23ndash4 September GuildfordUniversity of Surrey

Komilis P (1994) Tourism and sustainable regional development In A Seaton et al (eds)Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 65ndash73) England JWiley andSons

Konsolas N and Zacharatos G (1993) Regionalization of tourism activity in GreeceProblems and policies In H Briassoulis and J Van der Straaten (eds) Tourism andEnvironment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 57ndash65) Dordrecht Kluer AcademicPublisher

Kousis M (1989) Tourism and the family in a rural Cretan community Annals of TourismResearch 16 318ndash32

Kriebardis S and Marmagiolis I (1990) Tourism Activity in Greece Problems and Perspectives(pp 45ndash54) (in Greek) Economic Report of Commercial Bank AprilndashJune AthensCommercial Bank

Ktenas S (1994) Hoteliers ask for 15 to 20 increases for 1995 (in Greek) TO BHMA (3July) D9

Ktenas S (1996) Crisis in Greek tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (7 April) D16Leontidou L (1991) Greece Prospects and contradictions of tourism in the 1980rsquos In AM

Williams and GJ Shaw (eds) Tourism and Economic Development Western EuropeanExperiences (2nd edn) (pp 94ndash106) London Belhaven Press

Logothetis M (1990) The Economy of Dodekanisos During 1988ndash1989 Developments andPerspectives (in Greek) Rhodes Regional association of municipalities of Dodekanisos

Logothetis M (1992) Touristiki Sigkiria (in Greek) Rhodes Institute of Tourist and HotelResearch

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 477

Loukissas P (1977) The impact of tourism on regional development A comparativeanalysis of the Greek islands PhD Dissertation Cornell University USA

Loukissas P (1982) Tourismrsquos regional development impacts A comparative analysis ofthe Greek islands Annals of Tourism Research 9 523ndash43

Marinos P (1983) Small island tourism-the case of Zakynthos in Greece TourismManagement 4 212ndash15

Moore R (1992) From shepherds to shopkeepers The development of tourism in a centralGreek town PhD Dissertation University of California at Berkeley USA

Moore R (1995) Gender and alcohol use in a Greek tourist town Annals of Tourism Research22 300ndash13

Mourdoukoutas P (1988) Seasonal employment seasonal unemployment andunemployment compensation The case of the tourism industry of the Greek islandsAmerican Journal of Economics and Sociology 47 315ndash29

NSSG (l983) Tourism Statistics 1981 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (l985) Tourism Statistics 1982ndash1983 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1987) Tourism Statistics 1984ndash1985 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1990) Tourism Statistics 1986ndash1987 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1993) Tourism Statistics 1988ndash1990 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceOECD (1992) Greece Tourism Policy and International Tourism in OECD Member Countries (pp

70ndash8) Paris OECDOttaway M (1992) Turtle power Sunday Times Travel and Style (28 June)Ottaway M (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 1 Sunday Times (17 January)

57ndash59Panagiotopoulou R (1990) The problem and perspectives of the European insular regions

(in Greek) Working paper University of the Aegean ChiosPapadimitris G (1988) Short run and long run prospects of the Greek tourism industry

PhD Dissertation University of Manchester ManchesterPapadopoulos S (1985) An economic analysis of foreign tourism in Greece An

examination of the growth and structure of foreign tourism to Greece 1960ndash1984 with aplanning model and marketing policy recommendations PhD Thesis University ofBradford Management Centre Bradford

Papadopoulos S (1987) Strategic marketing techniques in international tourismInternational Marketing Review (summer) 71ndash84

Papadopoulos S (1988a) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (1) 29ndash30

Papadopoulos S (1988b) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (2) 24ndash7

Papadopoulos S (1989) Greek marketing strategies in the Europe tourism market ServiceIndustries Journal 9 297ndash314

Papadopoulos S and Mirza H (1985) Foreign tourism in Greece An economic analysisTourism Management 6 125ndash37

Papandropoulos A (1995) The crisis in tourism is evident (in Greek) OikonomikosTachydromos (29 June) 26ndash8

Papanikos G (1999) The year 2004 olympic games and their influence upon the Greektourism (in Greek) ITEP (Research Institute for Tourism) Athens

Paulopoulos P (1999) The Size and Dynamics of the Tourism Sector (in Greek) ResearchInstitute for Tourism Athens

Peterson C (1990) Greece tackles overbuilding in tourism areas EnvironmentalConservation 17 166ndash8

Plevris V (1995) Alarm bells from the Hellenic Federation of Hotels (in Greek) XENIA128 (May) 6ndash7

Poon A (1987) Information technology and innovation in international tourism ndashimplications for the Caribbean tourism industry PhD thesis Science Policy ResearchUnit University of Sussex Brighton

Poon A (1988) Flexible specialisation and small size ndash the case of Caribbean tourism DRCDiscussion Paper 57 SPRU Brighton University of Sussex

478 Current Issues in Tourism

Poon A (1989) Competitive strategies for new tourism In C Cooper (ed) Progress inTourism Recreation and Hospitality Management (vol 1) (pp 91ndash102) London BelhavenPress

Poon A (1990) Flexible specialisation at small size The case of Caribbean tourism WorldDevelopment 18 109ndash23

Poon A (1993) Tourism Technology and Competitive Strategies Oxford CAB InternationalPorter M (1980) Competitive Strategy Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors

New York Free PressPorter M (1985) Competitive Advantage Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance New

York Free PressPorter M (1990) The Competitive Advantage of Nations New York Free PressPrurier E Sweeney A and Geen A (1993) Tourism and the environment The case of

Zakynthos Tourism Management 14 137ndash9Psoinos P (1994a) Research on the foreign touristsrsquo attributes in Greece (in Greek) Athens

Greek National Tourism OrganisationPsoinos P (1994b) Research on the attributes of foreigners who have never visited Greece (in

Greek) Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationRichter-Papaconstantinou C (1992) Tourism development of Rhodes Cahiers du Tourisme

(Serie B) 67 Aix en Provence Centre des Hautes Eacutetudes TouristiquesRomanos A (1998) Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites (in Greek) Athens

Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites SASETE (1993) Tourism Developments and problems (in Greek) Athens Association of Greek

Tourism EnterprisesSezer H and Harrison A (1994) Tourism in Greece and Turkey An economic view for

planners In A Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposiumpp74ndash84 England Wiley and Sons

Skoulas N (1985) Holidays and travel in the year 2035 ndash Contribution of the NationalTourist Organisation of Greece SDI Schriftey Wirtschafts und Unternehmenspolitik 40181ndash99

Skoulas N (1994) Quality improvement of tourism services (in Greek) Paper presentedin the conference Competitiveness of tourism enterprises ndash the role of quality 1 AprilHoliday Inn Athens Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises

Smith C and Jenner P (1995) Greece International Tourism Reports 3 5ndash21Stavrou S (1978) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Kos Island (in Greek) Research and

Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationStavrou S (1979) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Mykonos and Naxos Islands (in

Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1980) Research on Tourism Awareness on the Islands Kalymnos and Leros (in Greek)Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1984) Tourism Development in Greece during 1969ndash1982 (in Greek) Research andDevelopment Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986a) Research for the Characteristics of Foreign Tourist Demand in Greece in theYears 8485 (in Greek) Research Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1986b) Research on the Tourism Awareness on Paros Santorini Kythira Islands (inGreek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986c) Critical Review of Tourism Activity in the Years 8385 (in Greek) Researchand Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1988) Tourism in the Northern Aegean Islands Presentation of GNTO for the TourismDevelopment of the Periphery (in Greek) Proceedings of the first conference for thedevelopment of the Northern Aegean islands Homereum cultural centre Chios 11November Chios Periphery of Northern Aegean islands

Stavrou S (1989a) GNTO Presentation for the Tourism Development Possibilities for theSouthern Aegean Islands (in Greek) Conference for the development of Southern Aegean

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 479

islands Syros 30 September ndash 2 OctoberStavrou S (1989b) The Contribution of the Development Law 126282 in the Development of the

Country (in Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A5 Athens GreekNational Tourism Organisation

Stereopoulos N (1995) It is regarded ideal it became problematic (in Greek) OikonomikosTachidromos (21 December) 151ndash3

Touloupas P (1996) Greece as a tourist destination for the British tour operators Ananalysis from a marketing perspective in the particular context of the United KingdomMSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Tourismos ke Oikonomia (1993) 20 years 1973ndash1993 (in Greek) Special Issue AthensTourismos ke Oikonomia (1994) ICAP tourism enterprises Drastic reduction of loses in 1993

(in Greek) December 14ndash15Touristiki Agora (various issues) (Monthly tourism industry periodical in Greek) Business

Press AthensTruett D and Truett L (1987) The response of tourism to international economic

conditions Greece Mexico and Spain Journal of Developing Areas 21 177ndash90Tsartas P (1989) Socioeconomic Impacts of Tourism Development in Cyclades Region with Special

Reference on Ios and Serifos Islands During 1950ndash1980 (in Greek) Athens National Centrefor Social Research

Tsartas P (1992) Socioeconomic impacts of tourism on two Greek isles Annals of TourismResearch 19 516ndash33

Van Den Bergh J (1993) Tourism development and natural environment Aneconomicndashecological model for the Sporades islands In H Briassoulis and J Van DerStraaten (eds) Tourism and Environment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 67ndash83)Dordrecht Kluer Academic Publishers

Velissariou E (1991) Die Wirtschaftlichen Effekte des Tourismus Dargestell am Beispiel Kretas(The Economic Impacts of Tourism on Crete) PhD Dissertation University of MunichFrankfurt Peter Lang

Vernikos N (1987) The study of Mediterranean small islands Emerging theoreticalissues Ekistics 54 (323ndash4) 101ndash9

Wanhill S (1993) Government organisations In C Cooper J Fletcher D Gilbert and SWanhill (eds) Tourism Principle and Practice (pp 145ndash60) London Pitman

Wickens D (1994) Consumption of the authentic The hedonistic tourist in Greece In ASeaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 819ndash25)England JWiley and Sons

Wickens E (2000) Rethinking touristsrsquo experiences In M Robinson et al (eds) MotivationsBehaviour and Tourist Types (pp 455ndash72) Business Education Publishers Sunderland

Wickers D (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 2 Sunday Times 57ndash510Wilkinson PF (1989) Strategies for tourism in islands microstates Annals of Tourism

Research 16 153ndash77XENIA (various issues) (Monthly bulletin of the Greek Hotel Chamber in Greek) AthensZacharatos G (1984) Tourismus und Wirtschafts-Struktur Dargestellt am Beispiel

Griechenlands Europaische Hochschulschriften Reihex Band 7 Frankfurt am MainZacharatos G (1986) Tourism consumption (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planning and

Economic ResearchZacharatos G (1988) The simplistic empiricism Tourism policy and the time of crisis

(1992) (in Greek) Sychrona Themata 11 (May) 21ndash6Zacharatos G (1989) The problems and perspectives of tourism in Greece (in Greek) In H

Katsoulis T Giannitsis and P Kazakos (eds) Politics and Society Economy and ForeignRelationships (pp 273ndash89) Athens Papazisis

Zacharatos G (1993) The necessity of multimedia use in the tourism education in Greece(in Greek) Paper presented at the international conference Overcomingisolation-telematics and regional development University of the Aegean Chios 30April ndash 2 May

480 Current Issues in Tourism

Page 16: Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challengescore.ac.uk/download/pdf/101686.pdf · Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challenges Dimitrios Buhalis School of Management

global tourism demand as more people require holiday services while SMTEsare expected to increase their share as they tend to satisfy the emerging special-ised and sophisticated demand better than larger organisations Informationand telecommunication technologies can provide strategic tools for tourismdestinations and SMTEs enabling them to manage their product more effi-ciently disseminate information and establish a distribution mechanismthrough destination management systems (Buhalis 1994) New technologiesalso offer opportunities for developing innovative tourism products such asteleworking for tourists who would like to spend time working during theirstay at the destination Finally Greek tourism tends to achieve a cost advan-tage since it employs unpaid family members and operates in inexpensiveperipheral regions which often have a lower cost of living in comparison withmetropolitan areas

In terms of external threats environmental degradation through inappropriatewaste management and excessive usage of natural resources can be observedLack of know-how and funds effectively increases environmental problemsConsequently several resorts suffer severe damage while entrepreneurs and localauthorities feel powerless to take remedial measures Moreover oversupply oftourism service providers and lack of well-defined carrying capacity limits inseveral destinations have placed numerous Greek resorts and SMTEs in a disad-vantaged position as they cannot achieve sufficient income Similarly the concen-tration of power in fewer tourism industry enterprises through emergingglobalisation also threatens the ability of Greek SMTEs to survive as internationalvertically integrated tourism organisations acquire control over local enterprisesThe dependence upon channel partners for the promotion and distribution ofGreek tourism is exaggerated by the relatively low presence of Greek suppliers inthe major CRSs (Computer Reservation Systems) which is caused by the seasonal-ity and scale of the tourism production on the one hand and the tariffs of thesesystems on the other The issue of infrastructure is closely related to the oversup-ply which attracts higher demand than planned Destinations often have limitedinfrastructure provisions which fail to follow the pace of development generatingpressure on the existing inadequate facilities Finally the tourism industry suffersfrom its geographical proximity to the Balkans and the Middle East and as a conse-quence is often associated by consumers with wars and terrorism activities Greektourism and SMTEs have limited means of dealing with unfavourable situationsand thus are more vulnerable to their impacts Political intervention perhapsthrough the public sector decisions and the legislator framework often damagesthe prosperity of SMTEs As SMTEs have little lobbying power they have limitedinfluence over political decisions which determine their welfare

The SWOT analysis demonstrates quite clearly that the Greek tourism indus-try faces a wide range of problems and threats which will jeopardise its ability toprovide suitable tourism products in the future as well as its ability to make acontribution to the national welfare However several opportunities and chal-lenges emerge and they need to be addressed in order to strengthen the competi-tiveness of the industry Further analysis is therefore required in order to assessthe factors which generate these problems and also to identify ways to respond tothe challenges they present

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 455

Why Are We There and What Are the Implications StructuralProblems and Challenges

Despite its popularity and growth over the last 40 years the Greek tourismindustry has reached a stage where both its potential and competitiveness havebecome questionable

The seemingly unstoppable growth of this market contributed to a degreeof complacency which has led to Greece repeating some of the errors madein Spain Rapid price increases mean the country is no longer perceived bymass market clients as cheap in relation to comparable destinations in theMediterranean but much of the countryrsquos tourism infrastructure hastilybuilt in response to demand for cheap accommodation does not meet theneeds of a market less sensitive to price and more concerned with qualityand value for money (EIU 1990 45)

Richter-Papaconstantinou (1992 27) explains that tourism development inRhodes lsquotakes place without any Master Plan of the area respect of the landscapeand environment analysis whether there is demand and what the demand isafter regard to what is happening in similar situationsrsquo At the micro level theEuropean travel trade and intermediaries warn that the Greek tourism product isno longer competitive (Conway 1996 41 Touloupas 1996 Douvitsas 1994)whilst Chitiris (1991 148ndash150) outlines a range of managerial problems andmistakes in Greek resort hotels which diminish the quality of the tourismservices Hence unless the Greek tourism industry addresses a number of criticalissues immediately its future might be seriously jeopardised resulting in apotential catastrophe of the national economy The major structural problemsand challenges for the Greek tourism product can be summarised in Table 6

As a result Greece fails to attract the desired lsquohigh-quality high-expenditurersquotourists as it is increasingly unable to satisfy their requirements (Conway 199641) The deterioration of the tourism product and image leads to a lower willing-ness-to-pay by consumers which consequently leads to a further drop in qualityas the industry attempts to attract customers with lower prices This is a viciousspiral which has been destroying the essence of developing tourism in severalMediterranean destinations The concentration of bargaining power in Euro-pean distribution intermediaries and tour operators in particular in combina-tion with the inability of the Greek tourism industry to promote itself andestablish effective distribution mechanisms inevitably minimises the profitmargins of SMTEs and their ability to yield decent returns on their investmentAs a result touristsrsquo expenditure per capita in Greece gradually deteriorateswhile their volume increases (SETE 1993 35)

Thus the tourism policy often consisted in a lsquofreezingrsquo of the selling price ofthe tourist package abroad a measure which combined with the devalua-tion of the drachma and its continuous parity losses succeeded in securing alsquofictitious competitivenessrsquo for the Greek package This competitivenesshowever was seriously threatened each time there was an attempt at asubstantial increase because of important rises in cost elements(Kalogeropoulou 1993 2)

456 Current Issues in Tourism

The above issues illustrate that the Greek tourism product becomes increas-ingly incompetent Hence the inadequate lsquoproductrsquo lsquopromotionrsquo and lsquoplacersquo(distribution) elements of the tourism marketing mix reduce the willingness ofprospective consumers to pay and has disastrous implications for the pricingpolicies deteriorating the profitability of the SMTEs and the tourism economicimpacts on the destination

Ultimately the economic impacts of tourism in Greece become debatableespecially due to the inadequacy of tourism economic research and data whilethe destination has to bear the environmental social and cultural decay Encour-agingly articles in recent tourism industry publications acknowledge these chal-lenges and appreciate the dangers urging both the private and public sector totake action (Touristiki Agora Tourismos ke Oikonomia Travel News XENIA) as well

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 457

Table 6 Structural problems and challenges

Image of Greece as cheap simple unsophisticated undifferentiated sun-seadestination

Gradual deterioration of tourism product and lack of reinvestment in improvements

Increase of tourism arrivals but decrease of tourism expenditure per capita

Inadequacy of the Greek planning process

Dependence upon major tour operators for promotion and distribution

Plethora of anarchically developed and behaving SMTEs aiming at short-termprofitability

Inappropriate and ill-timed marketing campaign which has little effectiveness

Inadequacy of infrastructure to serve the ever-expanding demand

Lack of coordination at the destination and disrespect for touristsrsquo needs

Lack ofprofessionalism and training in both state andprivate tourism establishments

Individualistic behaviour by SMTEs and unwillingness to cooperate on adestination basis

Unsuccessful and inconsistent programmes of government intervention

Almost unregulated environment with nearly complete lack of control

Political intervention which allows exception policies and employment of unquali-fied staff

Development of tourism as a single regional development option

Oversupply of tourism amenities and fierce price competition

Failure of the private sector to invest in long-term projects

Deterioration of natural social and cultural resources

SMTEsrsquo inability to resist in global concentration of the tourism industry

Inadequate distribution mechanisms which generate overdependence onintermediaries

Failure of both the private and public sectors to learn from internationally gainedexperience in tourism development and marketing

Lack of tourism research to identify the impacts of tourism

Negligence with regard to new tourism demand challenges

as several influential members of the tourism industry (Josephides 1993 19941995 Skoulas 1994 Daskalantonakis 1994 Divanis 1994b Plevris 1995Papandropoulos 1995)

Political intervention limited research lack of tourism policy andplanning

Perhaps the largest obstacle in developing a competitive tourism industry inGreece has been the inconsistent and irrational political intervention Unfortunatelytourism has extensively been utilised as a political vehicle where each govern-ment uses it to gratify its political needs and friends This can be experienced in alllevels of recruitment in the public sector institutions as a change of government oreven minister results in immense changes throughout the GNTO as well as tomajor policies and regulations Thus in the last 35 years (since 1966) the leadershipof the GNTO has changed 28 times allowing each General Secretary to stay inoffice for an average of 138 months Political allies of each government use politi-cal pressure and intensive lobbying in order to achieve amendments in regula-tions incentive policies and business environment Hence the short-termprofitability and commercial interests of the friends and political allies of eachgovernment often overrule the long-term strategy and set an improper examplefor the entire industry These practices result in a great inconsistency in Greek tour-ism policy and disrupt its rationalisation Therefore a lsquodepolitisation of Greektourismrsquo towards a professionally managed public sector guided through acompromised strategic Master Plan is urgently required (Josephides 1995)

The limited existing scientific tourism research highlights the lack of comprehen-sive examination of tourism impacts in Greece while it illustrates that tourismpolicy is based on insufficient documentation (Zacharatos 1989 278 and 1988 22)Public sector research is almost non-existant while the authorities seem uninter-ested in consulting the Greek-tourism research produced by academics (for exam-ple Zacharatos 1984 1986 Komilis 1987 Loukissas 1977 Papadimitris 1988Papadopoulos 1985 Moore 1992 Tsartas 1989 Velissariou 1991 Fotis 1992Buhalis 1991 1995 2000c Buhalis amp Diamantis 2000) or the international tourismlsquobody of knowledgersquo (Zacharatos 1988 24) In addition tourism consumptionbeing characterised as a particular category of private consumption in the nationalaccounts it fails to reflect the real tourism impact on each economic sector Thusthe process of collecting information for tourism expenditure in Greece preventsthe assessment of tourism expenditure impacts on the national and regional econ-omy and therefore cannot be used in drawing scientifically founded tourismpolicy (Zacharatos 1989 277 Konsolas amp Zacharatos 1993 58) Consequentlytourism policy follows conventional wisdom and concentrates on attracting alarger volume of tourists ignoring scientific methods to assess the economicsocial cultural and environmental impacts of each tourism segment assumingthat the greater the tourism volume the better for the national economy

The lack of a comprehensive and rational tourism policy and planning or a MasterPlan for Greek tourism is primarily responsible for the aforementioned structuralproblems Policy is usually based on unsubstantiated statements published by theTourism Ministry or the GNTO (GNTO 1985b 1989a 1993) often as pre-electionpromotional material In essence Greek authorities attempt to intervene aiming tostimulate arrivals as well as to facilitate the operation and development of the

458 Current Issues in Tourism

tourism industry Based on the assumption that tourism arrivals to Greece wouldincrease indefinitely the general directions of the Greek tourism policy focusalmost invariably on the targets summarised in Table 7 (Euromonitor 1992 61GNTO 1989b 41 and 1993 1 OECD 1992 70 Skoulas 1985 194 Leontidou 199188ndash91 Apostolopoulos 1990 Zacharatos 1989 275 and 1988 21)

However as these tasks are not quantified and there is no time schedule orplanning process for their achievement it is inevitable that their implementationand assessment is subject to irrationalities and personal judgement Occa-sionally incentives for tourism development responses to lobbying from tour-ism-related associations and regions training programmes and generallegislation attempt to direct the Greek tourism industry towards the describedpolicy directions In addition an inconsistent and untargeted promotionalcampaign is implemented yearly (Touloupas 1996 130) The campaign attempts toachieve the above unspecified policy tasks while it is often a lsquolast minutersquo reactionmeasure to a forecasted decline of bookings for the current season rather than acoordinated long-term marketing policy (Jenner amp Smith 1993 143Papadopoulos 1989 304) Despite the advertising campaignrsquos positive impact onarrivals the feedback to the campaign is rather speculative as no formal researchis undertaken to identify the most cost-effective media and communication meth-ods for each target market (Papadopoulos 1989 311 and 1987 82)

Because the deficient scientific examination of Greek tourism and its impactsprevents the authorities from establishing quantifiable and measurable tourismpolicies their policies are based on subjective and personal judgements while feedbackpractices are rarely followed In addition the implementation of the vaguelydefined tourism policy as well as the targets regulations and standards are oftenbent to accommodate lobbying and political pressures (Zacharatos 1989 279)Komilis (1993 225) suggests that tourism planning in Greece is generally realisedand exercised within a socio-political environment characterised by severalfactors a limited degree of political commitment lack of social awareness andacceptability of planning actions inadequacy of scientific and technical founda-

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 459

Table 7 Greek tourism policy targets

Development of demand

Training of tourism employees

Increase arrivals and foreign exchange income

Increase competitiveness of tourism product

Improvement of services in the industry

Reduction of seasonality and expansion of tourism season

Attraction of high spenders and alternative types of tourism

Construction of facilities appealing to the upper end of the market such as luxuryhotels golf courses congress centres casinos and marinas

Development of tourism infrastructure with emphasis on transportation

Support of social tourism for low-income domestic tourists

Geographical redistribution of tourism

tion to support planning intervention and a centralised administrative-institu-tional system gathering a plethora of functions but failing to perform itscoordination and enforcing role When the conflicting interests and power of eachmember of the tourism industry are brought into the equation where differentpartners attempt to influence legislation in order to maximise their own short-termprofitability regardless of the impacts on the destination and other enterprises theplanning process becomes more complicated This results in an ineffective plan-ning system and process which produces policies unable to provide an appropri-ate balance between restrictive policies and control planning implementationMoreover the plethora of SMTEs in combination with inadequate legislationconcerning their establishment and operation seem to affect adversely thecompetitiveness of the industry and the ability to diversify and enrich local tour-ism products (Komilis 1992 11 EIU 1990 59)

Consequently several structural problems are originated jeopardising theprosperity of both SMTEs and destinations especially in overdeveloped regionsOn the supply side failure of the infrastructure to follow the dramatic expansionof the superstructure in combination with the lack of solid institutional context oftourism policy and long-term regulation result in the exploitation and inadequacyof environmental and socio-cultural resources as well as the inability of the indus-try to generate the level of economic benefits desired and expected On the tourismdemand side after the meteoric growth in the 1970s and 1980s the Greek tourismindustry has been trying to transform lsquothe country into a destination which cancompete not just on price but on value for moneyrsquo (EIU 1990 45) It is becomingapparent that the tourism population in not infinite and an adaptability andresponsiveness to touristsrsquo needs is ofgreat importance (Sezeramp Harrison 1994 83)

Structural problems jeopardise the profitability of the private sectorBecause of the aforementioned structural problems most tourism industry

enterprises are experiencing a decline in profitability Hotels in particular arebadly affected due to the high fixed assets as well as their immobility and inflexi-bility which prevents them from adjusting to demand fluctuation Several reasonsdetermine their low profitability and inability to increase prices in line with infla-tion The low occupancy levels achieved yearly is a key problem Smith and Jenner(1995 17) estimate that the lsquoyear-round bed occupancy over the range of licensedaccommodation is slightly under 30rsquo As most of the properties are closed duringthe winter months due to the seasonality problems they rely on three to six monthsto generate sufficient returns on their investment The occupancy levels of accom-modation establishments in Greek tourism are often determined by theirco-operation with travel intermediaries Based on the different seasonality patternsof different markets rooms are normally allocated a year before the summer seasonto tour operators on lsquoallotmentrsquo or lsquocommitmentrsquo contracts which effectively deter-mine the prices charged according to the security provided by tour operators forusing and paying for hoteliersrsquo rooms Once the contracts are signed hoteliers effec-tively lose their control on their inventory and their right to market their rooms toother business sources before the release period (typically 7ndash14 days before arrival)in order to avoid overbooking However should their bookings fail to match theirprogramme tour operators often utilise their buying power to cancel unwantedrooms at the beginning of the tourist season without paying compensation Smaller

460 Current Issues in Tourism

hoteliers are often left with unoccupied rooms they which are unable to promote atthe lsquolast minutersquo unless they drop their prices to unacceptable levels As a result oftheir deficient intra-channel power hotels often suffer a significant cut-back of theiroccupancy levels which has direct implications for their profitability (Buhalis 19952000c 460 Ktenas 1996)

Similarly the seasonality of the Mediterranean and Greek tourism industry hasalways been a problem for the profitability of SMTEs since enterprises operateonly for a limited period (Jenner amp Smith 1993 70 Drakatos 1987 Donatos ampZairis 1991) Attempts to promote winter tourism by developing cultural andspecial interest tourism in the islands and winter sports in several ski resorts inGreece have proved fairly unsuccessful (EIU 1986 56) This is attributed to theimage of Greece as an exclusively summer-sun destination as well as to the unco-ordinated attempts to maintain tourism enterprises active during the wintermonths (EIU 1990 57)

The average room rate is the second major determinant of hotel profitability It isbecoming apparent that employment costs and cost of capital in combination witha relatively strong currency policy reduce the ability of Greek accommodationestablishments to offer competitive pricing and maintain their profitabilityMarketing inadequacies and inability to promote the tourism product as a differ-entiated entity the rapid increase of supply in comparison to demand and theoverall dependence upon the oligopsonistic tour operators for the Greek tourismproduct promotion force hoteliers to accept contracts by tour operators whichminimise their profit margin and adversely effect the quality of their productIncreasing levels of pressure by tour operators prevent SMTEs from renovatingand investing in their properties and therefore a gradual deterioration of the prop-erties is inevitable (Richter-Papaconstantinou 1992 14 Skoulas 1985 189) Euro-pean tour operators faced with fierce competition in their markets are essentiallywilling to pay an annual price increase equal to little less than the depreciation ofthe drachma plus the inflation at the place of origin of the tourists (Ktenas 1994)This policy progressively deteriorates the profitability of the Greek tourism indus-try and has severe impacts for its prosperity The situation is worse for smalleraccommodation establishments which manage to negotiate even smaller priceincreases due to their exclusive dependence upon fewer intermediaries(Logothetis 1992 14)

The oversupply of tourism services both in Greece and worldwide also contributesto global competition for a less rapidly increasing demand (Josephides 1993 54)In Greece the average annual increase of the official hotel bed supply in 1983ndash1992was 47 while the annual average increase in international tourist bednights was27 (Epilogi 1994 271) The investment incentive Law 126282 boosted this over-supply as it generated small infeasible and uncontrollable accommodation unitsunable to offer high quality of services while it increased the concentration of tour-ism units in infrastructure-undersupplied resorts (Kriebardis amp Marmagiolis1990 51 Stavrou 1989b 5) The vast majority of the capacity growth is on the lsquoille-galrsquo unregistered self-catering and self-serviced lsquoparahoteleriarsquo sector whichprovide very low quality and priced accommodation and therefore appeal tomass tour operatorsrsquo clientele This not only increases unfair competition for theofficially registered hotels but also reduces both tax revenues and employment atthe macro level

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 461

Horwath (1994 3) concludes that

unfortunately the results in terms of return on investment in the tourismindustry are not very promising especially when compared with those ofother Greek economic sectors It is an undisputable fact that the averageGreek tourism entrepreneur is heavily dependent on the tourist packageprice which is strongly negotiated by the international tour operators It isan lsquounhealthyrsquo dependency as a result of the weak position of the Greektourist product in the international market In addition the aforemen-tioned dependency is the result of the lack of marketing activities in anaverage tourist enterprise As we all know effective marketing activitiesare based on the product place price promotion which all contribute toclient satisfaction and further to a bigger share in the international touristmarket Up to now three of the aforementioned important elements ofmarketing have been overlooked which determine the weak negotiationpower of the Greek entrepreneur

This situation has also resulted to several European companies expandingtheir operations into Greece or purchasing shares in Greek partners in order toimprove their vertical integration Should this vertical integration expand signif-icantly however lsquoGreek tourism will be in fact controlled by foreign deci-sion-making centres which will certainly operate on the basis of their owninterests and not according to the overall interests of our national economyrsquo(Kalogeropoulou 1993 2) Hence radical measures are required immediately inproduct formulation promotion strategy and distribution channels to supportboth Greek destinations and SMTEs to enhance their competitiveness profitabil-ity and prosperity Failure to react would have severe implications for the futureof the Greek tourism private sector as the essence of its existence would be jeop-ardised its costs may exceeding its returns

Structural problems generate negative tourism impactsIn addition to the profitability problems of the private sector the aforemen-

tioned structural problems have profound implications for the welfare of hostpopulations in various Greek destinations as their economic social cultural andenvironmental resources are exploited without ensuring their sustainabilityLack of comprehensive research and failure to initiate carrying-capacity limits orzoning systems contribute to the anarchic development of tourism as well asexpand negative impacts of tourism on local societies and environments Thefollowing section highlights some of the costs Greek destinations are called topay for their tourism activity whilst it suggests that these issues should beaddressed in the strategic planning process

Macro-economic negative impactsDespite the contribution of tourism to the Greek economy certain potential

risks can also be identified Not only is the competitiveness and profitability ofthe tourism industry jeopardised but also several destination regions seem tofollow a policy of developing tourism at the expense of industrial and agricul-tural growth (Stavrou 1989a 6 Vernicos 1987 105) Instead of tourism stimulat-ing agriculture it seems that it hastens its decline as the two economic activities

462 Current Issues in Tourism

compete for land and labour The lack of structural investments in industrial oragricultural sectors combined with the popularity of tourism professions in theworkforce endanger the balance of the regional economy while reducing thetourism multipliers (Briassoulis 1993 295) As a result the economic structure ofthe destination is jeopardised while a complete dependence upon tourismbecomes inevitable (Komilis 1992 7) Both opportunity costs and displacementeffects are therefore evident Moreover there is evidence that the progress ofdestinations through their life-cycle and especially the introduction of masstourism decreases their economic impacts while it makes local control of theindustry far more difficult (Loukissas 1982 537) lsquoBecause of the high degree ofdependence of Greek tourist enterprises on tour operators the actual amount oftourist spending remaining in the country is only the 40ndash50 of total touristspendingrsquo (Briassoulis 1993 296) Public-sector subsidies to the private sector invarious forms such as incentives cooperative marketing campaigns and unem-ployment benefits in the off-season as well as tax evasion and lsquoparaeconomyrsquo alsoreduce the real benefit at the macro level (Mourdoukoutas 1988 Drakatos 1987Leontidou 1991 102) Lack of scientific research on the economic impacts oftourism makes the real contribution of tourism in the economy speculativerather than based on hard evidence (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Konsolas ampZacharatos 1993)

Social and cultural negative impactsThe development of mass tourism and the lack of effective planning and

management are also responsible for a number of negative social and culturalimpacts observed in Greek host societies (Tsartas 1989 1992 Stavrou 19781979 1980 1986b) Although the degree of interaction of the population withtourists depends heavily on the geomorphology of destinations and the loca-tion of resorts (Loukissas 1982 538) touristsrsquo behaviour is often offensive tothe host population but tolerated due to the economic benefits (Castelberg-Koulma 1991 201 Kousis 1989 Wickens 1994 823) Most Greek tourismdestinations are almost crime-free zones during the winter due to the smallpopulation and personal relationships of locals Tourism however introducesseveral types of criminal activity often unknown to local people As policeforces are usually allocated according to needs of the permanent population ina destination they are often incapable of handling the demands of the summermonths and are unable to deal with visitorsrsquo misbehaviour such as hooliganismand lsquolager-lootingrsquo

The commercialisation of history cultural traditions and the Greek lifestyle isa phenomenon met in several destinations This regrettably affects the renownedGreek hospitality commercialises human relations with tourists and reduces theties of solidarity and cooperation between locals since they compete for the tour-ism market (Papadopoulos 1988b 24) As the average employee works 605hours weekly for 295 weeks a year there is little time left for social religious andcultural obligations during the season (Mourdoukoutas 1988 325) Although acertain degree of lsquodemonstration effectrsquo and lsquoxenomaniarsquo can be attributed totourism the country is equally influenced by the mass media as well as by theGreek students and professionals living abroad (Papadopoulos 1988a 30Wickens 1994 822) Moore (1995) also explains that tourism not only has had a

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 463

contribution to the increase of alcohol consumption by Greeks but has alsoshifted their taste away from locally produced wine to imported spirits and beerBriassoulis (1993 296) perhaps describes best the change in labour force valueswhen as she suggests that tourism has created a

peculiar parasitic group of tourist entrepreneurs operating tourist-servingenterprises like tavernas cafeterias etc the principal characteristics ofwhich are high profits and tax evasion Consequently a particular person-ality type is created the lsquosuccessfulrsquo entrepreneur who earns a lot with littlework has a rich erotic life and is professionally independent (in contrast topublic and private employees) This model is followed by many youngpeople who abandon other productive year-round occupations lsquoworkrsquoonly during the tourist season stay idle for the rest of the year and eventu-ally suffer from the volatility of the tourist market

The family relations and values are therefore under great transition andperhaps threat (Castelberg-Koulma 1991 201 Kousis 1989 Moore 1992)

Negative environmental impactsDespite environmental resources becoming central to destinationsrsquo competi-

tiveness most Greek destinations go through an unparalleled exploitation due toinadequate planning and reinvestment in their sustainability jeopardising theirfuture (Buhalis amp Fletcher 1995) Boniface and Cooper (1994 141) suggest thatgeographical concentration of tourism

has led to the view that Greece will become saturated with tourists and thatdamage will be done to the environment and cultural heritage in the morepopular areas Already the environment has suffered from haphazarduncontrolled building and pollution of the sea and the flora and fauna arebeing effected by waste disposal

Coastal pollution water shortages sewage treatment waste disposal trafficcongestion noise pollution overbuilding and aesthetic degradation are some ofthe impacts experienced already in a number of resorts (Briassoulis 1993 297Coccosis amp Parprairis 1992 Peterson 1990 Marinos 1983 Stavrou 1988 19 and1989a 5 Papadopoulos 1988b 24) Most of the islands also face water shortagedue to the inability of natural supplies to provide sufficient water for the tourismdemand Imported mineral water from the mainland is an expensive way tosolve this problem due to the transportation cost while it creates more waste andenvironmental damage In addition the destruction of endangered speciesrsquo habi-tats is another problem experienced on several islands (ZakynthosCaretta-Caretta and Allonissos monk-seals) (Ottaway 1992 Van Den Bergh1993 70 Prurier et al 1993) Urgent coordination with all tourism actors at thelocal level is essential while regulation is required to set objective and measurablelimits and targets in order to preserve local environmental resources Financialdifficulties in the industry only exacerbate these impacts as the private and publicsectors feel unable to reinvest in the conservation of resources

The aforementioned negative impacts emerge as a result of the structuralproblems of the Greek tourism industry and illustrate that the mass tourismorientation of the industry reduces the sovereignty of the host population over

464 Current Issues in Tourism

their land and resources whilst jeopardising their expected benefits and futurewelfare As these impacts are trade-offs for the economic gains of the tourismactivity it is important that consistent long-term strategic planning should beundertaken in order to enable the preservation of the local resources and achievesustainability at tourism destinations These tasks should all be reinforced byresearch political will and strategic planning

Where Do We Need to Go and How Are We Going ThereTowards Strengthening the Competitiveness of Greek Tourismand SMTEs

Based on the situation analysis as well as on the strategic weaknesses andstructural problems the paper attempts to provide a framework for strategicplanning which will enable the strengthening of the competitiveness of Greektourism and SMTEs Porter (1985 1) suggests that competitive strategy lsquois thesearch for a favourable competitive position in an industryrsquo which is a function ofthe attractiveness of the industry and the relative competitive position withinthat particular industry He also argues that lsquocompetitive strategy aims to estab-lish a profitable and sustainable position against the forces that determine indus-try competitionrsquo Competitiveness is therefore defined as the effort undertakenby organisations to maintain long-term profitability above the average of theparticular industry within which they operate or above alternative investmentopportunities in other industries

Traditionally the tourism industry in the majority of destinations worldwideis based on a network of SMTEs which provide all types of tourism products andservices while enabling closer interaction between the host population and visi-tors as well as facilitating a rapid infusion of tourism spending into the localeconomy As lsquotouristsrsquo overall experience is composed of numerous smallencounters with a variety of tourism service providersrsquo (Moutinho 1990 104)there is a great overlap between the customer perception of local SMTEs anddestinations which makes them almost indistinguishable Consequently thecompetitiveness and prosperity of destinations and SMTEs are closely interre-lated as the fortune of the one depends heavily upon the management andcompetitiveness of the other Therefore the generic strategy for destinationsinvolves SMTEs and vice versa

Grand strategy Strategy formulation for Greek tourism and SMTEsBased on the strategic analysis a grand strategy is proposed for the Greek

tourism industry and SMTEs in order to demonstrate the directions the destina-tions should follow in their attempt to increase their competitiveness and reducetheir vulnerability As different resorts destinations and SMTEs have dissimilarneeds only generic strategies can be drawn However these guidelines can beapplicable to destinations and SMTEs worldwide as they address strategic ratherthan operational issues The analysis is based on the assumption that SMTEsformulate leisure value-added chains or networks of wealth creation whichessentially comprise the entire destination Therefore an integrated approach isfollowed as there is a great complementarity between the strategies and strate-gic directions for both the Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 465

The grand strategy analysis is based on an examination of three general strat-egy models namely Porterrsquos generic strategies Gilbertrsquos proposition for lsquodiffer-entiation of the destinationrsquo and Poonrsquos analysis for lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo Agrand strategy is then proposed for both Greek tourism and SMTEs based oninference emerging from these three models Figure 1 illustrates the three maingeneric strategies proposed by Porter (1980 34ndash46) in order to lsquooutperform otherfirms in an industryrsquo overall cost leadership where the firm is required to minimiseits costs based on mass production and strict cost control of the main businessfunctions differentiation of products or services by lsquocreating something that isperceived industry-wide as being uniquersquo or focus on a lsquoparticular buyer groupsegment of the product line or geographical marketrsquo and achieve either cost leader-ship or product differentiation (Porter 1980 37ndash8)

Furthermore Gilbert (1984 1990) argues that destinations should differenti-ate their tourism products in order to be able to achieve a unique lsquotourist productbenefitrsquo which would enable them to establish their position in the internationaltourism market as well as to attract high spenders and loyal tourists Tourismdestinations therefore should attempt to achieve a lsquostatus arearsquo image ratherthan a lsquocommodity arearsquo one as illustrated in Figure 2 In the first case the desti-nation is heavily substitutable very sensitive to price and economic changeswhile consumers have a low awareness of any unique benefits or attributes of theregion Thus holidaymakers base their decision to visit the area merely on pricewhile the demand for the destination is incidental and destinations are unable toattract high spenders In contrast lsquostatus areasrsquo achieve intentional demand as aresult of the unique product attributes perceived by the tourism market Theseunique attributes may be genuine or imagined and thus a destination isregarded as irreplaceable increasing consumersrsquo loyalty and willingness to payGilbert (1990 24ndash5) asserts that destinations should attempt to become lsquostatusareasrsquo in order to improve their image loyalty and economic benefits

A third strategic approach is proposed by Poon (1987 1988 1989 1990 1993)based on the concept of lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo of the tourism business Inessence Poon examines the industry processes and proposes a strategy to enabletourism organisations to improve their competitiveness Poon argues that lsquoflexi-ble specialisationrsquo is a strategy of lsquopermanent innovationrsquo and lsquoceaseless changersquowhich provides for the lsquonew tourismrsquo This new tourism is flexible segmentedcustomised to the touristrsquos needs and diagonally integrated In contrast the oldtourism can be characterised as lsquomass standardised and rigidly packagedrsquo(Poon 1989 91ndash3)

466 Current Issues in Tourism

STRATEGIC ADVANTAGE

Perceived product uniqueness Cost advantage

TARGETMARKET

Industrywide Differentiation Cost Leadership

Particularsegmentsonly

Differentiation Focus Cost Focus

Figure 1 Porterrsquos three generic strategiesSource Porter 1980 39

The main sources of flexibility for service firms lie in the organisationmanagement marketing distribution and other forms of interaction andinterrelationships among guests hotels suppliers distributors What isimportant however is not each of these stand alone aspects but how theyare coupled to create competitive advantages and hence capabilities tomove with the market (Poon 1988 24)

Examination of these three main strategies illustrates that they share a similarbase Porterrsquos lsquodifferentiationrsquo Gilbertrsquos lsquostatus arearsquo and Poonrsquos lsquoflexiblespecialisationrsquo describe the attempt undertaken by firms and tourist destinationsto achieve value competitive advantages In contrast the lsquocost leadershiprsquo lsquocom-modity arearsquo and the lsquostandardisation or Fordism production modelrsquo describethe effort to achieve lsquocost competitive advantagersquo where destinations andSMTEs offer their products for less than their competitors In the first caseconsumers perceive the product as unique and are willing to pay a premiumwhile in the second case the decision is merely based on price Thus the classicalstrategic decision of lsquolow volume-high profit marginrsquo or lsquohigh volume-low profitmarginrsquo is the underlying concept of the two alternative strategies

Both Gilbert and Poon agree that destinations should aim to achieve lsquostatusarearsquo or niche orientation through differentiation in order to increase consumersatisfaction as well as to maximise the benefits for both regions and SMTEs As aresult Greek tourism and SMTEs need to focus towards the differentiation strat-egy define their niche markets and serve them accordingly This strategy isalready adopted in several resort areas such as Valencia in Spain where it isrecognised that the need for diversification and differentiation lsquohas now becomeessential owing to the level of competitiveness that has been attained (and can beforeseen) in the world tourist marketrsquo (Fayos-Sola 1992 49) Differentiation isalso particularly useful for insular destinations in microstates where a limitednumber of economic and financial resources are available (Wilkinson 1989 170)As most destinations consist of SMTEs networks there is an overlap betweentheir strategic orientations and therefore the above analysis is applicable to boththe Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Destinations implementing a lsquostatus arearsquo strategy can enhance the satisfac-tion of tourists as well as their competitiveness The formulation of unique and

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 467

CommodityArea

Statusarea

Willingness topay higher prices

StatusArea

Product attributes Product attributes

CommodityArea

Figure 2 Gilbertrsquos differentiation strategySource Adapted from Gilbert 1990 25

customised products by using flexibility and cooperation also increases touristsrsquowillingness to pay and wins their loyalty while it responds to the new tourismdemand trends However the proposed strategy should not be seen as an excusefor SMTEs and destinations not to attempt to improve their efficiency and mini-mise their production costs Although the unique service for touristsrsquo needs shouldbe their priority offering perceived value for money would determine theircompetitiveness in the marketplace As a result all Greek resorts and SMTEsshould assess their assets and strengths for serving specific target markets takingadvantage of their small size which facilitates flexibility and specialisation

It is quite apparent that the cost advantage strategy has to be avoided inmanagement of tourism destinations as regions need to preserve their scarceenvironmental and sociocultural resources and achieve sustainable develop-ment As cost advantage is based on mass production and consumption itassumes an unlimited production capacity which is inapplicable in the tourismindustry The inseparability of the tourism product determines that consumersshould be present at the time of product delivery and when combined with tour-ism seasonality it generates demand peaks which drain destinationsrsquo scarceenvironmental sociocultural resources The lsquohigh volume-low profit marginrsquostrategy has therefore harmful social and environmental impacts on destina-tions Destinations have maximum carrying capacities beyond which both thewelfare of local populations and the satisfaction of tourists are jeopardisedAlthough economic benefits can also be achieved by using the lsquocommodity arearsquoor the lsquostandard product modelrsquo it is argued that these approaches reduce tour-istsrsquo satisfaction and their willingness to pay and are opposed to the demandtrend towards individualisation

Unfortunately however some destinations can no longer be positioned asirreplaceable unique products due to their overdevelopment Tourism supplyhas exceeded the carrying capacity of these resorts and their product hasreached the saturation or decline phase of their life-cycle Several Spanish costasand some Greek resorts such as Benitses Kavos Faliraki Malia Hersonissos andNidri (Josephides 1994) have been overdeveloped to such an extent that only alsquohigh-volume low-profit marginrsquo strategy is feasible When resorts reach theirsaturation level only a lsquocost leadershiprsquo or lsquomass productionrsquo strategy can beproposed as they are unable to provide any specific lsquotourist product benefitrsquo Theattraction of the lower end of the market is inevitable and as a consequence thereare no alternative strategies The minimisation of further sociocultural and envi-ronmental damage as well as attempts to improve the surrounding environmentshould also be a primary objective of both tourism destinations and SMTEs in thiscase The ultimate aim should be to regenerate the resources of the area and torelaunch the tourism destination to attract specific markets which will be willing topay a higher price for the destination

Strategic directions objectives and tasks for Greek tourism and SMTEsTable 8 presents three pivotal strategic directions which are identified in order

to stimulate the competitiveness of both Greek tourism and SMTEs This sectionillustrates how the aforementioned grand strategy can be implemented for tour-ist destinations and SMTEs through a number of strategic directions objectivesand tasks as presented in Table 9

468 Current Issues in Tourism

Enhancing the satisfaction of tourists and delighting the customer are pivotalto ensuring the well-being of Greek destinations and SMTEs in the long term andthus the entire range of tourism service providers should aim to delight theirclients As a result of the tourism product integration consumer satisfactioncannot be achieved by independent businesses separately but by the entirenetwork of SMTEs in Greek destinations The improvement in services isperhaps the most important strategic objective Consistency of promises throughstandardisation of service delivery and implementation of a total qualitymanagement philosophy throughout the industry are essential strategic tasks forachieving this objective while flexibility in service delivery and improvementsin training are critical In line with the grand strategy the production oftailor-made tourism products should be ensured in order to satisfy the specificneeds of particular niches and the requirements of the emerging new tourismdemand Product augmentation would enable also the Greek tourism product toexceed the expectations of consumers and hence enhance their satisfaction Lifestyle segmentation would enable Greek tourism and SMTEs to design appropri-ate tourism products As tourist demand elasticity has increasingly becomedoubtful in recent years the price of the holiday is no longer considered to be themost important attribute in the decision-making process Consequently theGreek tourism industry should concentrate on providing value for money at allprice levels as well as offering at least whatever they have promised to theconsumer

Supporting the long-term competitiveness and profitability of Greek tour-ism and SMTEs is by far the most important strategic objective for the tourismindustry The first strategic objective for every SMTE has to be the increase inrevenue by maximising its occupancy or load factors and the rates it achievesThe lengthening of the operating season as well as the identification of newmarkets and the penetration into existing ones and the effective utilisation ofdistribution channels will contribute to this strategic direction Higher ratescan be achieved by targeting specialised and smaller tour operators attractingalternative types of tourists and expanding the distribution channels mix aswell as by attempting a certain degree of lsquodisintermediationrsquo by encouragingdirect sales to outgoing travel agencies or consumers Aggressive marketingand establishment of partnerships with other enterprises should be essentialfunctions of Greek tourism and SMTEs Motivation of lsquofront-of-housersquo employ-ees as salesmen and sale incentives would also increase average spending percustomer The use of CRSs and destination management systems may also bean appropriate method for achieving higher prices and better occupancy rates(Buhalis 1994) Finally yield management techniques should be utilised by alltypes of SMTEs to assist them in pricing and maximising revenue Cost control

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 469

Table 8 Pivotal strategic dimensions for Greek tourism

(1) Enhance the satisfaction of tourists and delight the customer(2) Strengthen the long-term profitability and competitiveness of Greek tourism and

SMTEs(3) Develop Greek destinations sustainably and ensure prosperity of host population

470 Current Issues in Tourism

Table 9 Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Strategic directions Strategic objectives Strategic tasks

1 Enhance the sat-isfaction of tour-ists and delightthe customer

11 Improvement of services a Standardisation of service de-livery

b Development of quality controlsystems

c Consistency of promisesd Improvements in operational

managemente Flexibility in services deliveryf Training and education im-

provementsg Smile and personal relation-

shipsh Augmentation of tourism

producti Total quality management

12 Specialisation of tourismproduct

a Niche marketingb Lifestyle targeting

13 Value for money a Quality at each price level

2 Strengthen thelong-term com-petitiveness andprofitability ofGreek tourismand SMTEs

21 Increase revenue a Increase tourist volumesb Target new markets and pene-

tration in existing marketsc Use yield managementd Expand distribution channel

mixe Aggressive marketingf Achieve high average spending

per customerg Select high-quality specialised

tour operatorsh Attract alternative types of

tourismi Use alternative distribution

channelsj Motivate front-of-house em-

ployees as salesmen

22 Cost control and rationalmanagement

a Standardise service deliveryb Increase productivityc Reduce labour costsd Rationalise supplies manage-

mente Educationtraining for manag-

ers and employeesf Use of new technologyg Integrate service delivery

within SMTEs

23 Human resources man-agement

a Internal marketingb Empowermentc Satisfactory salary and working

conditionsd Long-term relations with em-

ployeese Motivation and rewards

and rational management is the second strategic objective needed to increaseefficiency and profitability of both Greek destinations and SMTEs in the longterm Standardisation of the service delivery process and minimisation of thelabour cost through better operational management would be primary recom-mendations Managers and employees should improve their productivity andmarketing skills by intensive training In addition the rationalisation of supplymanagement and the use of new technology is expected to reduce operationalcosts Finally integration of service delivery enables SMTEs to provide comple-mentary services and achieve additional revenues without immense costs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 471

24 State and public tourismorganisation support

a Destination development andcontrol

b Incentives policies for improve-ment

c Attract European Union assis-tance

d Promotional activitye Provide financial resources

3 Develop Greekdestinationssustainably andensure prosper-ity of host popu-lation

31 Environmental protection a Carrying capacity identificationb Zoning system applicationc Architecture preservationd Installation of sewage treat-

ment systemse Reduction of noise pollutionf Natural supplies management

32 Infrastructure ameliora-tion

a Accessibility improvementsb Telecommunication improve-

mentsc Public facilities advancements

33 Transportation improve-ments

a Improvement of local timeta-bles

b Punctuality and reliabilityc Improvements of vehiclesd Flexibility to meet demand

needs

34 Economic integration a Integration with raw materialproduction

b Utilisation of local labour forcec Integration of tourism servicesd Diagonal integration of destina-

tionrsquos economy

35 Equitable return on re-sources utilised

a Establish mechanism forreinvestments

b Provide services for hostcommunity

c Invest in sustainability ofresources

d Ensure equity in distributionof wealth produced

Source Adapted from Buhalis 1991 83a

Table 9 (cont) Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Human resources management is crucial in the delivery process of tourismproducts The concept of lsquointernal marketingrsquo where employees are perceivedand treated as lsquointernal customersrsquo has to be utilised in order to ensure theirsatisfaction As Berry (1981 34) states lsquothe satisfaction of the needs and wants ofthe internal customers can upgrade their capacity for satisfying the needs andwants of their external customersrsquo and as a consequence it can contribute to thecompetitiveness and profitability of Greek tourism and SMTEs Satisfactorysalary and working conditions are prerequisites for the well-being of SMTEsrsquoemployees Long-term relationships between employees and SMTEs minimiseturnover enabling a better performance while they reduce recruitment andtraining costs Empowerment would enable employees to be involved in themanagement of SMTEs and authorise them to respond more efficiently toconsumer requests while contributing to their job satisfaction Finally thesupport of the GNTO is vital for the long-term survival of SMTEs Apart fromthe improvement in infrastructure the GNTO is expected to hold the strategicresponsibility of the destination as well as to regulate the competition in orderto enable smaller enterprises to survive Incentive policies need to reflect thespecific requirements of each resort and enable development or improvementof certain types of enterprises The GNTO is also instrumental in attractingassistance from European development funds while it should also coordinatethe majority of Greek tourism promotional activity A promotional mix whichmaximises the effectiveness of the communication message needs to be drawnwhile budgets need to be available at the time consumers go through their deci-sion-making process in order to influence their choice of destination Finally theneed for the public sector to provide affordable financial resources for SMTEs ishighlighted by the EU (EC 1993b 73)

The third strategic direction for Greek tourism and SMTEs should be thesustainable development of destinations and local areas not only for the hostpopulation but also because this is vital for both consumer satisfaction and theprofitability of SMTEs Although in most cases SMTEs are unable to incorporatethese types of strategic objectives and tasks on their own they can initiate aframework of necessary actions for sustainable destination developmentthrough their associations Environmental protection is naturally the mostimportant strategic objective as consumersrsquo environmental consciousness hasbeen raised recently Carrying capacity limits should be identified and strictregulations and guidelines for tourism development need to be drawn A zoningsystem should be implemented in order to locate tourism activities according tothe geographical morphology of the destination In addition natural resourcesmanagement is necessary as tourism demand may exhaust the resources andespecially the water supplies The installation of sewage treatment systems andthe reduction of noise pollution should be considered especially for resortswhich suffer the consequences of these problems In addition infrastructureamelioration must be one of the primary objectives as it is an essential prerequi-site for both consumersrsquo satisfaction and SMTEsrsquo development The improve-ment of accessibility public services as well as telecommunications facilities is acrucial factor Transportation is also significant in increasing both consumersatisfaction and profitability of SMTEs as it determines whether consumers canaccess the destination easily while it also provides the first impression to tour-

472 Current Issues in Tourism

ists Improvements of timetables and services reliability increasing transporta-tion capacity and an enhancement of the fleet in terms of speed cleanliness andleisure facilities are all required Furthermore greater flexibility is needed bytransportation operators in order to meet demand needs Economic integrationcan improve the economic and social benefits of tourism in the region and theefficiency of SMTEs Ultimately tourism should be utilised as the catalyst andmajor stimulant for regional development Tourism enterprises should makeevery effort to use local raw materials and labour in order to maximise the multi-plier effects within Greece Diagonal integration of destinationsrsquo economy can beachieved by rearranging the goods and service production in order to supportthe tourism industry demand and thus minimise imports Finally SMTEs andtourism organisations need to offer a fair return-on-resources utilised back to thehost community A mechanism should be established in order to reinvest part ofthe revenues in the sustainability of resources provide services for the hostcommunity such as education training health services and generally ensureequity in distribution of wealth produced from local resources As the privatesector cannot be expected to behave altruistically towards the host communitythe GNTO and other public-sector departments should probably utilise regula-tion and taxation for this purpose

Conclusion Greek Tourism Needs a Long Overdue Master Planand Comprehensive Policy

The emerging international tourism competition the hitherto mass tourismorientation of the industry the transformation of demand the development ofthe volume of tourists visiting the dependence upon intermediaries for thedistribution of the tourism product in the major target markets the lack of a widerange of managerial skills by Greek tourism entrepreneurs and the lack of acomprehensive tourism policy or Master Plan by the public sector has led thecompetitiveness of Greece tourism to decline This has several unfavourableimplications for the profitability of the private sector as well as numerous nega-tive economic sociocultural and environmental impacts for the host populationAs a result the return on resources utilised for the production of Greek tourismservices is inadequate and the sustainability of Greece as a major tourism desti-nation is rapidly becoming doubtful Based on a strategic analysis the paper illu-minates the strategic weaknesses and structural problems of both the private andpublic sectors and demonstrates that a rationalisation of the tourism industry isurgently required Consequently a grand strategy as well as a wide range of stra-tegic directions objectives and tasks are proposed for both Greece as an entityand its SMTEs Although no quantitative targets are set in this paper it isexpected that each destination will analyse its resources and adapt its strategicplanning accordingly

The GNTO is urged to rationalise its strategy and to draw up a Master Plan anda comprehensive strategy for the entire country and for each resort where a strategywould be adopted based on quantifiable objectives and tasks Extensive researchneeds to be undertaken by using credible measurement methodologies such asInput-Output models and multipliers analysis not only for the economic but alsofor the social cultural and environmental impacts (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Buhalis

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 473

amp Fletcher 1995) A holistic tourism management system is demanded to facilitatethe development and implementation of the tourism strategy through funds allo-cation and monitoring land use control and examination of tourism public- andprivate-sector practices A thorough examination of tourism impacts in eachregion would be a prerequisite for tourism planning as it will establish andprovide scientific backing to strategic targets Komilis (1994 71) explains thatalthough the various levels of planning (sectoral nationalEU spatial or regional)are not mutually exclusive but rather complementary the regional level planningis more suitable for drawing sustainable strategies especially for areas withdissimilar needs like the Greek destinations The regional planning should lsquocon-tribute to the maximisation of regional development benefits in a way that utilisesand mobilises the regional resource base realises regional inter-sectoral linkagesand is compatible with regional economic interests societal values and environ-mental assetsrsquo It should also take into consideration the uniqueness of insulareconomies as well as the cultural and environmental resources of each particularregion and the complexity of rural and urban functions The planning processshould encourage the complementarity and coexistence of economic activitiesrather than promote sectoral separation and single-sector developments In addi-tion it needs to improve the balance between regional self-sufficiency anddependence upon external inputs and finally it should promote integration withinthe European Union

The public sector has to play its long overdue role as regulator coordinatorinfrastructure provider and promoter of the destination while a multi-integrationof the tourism industry with all the involved bodies in the preparation distribu-tion and delivery of the tourism experience needs to be ensured (Wanhill 1993Hall 1994 Skoulas 1994 10 Stavrou 1988 46) The private sector also has an impor-tant role to play as it should improve the Greek tourism industry competitivenessby improving its managerial and labour force competencies enhancing the qualityof services designing appropriate marketing mixes to attract and satisfy targetmarkets and cooperating closely in order to achieve synergies and economies ofscale (Briassoulis 1993 300 Cooper amp Buhalis 1992) To reverse the vicious circleof decreasing quality is of critical importance for the Greek tourism industryBetter quality services would stimulate the competitiveness of the Greek tourismproduct strengthen its position in the international market provide principalswith distribution channel power enhance its customersrsquo willingness to pay andenable the industry to increase its prices improving the profitability at the microlevel and the economic impacts of tourism at the macrolevel Ultimately a diagonalintegration strategy for both Greek tourism and SMTEs should aim to delightconsumers enhance the long-term prosperity of SMTEs and improve the welfareof the host populations The Olympic Games in 2004 offer a unique opportunity toregenerate and rebrand Greek tourism a cause which the entire industry shouldchampion

The AuthorDimitrios Buhalis is Senior Lecturer and course leader MSc in tourism at theUniversity of Surrey He holds a BBA from the University of the Aegean as wellas an MSc and a PhD in tourism management from the University of Surrey Hisresearch interests focus on information systems and technology strategic

474 Current Issues in Tourism

management distribution channels of tourism destination management andplanning and destination integrated computer information reservation manage-ment systems

AcknowledgementsThe author would like to acknowledge Prof C Cooper and Prof J Fletcher for

their invaluable contribution to this research Financial support from the SurreyResearch Group ConTours Consultants as well as field research sponsorshipsby the University of Surrey the Greek National Tourism Organisation and theUniversity of the Aegean are gratefully appreciated

Note1 An earlier version of this paper was published as a monograph PlanningDevelop-

ment by the International Centre for Research and Studies in TourismAix-en-Provence France

CorrespondenceAny correspondence should be directed to Dr Dimitrios Buhalis Senior

Lecturer in Business Information Management SMSSS University of SurreyGuildford GU2 7XH UK (dbuhalissurreyacuk)

ReferencesApostolopoulos T (1990) New strategy of tourism development (in Greek) Tourism and

Economy (November) 228ndash38Berry C (1981) The employee as customer Journal of Retail Banking 3 33ndash40Boniface B and Cooper C (1994) The Geography of Travel and Tourism (2nd edn) London

HeinemannBriassoulis H (1993) Tourism in Greece In W Pompl and P Lavery (eds) Tourism in

Europe Structures and Developments (pp285ndash301) Oxford CAB InternationalBuckley P and Papadopoulos S (1986) Marketing Greek tourism The planning process

Tourism Management 7 86ndash100Buhalis D (1991) Strategic marketing and management for the small and medium

tourism enterprises in the periphery of the European Community A case study for theAegean islands in Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Buhalis D (1994) Information and telecommunications technologies as a strategic tool forsmall and medium tourism enterprises in the contemporary business environment InA Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 254ndash75)England J Wiley and Sons

Buhalis D (1995) The impact of information telecommunications technologies on tourismdistribution channels Implications for the small and medium sized tourismenterprisesrsquo strategic management and marketing PhD Dissertation University ofSurrey Guildford

Buhalis D (2000a) Marketing the competitive destination of the future TourismManagement (Special Issue ndash The Competitive Destination) 21 (1) 97ndash116

Buhalis D (2000b) (forthcoming) Athens Tourism-Travel Intelligence LondonBuhalis D (2000c) Relationships in the distribution channel of tourism Conflicts between

hoteliers and tour operators in the Mediterranean region Journal of InternationalHospitality Leisure and Tourism Adminstration 1 (1) 113ndash39

Buhalis D and Diamantis D (2001 forthcoming) Tourism development andsustainability on the Greek archipelagos In G Apostolopoulos and D Ioannides (eds)Tourism in the Mediterranean Routledge

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 475

Buhalis D and Fletcher J (1995) Environmental impacts on tourism destinations Aneconomic analysis In H Coccosis and P Nijkamp (eds) Sustainable Tourism Development(pp 3ndash25) London Avebury

Camison C Bigne E and Monfort VM (1994) The Spanish tourism industry Analysisof its strategies and the efficacy and achievements gained from them In A Seaton et al(eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 442ndash52) England JWiley and Sons

Castelberg-Koulma M (1991) Greek women and tourism Womenrsquos co-operatives as analternative form of organisation In N Redclift and T Sinclair (eds) Working WomenInternational Perspectives on Labour and Gender Ideology (pp 197ndash223) LondonRoutledge

Chitiris L (1991) Hotel Management (in Greek) Athens InterbooksCoccosis H and Parprairis A (1992) Assessing the interactions between environment

and tourism Case study of the island of Mykonos Paper presented in the IV WorldCongress of Regional Science International University of Balearic Islands Palma deMallorca 26ndash9 May

Conway H (1996) Greece Travel Weekly 1308 39ndash43Cooper C and Buhalis D (1992) Strategic management and marketing of small and

medium sized tourism enterprises in the Greek Aegean islands In R Teare D Adamsand S Messenger (eds) Managing Projects in Hospitality Organisations (pp 101ndash25)London Cassell

Daskalantonakis N (1994) Quality ndash The future of tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (3 July)D9

Divanis A (1994b) Tourism policy Left on its own luck (in Greek) XENIA (October)4ndash5

Donatos G and Zairis P (1991) Seasonality of foreign tourism in the Greek islands ofCrete Annals of Tourism Research 18 515ndash19

Douvitsas P (1994) Marketing Greece through British tour operators A futureperspective MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Drakatos C (1987) Seasonal concentration of tourism in Greece Annals of Tourism Research14 582ndash6

EC (1993a) Microeconomic Analysis of the Tourism Sector A study by the pH Group forEuropean Commission DGXXIII (September) Report XXIII30394-EN BrusselsEuropean Commission

EC (1993b) Growth competitiveness employment The challenges and ways forward intothe 21st century Bulletin of the European Communities Supplement 693 (White Paper)Luxembourg

Economist (1993) Last Chance Sisyphus A survey of Greece Economist (22 May) 2ndash22EIU (1986) Greece (pp 45ndash60) International tourist reports National Report No 3EIU (1990) Greece (pp 45ndash62) International tourist reports National Report No 4EIU (1993) Greece ndash Country Profile 1992ndash1993 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEIU (1994) Greece ndash Country Profile 1994ndash1995 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEpilogi (1994) Economic review ndash The Greek Economy 1994 (in Greek) AthensEuromonitor (1992) Tourism in Greece Market Research Europe (25 May) 51ndash63Fayos-Sola E (1992) A Strategic Outlook for Regional Tourism Policy The White Paper

on Valencian Tourism Tourism Management 13 45ndash9Fotis J (1992) Vacational lifestyle segmentation of tourists on the island of Rhodes

Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey GuildfordGilbert D (1984) The need for countries to differentiate their tourist product and how to

do so Seminar papers for Ministers of Tourism and Directors of National TouristOrganisations Tourism Managing for Results University of Surrey Guildford

Gilbert D (1990) Strategic marketing planning for national tourism Tourist Review 45 (1)18ndash27

GNTO (1985a) Survey of attributes of foreign tourists 1984ndash1985 (in Greek) Greek NationalStatistical Services Athens GNTO

476 Current Issues in Tourism

GNTO (1985b) EOT-Tourism rsquo85 Development ndash Participation ndash Quality of Life (in Greek)Greek National Statistical Services Athens GNTO

GNTO (1989a) Annual report 1988 ndash Forecast 89 Towards Quality Athens GNTOGNTO (1989b) The study of tourism promotion With special reference to the measures to

increase Japanese tourists to Greece Draft final report Japan InternationalCooperation Agency

GNTO (1993) Tourism towards the 2000 (in Greek) Greek National Tourism OrganisationAthens GNTO

Hall M (1994) Tourism and Politics Policy Power and Place J Wiley and SonsHorwath (annual) The Greek Hotel Industry (in Greek) Annual reports Pireus HorwathJenner P and Smith C (1993) Tourism in the Mediterranean Research report London

Economist Intelligence UnitJosephides N (1993) Environmental Concern ndash Whatrsquos In It for the Tourism Industry (pp 51ndash6)

Proceedings of the conference Tourism and the environment Challenges and choicesfor the 1990rsquos 16ndash17 November 1992 Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre LondonBrussels European Union

Josephides N (1994) Tourism analysis Presentation in Philoxenia international tourismexhibition Thessaloniki Greece

Josephides N (1995) A sorry state for beautiful Greece Travel Weekly 1261 (5 April)11Kalogeropoulou H (1993) Greece ndash Prospects for the tourism industry within the context

of the European Single Market of 1993 Tourism Review 48 (1) 2ndash4Kassimati K Thanopoulou M and Tsartas P (1994) Womenrsquos Employment in the

Tourist Sector Study of the Greek Labour Market and Identification of Future ProspectsDGV Equal Opportunities Unit Document V40994-EN European CommissionBrussels

Komilis P (1987) Spatial analysis of tourism in Greece (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planningand Economic Research

Komilis P (1992) The spatial structure of tourism and physical planning practices inGreece Paper presented in conference Tourism and environment Issues ofpolicyplanningmanagement 23ndash4 October University of the Aegean Dept ofEnvironment Lesvos

Komilis P (1993) Values in the Tourism Planning and Policy Making Process (pp 224ndash9)Proceedings of the conference Values and the environment 23ndash4 September GuildfordUniversity of Surrey

Komilis P (1994) Tourism and sustainable regional development In A Seaton et al (eds)Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 65ndash73) England JWiley andSons

Konsolas N and Zacharatos G (1993) Regionalization of tourism activity in GreeceProblems and policies In H Briassoulis and J Van der Straaten (eds) Tourism andEnvironment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 57ndash65) Dordrecht Kluer AcademicPublisher

Kousis M (1989) Tourism and the family in a rural Cretan community Annals of TourismResearch 16 318ndash32

Kriebardis S and Marmagiolis I (1990) Tourism Activity in Greece Problems and Perspectives(pp 45ndash54) (in Greek) Economic Report of Commercial Bank AprilndashJune AthensCommercial Bank

Ktenas S (1994) Hoteliers ask for 15 to 20 increases for 1995 (in Greek) TO BHMA (3July) D9

Ktenas S (1996) Crisis in Greek tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (7 April) D16Leontidou L (1991) Greece Prospects and contradictions of tourism in the 1980rsquos In AM

Williams and GJ Shaw (eds) Tourism and Economic Development Western EuropeanExperiences (2nd edn) (pp 94ndash106) London Belhaven Press

Logothetis M (1990) The Economy of Dodekanisos During 1988ndash1989 Developments andPerspectives (in Greek) Rhodes Regional association of municipalities of Dodekanisos

Logothetis M (1992) Touristiki Sigkiria (in Greek) Rhodes Institute of Tourist and HotelResearch

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 477

Loukissas P (1977) The impact of tourism on regional development A comparativeanalysis of the Greek islands PhD Dissertation Cornell University USA

Loukissas P (1982) Tourismrsquos regional development impacts A comparative analysis ofthe Greek islands Annals of Tourism Research 9 523ndash43

Marinos P (1983) Small island tourism-the case of Zakynthos in Greece TourismManagement 4 212ndash15

Moore R (1992) From shepherds to shopkeepers The development of tourism in a centralGreek town PhD Dissertation University of California at Berkeley USA

Moore R (1995) Gender and alcohol use in a Greek tourist town Annals of Tourism Research22 300ndash13

Mourdoukoutas P (1988) Seasonal employment seasonal unemployment andunemployment compensation The case of the tourism industry of the Greek islandsAmerican Journal of Economics and Sociology 47 315ndash29

NSSG (l983) Tourism Statistics 1981 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (l985) Tourism Statistics 1982ndash1983 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1987) Tourism Statistics 1984ndash1985 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1990) Tourism Statistics 1986ndash1987 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1993) Tourism Statistics 1988ndash1990 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceOECD (1992) Greece Tourism Policy and International Tourism in OECD Member Countries (pp

70ndash8) Paris OECDOttaway M (1992) Turtle power Sunday Times Travel and Style (28 June)Ottaway M (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 1 Sunday Times (17 January)

57ndash59Panagiotopoulou R (1990) The problem and perspectives of the European insular regions

(in Greek) Working paper University of the Aegean ChiosPapadimitris G (1988) Short run and long run prospects of the Greek tourism industry

PhD Dissertation University of Manchester ManchesterPapadopoulos S (1985) An economic analysis of foreign tourism in Greece An

examination of the growth and structure of foreign tourism to Greece 1960ndash1984 with aplanning model and marketing policy recommendations PhD Thesis University ofBradford Management Centre Bradford

Papadopoulos S (1987) Strategic marketing techniques in international tourismInternational Marketing Review (summer) 71ndash84

Papadopoulos S (1988a) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (1) 29ndash30

Papadopoulos S (1988b) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (2) 24ndash7

Papadopoulos S (1989) Greek marketing strategies in the Europe tourism market ServiceIndustries Journal 9 297ndash314

Papadopoulos S and Mirza H (1985) Foreign tourism in Greece An economic analysisTourism Management 6 125ndash37

Papandropoulos A (1995) The crisis in tourism is evident (in Greek) OikonomikosTachydromos (29 June) 26ndash8

Papanikos G (1999) The year 2004 olympic games and their influence upon the Greektourism (in Greek) ITEP (Research Institute for Tourism) Athens

Paulopoulos P (1999) The Size and Dynamics of the Tourism Sector (in Greek) ResearchInstitute for Tourism Athens

Peterson C (1990) Greece tackles overbuilding in tourism areas EnvironmentalConservation 17 166ndash8

Plevris V (1995) Alarm bells from the Hellenic Federation of Hotels (in Greek) XENIA128 (May) 6ndash7

Poon A (1987) Information technology and innovation in international tourism ndashimplications for the Caribbean tourism industry PhD thesis Science Policy ResearchUnit University of Sussex Brighton

Poon A (1988) Flexible specialisation and small size ndash the case of Caribbean tourism DRCDiscussion Paper 57 SPRU Brighton University of Sussex

478 Current Issues in Tourism

Poon A (1989) Competitive strategies for new tourism In C Cooper (ed) Progress inTourism Recreation and Hospitality Management (vol 1) (pp 91ndash102) London BelhavenPress

Poon A (1990) Flexible specialisation at small size The case of Caribbean tourism WorldDevelopment 18 109ndash23

Poon A (1993) Tourism Technology and Competitive Strategies Oxford CAB InternationalPorter M (1980) Competitive Strategy Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors

New York Free PressPorter M (1985) Competitive Advantage Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance New

York Free PressPorter M (1990) The Competitive Advantage of Nations New York Free PressPrurier E Sweeney A and Geen A (1993) Tourism and the environment The case of

Zakynthos Tourism Management 14 137ndash9Psoinos P (1994a) Research on the foreign touristsrsquo attributes in Greece (in Greek) Athens

Greek National Tourism OrganisationPsoinos P (1994b) Research on the attributes of foreigners who have never visited Greece (in

Greek) Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationRichter-Papaconstantinou C (1992) Tourism development of Rhodes Cahiers du Tourisme

(Serie B) 67 Aix en Provence Centre des Hautes Eacutetudes TouristiquesRomanos A (1998) Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites (in Greek) Athens

Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites SASETE (1993) Tourism Developments and problems (in Greek) Athens Association of Greek

Tourism EnterprisesSezer H and Harrison A (1994) Tourism in Greece and Turkey An economic view for

planners In A Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposiumpp74ndash84 England Wiley and Sons

Skoulas N (1985) Holidays and travel in the year 2035 ndash Contribution of the NationalTourist Organisation of Greece SDI Schriftey Wirtschafts und Unternehmenspolitik 40181ndash99

Skoulas N (1994) Quality improvement of tourism services (in Greek) Paper presentedin the conference Competitiveness of tourism enterprises ndash the role of quality 1 AprilHoliday Inn Athens Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises

Smith C and Jenner P (1995) Greece International Tourism Reports 3 5ndash21Stavrou S (1978) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Kos Island (in Greek) Research and

Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationStavrou S (1979) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Mykonos and Naxos Islands (in

Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1980) Research on Tourism Awareness on the Islands Kalymnos and Leros (in Greek)Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1984) Tourism Development in Greece during 1969ndash1982 (in Greek) Research andDevelopment Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986a) Research for the Characteristics of Foreign Tourist Demand in Greece in theYears 8485 (in Greek) Research Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1986b) Research on the Tourism Awareness on Paros Santorini Kythira Islands (inGreek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986c) Critical Review of Tourism Activity in the Years 8385 (in Greek) Researchand Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1988) Tourism in the Northern Aegean Islands Presentation of GNTO for the TourismDevelopment of the Periphery (in Greek) Proceedings of the first conference for thedevelopment of the Northern Aegean islands Homereum cultural centre Chios 11November Chios Periphery of Northern Aegean islands

Stavrou S (1989a) GNTO Presentation for the Tourism Development Possibilities for theSouthern Aegean Islands (in Greek) Conference for the development of Southern Aegean

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 479

islands Syros 30 September ndash 2 OctoberStavrou S (1989b) The Contribution of the Development Law 126282 in the Development of the

Country (in Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A5 Athens GreekNational Tourism Organisation

Stereopoulos N (1995) It is regarded ideal it became problematic (in Greek) OikonomikosTachidromos (21 December) 151ndash3

Touloupas P (1996) Greece as a tourist destination for the British tour operators Ananalysis from a marketing perspective in the particular context of the United KingdomMSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Tourismos ke Oikonomia (1993) 20 years 1973ndash1993 (in Greek) Special Issue AthensTourismos ke Oikonomia (1994) ICAP tourism enterprises Drastic reduction of loses in 1993

(in Greek) December 14ndash15Touristiki Agora (various issues) (Monthly tourism industry periodical in Greek) Business

Press AthensTruett D and Truett L (1987) The response of tourism to international economic

conditions Greece Mexico and Spain Journal of Developing Areas 21 177ndash90Tsartas P (1989) Socioeconomic Impacts of Tourism Development in Cyclades Region with Special

Reference on Ios and Serifos Islands During 1950ndash1980 (in Greek) Athens National Centrefor Social Research

Tsartas P (1992) Socioeconomic impacts of tourism on two Greek isles Annals of TourismResearch 19 516ndash33

Van Den Bergh J (1993) Tourism development and natural environment Aneconomicndashecological model for the Sporades islands In H Briassoulis and J Van DerStraaten (eds) Tourism and Environment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 67ndash83)Dordrecht Kluer Academic Publishers

Velissariou E (1991) Die Wirtschaftlichen Effekte des Tourismus Dargestell am Beispiel Kretas(The Economic Impacts of Tourism on Crete) PhD Dissertation University of MunichFrankfurt Peter Lang

Vernikos N (1987) The study of Mediterranean small islands Emerging theoreticalissues Ekistics 54 (323ndash4) 101ndash9

Wanhill S (1993) Government organisations In C Cooper J Fletcher D Gilbert and SWanhill (eds) Tourism Principle and Practice (pp 145ndash60) London Pitman

Wickens D (1994) Consumption of the authentic The hedonistic tourist in Greece In ASeaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 819ndash25)England JWiley and Sons

Wickens E (2000) Rethinking touristsrsquo experiences In M Robinson et al (eds) MotivationsBehaviour and Tourist Types (pp 455ndash72) Business Education Publishers Sunderland

Wickers D (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 2 Sunday Times 57ndash510Wilkinson PF (1989) Strategies for tourism in islands microstates Annals of Tourism

Research 16 153ndash77XENIA (various issues) (Monthly bulletin of the Greek Hotel Chamber in Greek) AthensZacharatos G (1984) Tourismus und Wirtschafts-Struktur Dargestellt am Beispiel

Griechenlands Europaische Hochschulschriften Reihex Band 7 Frankfurt am MainZacharatos G (1986) Tourism consumption (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planning and

Economic ResearchZacharatos G (1988) The simplistic empiricism Tourism policy and the time of crisis

(1992) (in Greek) Sychrona Themata 11 (May) 21ndash6Zacharatos G (1989) The problems and perspectives of tourism in Greece (in Greek) In H

Katsoulis T Giannitsis and P Kazakos (eds) Politics and Society Economy and ForeignRelationships (pp 273ndash89) Athens Papazisis

Zacharatos G (1993) The necessity of multimedia use in the tourism education in Greece(in Greek) Paper presented at the international conference Overcomingisolation-telematics and regional development University of the Aegean Chios 30April ndash 2 May

480 Current Issues in Tourism

Page 17: Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challengescore.ac.uk/download/pdf/101686.pdf · Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challenges Dimitrios Buhalis School of Management

Why Are We There and What Are the Implications StructuralProblems and Challenges

Despite its popularity and growth over the last 40 years the Greek tourismindustry has reached a stage where both its potential and competitiveness havebecome questionable

The seemingly unstoppable growth of this market contributed to a degreeof complacency which has led to Greece repeating some of the errors madein Spain Rapid price increases mean the country is no longer perceived bymass market clients as cheap in relation to comparable destinations in theMediterranean but much of the countryrsquos tourism infrastructure hastilybuilt in response to demand for cheap accommodation does not meet theneeds of a market less sensitive to price and more concerned with qualityand value for money (EIU 1990 45)

Richter-Papaconstantinou (1992 27) explains that tourism development inRhodes lsquotakes place without any Master Plan of the area respect of the landscapeand environment analysis whether there is demand and what the demand isafter regard to what is happening in similar situationsrsquo At the micro level theEuropean travel trade and intermediaries warn that the Greek tourism product isno longer competitive (Conway 1996 41 Touloupas 1996 Douvitsas 1994)whilst Chitiris (1991 148ndash150) outlines a range of managerial problems andmistakes in Greek resort hotels which diminish the quality of the tourismservices Hence unless the Greek tourism industry addresses a number of criticalissues immediately its future might be seriously jeopardised resulting in apotential catastrophe of the national economy The major structural problemsand challenges for the Greek tourism product can be summarised in Table 6

As a result Greece fails to attract the desired lsquohigh-quality high-expenditurersquotourists as it is increasingly unable to satisfy their requirements (Conway 199641) The deterioration of the tourism product and image leads to a lower willing-ness-to-pay by consumers which consequently leads to a further drop in qualityas the industry attempts to attract customers with lower prices This is a viciousspiral which has been destroying the essence of developing tourism in severalMediterranean destinations The concentration of bargaining power in Euro-pean distribution intermediaries and tour operators in particular in combina-tion with the inability of the Greek tourism industry to promote itself andestablish effective distribution mechanisms inevitably minimises the profitmargins of SMTEs and their ability to yield decent returns on their investmentAs a result touristsrsquo expenditure per capita in Greece gradually deteriorateswhile their volume increases (SETE 1993 35)

Thus the tourism policy often consisted in a lsquofreezingrsquo of the selling price ofthe tourist package abroad a measure which combined with the devalua-tion of the drachma and its continuous parity losses succeeded in securing alsquofictitious competitivenessrsquo for the Greek package This competitivenesshowever was seriously threatened each time there was an attempt at asubstantial increase because of important rises in cost elements(Kalogeropoulou 1993 2)

456 Current Issues in Tourism

The above issues illustrate that the Greek tourism product becomes increas-ingly incompetent Hence the inadequate lsquoproductrsquo lsquopromotionrsquo and lsquoplacersquo(distribution) elements of the tourism marketing mix reduce the willingness ofprospective consumers to pay and has disastrous implications for the pricingpolicies deteriorating the profitability of the SMTEs and the tourism economicimpacts on the destination

Ultimately the economic impacts of tourism in Greece become debatableespecially due to the inadequacy of tourism economic research and data whilethe destination has to bear the environmental social and cultural decay Encour-agingly articles in recent tourism industry publications acknowledge these chal-lenges and appreciate the dangers urging both the private and public sector totake action (Touristiki Agora Tourismos ke Oikonomia Travel News XENIA) as well

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 457

Table 6 Structural problems and challenges

Image of Greece as cheap simple unsophisticated undifferentiated sun-seadestination

Gradual deterioration of tourism product and lack of reinvestment in improvements

Increase of tourism arrivals but decrease of tourism expenditure per capita

Inadequacy of the Greek planning process

Dependence upon major tour operators for promotion and distribution

Plethora of anarchically developed and behaving SMTEs aiming at short-termprofitability

Inappropriate and ill-timed marketing campaign which has little effectiveness

Inadequacy of infrastructure to serve the ever-expanding demand

Lack of coordination at the destination and disrespect for touristsrsquo needs

Lack ofprofessionalism and training in both state andprivate tourism establishments

Individualistic behaviour by SMTEs and unwillingness to cooperate on adestination basis

Unsuccessful and inconsistent programmes of government intervention

Almost unregulated environment with nearly complete lack of control

Political intervention which allows exception policies and employment of unquali-fied staff

Development of tourism as a single regional development option

Oversupply of tourism amenities and fierce price competition

Failure of the private sector to invest in long-term projects

Deterioration of natural social and cultural resources

SMTEsrsquo inability to resist in global concentration of the tourism industry

Inadequate distribution mechanisms which generate overdependence onintermediaries

Failure of both the private and public sectors to learn from internationally gainedexperience in tourism development and marketing

Lack of tourism research to identify the impacts of tourism

Negligence with regard to new tourism demand challenges

as several influential members of the tourism industry (Josephides 1993 19941995 Skoulas 1994 Daskalantonakis 1994 Divanis 1994b Plevris 1995Papandropoulos 1995)

Political intervention limited research lack of tourism policy andplanning

Perhaps the largest obstacle in developing a competitive tourism industry inGreece has been the inconsistent and irrational political intervention Unfortunatelytourism has extensively been utilised as a political vehicle where each govern-ment uses it to gratify its political needs and friends This can be experienced in alllevels of recruitment in the public sector institutions as a change of government oreven minister results in immense changes throughout the GNTO as well as tomajor policies and regulations Thus in the last 35 years (since 1966) the leadershipof the GNTO has changed 28 times allowing each General Secretary to stay inoffice for an average of 138 months Political allies of each government use politi-cal pressure and intensive lobbying in order to achieve amendments in regula-tions incentive policies and business environment Hence the short-termprofitability and commercial interests of the friends and political allies of eachgovernment often overrule the long-term strategy and set an improper examplefor the entire industry These practices result in a great inconsistency in Greek tour-ism policy and disrupt its rationalisation Therefore a lsquodepolitisation of Greektourismrsquo towards a professionally managed public sector guided through acompromised strategic Master Plan is urgently required (Josephides 1995)

The limited existing scientific tourism research highlights the lack of comprehen-sive examination of tourism impacts in Greece while it illustrates that tourismpolicy is based on insufficient documentation (Zacharatos 1989 278 and 1988 22)Public sector research is almost non-existant while the authorities seem uninter-ested in consulting the Greek-tourism research produced by academics (for exam-ple Zacharatos 1984 1986 Komilis 1987 Loukissas 1977 Papadimitris 1988Papadopoulos 1985 Moore 1992 Tsartas 1989 Velissariou 1991 Fotis 1992Buhalis 1991 1995 2000c Buhalis amp Diamantis 2000) or the international tourismlsquobody of knowledgersquo (Zacharatos 1988 24) In addition tourism consumptionbeing characterised as a particular category of private consumption in the nationalaccounts it fails to reflect the real tourism impact on each economic sector Thusthe process of collecting information for tourism expenditure in Greece preventsthe assessment of tourism expenditure impacts on the national and regional econ-omy and therefore cannot be used in drawing scientifically founded tourismpolicy (Zacharatos 1989 277 Konsolas amp Zacharatos 1993 58) Consequentlytourism policy follows conventional wisdom and concentrates on attracting alarger volume of tourists ignoring scientific methods to assess the economicsocial cultural and environmental impacts of each tourism segment assumingthat the greater the tourism volume the better for the national economy

The lack of a comprehensive and rational tourism policy and planning or a MasterPlan for Greek tourism is primarily responsible for the aforementioned structuralproblems Policy is usually based on unsubstantiated statements published by theTourism Ministry or the GNTO (GNTO 1985b 1989a 1993) often as pre-electionpromotional material In essence Greek authorities attempt to intervene aiming tostimulate arrivals as well as to facilitate the operation and development of the

458 Current Issues in Tourism

tourism industry Based on the assumption that tourism arrivals to Greece wouldincrease indefinitely the general directions of the Greek tourism policy focusalmost invariably on the targets summarised in Table 7 (Euromonitor 1992 61GNTO 1989b 41 and 1993 1 OECD 1992 70 Skoulas 1985 194 Leontidou 199188ndash91 Apostolopoulos 1990 Zacharatos 1989 275 and 1988 21)

However as these tasks are not quantified and there is no time schedule orplanning process for their achievement it is inevitable that their implementationand assessment is subject to irrationalities and personal judgement Occa-sionally incentives for tourism development responses to lobbying from tour-ism-related associations and regions training programmes and generallegislation attempt to direct the Greek tourism industry towards the describedpolicy directions In addition an inconsistent and untargeted promotionalcampaign is implemented yearly (Touloupas 1996 130) The campaign attempts toachieve the above unspecified policy tasks while it is often a lsquolast minutersquo reactionmeasure to a forecasted decline of bookings for the current season rather than acoordinated long-term marketing policy (Jenner amp Smith 1993 143Papadopoulos 1989 304) Despite the advertising campaignrsquos positive impact onarrivals the feedback to the campaign is rather speculative as no formal researchis undertaken to identify the most cost-effective media and communication meth-ods for each target market (Papadopoulos 1989 311 and 1987 82)

Because the deficient scientific examination of Greek tourism and its impactsprevents the authorities from establishing quantifiable and measurable tourismpolicies their policies are based on subjective and personal judgements while feedbackpractices are rarely followed In addition the implementation of the vaguelydefined tourism policy as well as the targets regulations and standards are oftenbent to accommodate lobbying and political pressures (Zacharatos 1989 279)Komilis (1993 225) suggests that tourism planning in Greece is generally realisedand exercised within a socio-political environment characterised by severalfactors a limited degree of political commitment lack of social awareness andacceptability of planning actions inadequacy of scientific and technical founda-

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 459

Table 7 Greek tourism policy targets

Development of demand

Training of tourism employees

Increase arrivals and foreign exchange income

Increase competitiveness of tourism product

Improvement of services in the industry

Reduction of seasonality and expansion of tourism season

Attraction of high spenders and alternative types of tourism

Construction of facilities appealing to the upper end of the market such as luxuryhotels golf courses congress centres casinos and marinas

Development of tourism infrastructure with emphasis on transportation

Support of social tourism for low-income domestic tourists

Geographical redistribution of tourism

tion to support planning intervention and a centralised administrative-institu-tional system gathering a plethora of functions but failing to perform itscoordination and enforcing role When the conflicting interests and power of eachmember of the tourism industry are brought into the equation where differentpartners attempt to influence legislation in order to maximise their own short-termprofitability regardless of the impacts on the destination and other enterprises theplanning process becomes more complicated This results in an ineffective plan-ning system and process which produces policies unable to provide an appropri-ate balance between restrictive policies and control planning implementationMoreover the plethora of SMTEs in combination with inadequate legislationconcerning their establishment and operation seem to affect adversely thecompetitiveness of the industry and the ability to diversify and enrich local tour-ism products (Komilis 1992 11 EIU 1990 59)

Consequently several structural problems are originated jeopardising theprosperity of both SMTEs and destinations especially in overdeveloped regionsOn the supply side failure of the infrastructure to follow the dramatic expansionof the superstructure in combination with the lack of solid institutional context oftourism policy and long-term regulation result in the exploitation and inadequacyof environmental and socio-cultural resources as well as the inability of the indus-try to generate the level of economic benefits desired and expected On the tourismdemand side after the meteoric growth in the 1970s and 1980s the Greek tourismindustry has been trying to transform lsquothe country into a destination which cancompete not just on price but on value for moneyrsquo (EIU 1990 45) It is becomingapparent that the tourism population in not infinite and an adaptability andresponsiveness to touristsrsquo needs is ofgreat importance (Sezeramp Harrison 1994 83)

Structural problems jeopardise the profitability of the private sectorBecause of the aforementioned structural problems most tourism industry

enterprises are experiencing a decline in profitability Hotels in particular arebadly affected due to the high fixed assets as well as their immobility and inflexi-bility which prevents them from adjusting to demand fluctuation Several reasonsdetermine their low profitability and inability to increase prices in line with infla-tion The low occupancy levels achieved yearly is a key problem Smith and Jenner(1995 17) estimate that the lsquoyear-round bed occupancy over the range of licensedaccommodation is slightly under 30rsquo As most of the properties are closed duringthe winter months due to the seasonality problems they rely on three to six monthsto generate sufficient returns on their investment The occupancy levels of accom-modation establishments in Greek tourism are often determined by theirco-operation with travel intermediaries Based on the different seasonality patternsof different markets rooms are normally allocated a year before the summer seasonto tour operators on lsquoallotmentrsquo or lsquocommitmentrsquo contracts which effectively deter-mine the prices charged according to the security provided by tour operators forusing and paying for hoteliersrsquo rooms Once the contracts are signed hoteliers effec-tively lose their control on their inventory and their right to market their rooms toother business sources before the release period (typically 7ndash14 days before arrival)in order to avoid overbooking However should their bookings fail to match theirprogramme tour operators often utilise their buying power to cancel unwantedrooms at the beginning of the tourist season without paying compensation Smaller

460 Current Issues in Tourism

hoteliers are often left with unoccupied rooms they which are unable to promote atthe lsquolast minutersquo unless they drop their prices to unacceptable levels As a result oftheir deficient intra-channel power hotels often suffer a significant cut-back of theiroccupancy levels which has direct implications for their profitability (Buhalis 19952000c 460 Ktenas 1996)

Similarly the seasonality of the Mediterranean and Greek tourism industry hasalways been a problem for the profitability of SMTEs since enterprises operateonly for a limited period (Jenner amp Smith 1993 70 Drakatos 1987 Donatos ampZairis 1991) Attempts to promote winter tourism by developing cultural andspecial interest tourism in the islands and winter sports in several ski resorts inGreece have proved fairly unsuccessful (EIU 1986 56) This is attributed to theimage of Greece as an exclusively summer-sun destination as well as to the unco-ordinated attempts to maintain tourism enterprises active during the wintermonths (EIU 1990 57)

The average room rate is the second major determinant of hotel profitability It isbecoming apparent that employment costs and cost of capital in combination witha relatively strong currency policy reduce the ability of Greek accommodationestablishments to offer competitive pricing and maintain their profitabilityMarketing inadequacies and inability to promote the tourism product as a differ-entiated entity the rapid increase of supply in comparison to demand and theoverall dependence upon the oligopsonistic tour operators for the Greek tourismproduct promotion force hoteliers to accept contracts by tour operators whichminimise their profit margin and adversely effect the quality of their productIncreasing levels of pressure by tour operators prevent SMTEs from renovatingand investing in their properties and therefore a gradual deterioration of the prop-erties is inevitable (Richter-Papaconstantinou 1992 14 Skoulas 1985 189) Euro-pean tour operators faced with fierce competition in their markets are essentiallywilling to pay an annual price increase equal to little less than the depreciation ofthe drachma plus the inflation at the place of origin of the tourists (Ktenas 1994)This policy progressively deteriorates the profitability of the Greek tourism indus-try and has severe impacts for its prosperity The situation is worse for smalleraccommodation establishments which manage to negotiate even smaller priceincreases due to their exclusive dependence upon fewer intermediaries(Logothetis 1992 14)

The oversupply of tourism services both in Greece and worldwide also contributesto global competition for a less rapidly increasing demand (Josephides 1993 54)In Greece the average annual increase of the official hotel bed supply in 1983ndash1992was 47 while the annual average increase in international tourist bednights was27 (Epilogi 1994 271) The investment incentive Law 126282 boosted this over-supply as it generated small infeasible and uncontrollable accommodation unitsunable to offer high quality of services while it increased the concentration of tour-ism units in infrastructure-undersupplied resorts (Kriebardis amp Marmagiolis1990 51 Stavrou 1989b 5) The vast majority of the capacity growth is on the lsquoille-galrsquo unregistered self-catering and self-serviced lsquoparahoteleriarsquo sector whichprovide very low quality and priced accommodation and therefore appeal tomass tour operatorsrsquo clientele This not only increases unfair competition for theofficially registered hotels but also reduces both tax revenues and employment atthe macro level

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 461

Horwath (1994 3) concludes that

unfortunately the results in terms of return on investment in the tourismindustry are not very promising especially when compared with those ofother Greek economic sectors It is an undisputable fact that the averageGreek tourism entrepreneur is heavily dependent on the tourist packageprice which is strongly negotiated by the international tour operators It isan lsquounhealthyrsquo dependency as a result of the weak position of the Greektourist product in the international market In addition the aforemen-tioned dependency is the result of the lack of marketing activities in anaverage tourist enterprise As we all know effective marketing activitiesare based on the product place price promotion which all contribute toclient satisfaction and further to a bigger share in the international touristmarket Up to now three of the aforementioned important elements ofmarketing have been overlooked which determine the weak negotiationpower of the Greek entrepreneur

This situation has also resulted to several European companies expandingtheir operations into Greece or purchasing shares in Greek partners in order toimprove their vertical integration Should this vertical integration expand signif-icantly however lsquoGreek tourism will be in fact controlled by foreign deci-sion-making centres which will certainly operate on the basis of their owninterests and not according to the overall interests of our national economyrsquo(Kalogeropoulou 1993 2) Hence radical measures are required immediately inproduct formulation promotion strategy and distribution channels to supportboth Greek destinations and SMTEs to enhance their competitiveness profitabil-ity and prosperity Failure to react would have severe implications for the futureof the Greek tourism private sector as the essence of its existence would be jeop-ardised its costs may exceeding its returns

Structural problems generate negative tourism impactsIn addition to the profitability problems of the private sector the aforemen-

tioned structural problems have profound implications for the welfare of hostpopulations in various Greek destinations as their economic social cultural andenvironmental resources are exploited without ensuring their sustainabilityLack of comprehensive research and failure to initiate carrying-capacity limits orzoning systems contribute to the anarchic development of tourism as well asexpand negative impacts of tourism on local societies and environments Thefollowing section highlights some of the costs Greek destinations are called topay for their tourism activity whilst it suggests that these issues should beaddressed in the strategic planning process

Macro-economic negative impactsDespite the contribution of tourism to the Greek economy certain potential

risks can also be identified Not only is the competitiveness and profitability ofthe tourism industry jeopardised but also several destination regions seem tofollow a policy of developing tourism at the expense of industrial and agricul-tural growth (Stavrou 1989a 6 Vernicos 1987 105) Instead of tourism stimulat-ing agriculture it seems that it hastens its decline as the two economic activities

462 Current Issues in Tourism

compete for land and labour The lack of structural investments in industrial oragricultural sectors combined with the popularity of tourism professions in theworkforce endanger the balance of the regional economy while reducing thetourism multipliers (Briassoulis 1993 295) As a result the economic structure ofthe destination is jeopardised while a complete dependence upon tourismbecomes inevitable (Komilis 1992 7) Both opportunity costs and displacementeffects are therefore evident Moreover there is evidence that the progress ofdestinations through their life-cycle and especially the introduction of masstourism decreases their economic impacts while it makes local control of theindustry far more difficult (Loukissas 1982 537) lsquoBecause of the high degree ofdependence of Greek tourist enterprises on tour operators the actual amount oftourist spending remaining in the country is only the 40ndash50 of total touristspendingrsquo (Briassoulis 1993 296) Public-sector subsidies to the private sector invarious forms such as incentives cooperative marketing campaigns and unem-ployment benefits in the off-season as well as tax evasion and lsquoparaeconomyrsquo alsoreduce the real benefit at the macro level (Mourdoukoutas 1988 Drakatos 1987Leontidou 1991 102) Lack of scientific research on the economic impacts oftourism makes the real contribution of tourism in the economy speculativerather than based on hard evidence (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Konsolas ampZacharatos 1993)

Social and cultural negative impactsThe development of mass tourism and the lack of effective planning and

management are also responsible for a number of negative social and culturalimpacts observed in Greek host societies (Tsartas 1989 1992 Stavrou 19781979 1980 1986b) Although the degree of interaction of the population withtourists depends heavily on the geomorphology of destinations and the loca-tion of resorts (Loukissas 1982 538) touristsrsquo behaviour is often offensive tothe host population but tolerated due to the economic benefits (Castelberg-Koulma 1991 201 Kousis 1989 Wickens 1994 823) Most Greek tourismdestinations are almost crime-free zones during the winter due to the smallpopulation and personal relationships of locals Tourism however introducesseveral types of criminal activity often unknown to local people As policeforces are usually allocated according to needs of the permanent population ina destination they are often incapable of handling the demands of the summermonths and are unable to deal with visitorsrsquo misbehaviour such as hooliganismand lsquolager-lootingrsquo

The commercialisation of history cultural traditions and the Greek lifestyle isa phenomenon met in several destinations This regrettably affects the renownedGreek hospitality commercialises human relations with tourists and reduces theties of solidarity and cooperation between locals since they compete for the tour-ism market (Papadopoulos 1988b 24) As the average employee works 605hours weekly for 295 weeks a year there is little time left for social religious andcultural obligations during the season (Mourdoukoutas 1988 325) Although acertain degree of lsquodemonstration effectrsquo and lsquoxenomaniarsquo can be attributed totourism the country is equally influenced by the mass media as well as by theGreek students and professionals living abroad (Papadopoulos 1988a 30Wickens 1994 822) Moore (1995) also explains that tourism not only has had a

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 463

contribution to the increase of alcohol consumption by Greeks but has alsoshifted their taste away from locally produced wine to imported spirits and beerBriassoulis (1993 296) perhaps describes best the change in labour force valueswhen as she suggests that tourism has created a

peculiar parasitic group of tourist entrepreneurs operating tourist-servingenterprises like tavernas cafeterias etc the principal characteristics ofwhich are high profits and tax evasion Consequently a particular person-ality type is created the lsquosuccessfulrsquo entrepreneur who earns a lot with littlework has a rich erotic life and is professionally independent (in contrast topublic and private employees) This model is followed by many youngpeople who abandon other productive year-round occupations lsquoworkrsquoonly during the tourist season stay idle for the rest of the year and eventu-ally suffer from the volatility of the tourist market

The family relations and values are therefore under great transition andperhaps threat (Castelberg-Koulma 1991 201 Kousis 1989 Moore 1992)

Negative environmental impactsDespite environmental resources becoming central to destinationsrsquo competi-

tiveness most Greek destinations go through an unparalleled exploitation due toinadequate planning and reinvestment in their sustainability jeopardising theirfuture (Buhalis amp Fletcher 1995) Boniface and Cooper (1994 141) suggest thatgeographical concentration of tourism

has led to the view that Greece will become saturated with tourists and thatdamage will be done to the environment and cultural heritage in the morepopular areas Already the environment has suffered from haphazarduncontrolled building and pollution of the sea and the flora and fauna arebeing effected by waste disposal

Coastal pollution water shortages sewage treatment waste disposal trafficcongestion noise pollution overbuilding and aesthetic degradation are some ofthe impacts experienced already in a number of resorts (Briassoulis 1993 297Coccosis amp Parprairis 1992 Peterson 1990 Marinos 1983 Stavrou 1988 19 and1989a 5 Papadopoulos 1988b 24) Most of the islands also face water shortagedue to the inability of natural supplies to provide sufficient water for the tourismdemand Imported mineral water from the mainland is an expensive way tosolve this problem due to the transportation cost while it creates more waste andenvironmental damage In addition the destruction of endangered speciesrsquo habi-tats is another problem experienced on several islands (ZakynthosCaretta-Caretta and Allonissos monk-seals) (Ottaway 1992 Van Den Bergh1993 70 Prurier et al 1993) Urgent coordination with all tourism actors at thelocal level is essential while regulation is required to set objective and measurablelimits and targets in order to preserve local environmental resources Financialdifficulties in the industry only exacerbate these impacts as the private and publicsectors feel unable to reinvest in the conservation of resources

The aforementioned negative impacts emerge as a result of the structuralproblems of the Greek tourism industry and illustrate that the mass tourismorientation of the industry reduces the sovereignty of the host population over

464 Current Issues in Tourism

their land and resources whilst jeopardising their expected benefits and futurewelfare As these impacts are trade-offs for the economic gains of the tourismactivity it is important that consistent long-term strategic planning should beundertaken in order to enable the preservation of the local resources and achievesustainability at tourism destinations These tasks should all be reinforced byresearch political will and strategic planning

Where Do We Need to Go and How Are We Going ThereTowards Strengthening the Competitiveness of Greek Tourismand SMTEs

Based on the situation analysis as well as on the strategic weaknesses andstructural problems the paper attempts to provide a framework for strategicplanning which will enable the strengthening of the competitiveness of Greektourism and SMTEs Porter (1985 1) suggests that competitive strategy lsquois thesearch for a favourable competitive position in an industryrsquo which is a function ofthe attractiveness of the industry and the relative competitive position withinthat particular industry He also argues that lsquocompetitive strategy aims to estab-lish a profitable and sustainable position against the forces that determine indus-try competitionrsquo Competitiveness is therefore defined as the effort undertakenby organisations to maintain long-term profitability above the average of theparticular industry within which they operate or above alternative investmentopportunities in other industries

Traditionally the tourism industry in the majority of destinations worldwideis based on a network of SMTEs which provide all types of tourism products andservices while enabling closer interaction between the host population and visi-tors as well as facilitating a rapid infusion of tourism spending into the localeconomy As lsquotouristsrsquo overall experience is composed of numerous smallencounters with a variety of tourism service providersrsquo (Moutinho 1990 104)there is a great overlap between the customer perception of local SMTEs anddestinations which makes them almost indistinguishable Consequently thecompetitiveness and prosperity of destinations and SMTEs are closely interre-lated as the fortune of the one depends heavily upon the management andcompetitiveness of the other Therefore the generic strategy for destinationsinvolves SMTEs and vice versa

Grand strategy Strategy formulation for Greek tourism and SMTEsBased on the strategic analysis a grand strategy is proposed for the Greek

tourism industry and SMTEs in order to demonstrate the directions the destina-tions should follow in their attempt to increase their competitiveness and reducetheir vulnerability As different resorts destinations and SMTEs have dissimilarneeds only generic strategies can be drawn However these guidelines can beapplicable to destinations and SMTEs worldwide as they address strategic ratherthan operational issues The analysis is based on the assumption that SMTEsformulate leisure value-added chains or networks of wealth creation whichessentially comprise the entire destination Therefore an integrated approach isfollowed as there is a great complementarity between the strategies and strate-gic directions for both the Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 465

The grand strategy analysis is based on an examination of three general strat-egy models namely Porterrsquos generic strategies Gilbertrsquos proposition for lsquodiffer-entiation of the destinationrsquo and Poonrsquos analysis for lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo Agrand strategy is then proposed for both Greek tourism and SMTEs based oninference emerging from these three models Figure 1 illustrates the three maingeneric strategies proposed by Porter (1980 34ndash46) in order to lsquooutperform otherfirms in an industryrsquo overall cost leadership where the firm is required to minimiseits costs based on mass production and strict cost control of the main businessfunctions differentiation of products or services by lsquocreating something that isperceived industry-wide as being uniquersquo or focus on a lsquoparticular buyer groupsegment of the product line or geographical marketrsquo and achieve either cost leader-ship or product differentiation (Porter 1980 37ndash8)

Furthermore Gilbert (1984 1990) argues that destinations should differenti-ate their tourism products in order to be able to achieve a unique lsquotourist productbenefitrsquo which would enable them to establish their position in the internationaltourism market as well as to attract high spenders and loyal tourists Tourismdestinations therefore should attempt to achieve a lsquostatus arearsquo image ratherthan a lsquocommodity arearsquo one as illustrated in Figure 2 In the first case the desti-nation is heavily substitutable very sensitive to price and economic changeswhile consumers have a low awareness of any unique benefits or attributes of theregion Thus holidaymakers base their decision to visit the area merely on pricewhile the demand for the destination is incidental and destinations are unable toattract high spenders In contrast lsquostatus areasrsquo achieve intentional demand as aresult of the unique product attributes perceived by the tourism market Theseunique attributes may be genuine or imagined and thus a destination isregarded as irreplaceable increasing consumersrsquo loyalty and willingness to payGilbert (1990 24ndash5) asserts that destinations should attempt to become lsquostatusareasrsquo in order to improve their image loyalty and economic benefits

A third strategic approach is proposed by Poon (1987 1988 1989 1990 1993)based on the concept of lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo of the tourism business Inessence Poon examines the industry processes and proposes a strategy to enabletourism organisations to improve their competitiveness Poon argues that lsquoflexi-ble specialisationrsquo is a strategy of lsquopermanent innovationrsquo and lsquoceaseless changersquowhich provides for the lsquonew tourismrsquo This new tourism is flexible segmentedcustomised to the touristrsquos needs and diagonally integrated In contrast the oldtourism can be characterised as lsquomass standardised and rigidly packagedrsquo(Poon 1989 91ndash3)

466 Current Issues in Tourism

STRATEGIC ADVANTAGE

Perceived product uniqueness Cost advantage

TARGETMARKET

Industrywide Differentiation Cost Leadership

Particularsegmentsonly

Differentiation Focus Cost Focus

Figure 1 Porterrsquos three generic strategiesSource Porter 1980 39

The main sources of flexibility for service firms lie in the organisationmanagement marketing distribution and other forms of interaction andinterrelationships among guests hotels suppliers distributors What isimportant however is not each of these stand alone aspects but how theyare coupled to create competitive advantages and hence capabilities tomove with the market (Poon 1988 24)

Examination of these three main strategies illustrates that they share a similarbase Porterrsquos lsquodifferentiationrsquo Gilbertrsquos lsquostatus arearsquo and Poonrsquos lsquoflexiblespecialisationrsquo describe the attempt undertaken by firms and tourist destinationsto achieve value competitive advantages In contrast the lsquocost leadershiprsquo lsquocom-modity arearsquo and the lsquostandardisation or Fordism production modelrsquo describethe effort to achieve lsquocost competitive advantagersquo where destinations andSMTEs offer their products for less than their competitors In the first caseconsumers perceive the product as unique and are willing to pay a premiumwhile in the second case the decision is merely based on price Thus the classicalstrategic decision of lsquolow volume-high profit marginrsquo or lsquohigh volume-low profitmarginrsquo is the underlying concept of the two alternative strategies

Both Gilbert and Poon agree that destinations should aim to achieve lsquostatusarearsquo or niche orientation through differentiation in order to increase consumersatisfaction as well as to maximise the benefits for both regions and SMTEs As aresult Greek tourism and SMTEs need to focus towards the differentiation strat-egy define their niche markets and serve them accordingly This strategy isalready adopted in several resort areas such as Valencia in Spain where it isrecognised that the need for diversification and differentiation lsquohas now becomeessential owing to the level of competitiveness that has been attained (and can beforeseen) in the world tourist marketrsquo (Fayos-Sola 1992 49) Differentiation isalso particularly useful for insular destinations in microstates where a limitednumber of economic and financial resources are available (Wilkinson 1989 170)As most destinations consist of SMTEs networks there is an overlap betweentheir strategic orientations and therefore the above analysis is applicable to boththe Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Destinations implementing a lsquostatus arearsquo strategy can enhance the satisfac-tion of tourists as well as their competitiveness The formulation of unique and

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 467

CommodityArea

Statusarea

Willingness topay higher prices

StatusArea

Product attributes Product attributes

CommodityArea

Figure 2 Gilbertrsquos differentiation strategySource Adapted from Gilbert 1990 25

customised products by using flexibility and cooperation also increases touristsrsquowillingness to pay and wins their loyalty while it responds to the new tourismdemand trends However the proposed strategy should not be seen as an excusefor SMTEs and destinations not to attempt to improve their efficiency and mini-mise their production costs Although the unique service for touristsrsquo needs shouldbe their priority offering perceived value for money would determine theircompetitiveness in the marketplace As a result all Greek resorts and SMTEsshould assess their assets and strengths for serving specific target markets takingadvantage of their small size which facilitates flexibility and specialisation

It is quite apparent that the cost advantage strategy has to be avoided inmanagement of tourism destinations as regions need to preserve their scarceenvironmental and sociocultural resources and achieve sustainable develop-ment As cost advantage is based on mass production and consumption itassumes an unlimited production capacity which is inapplicable in the tourismindustry The inseparability of the tourism product determines that consumersshould be present at the time of product delivery and when combined with tour-ism seasonality it generates demand peaks which drain destinationsrsquo scarceenvironmental sociocultural resources The lsquohigh volume-low profit marginrsquostrategy has therefore harmful social and environmental impacts on destina-tions Destinations have maximum carrying capacities beyond which both thewelfare of local populations and the satisfaction of tourists are jeopardisedAlthough economic benefits can also be achieved by using the lsquocommodity arearsquoor the lsquostandard product modelrsquo it is argued that these approaches reduce tour-istsrsquo satisfaction and their willingness to pay and are opposed to the demandtrend towards individualisation

Unfortunately however some destinations can no longer be positioned asirreplaceable unique products due to their overdevelopment Tourism supplyhas exceeded the carrying capacity of these resorts and their product hasreached the saturation or decline phase of their life-cycle Several Spanish costasand some Greek resorts such as Benitses Kavos Faliraki Malia Hersonissos andNidri (Josephides 1994) have been overdeveloped to such an extent that only alsquohigh-volume low-profit marginrsquo strategy is feasible When resorts reach theirsaturation level only a lsquocost leadershiprsquo or lsquomass productionrsquo strategy can beproposed as they are unable to provide any specific lsquotourist product benefitrsquo Theattraction of the lower end of the market is inevitable and as a consequence thereare no alternative strategies The minimisation of further sociocultural and envi-ronmental damage as well as attempts to improve the surrounding environmentshould also be a primary objective of both tourism destinations and SMTEs in thiscase The ultimate aim should be to regenerate the resources of the area and torelaunch the tourism destination to attract specific markets which will be willing topay a higher price for the destination

Strategic directions objectives and tasks for Greek tourism and SMTEsTable 8 presents three pivotal strategic directions which are identified in order

to stimulate the competitiveness of both Greek tourism and SMTEs This sectionillustrates how the aforementioned grand strategy can be implemented for tour-ist destinations and SMTEs through a number of strategic directions objectivesand tasks as presented in Table 9

468 Current Issues in Tourism

Enhancing the satisfaction of tourists and delighting the customer are pivotalto ensuring the well-being of Greek destinations and SMTEs in the long term andthus the entire range of tourism service providers should aim to delight theirclients As a result of the tourism product integration consumer satisfactioncannot be achieved by independent businesses separately but by the entirenetwork of SMTEs in Greek destinations The improvement in services isperhaps the most important strategic objective Consistency of promises throughstandardisation of service delivery and implementation of a total qualitymanagement philosophy throughout the industry are essential strategic tasks forachieving this objective while flexibility in service delivery and improvementsin training are critical In line with the grand strategy the production oftailor-made tourism products should be ensured in order to satisfy the specificneeds of particular niches and the requirements of the emerging new tourismdemand Product augmentation would enable also the Greek tourism product toexceed the expectations of consumers and hence enhance their satisfaction Lifestyle segmentation would enable Greek tourism and SMTEs to design appropri-ate tourism products As tourist demand elasticity has increasingly becomedoubtful in recent years the price of the holiday is no longer considered to be themost important attribute in the decision-making process Consequently theGreek tourism industry should concentrate on providing value for money at allprice levels as well as offering at least whatever they have promised to theconsumer

Supporting the long-term competitiveness and profitability of Greek tour-ism and SMTEs is by far the most important strategic objective for the tourismindustry The first strategic objective for every SMTE has to be the increase inrevenue by maximising its occupancy or load factors and the rates it achievesThe lengthening of the operating season as well as the identification of newmarkets and the penetration into existing ones and the effective utilisation ofdistribution channels will contribute to this strategic direction Higher ratescan be achieved by targeting specialised and smaller tour operators attractingalternative types of tourists and expanding the distribution channels mix aswell as by attempting a certain degree of lsquodisintermediationrsquo by encouragingdirect sales to outgoing travel agencies or consumers Aggressive marketingand establishment of partnerships with other enterprises should be essentialfunctions of Greek tourism and SMTEs Motivation of lsquofront-of-housersquo employ-ees as salesmen and sale incentives would also increase average spending percustomer The use of CRSs and destination management systems may also bean appropriate method for achieving higher prices and better occupancy rates(Buhalis 1994) Finally yield management techniques should be utilised by alltypes of SMTEs to assist them in pricing and maximising revenue Cost control

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 469

Table 8 Pivotal strategic dimensions for Greek tourism

(1) Enhance the satisfaction of tourists and delight the customer(2) Strengthen the long-term profitability and competitiveness of Greek tourism and

SMTEs(3) Develop Greek destinations sustainably and ensure prosperity of host population

470 Current Issues in Tourism

Table 9 Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Strategic directions Strategic objectives Strategic tasks

1 Enhance the sat-isfaction of tour-ists and delightthe customer

11 Improvement of services a Standardisation of service de-livery

b Development of quality controlsystems

c Consistency of promisesd Improvements in operational

managemente Flexibility in services deliveryf Training and education im-

provementsg Smile and personal relation-

shipsh Augmentation of tourism

producti Total quality management

12 Specialisation of tourismproduct

a Niche marketingb Lifestyle targeting

13 Value for money a Quality at each price level

2 Strengthen thelong-term com-petitiveness andprofitability ofGreek tourismand SMTEs

21 Increase revenue a Increase tourist volumesb Target new markets and pene-

tration in existing marketsc Use yield managementd Expand distribution channel

mixe Aggressive marketingf Achieve high average spending

per customerg Select high-quality specialised

tour operatorsh Attract alternative types of

tourismi Use alternative distribution

channelsj Motivate front-of-house em-

ployees as salesmen

22 Cost control and rationalmanagement

a Standardise service deliveryb Increase productivityc Reduce labour costsd Rationalise supplies manage-

mente Educationtraining for manag-

ers and employeesf Use of new technologyg Integrate service delivery

within SMTEs

23 Human resources man-agement

a Internal marketingb Empowermentc Satisfactory salary and working

conditionsd Long-term relations with em-

ployeese Motivation and rewards

and rational management is the second strategic objective needed to increaseefficiency and profitability of both Greek destinations and SMTEs in the longterm Standardisation of the service delivery process and minimisation of thelabour cost through better operational management would be primary recom-mendations Managers and employees should improve their productivity andmarketing skills by intensive training In addition the rationalisation of supplymanagement and the use of new technology is expected to reduce operationalcosts Finally integration of service delivery enables SMTEs to provide comple-mentary services and achieve additional revenues without immense costs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 471

24 State and public tourismorganisation support

a Destination development andcontrol

b Incentives policies for improve-ment

c Attract European Union assis-tance

d Promotional activitye Provide financial resources

3 Develop Greekdestinationssustainably andensure prosper-ity of host popu-lation

31 Environmental protection a Carrying capacity identificationb Zoning system applicationc Architecture preservationd Installation of sewage treat-

ment systemse Reduction of noise pollutionf Natural supplies management

32 Infrastructure ameliora-tion

a Accessibility improvementsb Telecommunication improve-

mentsc Public facilities advancements

33 Transportation improve-ments

a Improvement of local timeta-bles

b Punctuality and reliabilityc Improvements of vehiclesd Flexibility to meet demand

needs

34 Economic integration a Integration with raw materialproduction

b Utilisation of local labour forcec Integration of tourism servicesd Diagonal integration of destina-

tionrsquos economy

35 Equitable return on re-sources utilised

a Establish mechanism forreinvestments

b Provide services for hostcommunity

c Invest in sustainability ofresources

d Ensure equity in distributionof wealth produced

Source Adapted from Buhalis 1991 83a

Table 9 (cont) Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Human resources management is crucial in the delivery process of tourismproducts The concept of lsquointernal marketingrsquo where employees are perceivedand treated as lsquointernal customersrsquo has to be utilised in order to ensure theirsatisfaction As Berry (1981 34) states lsquothe satisfaction of the needs and wants ofthe internal customers can upgrade their capacity for satisfying the needs andwants of their external customersrsquo and as a consequence it can contribute to thecompetitiveness and profitability of Greek tourism and SMTEs Satisfactorysalary and working conditions are prerequisites for the well-being of SMTEsrsquoemployees Long-term relationships between employees and SMTEs minimiseturnover enabling a better performance while they reduce recruitment andtraining costs Empowerment would enable employees to be involved in themanagement of SMTEs and authorise them to respond more efficiently toconsumer requests while contributing to their job satisfaction Finally thesupport of the GNTO is vital for the long-term survival of SMTEs Apart fromthe improvement in infrastructure the GNTO is expected to hold the strategicresponsibility of the destination as well as to regulate the competition in orderto enable smaller enterprises to survive Incentive policies need to reflect thespecific requirements of each resort and enable development or improvementof certain types of enterprises The GNTO is also instrumental in attractingassistance from European development funds while it should also coordinatethe majority of Greek tourism promotional activity A promotional mix whichmaximises the effectiveness of the communication message needs to be drawnwhile budgets need to be available at the time consumers go through their deci-sion-making process in order to influence their choice of destination Finally theneed for the public sector to provide affordable financial resources for SMTEs ishighlighted by the EU (EC 1993b 73)

The third strategic direction for Greek tourism and SMTEs should be thesustainable development of destinations and local areas not only for the hostpopulation but also because this is vital for both consumer satisfaction and theprofitability of SMTEs Although in most cases SMTEs are unable to incorporatethese types of strategic objectives and tasks on their own they can initiate aframework of necessary actions for sustainable destination developmentthrough their associations Environmental protection is naturally the mostimportant strategic objective as consumersrsquo environmental consciousness hasbeen raised recently Carrying capacity limits should be identified and strictregulations and guidelines for tourism development need to be drawn A zoningsystem should be implemented in order to locate tourism activities according tothe geographical morphology of the destination In addition natural resourcesmanagement is necessary as tourism demand may exhaust the resources andespecially the water supplies The installation of sewage treatment systems andthe reduction of noise pollution should be considered especially for resortswhich suffer the consequences of these problems In addition infrastructureamelioration must be one of the primary objectives as it is an essential prerequi-site for both consumersrsquo satisfaction and SMTEsrsquo development The improve-ment of accessibility public services as well as telecommunications facilities is acrucial factor Transportation is also significant in increasing both consumersatisfaction and profitability of SMTEs as it determines whether consumers canaccess the destination easily while it also provides the first impression to tour-

472 Current Issues in Tourism

ists Improvements of timetables and services reliability increasing transporta-tion capacity and an enhancement of the fleet in terms of speed cleanliness andleisure facilities are all required Furthermore greater flexibility is needed bytransportation operators in order to meet demand needs Economic integrationcan improve the economic and social benefits of tourism in the region and theefficiency of SMTEs Ultimately tourism should be utilised as the catalyst andmajor stimulant for regional development Tourism enterprises should makeevery effort to use local raw materials and labour in order to maximise the multi-plier effects within Greece Diagonal integration of destinationsrsquo economy can beachieved by rearranging the goods and service production in order to supportthe tourism industry demand and thus minimise imports Finally SMTEs andtourism organisations need to offer a fair return-on-resources utilised back to thehost community A mechanism should be established in order to reinvest part ofthe revenues in the sustainability of resources provide services for the hostcommunity such as education training health services and generally ensureequity in distribution of wealth produced from local resources As the privatesector cannot be expected to behave altruistically towards the host communitythe GNTO and other public-sector departments should probably utilise regula-tion and taxation for this purpose

Conclusion Greek Tourism Needs a Long Overdue Master Planand Comprehensive Policy

The emerging international tourism competition the hitherto mass tourismorientation of the industry the transformation of demand the development ofthe volume of tourists visiting the dependence upon intermediaries for thedistribution of the tourism product in the major target markets the lack of a widerange of managerial skills by Greek tourism entrepreneurs and the lack of acomprehensive tourism policy or Master Plan by the public sector has led thecompetitiveness of Greece tourism to decline This has several unfavourableimplications for the profitability of the private sector as well as numerous nega-tive economic sociocultural and environmental impacts for the host populationAs a result the return on resources utilised for the production of Greek tourismservices is inadequate and the sustainability of Greece as a major tourism desti-nation is rapidly becoming doubtful Based on a strategic analysis the paper illu-minates the strategic weaknesses and structural problems of both the private andpublic sectors and demonstrates that a rationalisation of the tourism industry isurgently required Consequently a grand strategy as well as a wide range of stra-tegic directions objectives and tasks are proposed for both Greece as an entityand its SMTEs Although no quantitative targets are set in this paper it isexpected that each destination will analyse its resources and adapt its strategicplanning accordingly

The GNTO is urged to rationalise its strategy and to draw up a Master Plan anda comprehensive strategy for the entire country and for each resort where a strategywould be adopted based on quantifiable objectives and tasks Extensive researchneeds to be undertaken by using credible measurement methodologies such asInput-Output models and multipliers analysis not only for the economic but alsofor the social cultural and environmental impacts (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Buhalis

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 473

amp Fletcher 1995) A holistic tourism management system is demanded to facilitatethe development and implementation of the tourism strategy through funds allo-cation and monitoring land use control and examination of tourism public- andprivate-sector practices A thorough examination of tourism impacts in eachregion would be a prerequisite for tourism planning as it will establish andprovide scientific backing to strategic targets Komilis (1994 71) explains thatalthough the various levels of planning (sectoral nationalEU spatial or regional)are not mutually exclusive but rather complementary the regional level planningis more suitable for drawing sustainable strategies especially for areas withdissimilar needs like the Greek destinations The regional planning should lsquocon-tribute to the maximisation of regional development benefits in a way that utilisesand mobilises the regional resource base realises regional inter-sectoral linkagesand is compatible with regional economic interests societal values and environ-mental assetsrsquo It should also take into consideration the uniqueness of insulareconomies as well as the cultural and environmental resources of each particularregion and the complexity of rural and urban functions The planning processshould encourage the complementarity and coexistence of economic activitiesrather than promote sectoral separation and single-sector developments In addi-tion it needs to improve the balance between regional self-sufficiency anddependence upon external inputs and finally it should promote integration withinthe European Union

The public sector has to play its long overdue role as regulator coordinatorinfrastructure provider and promoter of the destination while a multi-integrationof the tourism industry with all the involved bodies in the preparation distribu-tion and delivery of the tourism experience needs to be ensured (Wanhill 1993Hall 1994 Skoulas 1994 10 Stavrou 1988 46) The private sector also has an impor-tant role to play as it should improve the Greek tourism industry competitivenessby improving its managerial and labour force competencies enhancing the qualityof services designing appropriate marketing mixes to attract and satisfy targetmarkets and cooperating closely in order to achieve synergies and economies ofscale (Briassoulis 1993 300 Cooper amp Buhalis 1992) To reverse the vicious circleof decreasing quality is of critical importance for the Greek tourism industryBetter quality services would stimulate the competitiveness of the Greek tourismproduct strengthen its position in the international market provide principalswith distribution channel power enhance its customersrsquo willingness to pay andenable the industry to increase its prices improving the profitability at the microlevel and the economic impacts of tourism at the macrolevel Ultimately a diagonalintegration strategy for both Greek tourism and SMTEs should aim to delightconsumers enhance the long-term prosperity of SMTEs and improve the welfareof the host populations The Olympic Games in 2004 offer a unique opportunity toregenerate and rebrand Greek tourism a cause which the entire industry shouldchampion

The AuthorDimitrios Buhalis is Senior Lecturer and course leader MSc in tourism at theUniversity of Surrey He holds a BBA from the University of the Aegean as wellas an MSc and a PhD in tourism management from the University of Surrey Hisresearch interests focus on information systems and technology strategic

474 Current Issues in Tourism

management distribution channels of tourism destination management andplanning and destination integrated computer information reservation manage-ment systems

AcknowledgementsThe author would like to acknowledge Prof C Cooper and Prof J Fletcher for

their invaluable contribution to this research Financial support from the SurreyResearch Group ConTours Consultants as well as field research sponsorshipsby the University of Surrey the Greek National Tourism Organisation and theUniversity of the Aegean are gratefully appreciated

Note1 An earlier version of this paper was published as a monograph PlanningDevelop-

ment by the International Centre for Research and Studies in TourismAix-en-Provence France

CorrespondenceAny correspondence should be directed to Dr Dimitrios Buhalis Senior

Lecturer in Business Information Management SMSSS University of SurreyGuildford GU2 7XH UK (dbuhalissurreyacuk)

ReferencesApostolopoulos T (1990) New strategy of tourism development (in Greek) Tourism and

Economy (November) 228ndash38Berry C (1981) The employee as customer Journal of Retail Banking 3 33ndash40Boniface B and Cooper C (1994) The Geography of Travel and Tourism (2nd edn) London

HeinemannBriassoulis H (1993) Tourism in Greece In W Pompl and P Lavery (eds) Tourism in

Europe Structures and Developments (pp285ndash301) Oxford CAB InternationalBuckley P and Papadopoulos S (1986) Marketing Greek tourism The planning process

Tourism Management 7 86ndash100Buhalis D (1991) Strategic marketing and management for the small and medium

tourism enterprises in the periphery of the European Community A case study for theAegean islands in Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Buhalis D (1994) Information and telecommunications technologies as a strategic tool forsmall and medium tourism enterprises in the contemporary business environment InA Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 254ndash75)England J Wiley and Sons

Buhalis D (1995) The impact of information telecommunications technologies on tourismdistribution channels Implications for the small and medium sized tourismenterprisesrsquo strategic management and marketing PhD Dissertation University ofSurrey Guildford

Buhalis D (2000a) Marketing the competitive destination of the future TourismManagement (Special Issue ndash The Competitive Destination) 21 (1) 97ndash116

Buhalis D (2000b) (forthcoming) Athens Tourism-Travel Intelligence LondonBuhalis D (2000c) Relationships in the distribution channel of tourism Conflicts between

hoteliers and tour operators in the Mediterranean region Journal of InternationalHospitality Leisure and Tourism Adminstration 1 (1) 113ndash39

Buhalis D and Diamantis D (2001 forthcoming) Tourism development andsustainability on the Greek archipelagos In G Apostolopoulos and D Ioannides (eds)Tourism in the Mediterranean Routledge

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 475

Buhalis D and Fletcher J (1995) Environmental impacts on tourism destinations Aneconomic analysis In H Coccosis and P Nijkamp (eds) Sustainable Tourism Development(pp 3ndash25) London Avebury

Camison C Bigne E and Monfort VM (1994) The Spanish tourism industry Analysisof its strategies and the efficacy and achievements gained from them In A Seaton et al(eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 442ndash52) England JWiley and Sons

Castelberg-Koulma M (1991) Greek women and tourism Womenrsquos co-operatives as analternative form of organisation In N Redclift and T Sinclair (eds) Working WomenInternational Perspectives on Labour and Gender Ideology (pp 197ndash223) LondonRoutledge

Chitiris L (1991) Hotel Management (in Greek) Athens InterbooksCoccosis H and Parprairis A (1992) Assessing the interactions between environment

and tourism Case study of the island of Mykonos Paper presented in the IV WorldCongress of Regional Science International University of Balearic Islands Palma deMallorca 26ndash9 May

Conway H (1996) Greece Travel Weekly 1308 39ndash43Cooper C and Buhalis D (1992) Strategic management and marketing of small and

medium sized tourism enterprises in the Greek Aegean islands In R Teare D Adamsand S Messenger (eds) Managing Projects in Hospitality Organisations (pp 101ndash25)London Cassell

Daskalantonakis N (1994) Quality ndash The future of tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (3 July)D9

Divanis A (1994b) Tourism policy Left on its own luck (in Greek) XENIA (October)4ndash5

Donatos G and Zairis P (1991) Seasonality of foreign tourism in the Greek islands ofCrete Annals of Tourism Research 18 515ndash19

Douvitsas P (1994) Marketing Greece through British tour operators A futureperspective MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Drakatos C (1987) Seasonal concentration of tourism in Greece Annals of Tourism Research14 582ndash6

EC (1993a) Microeconomic Analysis of the Tourism Sector A study by the pH Group forEuropean Commission DGXXIII (September) Report XXIII30394-EN BrusselsEuropean Commission

EC (1993b) Growth competitiveness employment The challenges and ways forward intothe 21st century Bulletin of the European Communities Supplement 693 (White Paper)Luxembourg

Economist (1993) Last Chance Sisyphus A survey of Greece Economist (22 May) 2ndash22EIU (1986) Greece (pp 45ndash60) International tourist reports National Report No 3EIU (1990) Greece (pp 45ndash62) International tourist reports National Report No 4EIU (1993) Greece ndash Country Profile 1992ndash1993 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEIU (1994) Greece ndash Country Profile 1994ndash1995 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEpilogi (1994) Economic review ndash The Greek Economy 1994 (in Greek) AthensEuromonitor (1992) Tourism in Greece Market Research Europe (25 May) 51ndash63Fayos-Sola E (1992) A Strategic Outlook for Regional Tourism Policy The White Paper

on Valencian Tourism Tourism Management 13 45ndash9Fotis J (1992) Vacational lifestyle segmentation of tourists on the island of Rhodes

Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey GuildfordGilbert D (1984) The need for countries to differentiate their tourist product and how to

do so Seminar papers for Ministers of Tourism and Directors of National TouristOrganisations Tourism Managing for Results University of Surrey Guildford

Gilbert D (1990) Strategic marketing planning for national tourism Tourist Review 45 (1)18ndash27

GNTO (1985a) Survey of attributes of foreign tourists 1984ndash1985 (in Greek) Greek NationalStatistical Services Athens GNTO

476 Current Issues in Tourism

GNTO (1985b) EOT-Tourism rsquo85 Development ndash Participation ndash Quality of Life (in Greek)Greek National Statistical Services Athens GNTO

GNTO (1989a) Annual report 1988 ndash Forecast 89 Towards Quality Athens GNTOGNTO (1989b) The study of tourism promotion With special reference to the measures to

increase Japanese tourists to Greece Draft final report Japan InternationalCooperation Agency

GNTO (1993) Tourism towards the 2000 (in Greek) Greek National Tourism OrganisationAthens GNTO

Hall M (1994) Tourism and Politics Policy Power and Place J Wiley and SonsHorwath (annual) The Greek Hotel Industry (in Greek) Annual reports Pireus HorwathJenner P and Smith C (1993) Tourism in the Mediterranean Research report London

Economist Intelligence UnitJosephides N (1993) Environmental Concern ndash Whatrsquos In It for the Tourism Industry (pp 51ndash6)

Proceedings of the conference Tourism and the environment Challenges and choicesfor the 1990rsquos 16ndash17 November 1992 Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre LondonBrussels European Union

Josephides N (1994) Tourism analysis Presentation in Philoxenia international tourismexhibition Thessaloniki Greece

Josephides N (1995) A sorry state for beautiful Greece Travel Weekly 1261 (5 April)11Kalogeropoulou H (1993) Greece ndash Prospects for the tourism industry within the context

of the European Single Market of 1993 Tourism Review 48 (1) 2ndash4Kassimati K Thanopoulou M and Tsartas P (1994) Womenrsquos Employment in the

Tourist Sector Study of the Greek Labour Market and Identification of Future ProspectsDGV Equal Opportunities Unit Document V40994-EN European CommissionBrussels

Komilis P (1987) Spatial analysis of tourism in Greece (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planningand Economic Research

Komilis P (1992) The spatial structure of tourism and physical planning practices inGreece Paper presented in conference Tourism and environment Issues ofpolicyplanningmanagement 23ndash4 October University of the Aegean Dept ofEnvironment Lesvos

Komilis P (1993) Values in the Tourism Planning and Policy Making Process (pp 224ndash9)Proceedings of the conference Values and the environment 23ndash4 September GuildfordUniversity of Surrey

Komilis P (1994) Tourism and sustainable regional development In A Seaton et al (eds)Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 65ndash73) England JWiley andSons

Konsolas N and Zacharatos G (1993) Regionalization of tourism activity in GreeceProblems and policies In H Briassoulis and J Van der Straaten (eds) Tourism andEnvironment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 57ndash65) Dordrecht Kluer AcademicPublisher

Kousis M (1989) Tourism and the family in a rural Cretan community Annals of TourismResearch 16 318ndash32

Kriebardis S and Marmagiolis I (1990) Tourism Activity in Greece Problems and Perspectives(pp 45ndash54) (in Greek) Economic Report of Commercial Bank AprilndashJune AthensCommercial Bank

Ktenas S (1994) Hoteliers ask for 15 to 20 increases for 1995 (in Greek) TO BHMA (3July) D9

Ktenas S (1996) Crisis in Greek tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (7 April) D16Leontidou L (1991) Greece Prospects and contradictions of tourism in the 1980rsquos In AM

Williams and GJ Shaw (eds) Tourism and Economic Development Western EuropeanExperiences (2nd edn) (pp 94ndash106) London Belhaven Press

Logothetis M (1990) The Economy of Dodekanisos During 1988ndash1989 Developments andPerspectives (in Greek) Rhodes Regional association of municipalities of Dodekanisos

Logothetis M (1992) Touristiki Sigkiria (in Greek) Rhodes Institute of Tourist and HotelResearch

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 477

Loukissas P (1977) The impact of tourism on regional development A comparativeanalysis of the Greek islands PhD Dissertation Cornell University USA

Loukissas P (1982) Tourismrsquos regional development impacts A comparative analysis ofthe Greek islands Annals of Tourism Research 9 523ndash43

Marinos P (1983) Small island tourism-the case of Zakynthos in Greece TourismManagement 4 212ndash15

Moore R (1992) From shepherds to shopkeepers The development of tourism in a centralGreek town PhD Dissertation University of California at Berkeley USA

Moore R (1995) Gender and alcohol use in a Greek tourist town Annals of Tourism Research22 300ndash13

Mourdoukoutas P (1988) Seasonal employment seasonal unemployment andunemployment compensation The case of the tourism industry of the Greek islandsAmerican Journal of Economics and Sociology 47 315ndash29

NSSG (l983) Tourism Statistics 1981 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (l985) Tourism Statistics 1982ndash1983 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1987) Tourism Statistics 1984ndash1985 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1990) Tourism Statistics 1986ndash1987 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1993) Tourism Statistics 1988ndash1990 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceOECD (1992) Greece Tourism Policy and International Tourism in OECD Member Countries (pp

70ndash8) Paris OECDOttaway M (1992) Turtle power Sunday Times Travel and Style (28 June)Ottaway M (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 1 Sunday Times (17 January)

57ndash59Panagiotopoulou R (1990) The problem and perspectives of the European insular regions

(in Greek) Working paper University of the Aegean ChiosPapadimitris G (1988) Short run and long run prospects of the Greek tourism industry

PhD Dissertation University of Manchester ManchesterPapadopoulos S (1985) An economic analysis of foreign tourism in Greece An

examination of the growth and structure of foreign tourism to Greece 1960ndash1984 with aplanning model and marketing policy recommendations PhD Thesis University ofBradford Management Centre Bradford

Papadopoulos S (1987) Strategic marketing techniques in international tourismInternational Marketing Review (summer) 71ndash84

Papadopoulos S (1988a) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (1) 29ndash30

Papadopoulos S (1988b) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (2) 24ndash7

Papadopoulos S (1989) Greek marketing strategies in the Europe tourism market ServiceIndustries Journal 9 297ndash314

Papadopoulos S and Mirza H (1985) Foreign tourism in Greece An economic analysisTourism Management 6 125ndash37

Papandropoulos A (1995) The crisis in tourism is evident (in Greek) OikonomikosTachydromos (29 June) 26ndash8

Papanikos G (1999) The year 2004 olympic games and their influence upon the Greektourism (in Greek) ITEP (Research Institute for Tourism) Athens

Paulopoulos P (1999) The Size and Dynamics of the Tourism Sector (in Greek) ResearchInstitute for Tourism Athens

Peterson C (1990) Greece tackles overbuilding in tourism areas EnvironmentalConservation 17 166ndash8

Plevris V (1995) Alarm bells from the Hellenic Federation of Hotels (in Greek) XENIA128 (May) 6ndash7

Poon A (1987) Information technology and innovation in international tourism ndashimplications for the Caribbean tourism industry PhD thesis Science Policy ResearchUnit University of Sussex Brighton

Poon A (1988) Flexible specialisation and small size ndash the case of Caribbean tourism DRCDiscussion Paper 57 SPRU Brighton University of Sussex

478 Current Issues in Tourism

Poon A (1989) Competitive strategies for new tourism In C Cooper (ed) Progress inTourism Recreation and Hospitality Management (vol 1) (pp 91ndash102) London BelhavenPress

Poon A (1990) Flexible specialisation at small size The case of Caribbean tourism WorldDevelopment 18 109ndash23

Poon A (1993) Tourism Technology and Competitive Strategies Oxford CAB InternationalPorter M (1980) Competitive Strategy Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors

New York Free PressPorter M (1985) Competitive Advantage Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance New

York Free PressPorter M (1990) The Competitive Advantage of Nations New York Free PressPrurier E Sweeney A and Geen A (1993) Tourism and the environment The case of

Zakynthos Tourism Management 14 137ndash9Psoinos P (1994a) Research on the foreign touristsrsquo attributes in Greece (in Greek) Athens

Greek National Tourism OrganisationPsoinos P (1994b) Research on the attributes of foreigners who have never visited Greece (in

Greek) Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationRichter-Papaconstantinou C (1992) Tourism development of Rhodes Cahiers du Tourisme

(Serie B) 67 Aix en Provence Centre des Hautes Eacutetudes TouristiquesRomanos A (1998) Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites (in Greek) Athens

Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites SASETE (1993) Tourism Developments and problems (in Greek) Athens Association of Greek

Tourism EnterprisesSezer H and Harrison A (1994) Tourism in Greece and Turkey An economic view for

planners In A Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposiumpp74ndash84 England Wiley and Sons

Skoulas N (1985) Holidays and travel in the year 2035 ndash Contribution of the NationalTourist Organisation of Greece SDI Schriftey Wirtschafts und Unternehmenspolitik 40181ndash99

Skoulas N (1994) Quality improvement of tourism services (in Greek) Paper presentedin the conference Competitiveness of tourism enterprises ndash the role of quality 1 AprilHoliday Inn Athens Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises

Smith C and Jenner P (1995) Greece International Tourism Reports 3 5ndash21Stavrou S (1978) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Kos Island (in Greek) Research and

Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationStavrou S (1979) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Mykonos and Naxos Islands (in

Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1980) Research on Tourism Awareness on the Islands Kalymnos and Leros (in Greek)Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1984) Tourism Development in Greece during 1969ndash1982 (in Greek) Research andDevelopment Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986a) Research for the Characteristics of Foreign Tourist Demand in Greece in theYears 8485 (in Greek) Research Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1986b) Research on the Tourism Awareness on Paros Santorini Kythira Islands (inGreek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986c) Critical Review of Tourism Activity in the Years 8385 (in Greek) Researchand Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1988) Tourism in the Northern Aegean Islands Presentation of GNTO for the TourismDevelopment of the Periphery (in Greek) Proceedings of the first conference for thedevelopment of the Northern Aegean islands Homereum cultural centre Chios 11November Chios Periphery of Northern Aegean islands

Stavrou S (1989a) GNTO Presentation for the Tourism Development Possibilities for theSouthern Aegean Islands (in Greek) Conference for the development of Southern Aegean

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 479

islands Syros 30 September ndash 2 OctoberStavrou S (1989b) The Contribution of the Development Law 126282 in the Development of the

Country (in Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A5 Athens GreekNational Tourism Organisation

Stereopoulos N (1995) It is regarded ideal it became problematic (in Greek) OikonomikosTachidromos (21 December) 151ndash3

Touloupas P (1996) Greece as a tourist destination for the British tour operators Ananalysis from a marketing perspective in the particular context of the United KingdomMSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Tourismos ke Oikonomia (1993) 20 years 1973ndash1993 (in Greek) Special Issue AthensTourismos ke Oikonomia (1994) ICAP tourism enterprises Drastic reduction of loses in 1993

(in Greek) December 14ndash15Touristiki Agora (various issues) (Monthly tourism industry periodical in Greek) Business

Press AthensTruett D and Truett L (1987) The response of tourism to international economic

conditions Greece Mexico and Spain Journal of Developing Areas 21 177ndash90Tsartas P (1989) Socioeconomic Impacts of Tourism Development in Cyclades Region with Special

Reference on Ios and Serifos Islands During 1950ndash1980 (in Greek) Athens National Centrefor Social Research

Tsartas P (1992) Socioeconomic impacts of tourism on two Greek isles Annals of TourismResearch 19 516ndash33

Van Den Bergh J (1993) Tourism development and natural environment Aneconomicndashecological model for the Sporades islands In H Briassoulis and J Van DerStraaten (eds) Tourism and Environment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 67ndash83)Dordrecht Kluer Academic Publishers

Velissariou E (1991) Die Wirtschaftlichen Effekte des Tourismus Dargestell am Beispiel Kretas(The Economic Impacts of Tourism on Crete) PhD Dissertation University of MunichFrankfurt Peter Lang

Vernikos N (1987) The study of Mediterranean small islands Emerging theoreticalissues Ekistics 54 (323ndash4) 101ndash9

Wanhill S (1993) Government organisations In C Cooper J Fletcher D Gilbert and SWanhill (eds) Tourism Principle and Practice (pp 145ndash60) London Pitman

Wickens D (1994) Consumption of the authentic The hedonistic tourist in Greece In ASeaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 819ndash25)England JWiley and Sons

Wickens E (2000) Rethinking touristsrsquo experiences In M Robinson et al (eds) MotivationsBehaviour and Tourist Types (pp 455ndash72) Business Education Publishers Sunderland

Wickers D (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 2 Sunday Times 57ndash510Wilkinson PF (1989) Strategies for tourism in islands microstates Annals of Tourism

Research 16 153ndash77XENIA (various issues) (Monthly bulletin of the Greek Hotel Chamber in Greek) AthensZacharatos G (1984) Tourismus und Wirtschafts-Struktur Dargestellt am Beispiel

Griechenlands Europaische Hochschulschriften Reihex Band 7 Frankfurt am MainZacharatos G (1986) Tourism consumption (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planning and

Economic ResearchZacharatos G (1988) The simplistic empiricism Tourism policy and the time of crisis

(1992) (in Greek) Sychrona Themata 11 (May) 21ndash6Zacharatos G (1989) The problems and perspectives of tourism in Greece (in Greek) In H

Katsoulis T Giannitsis and P Kazakos (eds) Politics and Society Economy and ForeignRelationships (pp 273ndash89) Athens Papazisis

Zacharatos G (1993) The necessity of multimedia use in the tourism education in Greece(in Greek) Paper presented at the international conference Overcomingisolation-telematics and regional development University of the Aegean Chios 30April ndash 2 May

480 Current Issues in Tourism

Page 18: Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challengescore.ac.uk/download/pdf/101686.pdf · Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challenges Dimitrios Buhalis School of Management

The above issues illustrate that the Greek tourism product becomes increas-ingly incompetent Hence the inadequate lsquoproductrsquo lsquopromotionrsquo and lsquoplacersquo(distribution) elements of the tourism marketing mix reduce the willingness ofprospective consumers to pay and has disastrous implications for the pricingpolicies deteriorating the profitability of the SMTEs and the tourism economicimpacts on the destination

Ultimately the economic impacts of tourism in Greece become debatableespecially due to the inadequacy of tourism economic research and data whilethe destination has to bear the environmental social and cultural decay Encour-agingly articles in recent tourism industry publications acknowledge these chal-lenges and appreciate the dangers urging both the private and public sector totake action (Touristiki Agora Tourismos ke Oikonomia Travel News XENIA) as well

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 457

Table 6 Structural problems and challenges

Image of Greece as cheap simple unsophisticated undifferentiated sun-seadestination

Gradual deterioration of tourism product and lack of reinvestment in improvements

Increase of tourism arrivals but decrease of tourism expenditure per capita

Inadequacy of the Greek planning process

Dependence upon major tour operators for promotion and distribution

Plethora of anarchically developed and behaving SMTEs aiming at short-termprofitability

Inappropriate and ill-timed marketing campaign which has little effectiveness

Inadequacy of infrastructure to serve the ever-expanding demand

Lack of coordination at the destination and disrespect for touristsrsquo needs

Lack ofprofessionalism and training in both state andprivate tourism establishments

Individualistic behaviour by SMTEs and unwillingness to cooperate on adestination basis

Unsuccessful and inconsistent programmes of government intervention

Almost unregulated environment with nearly complete lack of control

Political intervention which allows exception policies and employment of unquali-fied staff

Development of tourism as a single regional development option

Oversupply of tourism amenities and fierce price competition

Failure of the private sector to invest in long-term projects

Deterioration of natural social and cultural resources

SMTEsrsquo inability to resist in global concentration of the tourism industry

Inadequate distribution mechanisms which generate overdependence onintermediaries

Failure of both the private and public sectors to learn from internationally gainedexperience in tourism development and marketing

Lack of tourism research to identify the impacts of tourism

Negligence with regard to new tourism demand challenges

as several influential members of the tourism industry (Josephides 1993 19941995 Skoulas 1994 Daskalantonakis 1994 Divanis 1994b Plevris 1995Papandropoulos 1995)

Political intervention limited research lack of tourism policy andplanning

Perhaps the largest obstacle in developing a competitive tourism industry inGreece has been the inconsistent and irrational political intervention Unfortunatelytourism has extensively been utilised as a political vehicle where each govern-ment uses it to gratify its political needs and friends This can be experienced in alllevels of recruitment in the public sector institutions as a change of government oreven minister results in immense changes throughout the GNTO as well as tomajor policies and regulations Thus in the last 35 years (since 1966) the leadershipof the GNTO has changed 28 times allowing each General Secretary to stay inoffice for an average of 138 months Political allies of each government use politi-cal pressure and intensive lobbying in order to achieve amendments in regula-tions incentive policies and business environment Hence the short-termprofitability and commercial interests of the friends and political allies of eachgovernment often overrule the long-term strategy and set an improper examplefor the entire industry These practices result in a great inconsistency in Greek tour-ism policy and disrupt its rationalisation Therefore a lsquodepolitisation of Greektourismrsquo towards a professionally managed public sector guided through acompromised strategic Master Plan is urgently required (Josephides 1995)

The limited existing scientific tourism research highlights the lack of comprehen-sive examination of tourism impacts in Greece while it illustrates that tourismpolicy is based on insufficient documentation (Zacharatos 1989 278 and 1988 22)Public sector research is almost non-existant while the authorities seem uninter-ested in consulting the Greek-tourism research produced by academics (for exam-ple Zacharatos 1984 1986 Komilis 1987 Loukissas 1977 Papadimitris 1988Papadopoulos 1985 Moore 1992 Tsartas 1989 Velissariou 1991 Fotis 1992Buhalis 1991 1995 2000c Buhalis amp Diamantis 2000) or the international tourismlsquobody of knowledgersquo (Zacharatos 1988 24) In addition tourism consumptionbeing characterised as a particular category of private consumption in the nationalaccounts it fails to reflect the real tourism impact on each economic sector Thusthe process of collecting information for tourism expenditure in Greece preventsthe assessment of tourism expenditure impacts on the national and regional econ-omy and therefore cannot be used in drawing scientifically founded tourismpolicy (Zacharatos 1989 277 Konsolas amp Zacharatos 1993 58) Consequentlytourism policy follows conventional wisdom and concentrates on attracting alarger volume of tourists ignoring scientific methods to assess the economicsocial cultural and environmental impacts of each tourism segment assumingthat the greater the tourism volume the better for the national economy

The lack of a comprehensive and rational tourism policy and planning or a MasterPlan for Greek tourism is primarily responsible for the aforementioned structuralproblems Policy is usually based on unsubstantiated statements published by theTourism Ministry or the GNTO (GNTO 1985b 1989a 1993) often as pre-electionpromotional material In essence Greek authorities attempt to intervene aiming tostimulate arrivals as well as to facilitate the operation and development of the

458 Current Issues in Tourism

tourism industry Based on the assumption that tourism arrivals to Greece wouldincrease indefinitely the general directions of the Greek tourism policy focusalmost invariably on the targets summarised in Table 7 (Euromonitor 1992 61GNTO 1989b 41 and 1993 1 OECD 1992 70 Skoulas 1985 194 Leontidou 199188ndash91 Apostolopoulos 1990 Zacharatos 1989 275 and 1988 21)

However as these tasks are not quantified and there is no time schedule orplanning process for their achievement it is inevitable that their implementationand assessment is subject to irrationalities and personal judgement Occa-sionally incentives for tourism development responses to lobbying from tour-ism-related associations and regions training programmes and generallegislation attempt to direct the Greek tourism industry towards the describedpolicy directions In addition an inconsistent and untargeted promotionalcampaign is implemented yearly (Touloupas 1996 130) The campaign attempts toachieve the above unspecified policy tasks while it is often a lsquolast minutersquo reactionmeasure to a forecasted decline of bookings for the current season rather than acoordinated long-term marketing policy (Jenner amp Smith 1993 143Papadopoulos 1989 304) Despite the advertising campaignrsquos positive impact onarrivals the feedback to the campaign is rather speculative as no formal researchis undertaken to identify the most cost-effective media and communication meth-ods for each target market (Papadopoulos 1989 311 and 1987 82)

Because the deficient scientific examination of Greek tourism and its impactsprevents the authorities from establishing quantifiable and measurable tourismpolicies their policies are based on subjective and personal judgements while feedbackpractices are rarely followed In addition the implementation of the vaguelydefined tourism policy as well as the targets regulations and standards are oftenbent to accommodate lobbying and political pressures (Zacharatos 1989 279)Komilis (1993 225) suggests that tourism planning in Greece is generally realisedand exercised within a socio-political environment characterised by severalfactors a limited degree of political commitment lack of social awareness andacceptability of planning actions inadequacy of scientific and technical founda-

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 459

Table 7 Greek tourism policy targets

Development of demand

Training of tourism employees

Increase arrivals and foreign exchange income

Increase competitiveness of tourism product

Improvement of services in the industry

Reduction of seasonality and expansion of tourism season

Attraction of high spenders and alternative types of tourism

Construction of facilities appealing to the upper end of the market such as luxuryhotels golf courses congress centres casinos and marinas

Development of tourism infrastructure with emphasis on transportation

Support of social tourism for low-income domestic tourists

Geographical redistribution of tourism

tion to support planning intervention and a centralised administrative-institu-tional system gathering a plethora of functions but failing to perform itscoordination and enforcing role When the conflicting interests and power of eachmember of the tourism industry are brought into the equation where differentpartners attempt to influence legislation in order to maximise their own short-termprofitability regardless of the impacts on the destination and other enterprises theplanning process becomes more complicated This results in an ineffective plan-ning system and process which produces policies unable to provide an appropri-ate balance between restrictive policies and control planning implementationMoreover the plethora of SMTEs in combination with inadequate legislationconcerning their establishment and operation seem to affect adversely thecompetitiveness of the industry and the ability to diversify and enrich local tour-ism products (Komilis 1992 11 EIU 1990 59)

Consequently several structural problems are originated jeopardising theprosperity of both SMTEs and destinations especially in overdeveloped regionsOn the supply side failure of the infrastructure to follow the dramatic expansionof the superstructure in combination with the lack of solid institutional context oftourism policy and long-term regulation result in the exploitation and inadequacyof environmental and socio-cultural resources as well as the inability of the indus-try to generate the level of economic benefits desired and expected On the tourismdemand side after the meteoric growth in the 1970s and 1980s the Greek tourismindustry has been trying to transform lsquothe country into a destination which cancompete not just on price but on value for moneyrsquo (EIU 1990 45) It is becomingapparent that the tourism population in not infinite and an adaptability andresponsiveness to touristsrsquo needs is ofgreat importance (Sezeramp Harrison 1994 83)

Structural problems jeopardise the profitability of the private sectorBecause of the aforementioned structural problems most tourism industry

enterprises are experiencing a decline in profitability Hotels in particular arebadly affected due to the high fixed assets as well as their immobility and inflexi-bility which prevents them from adjusting to demand fluctuation Several reasonsdetermine their low profitability and inability to increase prices in line with infla-tion The low occupancy levels achieved yearly is a key problem Smith and Jenner(1995 17) estimate that the lsquoyear-round bed occupancy over the range of licensedaccommodation is slightly under 30rsquo As most of the properties are closed duringthe winter months due to the seasonality problems they rely on three to six monthsto generate sufficient returns on their investment The occupancy levels of accom-modation establishments in Greek tourism are often determined by theirco-operation with travel intermediaries Based on the different seasonality patternsof different markets rooms are normally allocated a year before the summer seasonto tour operators on lsquoallotmentrsquo or lsquocommitmentrsquo contracts which effectively deter-mine the prices charged according to the security provided by tour operators forusing and paying for hoteliersrsquo rooms Once the contracts are signed hoteliers effec-tively lose their control on their inventory and their right to market their rooms toother business sources before the release period (typically 7ndash14 days before arrival)in order to avoid overbooking However should their bookings fail to match theirprogramme tour operators often utilise their buying power to cancel unwantedrooms at the beginning of the tourist season without paying compensation Smaller

460 Current Issues in Tourism

hoteliers are often left with unoccupied rooms they which are unable to promote atthe lsquolast minutersquo unless they drop their prices to unacceptable levels As a result oftheir deficient intra-channel power hotels often suffer a significant cut-back of theiroccupancy levels which has direct implications for their profitability (Buhalis 19952000c 460 Ktenas 1996)

Similarly the seasonality of the Mediterranean and Greek tourism industry hasalways been a problem for the profitability of SMTEs since enterprises operateonly for a limited period (Jenner amp Smith 1993 70 Drakatos 1987 Donatos ampZairis 1991) Attempts to promote winter tourism by developing cultural andspecial interest tourism in the islands and winter sports in several ski resorts inGreece have proved fairly unsuccessful (EIU 1986 56) This is attributed to theimage of Greece as an exclusively summer-sun destination as well as to the unco-ordinated attempts to maintain tourism enterprises active during the wintermonths (EIU 1990 57)

The average room rate is the second major determinant of hotel profitability It isbecoming apparent that employment costs and cost of capital in combination witha relatively strong currency policy reduce the ability of Greek accommodationestablishments to offer competitive pricing and maintain their profitabilityMarketing inadequacies and inability to promote the tourism product as a differ-entiated entity the rapid increase of supply in comparison to demand and theoverall dependence upon the oligopsonistic tour operators for the Greek tourismproduct promotion force hoteliers to accept contracts by tour operators whichminimise their profit margin and adversely effect the quality of their productIncreasing levels of pressure by tour operators prevent SMTEs from renovatingand investing in their properties and therefore a gradual deterioration of the prop-erties is inevitable (Richter-Papaconstantinou 1992 14 Skoulas 1985 189) Euro-pean tour operators faced with fierce competition in their markets are essentiallywilling to pay an annual price increase equal to little less than the depreciation ofthe drachma plus the inflation at the place of origin of the tourists (Ktenas 1994)This policy progressively deteriorates the profitability of the Greek tourism indus-try and has severe impacts for its prosperity The situation is worse for smalleraccommodation establishments which manage to negotiate even smaller priceincreases due to their exclusive dependence upon fewer intermediaries(Logothetis 1992 14)

The oversupply of tourism services both in Greece and worldwide also contributesto global competition for a less rapidly increasing demand (Josephides 1993 54)In Greece the average annual increase of the official hotel bed supply in 1983ndash1992was 47 while the annual average increase in international tourist bednights was27 (Epilogi 1994 271) The investment incentive Law 126282 boosted this over-supply as it generated small infeasible and uncontrollable accommodation unitsunable to offer high quality of services while it increased the concentration of tour-ism units in infrastructure-undersupplied resorts (Kriebardis amp Marmagiolis1990 51 Stavrou 1989b 5) The vast majority of the capacity growth is on the lsquoille-galrsquo unregistered self-catering and self-serviced lsquoparahoteleriarsquo sector whichprovide very low quality and priced accommodation and therefore appeal tomass tour operatorsrsquo clientele This not only increases unfair competition for theofficially registered hotels but also reduces both tax revenues and employment atthe macro level

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 461

Horwath (1994 3) concludes that

unfortunately the results in terms of return on investment in the tourismindustry are not very promising especially when compared with those ofother Greek economic sectors It is an undisputable fact that the averageGreek tourism entrepreneur is heavily dependent on the tourist packageprice which is strongly negotiated by the international tour operators It isan lsquounhealthyrsquo dependency as a result of the weak position of the Greektourist product in the international market In addition the aforemen-tioned dependency is the result of the lack of marketing activities in anaverage tourist enterprise As we all know effective marketing activitiesare based on the product place price promotion which all contribute toclient satisfaction and further to a bigger share in the international touristmarket Up to now three of the aforementioned important elements ofmarketing have been overlooked which determine the weak negotiationpower of the Greek entrepreneur

This situation has also resulted to several European companies expandingtheir operations into Greece or purchasing shares in Greek partners in order toimprove their vertical integration Should this vertical integration expand signif-icantly however lsquoGreek tourism will be in fact controlled by foreign deci-sion-making centres which will certainly operate on the basis of their owninterests and not according to the overall interests of our national economyrsquo(Kalogeropoulou 1993 2) Hence radical measures are required immediately inproduct formulation promotion strategy and distribution channels to supportboth Greek destinations and SMTEs to enhance their competitiveness profitabil-ity and prosperity Failure to react would have severe implications for the futureof the Greek tourism private sector as the essence of its existence would be jeop-ardised its costs may exceeding its returns

Structural problems generate negative tourism impactsIn addition to the profitability problems of the private sector the aforemen-

tioned structural problems have profound implications for the welfare of hostpopulations in various Greek destinations as their economic social cultural andenvironmental resources are exploited without ensuring their sustainabilityLack of comprehensive research and failure to initiate carrying-capacity limits orzoning systems contribute to the anarchic development of tourism as well asexpand negative impacts of tourism on local societies and environments Thefollowing section highlights some of the costs Greek destinations are called topay for their tourism activity whilst it suggests that these issues should beaddressed in the strategic planning process

Macro-economic negative impactsDespite the contribution of tourism to the Greek economy certain potential

risks can also be identified Not only is the competitiveness and profitability ofthe tourism industry jeopardised but also several destination regions seem tofollow a policy of developing tourism at the expense of industrial and agricul-tural growth (Stavrou 1989a 6 Vernicos 1987 105) Instead of tourism stimulat-ing agriculture it seems that it hastens its decline as the two economic activities

462 Current Issues in Tourism

compete for land and labour The lack of structural investments in industrial oragricultural sectors combined with the popularity of tourism professions in theworkforce endanger the balance of the regional economy while reducing thetourism multipliers (Briassoulis 1993 295) As a result the economic structure ofthe destination is jeopardised while a complete dependence upon tourismbecomes inevitable (Komilis 1992 7) Both opportunity costs and displacementeffects are therefore evident Moreover there is evidence that the progress ofdestinations through their life-cycle and especially the introduction of masstourism decreases their economic impacts while it makes local control of theindustry far more difficult (Loukissas 1982 537) lsquoBecause of the high degree ofdependence of Greek tourist enterprises on tour operators the actual amount oftourist spending remaining in the country is only the 40ndash50 of total touristspendingrsquo (Briassoulis 1993 296) Public-sector subsidies to the private sector invarious forms such as incentives cooperative marketing campaigns and unem-ployment benefits in the off-season as well as tax evasion and lsquoparaeconomyrsquo alsoreduce the real benefit at the macro level (Mourdoukoutas 1988 Drakatos 1987Leontidou 1991 102) Lack of scientific research on the economic impacts oftourism makes the real contribution of tourism in the economy speculativerather than based on hard evidence (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Konsolas ampZacharatos 1993)

Social and cultural negative impactsThe development of mass tourism and the lack of effective planning and

management are also responsible for a number of negative social and culturalimpacts observed in Greek host societies (Tsartas 1989 1992 Stavrou 19781979 1980 1986b) Although the degree of interaction of the population withtourists depends heavily on the geomorphology of destinations and the loca-tion of resorts (Loukissas 1982 538) touristsrsquo behaviour is often offensive tothe host population but tolerated due to the economic benefits (Castelberg-Koulma 1991 201 Kousis 1989 Wickens 1994 823) Most Greek tourismdestinations are almost crime-free zones during the winter due to the smallpopulation and personal relationships of locals Tourism however introducesseveral types of criminal activity often unknown to local people As policeforces are usually allocated according to needs of the permanent population ina destination they are often incapable of handling the demands of the summermonths and are unable to deal with visitorsrsquo misbehaviour such as hooliganismand lsquolager-lootingrsquo

The commercialisation of history cultural traditions and the Greek lifestyle isa phenomenon met in several destinations This regrettably affects the renownedGreek hospitality commercialises human relations with tourists and reduces theties of solidarity and cooperation between locals since they compete for the tour-ism market (Papadopoulos 1988b 24) As the average employee works 605hours weekly for 295 weeks a year there is little time left for social religious andcultural obligations during the season (Mourdoukoutas 1988 325) Although acertain degree of lsquodemonstration effectrsquo and lsquoxenomaniarsquo can be attributed totourism the country is equally influenced by the mass media as well as by theGreek students and professionals living abroad (Papadopoulos 1988a 30Wickens 1994 822) Moore (1995) also explains that tourism not only has had a

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 463

contribution to the increase of alcohol consumption by Greeks but has alsoshifted their taste away from locally produced wine to imported spirits and beerBriassoulis (1993 296) perhaps describes best the change in labour force valueswhen as she suggests that tourism has created a

peculiar parasitic group of tourist entrepreneurs operating tourist-servingenterprises like tavernas cafeterias etc the principal characteristics ofwhich are high profits and tax evasion Consequently a particular person-ality type is created the lsquosuccessfulrsquo entrepreneur who earns a lot with littlework has a rich erotic life and is professionally independent (in contrast topublic and private employees) This model is followed by many youngpeople who abandon other productive year-round occupations lsquoworkrsquoonly during the tourist season stay idle for the rest of the year and eventu-ally suffer from the volatility of the tourist market

The family relations and values are therefore under great transition andperhaps threat (Castelberg-Koulma 1991 201 Kousis 1989 Moore 1992)

Negative environmental impactsDespite environmental resources becoming central to destinationsrsquo competi-

tiveness most Greek destinations go through an unparalleled exploitation due toinadequate planning and reinvestment in their sustainability jeopardising theirfuture (Buhalis amp Fletcher 1995) Boniface and Cooper (1994 141) suggest thatgeographical concentration of tourism

has led to the view that Greece will become saturated with tourists and thatdamage will be done to the environment and cultural heritage in the morepopular areas Already the environment has suffered from haphazarduncontrolled building and pollution of the sea and the flora and fauna arebeing effected by waste disposal

Coastal pollution water shortages sewage treatment waste disposal trafficcongestion noise pollution overbuilding and aesthetic degradation are some ofthe impacts experienced already in a number of resorts (Briassoulis 1993 297Coccosis amp Parprairis 1992 Peterson 1990 Marinos 1983 Stavrou 1988 19 and1989a 5 Papadopoulos 1988b 24) Most of the islands also face water shortagedue to the inability of natural supplies to provide sufficient water for the tourismdemand Imported mineral water from the mainland is an expensive way tosolve this problem due to the transportation cost while it creates more waste andenvironmental damage In addition the destruction of endangered speciesrsquo habi-tats is another problem experienced on several islands (ZakynthosCaretta-Caretta and Allonissos monk-seals) (Ottaway 1992 Van Den Bergh1993 70 Prurier et al 1993) Urgent coordination with all tourism actors at thelocal level is essential while regulation is required to set objective and measurablelimits and targets in order to preserve local environmental resources Financialdifficulties in the industry only exacerbate these impacts as the private and publicsectors feel unable to reinvest in the conservation of resources

The aforementioned negative impacts emerge as a result of the structuralproblems of the Greek tourism industry and illustrate that the mass tourismorientation of the industry reduces the sovereignty of the host population over

464 Current Issues in Tourism

their land and resources whilst jeopardising their expected benefits and futurewelfare As these impacts are trade-offs for the economic gains of the tourismactivity it is important that consistent long-term strategic planning should beundertaken in order to enable the preservation of the local resources and achievesustainability at tourism destinations These tasks should all be reinforced byresearch political will and strategic planning

Where Do We Need to Go and How Are We Going ThereTowards Strengthening the Competitiveness of Greek Tourismand SMTEs

Based on the situation analysis as well as on the strategic weaknesses andstructural problems the paper attempts to provide a framework for strategicplanning which will enable the strengthening of the competitiveness of Greektourism and SMTEs Porter (1985 1) suggests that competitive strategy lsquois thesearch for a favourable competitive position in an industryrsquo which is a function ofthe attractiveness of the industry and the relative competitive position withinthat particular industry He also argues that lsquocompetitive strategy aims to estab-lish a profitable and sustainable position against the forces that determine indus-try competitionrsquo Competitiveness is therefore defined as the effort undertakenby organisations to maintain long-term profitability above the average of theparticular industry within which they operate or above alternative investmentopportunities in other industries

Traditionally the tourism industry in the majority of destinations worldwideis based on a network of SMTEs which provide all types of tourism products andservices while enabling closer interaction between the host population and visi-tors as well as facilitating a rapid infusion of tourism spending into the localeconomy As lsquotouristsrsquo overall experience is composed of numerous smallencounters with a variety of tourism service providersrsquo (Moutinho 1990 104)there is a great overlap between the customer perception of local SMTEs anddestinations which makes them almost indistinguishable Consequently thecompetitiveness and prosperity of destinations and SMTEs are closely interre-lated as the fortune of the one depends heavily upon the management andcompetitiveness of the other Therefore the generic strategy for destinationsinvolves SMTEs and vice versa

Grand strategy Strategy formulation for Greek tourism and SMTEsBased on the strategic analysis a grand strategy is proposed for the Greek

tourism industry and SMTEs in order to demonstrate the directions the destina-tions should follow in their attempt to increase their competitiveness and reducetheir vulnerability As different resorts destinations and SMTEs have dissimilarneeds only generic strategies can be drawn However these guidelines can beapplicable to destinations and SMTEs worldwide as they address strategic ratherthan operational issues The analysis is based on the assumption that SMTEsformulate leisure value-added chains or networks of wealth creation whichessentially comprise the entire destination Therefore an integrated approach isfollowed as there is a great complementarity between the strategies and strate-gic directions for both the Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 465

The grand strategy analysis is based on an examination of three general strat-egy models namely Porterrsquos generic strategies Gilbertrsquos proposition for lsquodiffer-entiation of the destinationrsquo and Poonrsquos analysis for lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo Agrand strategy is then proposed for both Greek tourism and SMTEs based oninference emerging from these three models Figure 1 illustrates the three maingeneric strategies proposed by Porter (1980 34ndash46) in order to lsquooutperform otherfirms in an industryrsquo overall cost leadership where the firm is required to minimiseits costs based on mass production and strict cost control of the main businessfunctions differentiation of products or services by lsquocreating something that isperceived industry-wide as being uniquersquo or focus on a lsquoparticular buyer groupsegment of the product line or geographical marketrsquo and achieve either cost leader-ship or product differentiation (Porter 1980 37ndash8)

Furthermore Gilbert (1984 1990) argues that destinations should differenti-ate their tourism products in order to be able to achieve a unique lsquotourist productbenefitrsquo which would enable them to establish their position in the internationaltourism market as well as to attract high spenders and loyal tourists Tourismdestinations therefore should attempt to achieve a lsquostatus arearsquo image ratherthan a lsquocommodity arearsquo one as illustrated in Figure 2 In the first case the desti-nation is heavily substitutable very sensitive to price and economic changeswhile consumers have a low awareness of any unique benefits or attributes of theregion Thus holidaymakers base their decision to visit the area merely on pricewhile the demand for the destination is incidental and destinations are unable toattract high spenders In contrast lsquostatus areasrsquo achieve intentional demand as aresult of the unique product attributes perceived by the tourism market Theseunique attributes may be genuine or imagined and thus a destination isregarded as irreplaceable increasing consumersrsquo loyalty and willingness to payGilbert (1990 24ndash5) asserts that destinations should attempt to become lsquostatusareasrsquo in order to improve their image loyalty and economic benefits

A third strategic approach is proposed by Poon (1987 1988 1989 1990 1993)based on the concept of lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo of the tourism business Inessence Poon examines the industry processes and proposes a strategy to enabletourism organisations to improve their competitiveness Poon argues that lsquoflexi-ble specialisationrsquo is a strategy of lsquopermanent innovationrsquo and lsquoceaseless changersquowhich provides for the lsquonew tourismrsquo This new tourism is flexible segmentedcustomised to the touristrsquos needs and diagonally integrated In contrast the oldtourism can be characterised as lsquomass standardised and rigidly packagedrsquo(Poon 1989 91ndash3)

466 Current Issues in Tourism

STRATEGIC ADVANTAGE

Perceived product uniqueness Cost advantage

TARGETMARKET

Industrywide Differentiation Cost Leadership

Particularsegmentsonly

Differentiation Focus Cost Focus

Figure 1 Porterrsquos three generic strategiesSource Porter 1980 39

The main sources of flexibility for service firms lie in the organisationmanagement marketing distribution and other forms of interaction andinterrelationships among guests hotels suppliers distributors What isimportant however is not each of these stand alone aspects but how theyare coupled to create competitive advantages and hence capabilities tomove with the market (Poon 1988 24)

Examination of these three main strategies illustrates that they share a similarbase Porterrsquos lsquodifferentiationrsquo Gilbertrsquos lsquostatus arearsquo and Poonrsquos lsquoflexiblespecialisationrsquo describe the attempt undertaken by firms and tourist destinationsto achieve value competitive advantages In contrast the lsquocost leadershiprsquo lsquocom-modity arearsquo and the lsquostandardisation or Fordism production modelrsquo describethe effort to achieve lsquocost competitive advantagersquo where destinations andSMTEs offer their products for less than their competitors In the first caseconsumers perceive the product as unique and are willing to pay a premiumwhile in the second case the decision is merely based on price Thus the classicalstrategic decision of lsquolow volume-high profit marginrsquo or lsquohigh volume-low profitmarginrsquo is the underlying concept of the two alternative strategies

Both Gilbert and Poon agree that destinations should aim to achieve lsquostatusarearsquo or niche orientation through differentiation in order to increase consumersatisfaction as well as to maximise the benefits for both regions and SMTEs As aresult Greek tourism and SMTEs need to focus towards the differentiation strat-egy define their niche markets and serve them accordingly This strategy isalready adopted in several resort areas such as Valencia in Spain where it isrecognised that the need for diversification and differentiation lsquohas now becomeessential owing to the level of competitiveness that has been attained (and can beforeseen) in the world tourist marketrsquo (Fayos-Sola 1992 49) Differentiation isalso particularly useful for insular destinations in microstates where a limitednumber of economic and financial resources are available (Wilkinson 1989 170)As most destinations consist of SMTEs networks there is an overlap betweentheir strategic orientations and therefore the above analysis is applicable to boththe Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Destinations implementing a lsquostatus arearsquo strategy can enhance the satisfac-tion of tourists as well as their competitiveness The formulation of unique and

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 467

CommodityArea

Statusarea

Willingness topay higher prices

StatusArea

Product attributes Product attributes

CommodityArea

Figure 2 Gilbertrsquos differentiation strategySource Adapted from Gilbert 1990 25

customised products by using flexibility and cooperation also increases touristsrsquowillingness to pay and wins their loyalty while it responds to the new tourismdemand trends However the proposed strategy should not be seen as an excusefor SMTEs and destinations not to attempt to improve their efficiency and mini-mise their production costs Although the unique service for touristsrsquo needs shouldbe their priority offering perceived value for money would determine theircompetitiveness in the marketplace As a result all Greek resorts and SMTEsshould assess their assets and strengths for serving specific target markets takingadvantage of their small size which facilitates flexibility and specialisation

It is quite apparent that the cost advantage strategy has to be avoided inmanagement of tourism destinations as regions need to preserve their scarceenvironmental and sociocultural resources and achieve sustainable develop-ment As cost advantage is based on mass production and consumption itassumes an unlimited production capacity which is inapplicable in the tourismindustry The inseparability of the tourism product determines that consumersshould be present at the time of product delivery and when combined with tour-ism seasonality it generates demand peaks which drain destinationsrsquo scarceenvironmental sociocultural resources The lsquohigh volume-low profit marginrsquostrategy has therefore harmful social and environmental impacts on destina-tions Destinations have maximum carrying capacities beyond which both thewelfare of local populations and the satisfaction of tourists are jeopardisedAlthough economic benefits can also be achieved by using the lsquocommodity arearsquoor the lsquostandard product modelrsquo it is argued that these approaches reduce tour-istsrsquo satisfaction and their willingness to pay and are opposed to the demandtrend towards individualisation

Unfortunately however some destinations can no longer be positioned asirreplaceable unique products due to their overdevelopment Tourism supplyhas exceeded the carrying capacity of these resorts and their product hasreached the saturation or decline phase of their life-cycle Several Spanish costasand some Greek resorts such as Benitses Kavos Faliraki Malia Hersonissos andNidri (Josephides 1994) have been overdeveloped to such an extent that only alsquohigh-volume low-profit marginrsquo strategy is feasible When resorts reach theirsaturation level only a lsquocost leadershiprsquo or lsquomass productionrsquo strategy can beproposed as they are unable to provide any specific lsquotourist product benefitrsquo Theattraction of the lower end of the market is inevitable and as a consequence thereare no alternative strategies The minimisation of further sociocultural and envi-ronmental damage as well as attempts to improve the surrounding environmentshould also be a primary objective of both tourism destinations and SMTEs in thiscase The ultimate aim should be to regenerate the resources of the area and torelaunch the tourism destination to attract specific markets which will be willing topay a higher price for the destination

Strategic directions objectives and tasks for Greek tourism and SMTEsTable 8 presents three pivotal strategic directions which are identified in order

to stimulate the competitiveness of both Greek tourism and SMTEs This sectionillustrates how the aforementioned grand strategy can be implemented for tour-ist destinations and SMTEs through a number of strategic directions objectivesand tasks as presented in Table 9

468 Current Issues in Tourism

Enhancing the satisfaction of tourists and delighting the customer are pivotalto ensuring the well-being of Greek destinations and SMTEs in the long term andthus the entire range of tourism service providers should aim to delight theirclients As a result of the tourism product integration consumer satisfactioncannot be achieved by independent businesses separately but by the entirenetwork of SMTEs in Greek destinations The improvement in services isperhaps the most important strategic objective Consistency of promises throughstandardisation of service delivery and implementation of a total qualitymanagement philosophy throughout the industry are essential strategic tasks forachieving this objective while flexibility in service delivery and improvementsin training are critical In line with the grand strategy the production oftailor-made tourism products should be ensured in order to satisfy the specificneeds of particular niches and the requirements of the emerging new tourismdemand Product augmentation would enable also the Greek tourism product toexceed the expectations of consumers and hence enhance their satisfaction Lifestyle segmentation would enable Greek tourism and SMTEs to design appropri-ate tourism products As tourist demand elasticity has increasingly becomedoubtful in recent years the price of the holiday is no longer considered to be themost important attribute in the decision-making process Consequently theGreek tourism industry should concentrate on providing value for money at allprice levels as well as offering at least whatever they have promised to theconsumer

Supporting the long-term competitiveness and profitability of Greek tour-ism and SMTEs is by far the most important strategic objective for the tourismindustry The first strategic objective for every SMTE has to be the increase inrevenue by maximising its occupancy or load factors and the rates it achievesThe lengthening of the operating season as well as the identification of newmarkets and the penetration into existing ones and the effective utilisation ofdistribution channels will contribute to this strategic direction Higher ratescan be achieved by targeting specialised and smaller tour operators attractingalternative types of tourists and expanding the distribution channels mix aswell as by attempting a certain degree of lsquodisintermediationrsquo by encouragingdirect sales to outgoing travel agencies or consumers Aggressive marketingand establishment of partnerships with other enterprises should be essentialfunctions of Greek tourism and SMTEs Motivation of lsquofront-of-housersquo employ-ees as salesmen and sale incentives would also increase average spending percustomer The use of CRSs and destination management systems may also bean appropriate method for achieving higher prices and better occupancy rates(Buhalis 1994) Finally yield management techniques should be utilised by alltypes of SMTEs to assist them in pricing and maximising revenue Cost control

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 469

Table 8 Pivotal strategic dimensions for Greek tourism

(1) Enhance the satisfaction of tourists and delight the customer(2) Strengthen the long-term profitability and competitiveness of Greek tourism and

SMTEs(3) Develop Greek destinations sustainably and ensure prosperity of host population

470 Current Issues in Tourism

Table 9 Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Strategic directions Strategic objectives Strategic tasks

1 Enhance the sat-isfaction of tour-ists and delightthe customer

11 Improvement of services a Standardisation of service de-livery

b Development of quality controlsystems

c Consistency of promisesd Improvements in operational

managemente Flexibility in services deliveryf Training and education im-

provementsg Smile and personal relation-

shipsh Augmentation of tourism

producti Total quality management

12 Specialisation of tourismproduct

a Niche marketingb Lifestyle targeting

13 Value for money a Quality at each price level

2 Strengthen thelong-term com-petitiveness andprofitability ofGreek tourismand SMTEs

21 Increase revenue a Increase tourist volumesb Target new markets and pene-

tration in existing marketsc Use yield managementd Expand distribution channel

mixe Aggressive marketingf Achieve high average spending

per customerg Select high-quality specialised

tour operatorsh Attract alternative types of

tourismi Use alternative distribution

channelsj Motivate front-of-house em-

ployees as salesmen

22 Cost control and rationalmanagement

a Standardise service deliveryb Increase productivityc Reduce labour costsd Rationalise supplies manage-

mente Educationtraining for manag-

ers and employeesf Use of new technologyg Integrate service delivery

within SMTEs

23 Human resources man-agement

a Internal marketingb Empowermentc Satisfactory salary and working

conditionsd Long-term relations with em-

ployeese Motivation and rewards

and rational management is the second strategic objective needed to increaseefficiency and profitability of both Greek destinations and SMTEs in the longterm Standardisation of the service delivery process and minimisation of thelabour cost through better operational management would be primary recom-mendations Managers and employees should improve their productivity andmarketing skills by intensive training In addition the rationalisation of supplymanagement and the use of new technology is expected to reduce operationalcosts Finally integration of service delivery enables SMTEs to provide comple-mentary services and achieve additional revenues without immense costs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 471

24 State and public tourismorganisation support

a Destination development andcontrol

b Incentives policies for improve-ment

c Attract European Union assis-tance

d Promotional activitye Provide financial resources

3 Develop Greekdestinationssustainably andensure prosper-ity of host popu-lation

31 Environmental protection a Carrying capacity identificationb Zoning system applicationc Architecture preservationd Installation of sewage treat-

ment systemse Reduction of noise pollutionf Natural supplies management

32 Infrastructure ameliora-tion

a Accessibility improvementsb Telecommunication improve-

mentsc Public facilities advancements

33 Transportation improve-ments

a Improvement of local timeta-bles

b Punctuality and reliabilityc Improvements of vehiclesd Flexibility to meet demand

needs

34 Economic integration a Integration with raw materialproduction

b Utilisation of local labour forcec Integration of tourism servicesd Diagonal integration of destina-

tionrsquos economy

35 Equitable return on re-sources utilised

a Establish mechanism forreinvestments

b Provide services for hostcommunity

c Invest in sustainability ofresources

d Ensure equity in distributionof wealth produced

Source Adapted from Buhalis 1991 83a

Table 9 (cont) Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Human resources management is crucial in the delivery process of tourismproducts The concept of lsquointernal marketingrsquo where employees are perceivedand treated as lsquointernal customersrsquo has to be utilised in order to ensure theirsatisfaction As Berry (1981 34) states lsquothe satisfaction of the needs and wants ofthe internal customers can upgrade their capacity for satisfying the needs andwants of their external customersrsquo and as a consequence it can contribute to thecompetitiveness and profitability of Greek tourism and SMTEs Satisfactorysalary and working conditions are prerequisites for the well-being of SMTEsrsquoemployees Long-term relationships between employees and SMTEs minimiseturnover enabling a better performance while they reduce recruitment andtraining costs Empowerment would enable employees to be involved in themanagement of SMTEs and authorise them to respond more efficiently toconsumer requests while contributing to their job satisfaction Finally thesupport of the GNTO is vital for the long-term survival of SMTEs Apart fromthe improvement in infrastructure the GNTO is expected to hold the strategicresponsibility of the destination as well as to regulate the competition in orderto enable smaller enterprises to survive Incentive policies need to reflect thespecific requirements of each resort and enable development or improvementof certain types of enterprises The GNTO is also instrumental in attractingassistance from European development funds while it should also coordinatethe majority of Greek tourism promotional activity A promotional mix whichmaximises the effectiveness of the communication message needs to be drawnwhile budgets need to be available at the time consumers go through their deci-sion-making process in order to influence their choice of destination Finally theneed for the public sector to provide affordable financial resources for SMTEs ishighlighted by the EU (EC 1993b 73)

The third strategic direction for Greek tourism and SMTEs should be thesustainable development of destinations and local areas not only for the hostpopulation but also because this is vital for both consumer satisfaction and theprofitability of SMTEs Although in most cases SMTEs are unable to incorporatethese types of strategic objectives and tasks on their own they can initiate aframework of necessary actions for sustainable destination developmentthrough their associations Environmental protection is naturally the mostimportant strategic objective as consumersrsquo environmental consciousness hasbeen raised recently Carrying capacity limits should be identified and strictregulations and guidelines for tourism development need to be drawn A zoningsystem should be implemented in order to locate tourism activities according tothe geographical morphology of the destination In addition natural resourcesmanagement is necessary as tourism demand may exhaust the resources andespecially the water supplies The installation of sewage treatment systems andthe reduction of noise pollution should be considered especially for resortswhich suffer the consequences of these problems In addition infrastructureamelioration must be one of the primary objectives as it is an essential prerequi-site for both consumersrsquo satisfaction and SMTEsrsquo development The improve-ment of accessibility public services as well as telecommunications facilities is acrucial factor Transportation is also significant in increasing both consumersatisfaction and profitability of SMTEs as it determines whether consumers canaccess the destination easily while it also provides the first impression to tour-

472 Current Issues in Tourism

ists Improvements of timetables and services reliability increasing transporta-tion capacity and an enhancement of the fleet in terms of speed cleanliness andleisure facilities are all required Furthermore greater flexibility is needed bytransportation operators in order to meet demand needs Economic integrationcan improve the economic and social benefits of tourism in the region and theefficiency of SMTEs Ultimately tourism should be utilised as the catalyst andmajor stimulant for regional development Tourism enterprises should makeevery effort to use local raw materials and labour in order to maximise the multi-plier effects within Greece Diagonal integration of destinationsrsquo economy can beachieved by rearranging the goods and service production in order to supportthe tourism industry demand and thus minimise imports Finally SMTEs andtourism organisations need to offer a fair return-on-resources utilised back to thehost community A mechanism should be established in order to reinvest part ofthe revenues in the sustainability of resources provide services for the hostcommunity such as education training health services and generally ensureequity in distribution of wealth produced from local resources As the privatesector cannot be expected to behave altruistically towards the host communitythe GNTO and other public-sector departments should probably utilise regula-tion and taxation for this purpose

Conclusion Greek Tourism Needs a Long Overdue Master Planand Comprehensive Policy

The emerging international tourism competition the hitherto mass tourismorientation of the industry the transformation of demand the development ofthe volume of tourists visiting the dependence upon intermediaries for thedistribution of the tourism product in the major target markets the lack of a widerange of managerial skills by Greek tourism entrepreneurs and the lack of acomprehensive tourism policy or Master Plan by the public sector has led thecompetitiveness of Greece tourism to decline This has several unfavourableimplications for the profitability of the private sector as well as numerous nega-tive economic sociocultural and environmental impacts for the host populationAs a result the return on resources utilised for the production of Greek tourismservices is inadequate and the sustainability of Greece as a major tourism desti-nation is rapidly becoming doubtful Based on a strategic analysis the paper illu-minates the strategic weaknesses and structural problems of both the private andpublic sectors and demonstrates that a rationalisation of the tourism industry isurgently required Consequently a grand strategy as well as a wide range of stra-tegic directions objectives and tasks are proposed for both Greece as an entityand its SMTEs Although no quantitative targets are set in this paper it isexpected that each destination will analyse its resources and adapt its strategicplanning accordingly

The GNTO is urged to rationalise its strategy and to draw up a Master Plan anda comprehensive strategy for the entire country and for each resort where a strategywould be adopted based on quantifiable objectives and tasks Extensive researchneeds to be undertaken by using credible measurement methodologies such asInput-Output models and multipliers analysis not only for the economic but alsofor the social cultural and environmental impacts (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Buhalis

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 473

amp Fletcher 1995) A holistic tourism management system is demanded to facilitatethe development and implementation of the tourism strategy through funds allo-cation and monitoring land use control and examination of tourism public- andprivate-sector practices A thorough examination of tourism impacts in eachregion would be a prerequisite for tourism planning as it will establish andprovide scientific backing to strategic targets Komilis (1994 71) explains thatalthough the various levels of planning (sectoral nationalEU spatial or regional)are not mutually exclusive but rather complementary the regional level planningis more suitable for drawing sustainable strategies especially for areas withdissimilar needs like the Greek destinations The regional planning should lsquocon-tribute to the maximisation of regional development benefits in a way that utilisesand mobilises the regional resource base realises regional inter-sectoral linkagesand is compatible with regional economic interests societal values and environ-mental assetsrsquo It should also take into consideration the uniqueness of insulareconomies as well as the cultural and environmental resources of each particularregion and the complexity of rural and urban functions The planning processshould encourage the complementarity and coexistence of economic activitiesrather than promote sectoral separation and single-sector developments In addi-tion it needs to improve the balance between regional self-sufficiency anddependence upon external inputs and finally it should promote integration withinthe European Union

The public sector has to play its long overdue role as regulator coordinatorinfrastructure provider and promoter of the destination while a multi-integrationof the tourism industry with all the involved bodies in the preparation distribu-tion and delivery of the tourism experience needs to be ensured (Wanhill 1993Hall 1994 Skoulas 1994 10 Stavrou 1988 46) The private sector also has an impor-tant role to play as it should improve the Greek tourism industry competitivenessby improving its managerial and labour force competencies enhancing the qualityof services designing appropriate marketing mixes to attract and satisfy targetmarkets and cooperating closely in order to achieve synergies and economies ofscale (Briassoulis 1993 300 Cooper amp Buhalis 1992) To reverse the vicious circleof decreasing quality is of critical importance for the Greek tourism industryBetter quality services would stimulate the competitiveness of the Greek tourismproduct strengthen its position in the international market provide principalswith distribution channel power enhance its customersrsquo willingness to pay andenable the industry to increase its prices improving the profitability at the microlevel and the economic impacts of tourism at the macrolevel Ultimately a diagonalintegration strategy for both Greek tourism and SMTEs should aim to delightconsumers enhance the long-term prosperity of SMTEs and improve the welfareof the host populations The Olympic Games in 2004 offer a unique opportunity toregenerate and rebrand Greek tourism a cause which the entire industry shouldchampion

The AuthorDimitrios Buhalis is Senior Lecturer and course leader MSc in tourism at theUniversity of Surrey He holds a BBA from the University of the Aegean as wellas an MSc and a PhD in tourism management from the University of Surrey Hisresearch interests focus on information systems and technology strategic

474 Current Issues in Tourism

management distribution channels of tourism destination management andplanning and destination integrated computer information reservation manage-ment systems

AcknowledgementsThe author would like to acknowledge Prof C Cooper and Prof J Fletcher for

their invaluable contribution to this research Financial support from the SurreyResearch Group ConTours Consultants as well as field research sponsorshipsby the University of Surrey the Greek National Tourism Organisation and theUniversity of the Aegean are gratefully appreciated

Note1 An earlier version of this paper was published as a monograph PlanningDevelop-

ment by the International Centre for Research and Studies in TourismAix-en-Provence France

CorrespondenceAny correspondence should be directed to Dr Dimitrios Buhalis Senior

Lecturer in Business Information Management SMSSS University of SurreyGuildford GU2 7XH UK (dbuhalissurreyacuk)

ReferencesApostolopoulos T (1990) New strategy of tourism development (in Greek) Tourism and

Economy (November) 228ndash38Berry C (1981) The employee as customer Journal of Retail Banking 3 33ndash40Boniface B and Cooper C (1994) The Geography of Travel and Tourism (2nd edn) London

HeinemannBriassoulis H (1993) Tourism in Greece In W Pompl and P Lavery (eds) Tourism in

Europe Structures and Developments (pp285ndash301) Oxford CAB InternationalBuckley P and Papadopoulos S (1986) Marketing Greek tourism The planning process

Tourism Management 7 86ndash100Buhalis D (1991) Strategic marketing and management for the small and medium

tourism enterprises in the periphery of the European Community A case study for theAegean islands in Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Buhalis D (1994) Information and telecommunications technologies as a strategic tool forsmall and medium tourism enterprises in the contemporary business environment InA Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 254ndash75)England J Wiley and Sons

Buhalis D (1995) The impact of information telecommunications technologies on tourismdistribution channels Implications for the small and medium sized tourismenterprisesrsquo strategic management and marketing PhD Dissertation University ofSurrey Guildford

Buhalis D (2000a) Marketing the competitive destination of the future TourismManagement (Special Issue ndash The Competitive Destination) 21 (1) 97ndash116

Buhalis D (2000b) (forthcoming) Athens Tourism-Travel Intelligence LondonBuhalis D (2000c) Relationships in the distribution channel of tourism Conflicts between

hoteliers and tour operators in the Mediterranean region Journal of InternationalHospitality Leisure and Tourism Adminstration 1 (1) 113ndash39

Buhalis D and Diamantis D (2001 forthcoming) Tourism development andsustainability on the Greek archipelagos In G Apostolopoulos and D Ioannides (eds)Tourism in the Mediterranean Routledge

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 475

Buhalis D and Fletcher J (1995) Environmental impacts on tourism destinations Aneconomic analysis In H Coccosis and P Nijkamp (eds) Sustainable Tourism Development(pp 3ndash25) London Avebury

Camison C Bigne E and Monfort VM (1994) The Spanish tourism industry Analysisof its strategies and the efficacy and achievements gained from them In A Seaton et al(eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 442ndash52) England JWiley and Sons

Castelberg-Koulma M (1991) Greek women and tourism Womenrsquos co-operatives as analternative form of organisation In N Redclift and T Sinclair (eds) Working WomenInternational Perspectives on Labour and Gender Ideology (pp 197ndash223) LondonRoutledge

Chitiris L (1991) Hotel Management (in Greek) Athens InterbooksCoccosis H and Parprairis A (1992) Assessing the interactions between environment

and tourism Case study of the island of Mykonos Paper presented in the IV WorldCongress of Regional Science International University of Balearic Islands Palma deMallorca 26ndash9 May

Conway H (1996) Greece Travel Weekly 1308 39ndash43Cooper C and Buhalis D (1992) Strategic management and marketing of small and

medium sized tourism enterprises in the Greek Aegean islands In R Teare D Adamsand S Messenger (eds) Managing Projects in Hospitality Organisations (pp 101ndash25)London Cassell

Daskalantonakis N (1994) Quality ndash The future of tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (3 July)D9

Divanis A (1994b) Tourism policy Left on its own luck (in Greek) XENIA (October)4ndash5

Donatos G and Zairis P (1991) Seasonality of foreign tourism in the Greek islands ofCrete Annals of Tourism Research 18 515ndash19

Douvitsas P (1994) Marketing Greece through British tour operators A futureperspective MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Drakatos C (1987) Seasonal concentration of tourism in Greece Annals of Tourism Research14 582ndash6

EC (1993a) Microeconomic Analysis of the Tourism Sector A study by the pH Group forEuropean Commission DGXXIII (September) Report XXIII30394-EN BrusselsEuropean Commission

EC (1993b) Growth competitiveness employment The challenges and ways forward intothe 21st century Bulletin of the European Communities Supplement 693 (White Paper)Luxembourg

Economist (1993) Last Chance Sisyphus A survey of Greece Economist (22 May) 2ndash22EIU (1986) Greece (pp 45ndash60) International tourist reports National Report No 3EIU (1990) Greece (pp 45ndash62) International tourist reports National Report No 4EIU (1993) Greece ndash Country Profile 1992ndash1993 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEIU (1994) Greece ndash Country Profile 1994ndash1995 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEpilogi (1994) Economic review ndash The Greek Economy 1994 (in Greek) AthensEuromonitor (1992) Tourism in Greece Market Research Europe (25 May) 51ndash63Fayos-Sola E (1992) A Strategic Outlook for Regional Tourism Policy The White Paper

on Valencian Tourism Tourism Management 13 45ndash9Fotis J (1992) Vacational lifestyle segmentation of tourists on the island of Rhodes

Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey GuildfordGilbert D (1984) The need for countries to differentiate their tourist product and how to

do so Seminar papers for Ministers of Tourism and Directors of National TouristOrganisations Tourism Managing for Results University of Surrey Guildford

Gilbert D (1990) Strategic marketing planning for national tourism Tourist Review 45 (1)18ndash27

GNTO (1985a) Survey of attributes of foreign tourists 1984ndash1985 (in Greek) Greek NationalStatistical Services Athens GNTO

476 Current Issues in Tourism

GNTO (1985b) EOT-Tourism rsquo85 Development ndash Participation ndash Quality of Life (in Greek)Greek National Statistical Services Athens GNTO

GNTO (1989a) Annual report 1988 ndash Forecast 89 Towards Quality Athens GNTOGNTO (1989b) The study of tourism promotion With special reference to the measures to

increase Japanese tourists to Greece Draft final report Japan InternationalCooperation Agency

GNTO (1993) Tourism towards the 2000 (in Greek) Greek National Tourism OrganisationAthens GNTO

Hall M (1994) Tourism and Politics Policy Power and Place J Wiley and SonsHorwath (annual) The Greek Hotel Industry (in Greek) Annual reports Pireus HorwathJenner P and Smith C (1993) Tourism in the Mediterranean Research report London

Economist Intelligence UnitJosephides N (1993) Environmental Concern ndash Whatrsquos In It for the Tourism Industry (pp 51ndash6)

Proceedings of the conference Tourism and the environment Challenges and choicesfor the 1990rsquos 16ndash17 November 1992 Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre LondonBrussels European Union

Josephides N (1994) Tourism analysis Presentation in Philoxenia international tourismexhibition Thessaloniki Greece

Josephides N (1995) A sorry state for beautiful Greece Travel Weekly 1261 (5 April)11Kalogeropoulou H (1993) Greece ndash Prospects for the tourism industry within the context

of the European Single Market of 1993 Tourism Review 48 (1) 2ndash4Kassimati K Thanopoulou M and Tsartas P (1994) Womenrsquos Employment in the

Tourist Sector Study of the Greek Labour Market and Identification of Future ProspectsDGV Equal Opportunities Unit Document V40994-EN European CommissionBrussels

Komilis P (1987) Spatial analysis of tourism in Greece (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planningand Economic Research

Komilis P (1992) The spatial structure of tourism and physical planning practices inGreece Paper presented in conference Tourism and environment Issues ofpolicyplanningmanagement 23ndash4 October University of the Aegean Dept ofEnvironment Lesvos

Komilis P (1993) Values in the Tourism Planning and Policy Making Process (pp 224ndash9)Proceedings of the conference Values and the environment 23ndash4 September GuildfordUniversity of Surrey

Komilis P (1994) Tourism and sustainable regional development In A Seaton et al (eds)Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 65ndash73) England JWiley andSons

Konsolas N and Zacharatos G (1993) Regionalization of tourism activity in GreeceProblems and policies In H Briassoulis and J Van der Straaten (eds) Tourism andEnvironment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 57ndash65) Dordrecht Kluer AcademicPublisher

Kousis M (1989) Tourism and the family in a rural Cretan community Annals of TourismResearch 16 318ndash32

Kriebardis S and Marmagiolis I (1990) Tourism Activity in Greece Problems and Perspectives(pp 45ndash54) (in Greek) Economic Report of Commercial Bank AprilndashJune AthensCommercial Bank

Ktenas S (1994) Hoteliers ask for 15 to 20 increases for 1995 (in Greek) TO BHMA (3July) D9

Ktenas S (1996) Crisis in Greek tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (7 April) D16Leontidou L (1991) Greece Prospects and contradictions of tourism in the 1980rsquos In AM

Williams and GJ Shaw (eds) Tourism and Economic Development Western EuropeanExperiences (2nd edn) (pp 94ndash106) London Belhaven Press

Logothetis M (1990) The Economy of Dodekanisos During 1988ndash1989 Developments andPerspectives (in Greek) Rhodes Regional association of municipalities of Dodekanisos

Logothetis M (1992) Touristiki Sigkiria (in Greek) Rhodes Institute of Tourist and HotelResearch

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 477

Loukissas P (1977) The impact of tourism on regional development A comparativeanalysis of the Greek islands PhD Dissertation Cornell University USA

Loukissas P (1982) Tourismrsquos regional development impacts A comparative analysis ofthe Greek islands Annals of Tourism Research 9 523ndash43

Marinos P (1983) Small island tourism-the case of Zakynthos in Greece TourismManagement 4 212ndash15

Moore R (1992) From shepherds to shopkeepers The development of tourism in a centralGreek town PhD Dissertation University of California at Berkeley USA

Moore R (1995) Gender and alcohol use in a Greek tourist town Annals of Tourism Research22 300ndash13

Mourdoukoutas P (1988) Seasonal employment seasonal unemployment andunemployment compensation The case of the tourism industry of the Greek islandsAmerican Journal of Economics and Sociology 47 315ndash29

NSSG (l983) Tourism Statistics 1981 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (l985) Tourism Statistics 1982ndash1983 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1987) Tourism Statistics 1984ndash1985 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1990) Tourism Statistics 1986ndash1987 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1993) Tourism Statistics 1988ndash1990 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceOECD (1992) Greece Tourism Policy and International Tourism in OECD Member Countries (pp

70ndash8) Paris OECDOttaway M (1992) Turtle power Sunday Times Travel and Style (28 June)Ottaway M (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 1 Sunday Times (17 January)

57ndash59Panagiotopoulou R (1990) The problem and perspectives of the European insular regions

(in Greek) Working paper University of the Aegean ChiosPapadimitris G (1988) Short run and long run prospects of the Greek tourism industry

PhD Dissertation University of Manchester ManchesterPapadopoulos S (1985) An economic analysis of foreign tourism in Greece An

examination of the growth and structure of foreign tourism to Greece 1960ndash1984 with aplanning model and marketing policy recommendations PhD Thesis University ofBradford Management Centre Bradford

Papadopoulos S (1987) Strategic marketing techniques in international tourismInternational Marketing Review (summer) 71ndash84

Papadopoulos S (1988a) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (1) 29ndash30

Papadopoulos S (1988b) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (2) 24ndash7

Papadopoulos S (1989) Greek marketing strategies in the Europe tourism market ServiceIndustries Journal 9 297ndash314

Papadopoulos S and Mirza H (1985) Foreign tourism in Greece An economic analysisTourism Management 6 125ndash37

Papandropoulos A (1995) The crisis in tourism is evident (in Greek) OikonomikosTachydromos (29 June) 26ndash8

Papanikos G (1999) The year 2004 olympic games and their influence upon the Greektourism (in Greek) ITEP (Research Institute for Tourism) Athens

Paulopoulos P (1999) The Size and Dynamics of the Tourism Sector (in Greek) ResearchInstitute for Tourism Athens

Peterson C (1990) Greece tackles overbuilding in tourism areas EnvironmentalConservation 17 166ndash8

Plevris V (1995) Alarm bells from the Hellenic Federation of Hotels (in Greek) XENIA128 (May) 6ndash7

Poon A (1987) Information technology and innovation in international tourism ndashimplications for the Caribbean tourism industry PhD thesis Science Policy ResearchUnit University of Sussex Brighton

Poon A (1988) Flexible specialisation and small size ndash the case of Caribbean tourism DRCDiscussion Paper 57 SPRU Brighton University of Sussex

478 Current Issues in Tourism

Poon A (1989) Competitive strategies for new tourism In C Cooper (ed) Progress inTourism Recreation and Hospitality Management (vol 1) (pp 91ndash102) London BelhavenPress

Poon A (1990) Flexible specialisation at small size The case of Caribbean tourism WorldDevelopment 18 109ndash23

Poon A (1993) Tourism Technology and Competitive Strategies Oxford CAB InternationalPorter M (1980) Competitive Strategy Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors

New York Free PressPorter M (1985) Competitive Advantage Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance New

York Free PressPorter M (1990) The Competitive Advantage of Nations New York Free PressPrurier E Sweeney A and Geen A (1993) Tourism and the environment The case of

Zakynthos Tourism Management 14 137ndash9Psoinos P (1994a) Research on the foreign touristsrsquo attributes in Greece (in Greek) Athens

Greek National Tourism OrganisationPsoinos P (1994b) Research on the attributes of foreigners who have never visited Greece (in

Greek) Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationRichter-Papaconstantinou C (1992) Tourism development of Rhodes Cahiers du Tourisme

(Serie B) 67 Aix en Provence Centre des Hautes Eacutetudes TouristiquesRomanos A (1998) Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites (in Greek) Athens

Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites SASETE (1993) Tourism Developments and problems (in Greek) Athens Association of Greek

Tourism EnterprisesSezer H and Harrison A (1994) Tourism in Greece and Turkey An economic view for

planners In A Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposiumpp74ndash84 England Wiley and Sons

Skoulas N (1985) Holidays and travel in the year 2035 ndash Contribution of the NationalTourist Organisation of Greece SDI Schriftey Wirtschafts und Unternehmenspolitik 40181ndash99

Skoulas N (1994) Quality improvement of tourism services (in Greek) Paper presentedin the conference Competitiveness of tourism enterprises ndash the role of quality 1 AprilHoliday Inn Athens Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises

Smith C and Jenner P (1995) Greece International Tourism Reports 3 5ndash21Stavrou S (1978) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Kos Island (in Greek) Research and

Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationStavrou S (1979) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Mykonos and Naxos Islands (in

Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1980) Research on Tourism Awareness on the Islands Kalymnos and Leros (in Greek)Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1984) Tourism Development in Greece during 1969ndash1982 (in Greek) Research andDevelopment Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986a) Research for the Characteristics of Foreign Tourist Demand in Greece in theYears 8485 (in Greek) Research Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1986b) Research on the Tourism Awareness on Paros Santorini Kythira Islands (inGreek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986c) Critical Review of Tourism Activity in the Years 8385 (in Greek) Researchand Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1988) Tourism in the Northern Aegean Islands Presentation of GNTO for the TourismDevelopment of the Periphery (in Greek) Proceedings of the first conference for thedevelopment of the Northern Aegean islands Homereum cultural centre Chios 11November Chios Periphery of Northern Aegean islands

Stavrou S (1989a) GNTO Presentation for the Tourism Development Possibilities for theSouthern Aegean Islands (in Greek) Conference for the development of Southern Aegean

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 479

islands Syros 30 September ndash 2 OctoberStavrou S (1989b) The Contribution of the Development Law 126282 in the Development of the

Country (in Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A5 Athens GreekNational Tourism Organisation

Stereopoulos N (1995) It is regarded ideal it became problematic (in Greek) OikonomikosTachidromos (21 December) 151ndash3

Touloupas P (1996) Greece as a tourist destination for the British tour operators Ananalysis from a marketing perspective in the particular context of the United KingdomMSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Tourismos ke Oikonomia (1993) 20 years 1973ndash1993 (in Greek) Special Issue AthensTourismos ke Oikonomia (1994) ICAP tourism enterprises Drastic reduction of loses in 1993

(in Greek) December 14ndash15Touristiki Agora (various issues) (Monthly tourism industry periodical in Greek) Business

Press AthensTruett D and Truett L (1987) The response of tourism to international economic

conditions Greece Mexico and Spain Journal of Developing Areas 21 177ndash90Tsartas P (1989) Socioeconomic Impacts of Tourism Development in Cyclades Region with Special

Reference on Ios and Serifos Islands During 1950ndash1980 (in Greek) Athens National Centrefor Social Research

Tsartas P (1992) Socioeconomic impacts of tourism on two Greek isles Annals of TourismResearch 19 516ndash33

Van Den Bergh J (1993) Tourism development and natural environment Aneconomicndashecological model for the Sporades islands In H Briassoulis and J Van DerStraaten (eds) Tourism and Environment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 67ndash83)Dordrecht Kluer Academic Publishers

Velissariou E (1991) Die Wirtschaftlichen Effekte des Tourismus Dargestell am Beispiel Kretas(The Economic Impacts of Tourism on Crete) PhD Dissertation University of MunichFrankfurt Peter Lang

Vernikos N (1987) The study of Mediterranean small islands Emerging theoreticalissues Ekistics 54 (323ndash4) 101ndash9

Wanhill S (1993) Government organisations In C Cooper J Fletcher D Gilbert and SWanhill (eds) Tourism Principle and Practice (pp 145ndash60) London Pitman

Wickens D (1994) Consumption of the authentic The hedonistic tourist in Greece In ASeaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 819ndash25)England JWiley and Sons

Wickens E (2000) Rethinking touristsrsquo experiences In M Robinson et al (eds) MotivationsBehaviour and Tourist Types (pp 455ndash72) Business Education Publishers Sunderland

Wickers D (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 2 Sunday Times 57ndash510Wilkinson PF (1989) Strategies for tourism in islands microstates Annals of Tourism

Research 16 153ndash77XENIA (various issues) (Monthly bulletin of the Greek Hotel Chamber in Greek) AthensZacharatos G (1984) Tourismus und Wirtschafts-Struktur Dargestellt am Beispiel

Griechenlands Europaische Hochschulschriften Reihex Band 7 Frankfurt am MainZacharatos G (1986) Tourism consumption (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planning and

Economic ResearchZacharatos G (1988) The simplistic empiricism Tourism policy and the time of crisis

(1992) (in Greek) Sychrona Themata 11 (May) 21ndash6Zacharatos G (1989) The problems and perspectives of tourism in Greece (in Greek) In H

Katsoulis T Giannitsis and P Kazakos (eds) Politics and Society Economy and ForeignRelationships (pp 273ndash89) Athens Papazisis

Zacharatos G (1993) The necessity of multimedia use in the tourism education in Greece(in Greek) Paper presented at the international conference Overcomingisolation-telematics and regional development University of the Aegean Chios 30April ndash 2 May

480 Current Issues in Tourism

Page 19: Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challengescore.ac.uk/download/pdf/101686.pdf · Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challenges Dimitrios Buhalis School of Management

as several influential members of the tourism industry (Josephides 1993 19941995 Skoulas 1994 Daskalantonakis 1994 Divanis 1994b Plevris 1995Papandropoulos 1995)

Political intervention limited research lack of tourism policy andplanning

Perhaps the largest obstacle in developing a competitive tourism industry inGreece has been the inconsistent and irrational political intervention Unfortunatelytourism has extensively been utilised as a political vehicle where each govern-ment uses it to gratify its political needs and friends This can be experienced in alllevels of recruitment in the public sector institutions as a change of government oreven minister results in immense changes throughout the GNTO as well as tomajor policies and regulations Thus in the last 35 years (since 1966) the leadershipof the GNTO has changed 28 times allowing each General Secretary to stay inoffice for an average of 138 months Political allies of each government use politi-cal pressure and intensive lobbying in order to achieve amendments in regula-tions incentive policies and business environment Hence the short-termprofitability and commercial interests of the friends and political allies of eachgovernment often overrule the long-term strategy and set an improper examplefor the entire industry These practices result in a great inconsistency in Greek tour-ism policy and disrupt its rationalisation Therefore a lsquodepolitisation of Greektourismrsquo towards a professionally managed public sector guided through acompromised strategic Master Plan is urgently required (Josephides 1995)

The limited existing scientific tourism research highlights the lack of comprehen-sive examination of tourism impacts in Greece while it illustrates that tourismpolicy is based on insufficient documentation (Zacharatos 1989 278 and 1988 22)Public sector research is almost non-existant while the authorities seem uninter-ested in consulting the Greek-tourism research produced by academics (for exam-ple Zacharatos 1984 1986 Komilis 1987 Loukissas 1977 Papadimitris 1988Papadopoulos 1985 Moore 1992 Tsartas 1989 Velissariou 1991 Fotis 1992Buhalis 1991 1995 2000c Buhalis amp Diamantis 2000) or the international tourismlsquobody of knowledgersquo (Zacharatos 1988 24) In addition tourism consumptionbeing characterised as a particular category of private consumption in the nationalaccounts it fails to reflect the real tourism impact on each economic sector Thusthe process of collecting information for tourism expenditure in Greece preventsthe assessment of tourism expenditure impacts on the national and regional econ-omy and therefore cannot be used in drawing scientifically founded tourismpolicy (Zacharatos 1989 277 Konsolas amp Zacharatos 1993 58) Consequentlytourism policy follows conventional wisdom and concentrates on attracting alarger volume of tourists ignoring scientific methods to assess the economicsocial cultural and environmental impacts of each tourism segment assumingthat the greater the tourism volume the better for the national economy

The lack of a comprehensive and rational tourism policy and planning or a MasterPlan for Greek tourism is primarily responsible for the aforementioned structuralproblems Policy is usually based on unsubstantiated statements published by theTourism Ministry or the GNTO (GNTO 1985b 1989a 1993) often as pre-electionpromotional material In essence Greek authorities attempt to intervene aiming tostimulate arrivals as well as to facilitate the operation and development of the

458 Current Issues in Tourism

tourism industry Based on the assumption that tourism arrivals to Greece wouldincrease indefinitely the general directions of the Greek tourism policy focusalmost invariably on the targets summarised in Table 7 (Euromonitor 1992 61GNTO 1989b 41 and 1993 1 OECD 1992 70 Skoulas 1985 194 Leontidou 199188ndash91 Apostolopoulos 1990 Zacharatos 1989 275 and 1988 21)

However as these tasks are not quantified and there is no time schedule orplanning process for their achievement it is inevitable that their implementationand assessment is subject to irrationalities and personal judgement Occa-sionally incentives for tourism development responses to lobbying from tour-ism-related associations and regions training programmes and generallegislation attempt to direct the Greek tourism industry towards the describedpolicy directions In addition an inconsistent and untargeted promotionalcampaign is implemented yearly (Touloupas 1996 130) The campaign attempts toachieve the above unspecified policy tasks while it is often a lsquolast minutersquo reactionmeasure to a forecasted decline of bookings for the current season rather than acoordinated long-term marketing policy (Jenner amp Smith 1993 143Papadopoulos 1989 304) Despite the advertising campaignrsquos positive impact onarrivals the feedback to the campaign is rather speculative as no formal researchis undertaken to identify the most cost-effective media and communication meth-ods for each target market (Papadopoulos 1989 311 and 1987 82)

Because the deficient scientific examination of Greek tourism and its impactsprevents the authorities from establishing quantifiable and measurable tourismpolicies their policies are based on subjective and personal judgements while feedbackpractices are rarely followed In addition the implementation of the vaguelydefined tourism policy as well as the targets regulations and standards are oftenbent to accommodate lobbying and political pressures (Zacharatos 1989 279)Komilis (1993 225) suggests that tourism planning in Greece is generally realisedand exercised within a socio-political environment characterised by severalfactors a limited degree of political commitment lack of social awareness andacceptability of planning actions inadequacy of scientific and technical founda-

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 459

Table 7 Greek tourism policy targets

Development of demand

Training of tourism employees

Increase arrivals and foreign exchange income

Increase competitiveness of tourism product

Improvement of services in the industry

Reduction of seasonality and expansion of tourism season

Attraction of high spenders and alternative types of tourism

Construction of facilities appealing to the upper end of the market such as luxuryhotels golf courses congress centres casinos and marinas

Development of tourism infrastructure with emphasis on transportation

Support of social tourism for low-income domestic tourists

Geographical redistribution of tourism

tion to support planning intervention and a centralised administrative-institu-tional system gathering a plethora of functions but failing to perform itscoordination and enforcing role When the conflicting interests and power of eachmember of the tourism industry are brought into the equation where differentpartners attempt to influence legislation in order to maximise their own short-termprofitability regardless of the impacts on the destination and other enterprises theplanning process becomes more complicated This results in an ineffective plan-ning system and process which produces policies unable to provide an appropri-ate balance between restrictive policies and control planning implementationMoreover the plethora of SMTEs in combination with inadequate legislationconcerning their establishment and operation seem to affect adversely thecompetitiveness of the industry and the ability to diversify and enrich local tour-ism products (Komilis 1992 11 EIU 1990 59)

Consequently several structural problems are originated jeopardising theprosperity of both SMTEs and destinations especially in overdeveloped regionsOn the supply side failure of the infrastructure to follow the dramatic expansionof the superstructure in combination with the lack of solid institutional context oftourism policy and long-term regulation result in the exploitation and inadequacyof environmental and socio-cultural resources as well as the inability of the indus-try to generate the level of economic benefits desired and expected On the tourismdemand side after the meteoric growth in the 1970s and 1980s the Greek tourismindustry has been trying to transform lsquothe country into a destination which cancompete not just on price but on value for moneyrsquo (EIU 1990 45) It is becomingapparent that the tourism population in not infinite and an adaptability andresponsiveness to touristsrsquo needs is ofgreat importance (Sezeramp Harrison 1994 83)

Structural problems jeopardise the profitability of the private sectorBecause of the aforementioned structural problems most tourism industry

enterprises are experiencing a decline in profitability Hotels in particular arebadly affected due to the high fixed assets as well as their immobility and inflexi-bility which prevents them from adjusting to demand fluctuation Several reasonsdetermine their low profitability and inability to increase prices in line with infla-tion The low occupancy levels achieved yearly is a key problem Smith and Jenner(1995 17) estimate that the lsquoyear-round bed occupancy over the range of licensedaccommodation is slightly under 30rsquo As most of the properties are closed duringthe winter months due to the seasonality problems they rely on three to six monthsto generate sufficient returns on their investment The occupancy levels of accom-modation establishments in Greek tourism are often determined by theirco-operation with travel intermediaries Based on the different seasonality patternsof different markets rooms are normally allocated a year before the summer seasonto tour operators on lsquoallotmentrsquo or lsquocommitmentrsquo contracts which effectively deter-mine the prices charged according to the security provided by tour operators forusing and paying for hoteliersrsquo rooms Once the contracts are signed hoteliers effec-tively lose their control on their inventory and their right to market their rooms toother business sources before the release period (typically 7ndash14 days before arrival)in order to avoid overbooking However should their bookings fail to match theirprogramme tour operators often utilise their buying power to cancel unwantedrooms at the beginning of the tourist season without paying compensation Smaller

460 Current Issues in Tourism

hoteliers are often left with unoccupied rooms they which are unable to promote atthe lsquolast minutersquo unless they drop their prices to unacceptable levels As a result oftheir deficient intra-channel power hotels often suffer a significant cut-back of theiroccupancy levels which has direct implications for their profitability (Buhalis 19952000c 460 Ktenas 1996)

Similarly the seasonality of the Mediterranean and Greek tourism industry hasalways been a problem for the profitability of SMTEs since enterprises operateonly for a limited period (Jenner amp Smith 1993 70 Drakatos 1987 Donatos ampZairis 1991) Attempts to promote winter tourism by developing cultural andspecial interest tourism in the islands and winter sports in several ski resorts inGreece have proved fairly unsuccessful (EIU 1986 56) This is attributed to theimage of Greece as an exclusively summer-sun destination as well as to the unco-ordinated attempts to maintain tourism enterprises active during the wintermonths (EIU 1990 57)

The average room rate is the second major determinant of hotel profitability It isbecoming apparent that employment costs and cost of capital in combination witha relatively strong currency policy reduce the ability of Greek accommodationestablishments to offer competitive pricing and maintain their profitabilityMarketing inadequacies and inability to promote the tourism product as a differ-entiated entity the rapid increase of supply in comparison to demand and theoverall dependence upon the oligopsonistic tour operators for the Greek tourismproduct promotion force hoteliers to accept contracts by tour operators whichminimise their profit margin and adversely effect the quality of their productIncreasing levels of pressure by tour operators prevent SMTEs from renovatingand investing in their properties and therefore a gradual deterioration of the prop-erties is inevitable (Richter-Papaconstantinou 1992 14 Skoulas 1985 189) Euro-pean tour operators faced with fierce competition in their markets are essentiallywilling to pay an annual price increase equal to little less than the depreciation ofthe drachma plus the inflation at the place of origin of the tourists (Ktenas 1994)This policy progressively deteriorates the profitability of the Greek tourism indus-try and has severe impacts for its prosperity The situation is worse for smalleraccommodation establishments which manage to negotiate even smaller priceincreases due to their exclusive dependence upon fewer intermediaries(Logothetis 1992 14)

The oversupply of tourism services both in Greece and worldwide also contributesto global competition for a less rapidly increasing demand (Josephides 1993 54)In Greece the average annual increase of the official hotel bed supply in 1983ndash1992was 47 while the annual average increase in international tourist bednights was27 (Epilogi 1994 271) The investment incentive Law 126282 boosted this over-supply as it generated small infeasible and uncontrollable accommodation unitsunable to offer high quality of services while it increased the concentration of tour-ism units in infrastructure-undersupplied resorts (Kriebardis amp Marmagiolis1990 51 Stavrou 1989b 5) The vast majority of the capacity growth is on the lsquoille-galrsquo unregistered self-catering and self-serviced lsquoparahoteleriarsquo sector whichprovide very low quality and priced accommodation and therefore appeal tomass tour operatorsrsquo clientele This not only increases unfair competition for theofficially registered hotels but also reduces both tax revenues and employment atthe macro level

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 461

Horwath (1994 3) concludes that

unfortunately the results in terms of return on investment in the tourismindustry are not very promising especially when compared with those ofother Greek economic sectors It is an undisputable fact that the averageGreek tourism entrepreneur is heavily dependent on the tourist packageprice which is strongly negotiated by the international tour operators It isan lsquounhealthyrsquo dependency as a result of the weak position of the Greektourist product in the international market In addition the aforemen-tioned dependency is the result of the lack of marketing activities in anaverage tourist enterprise As we all know effective marketing activitiesare based on the product place price promotion which all contribute toclient satisfaction and further to a bigger share in the international touristmarket Up to now three of the aforementioned important elements ofmarketing have been overlooked which determine the weak negotiationpower of the Greek entrepreneur

This situation has also resulted to several European companies expandingtheir operations into Greece or purchasing shares in Greek partners in order toimprove their vertical integration Should this vertical integration expand signif-icantly however lsquoGreek tourism will be in fact controlled by foreign deci-sion-making centres which will certainly operate on the basis of their owninterests and not according to the overall interests of our national economyrsquo(Kalogeropoulou 1993 2) Hence radical measures are required immediately inproduct formulation promotion strategy and distribution channels to supportboth Greek destinations and SMTEs to enhance their competitiveness profitabil-ity and prosperity Failure to react would have severe implications for the futureof the Greek tourism private sector as the essence of its existence would be jeop-ardised its costs may exceeding its returns

Structural problems generate negative tourism impactsIn addition to the profitability problems of the private sector the aforemen-

tioned structural problems have profound implications for the welfare of hostpopulations in various Greek destinations as their economic social cultural andenvironmental resources are exploited without ensuring their sustainabilityLack of comprehensive research and failure to initiate carrying-capacity limits orzoning systems contribute to the anarchic development of tourism as well asexpand negative impacts of tourism on local societies and environments Thefollowing section highlights some of the costs Greek destinations are called topay for their tourism activity whilst it suggests that these issues should beaddressed in the strategic planning process

Macro-economic negative impactsDespite the contribution of tourism to the Greek economy certain potential

risks can also be identified Not only is the competitiveness and profitability ofthe tourism industry jeopardised but also several destination regions seem tofollow a policy of developing tourism at the expense of industrial and agricul-tural growth (Stavrou 1989a 6 Vernicos 1987 105) Instead of tourism stimulat-ing agriculture it seems that it hastens its decline as the two economic activities

462 Current Issues in Tourism

compete for land and labour The lack of structural investments in industrial oragricultural sectors combined with the popularity of tourism professions in theworkforce endanger the balance of the regional economy while reducing thetourism multipliers (Briassoulis 1993 295) As a result the economic structure ofthe destination is jeopardised while a complete dependence upon tourismbecomes inevitable (Komilis 1992 7) Both opportunity costs and displacementeffects are therefore evident Moreover there is evidence that the progress ofdestinations through their life-cycle and especially the introduction of masstourism decreases their economic impacts while it makes local control of theindustry far more difficult (Loukissas 1982 537) lsquoBecause of the high degree ofdependence of Greek tourist enterprises on tour operators the actual amount oftourist spending remaining in the country is only the 40ndash50 of total touristspendingrsquo (Briassoulis 1993 296) Public-sector subsidies to the private sector invarious forms such as incentives cooperative marketing campaigns and unem-ployment benefits in the off-season as well as tax evasion and lsquoparaeconomyrsquo alsoreduce the real benefit at the macro level (Mourdoukoutas 1988 Drakatos 1987Leontidou 1991 102) Lack of scientific research on the economic impacts oftourism makes the real contribution of tourism in the economy speculativerather than based on hard evidence (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Konsolas ampZacharatos 1993)

Social and cultural negative impactsThe development of mass tourism and the lack of effective planning and

management are also responsible for a number of negative social and culturalimpacts observed in Greek host societies (Tsartas 1989 1992 Stavrou 19781979 1980 1986b) Although the degree of interaction of the population withtourists depends heavily on the geomorphology of destinations and the loca-tion of resorts (Loukissas 1982 538) touristsrsquo behaviour is often offensive tothe host population but tolerated due to the economic benefits (Castelberg-Koulma 1991 201 Kousis 1989 Wickens 1994 823) Most Greek tourismdestinations are almost crime-free zones during the winter due to the smallpopulation and personal relationships of locals Tourism however introducesseveral types of criminal activity often unknown to local people As policeforces are usually allocated according to needs of the permanent population ina destination they are often incapable of handling the demands of the summermonths and are unable to deal with visitorsrsquo misbehaviour such as hooliganismand lsquolager-lootingrsquo

The commercialisation of history cultural traditions and the Greek lifestyle isa phenomenon met in several destinations This regrettably affects the renownedGreek hospitality commercialises human relations with tourists and reduces theties of solidarity and cooperation between locals since they compete for the tour-ism market (Papadopoulos 1988b 24) As the average employee works 605hours weekly for 295 weeks a year there is little time left for social religious andcultural obligations during the season (Mourdoukoutas 1988 325) Although acertain degree of lsquodemonstration effectrsquo and lsquoxenomaniarsquo can be attributed totourism the country is equally influenced by the mass media as well as by theGreek students and professionals living abroad (Papadopoulos 1988a 30Wickens 1994 822) Moore (1995) also explains that tourism not only has had a

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 463

contribution to the increase of alcohol consumption by Greeks but has alsoshifted their taste away from locally produced wine to imported spirits and beerBriassoulis (1993 296) perhaps describes best the change in labour force valueswhen as she suggests that tourism has created a

peculiar parasitic group of tourist entrepreneurs operating tourist-servingenterprises like tavernas cafeterias etc the principal characteristics ofwhich are high profits and tax evasion Consequently a particular person-ality type is created the lsquosuccessfulrsquo entrepreneur who earns a lot with littlework has a rich erotic life and is professionally independent (in contrast topublic and private employees) This model is followed by many youngpeople who abandon other productive year-round occupations lsquoworkrsquoonly during the tourist season stay idle for the rest of the year and eventu-ally suffer from the volatility of the tourist market

The family relations and values are therefore under great transition andperhaps threat (Castelberg-Koulma 1991 201 Kousis 1989 Moore 1992)

Negative environmental impactsDespite environmental resources becoming central to destinationsrsquo competi-

tiveness most Greek destinations go through an unparalleled exploitation due toinadequate planning and reinvestment in their sustainability jeopardising theirfuture (Buhalis amp Fletcher 1995) Boniface and Cooper (1994 141) suggest thatgeographical concentration of tourism

has led to the view that Greece will become saturated with tourists and thatdamage will be done to the environment and cultural heritage in the morepopular areas Already the environment has suffered from haphazarduncontrolled building and pollution of the sea and the flora and fauna arebeing effected by waste disposal

Coastal pollution water shortages sewage treatment waste disposal trafficcongestion noise pollution overbuilding and aesthetic degradation are some ofthe impacts experienced already in a number of resorts (Briassoulis 1993 297Coccosis amp Parprairis 1992 Peterson 1990 Marinos 1983 Stavrou 1988 19 and1989a 5 Papadopoulos 1988b 24) Most of the islands also face water shortagedue to the inability of natural supplies to provide sufficient water for the tourismdemand Imported mineral water from the mainland is an expensive way tosolve this problem due to the transportation cost while it creates more waste andenvironmental damage In addition the destruction of endangered speciesrsquo habi-tats is another problem experienced on several islands (ZakynthosCaretta-Caretta and Allonissos monk-seals) (Ottaway 1992 Van Den Bergh1993 70 Prurier et al 1993) Urgent coordination with all tourism actors at thelocal level is essential while regulation is required to set objective and measurablelimits and targets in order to preserve local environmental resources Financialdifficulties in the industry only exacerbate these impacts as the private and publicsectors feel unable to reinvest in the conservation of resources

The aforementioned negative impacts emerge as a result of the structuralproblems of the Greek tourism industry and illustrate that the mass tourismorientation of the industry reduces the sovereignty of the host population over

464 Current Issues in Tourism

their land and resources whilst jeopardising their expected benefits and futurewelfare As these impacts are trade-offs for the economic gains of the tourismactivity it is important that consistent long-term strategic planning should beundertaken in order to enable the preservation of the local resources and achievesustainability at tourism destinations These tasks should all be reinforced byresearch political will and strategic planning

Where Do We Need to Go and How Are We Going ThereTowards Strengthening the Competitiveness of Greek Tourismand SMTEs

Based on the situation analysis as well as on the strategic weaknesses andstructural problems the paper attempts to provide a framework for strategicplanning which will enable the strengthening of the competitiveness of Greektourism and SMTEs Porter (1985 1) suggests that competitive strategy lsquois thesearch for a favourable competitive position in an industryrsquo which is a function ofthe attractiveness of the industry and the relative competitive position withinthat particular industry He also argues that lsquocompetitive strategy aims to estab-lish a profitable and sustainable position against the forces that determine indus-try competitionrsquo Competitiveness is therefore defined as the effort undertakenby organisations to maintain long-term profitability above the average of theparticular industry within which they operate or above alternative investmentopportunities in other industries

Traditionally the tourism industry in the majority of destinations worldwideis based on a network of SMTEs which provide all types of tourism products andservices while enabling closer interaction between the host population and visi-tors as well as facilitating a rapid infusion of tourism spending into the localeconomy As lsquotouristsrsquo overall experience is composed of numerous smallencounters with a variety of tourism service providersrsquo (Moutinho 1990 104)there is a great overlap between the customer perception of local SMTEs anddestinations which makes them almost indistinguishable Consequently thecompetitiveness and prosperity of destinations and SMTEs are closely interre-lated as the fortune of the one depends heavily upon the management andcompetitiveness of the other Therefore the generic strategy for destinationsinvolves SMTEs and vice versa

Grand strategy Strategy formulation for Greek tourism and SMTEsBased on the strategic analysis a grand strategy is proposed for the Greek

tourism industry and SMTEs in order to demonstrate the directions the destina-tions should follow in their attempt to increase their competitiveness and reducetheir vulnerability As different resorts destinations and SMTEs have dissimilarneeds only generic strategies can be drawn However these guidelines can beapplicable to destinations and SMTEs worldwide as they address strategic ratherthan operational issues The analysis is based on the assumption that SMTEsformulate leisure value-added chains or networks of wealth creation whichessentially comprise the entire destination Therefore an integrated approach isfollowed as there is a great complementarity between the strategies and strate-gic directions for both the Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 465

The grand strategy analysis is based on an examination of three general strat-egy models namely Porterrsquos generic strategies Gilbertrsquos proposition for lsquodiffer-entiation of the destinationrsquo and Poonrsquos analysis for lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo Agrand strategy is then proposed for both Greek tourism and SMTEs based oninference emerging from these three models Figure 1 illustrates the three maingeneric strategies proposed by Porter (1980 34ndash46) in order to lsquooutperform otherfirms in an industryrsquo overall cost leadership where the firm is required to minimiseits costs based on mass production and strict cost control of the main businessfunctions differentiation of products or services by lsquocreating something that isperceived industry-wide as being uniquersquo or focus on a lsquoparticular buyer groupsegment of the product line or geographical marketrsquo and achieve either cost leader-ship or product differentiation (Porter 1980 37ndash8)

Furthermore Gilbert (1984 1990) argues that destinations should differenti-ate their tourism products in order to be able to achieve a unique lsquotourist productbenefitrsquo which would enable them to establish their position in the internationaltourism market as well as to attract high spenders and loyal tourists Tourismdestinations therefore should attempt to achieve a lsquostatus arearsquo image ratherthan a lsquocommodity arearsquo one as illustrated in Figure 2 In the first case the desti-nation is heavily substitutable very sensitive to price and economic changeswhile consumers have a low awareness of any unique benefits or attributes of theregion Thus holidaymakers base their decision to visit the area merely on pricewhile the demand for the destination is incidental and destinations are unable toattract high spenders In contrast lsquostatus areasrsquo achieve intentional demand as aresult of the unique product attributes perceived by the tourism market Theseunique attributes may be genuine or imagined and thus a destination isregarded as irreplaceable increasing consumersrsquo loyalty and willingness to payGilbert (1990 24ndash5) asserts that destinations should attempt to become lsquostatusareasrsquo in order to improve their image loyalty and economic benefits

A third strategic approach is proposed by Poon (1987 1988 1989 1990 1993)based on the concept of lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo of the tourism business Inessence Poon examines the industry processes and proposes a strategy to enabletourism organisations to improve their competitiveness Poon argues that lsquoflexi-ble specialisationrsquo is a strategy of lsquopermanent innovationrsquo and lsquoceaseless changersquowhich provides for the lsquonew tourismrsquo This new tourism is flexible segmentedcustomised to the touristrsquos needs and diagonally integrated In contrast the oldtourism can be characterised as lsquomass standardised and rigidly packagedrsquo(Poon 1989 91ndash3)

466 Current Issues in Tourism

STRATEGIC ADVANTAGE

Perceived product uniqueness Cost advantage

TARGETMARKET

Industrywide Differentiation Cost Leadership

Particularsegmentsonly

Differentiation Focus Cost Focus

Figure 1 Porterrsquos three generic strategiesSource Porter 1980 39

The main sources of flexibility for service firms lie in the organisationmanagement marketing distribution and other forms of interaction andinterrelationships among guests hotels suppliers distributors What isimportant however is not each of these stand alone aspects but how theyare coupled to create competitive advantages and hence capabilities tomove with the market (Poon 1988 24)

Examination of these three main strategies illustrates that they share a similarbase Porterrsquos lsquodifferentiationrsquo Gilbertrsquos lsquostatus arearsquo and Poonrsquos lsquoflexiblespecialisationrsquo describe the attempt undertaken by firms and tourist destinationsto achieve value competitive advantages In contrast the lsquocost leadershiprsquo lsquocom-modity arearsquo and the lsquostandardisation or Fordism production modelrsquo describethe effort to achieve lsquocost competitive advantagersquo where destinations andSMTEs offer their products for less than their competitors In the first caseconsumers perceive the product as unique and are willing to pay a premiumwhile in the second case the decision is merely based on price Thus the classicalstrategic decision of lsquolow volume-high profit marginrsquo or lsquohigh volume-low profitmarginrsquo is the underlying concept of the two alternative strategies

Both Gilbert and Poon agree that destinations should aim to achieve lsquostatusarearsquo or niche orientation through differentiation in order to increase consumersatisfaction as well as to maximise the benefits for both regions and SMTEs As aresult Greek tourism and SMTEs need to focus towards the differentiation strat-egy define their niche markets and serve them accordingly This strategy isalready adopted in several resort areas such as Valencia in Spain where it isrecognised that the need for diversification and differentiation lsquohas now becomeessential owing to the level of competitiveness that has been attained (and can beforeseen) in the world tourist marketrsquo (Fayos-Sola 1992 49) Differentiation isalso particularly useful for insular destinations in microstates where a limitednumber of economic and financial resources are available (Wilkinson 1989 170)As most destinations consist of SMTEs networks there is an overlap betweentheir strategic orientations and therefore the above analysis is applicable to boththe Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Destinations implementing a lsquostatus arearsquo strategy can enhance the satisfac-tion of tourists as well as their competitiveness The formulation of unique and

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 467

CommodityArea

Statusarea

Willingness topay higher prices

StatusArea

Product attributes Product attributes

CommodityArea

Figure 2 Gilbertrsquos differentiation strategySource Adapted from Gilbert 1990 25

customised products by using flexibility and cooperation also increases touristsrsquowillingness to pay and wins their loyalty while it responds to the new tourismdemand trends However the proposed strategy should not be seen as an excusefor SMTEs and destinations not to attempt to improve their efficiency and mini-mise their production costs Although the unique service for touristsrsquo needs shouldbe their priority offering perceived value for money would determine theircompetitiveness in the marketplace As a result all Greek resorts and SMTEsshould assess their assets and strengths for serving specific target markets takingadvantage of their small size which facilitates flexibility and specialisation

It is quite apparent that the cost advantage strategy has to be avoided inmanagement of tourism destinations as regions need to preserve their scarceenvironmental and sociocultural resources and achieve sustainable develop-ment As cost advantage is based on mass production and consumption itassumes an unlimited production capacity which is inapplicable in the tourismindustry The inseparability of the tourism product determines that consumersshould be present at the time of product delivery and when combined with tour-ism seasonality it generates demand peaks which drain destinationsrsquo scarceenvironmental sociocultural resources The lsquohigh volume-low profit marginrsquostrategy has therefore harmful social and environmental impacts on destina-tions Destinations have maximum carrying capacities beyond which both thewelfare of local populations and the satisfaction of tourists are jeopardisedAlthough economic benefits can also be achieved by using the lsquocommodity arearsquoor the lsquostandard product modelrsquo it is argued that these approaches reduce tour-istsrsquo satisfaction and their willingness to pay and are opposed to the demandtrend towards individualisation

Unfortunately however some destinations can no longer be positioned asirreplaceable unique products due to their overdevelopment Tourism supplyhas exceeded the carrying capacity of these resorts and their product hasreached the saturation or decline phase of their life-cycle Several Spanish costasand some Greek resorts such as Benitses Kavos Faliraki Malia Hersonissos andNidri (Josephides 1994) have been overdeveloped to such an extent that only alsquohigh-volume low-profit marginrsquo strategy is feasible When resorts reach theirsaturation level only a lsquocost leadershiprsquo or lsquomass productionrsquo strategy can beproposed as they are unable to provide any specific lsquotourist product benefitrsquo Theattraction of the lower end of the market is inevitable and as a consequence thereare no alternative strategies The minimisation of further sociocultural and envi-ronmental damage as well as attempts to improve the surrounding environmentshould also be a primary objective of both tourism destinations and SMTEs in thiscase The ultimate aim should be to regenerate the resources of the area and torelaunch the tourism destination to attract specific markets which will be willing topay a higher price for the destination

Strategic directions objectives and tasks for Greek tourism and SMTEsTable 8 presents three pivotal strategic directions which are identified in order

to stimulate the competitiveness of both Greek tourism and SMTEs This sectionillustrates how the aforementioned grand strategy can be implemented for tour-ist destinations and SMTEs through a number of strategic directions objectivesand tasks as presented in Table 9

468 Current Issues in Tourism

Enhancing the satisfaction of tourists and delighting the customer are pivotalto ensuring the well-being of Greek destinations and SMTEs in the long term andthus the entire range of tourism service providers should aim to delight theirclients As a result of the tourism product integration consumer satisfactioncannot be achieved by independent businesses separately but by the entirenetwork of SMTEs in Greek destinations The improvement in services isperhaps the most important strategic objective Consistency of promises throughstandardisation of service delivery and implementation of a total qualitymanagement philosophy throughout the industry are essential strategic tasks forachieving this objective while flexibility in service delivery and improvementsin training are critical In line with the grand strategy the production oftailor-made tourism products should be ensured in order to satisfy the specificneeds of particular niches and the requirements of the emerging new tourismdemand Product augmentation would enable also the Greek tourism product toexceed the expectations of consumers and hence enhance their satisfaction Lifestyle segmentation would enable Greek tourism and SMTEs to design appropri-ate tourism products As tourist demand elasticity has increasingly becomedoubtful in recent years the price of the holiday is no longer considered to be themost important attribute in the decision-making process Consequently theGreek tourism industry should concentrate on providing value for money at allprice levels as well as offering at least whatever they have promised to theconsumer

Supporting the long-term competitiveness and profitability of Greek tour-ism and SMTEs is by far the most important strategic objective for the tourismindustry The first strategic objective for every SMTE has to be the increase inrevenue by maximising its occupancy or load factors and the rates it achievesThe lengthening of the operating season as well as the identification of newmarkets and the penetration into existing ones and the effective utilisation ofdistribution channels will contribute to this strategic direction Higher ratescan be achieved by targeting specialised and smaller tour operators attractingalternative types of tourists and expanding the distribution channels mix aswell as by attempting a certain degree of lsquodisintermediationrsquo by encouragingdirect sales to outgoing travel agencies or consumers Aggressive marketingand establishment of partnerships with other enterprises should be essentialfunctions of Greek tourism and SMTEs Motivation of lsquofront-of-housersquo employ-ees as salesmen and sale incentives would also increase average spending percustomer The use of CRSs and destination management systems may also bean appropriate method for achieving higher prices and better occupancy rates(Buhalis 1994) Finally yield management techniques should be utilised by alltypes of SMTEs to assist them in pricing and maximising revenue Cost control

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 469

Table 8 Pivotal strategic dimensions for Greek tourism

(1) Enhance the satisfaction of tourists and delight the customer(2) Strengthen the long-term profitability and competitiveness of Greek tourism and

SMTEs(3) Develop Greek destinations sustainably and ensure prosperity of host population

470 Current Issues in Tourism

Table 9 Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Strategic directions Strategic objectives Strategic tasks

1 Enhance the sat-isfaction of tour-ists and delightthe customer

11 Improvement of services a Standardisation of service de-livery

b Development of quality controlsystems

c Consistency of promisesd Improvements in operational

managemente Flexibility in services deliveryf Training and education im-

provementsg Smile and personal relation-

shipsh Augmentation of tourism

producti Total quality management

12 Specialisation of tourismproduct

a Niche marketingb Lifestyle targeting

13 Value for money a Quality at each price level

2 Strengthen thelong-term com-petitiveness andprofitability ofGreek tourismand SMTEs

21 Increase revenue a Increase tourist volumesb Target new markets and pene-

tration in existing marketsc Use yield managementd Expand distribution channel

mixe Aggressive marketingf Achieve high average spending

per customerg Select high-quality specialised

tour operatorsh Attract alternative types of

tourismi Use alternative distribution

channelsj Motivate front-of-house em-

ployees as salesmen

22 Cost control and rationalmanagement

a Standardise service deliveryb Increase productivityc Reduce labour costsd Rationalise supplies manage-

mente Educationtraining for manag-

ers and employeesf Use of new technologyg Integrate service delivery

within SMTEs

23 Human resources man-agement

a Internal marketingb Empowermentc Satisfactory salary and working

conditionsd Long-term relations with em-

ployeese Motivation and rewards

and rational management is the second strategic objective needed to increaseefficiency and profitability of both Greek destinations and SMTEs in the longterm Standardisation of the service delivery process and minimisation of thelabour cost through better operational management would be primary recom-mendations Managers and employees should improve their productivity andmarketing skills by intensive training In addition the rationalisation of supplymanagement and the use of new technology is expected to reduce operationalcosts Finally integration of service delivery enables SMTEs to provide comple-mentary services and achieve additional revenues without immense costs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 471

24 State and public tourismorganisation support

a Destination development andcontrol

b Incentives policies for improve-ment

c Attract European Union assis-tance

d Promotional activitye Provide financial resources

3 Develop Greekdestinationssustainably andensure prosper-ity of host popu-lation

31 Environmental protection a Carrying capacity identificationb Zoning system applicationc Architecture preservationd Installation of sewage treat-

ment systemse Reduction of noise pollutionf Natural supplies management

32 Infrastructure ameliora-tion

a Accessibility improvementsb Telecommunication improve-

mentsc Public facilities advancements

33 Transportation improve-ments

a Improvement of local timeta-bles

b Punctuality and reliabilityc Improvements of vehiclesd Flexibility to meet demand

needs

34 Economic integration a Integration with raw materialproduction

b Utilisation of local labour forcec Integration of tourism servicesd Diagonal integration of destina-

tionrsquos economy

35 Equitable return on re-sources utilised

a Establish mechanism forreinvestments

b Provide services for hostcommunity

c Invest in sustainability ofresources

d Ensure equity in distributionof wealth produced

Source Adapted from Buhalis 1991 83a

Table 9 (cont) Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Human resources management is crucial in the delivery process of tourismproducts The concept of lsquointernal marketingrsquo where employees are perceivedand treated as lsquointernal customersrsquo has to be utilised in order to ensure theirsatisfaction As Berry (1981 34) states lsquothe satisfaction of the needs and wants ofthe internal customers can upgrade their capacity for satisfying the needs andwants of their external customersrsquo and as a consequence it can contribute to thecompetitiveness and profitability of Greek tourism and SMTEs Satisfactorysalary and working conditions are prerequisites for the well-being of SMTEsrsquoemployees Long-term relationships between employees and SMTEs minimiseturnover enabling a better performance while they reduce recruitment andtraining costs Empowerment would enable employees to be involved in themanagement of SMTEs and authorise them to respond more efficiently toconsumer requests while contributing to their job satisfaction Finally thesupport of the GNTO is vital for the long-term survival of SMTEs Apart fromthe improvement in infrastructure the GNTO is expected to hold the strategicresponsibility of the destination as well as to regulate the competition in orderto enable smaller enterprises to survive Incentive policies need to reflect thespecific requirements of each resort and enable development or improvementof certain types of enterprises The GNTO is also instrumental in attractingassistance from European development funds while it should also coordinatethe majority of Greek tourism promotional activity A promotional mix whichmaximises the effectiveness of the communication message needs to be drawnwhile budgets need to be available at the time consumers go through their deci-sion-making process in order to influence their choice of destination Finally theneed for the public sector to provide affordable financial resources for SMTEs ishighlighted by the EU (EC 1993b 73)

The third strategic direction for Greek tourism and SMTEs should be thesustainable development of destinations and local areas not only for the hostpopulation but also because this is vital for both consumer satisfaction and theprofitability of SMTEs Although in most cases SMTEs are unable to incorporatethese types of strategic objectives and tasks on their own they can initiate aframework of necessary actions for sustainable destination developmentthrough their associations Environmental protection is naturally the mostimportant strategic objective as consumersrsquo environmental consciousness hasbeen raised recently Carrying capacity limits should be identified and strictregulations and guidelines for tourism development need to be drawn A zoningsystem should be implemented in order to locate tourism activities according tothe geographical morphology of the destination In addition natural resourcesmanagement is necessary as tourism demand may exhaust the resources andespecially the water supplies The installation of sewage treatment systems andthe reduction of noise pollution should be considered especially for resortswhich suffer the consequences of these problems In addition infrastructureamelioration must be one of the primary objectives as it is an essential prerequi-site for both consumersrsquo satisfaction and SMTEsrsquo development The improve-ment of accessibility public services as well as telecommunications facilities is acrucial factor Transportation is also significant in increasing both consumersatisfaction and profitability of SMTEs as it determines whether consumers canaccess the destination easily while it also provides the first impression to tour-

472 Current Issues in Tourism

ists Improvements of timetables and services reliability increasing transporta-tion capacity and an enhancement of the fleet in terms of speed cleanliness andleisure facilities are all required Furthermore greater flexibility is needed bytransportation operators in order to meet demand needs Economic integrationcan improve the economic and social benefits of tourism in the region and theefficiency of SMTEs Ultimately tourism should be utilised as the catalyst andmajor stimulant for regional development Tourism enterprises should makeevery effort to use local raw materials and labour in order to maximise the multi-plier effects within Greece Diagonal integration of destinationsrsquo economy can beachieved by rearranging the goods and service production in order to supportthe tourism industry demand and thus minimise imports Finally SMTEs andtourism organisations need to offer a fair return-on-resources utilised back to thehost community A mechanism should be established in order to reinvest part ofthe revenues in the sustainability of resources provide services for the hostcommunity such as education training health services and generally ensureequity in distribution of wealth produced from local resources As the privatesector cannot be expected to behave altruistically towards the host communitythe GNTO and other public-sector departments should probably utilise regula-tion and taxation for this purpose

Conclusion Greek Tourism Needs a Long Overdue Master Planand Comprehensive Policy

The emerging international tourism competition the hitherto mass tourismorientation of the industry the transformation of demand the development ofthe volume of tourists visiting the dependence upon intermediaries for thedistribution of the tourism product in the major target markets the lack of a widerange of managerial skills by Greek tourism entrepreneurs and the lack of acomprehensive tourism policy or Master Plan by the public sector has led thecompetitiveness of Greece tourism to decline This has several unfavourableimplications for the profitability of the private sector as well as numerous nega-tive economic sociocultural and environmental impacts for the host populationAs a result the return on resources utilised for the production of Greek tourismservices is inadequate and the sustainability of Greece as a major tourism desti-nation is rapidly becoming doubtful Based on a strategic analysis the paper illu-minates the strategic weaknesses and structural problems of both the private andpublic sectors and demonstrates that a rationalisation of the tourism industry isurgently required Consequently a grand strategy as well as a wide range of stra-tegic directions objectives and tasks are proposed for both Greece as an entityand its SMTEs Although no quantitative targets are set in this paper it isexpected that each destination will analyse its resources and adapt its strategicplanning accordingly

The GNTO is urged to rationalise its strategy and to draw up a Master Plan anda comprehensive strategy for the entire country and for each resort where a strategywould be adopted based on quantifiable objectives and tasks Extensive researchneeds to be undertaken by using credible measurement methodologies such asInput-Output models and multipliers analysis not only for the economic but alsofor the social cultural and environmental impacts (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Buhalis

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 473

amp Fletcher 1995) A holistic tourism management system is demanded to facilitatethe development and implementation of the tourism strategy through funds allo-cation and monitoring land use control and examination of tourism public- andprivate-sector practices A thorough examination of tourism impacts in eachregion would be a prerequisite for tourism planning as it will establish andprovide scientific backing to strategic targets Komilis (1994 71) explains thatalthough the various levels of planning (sectoral nationalEU spatial or regional)are not mutually exclusive but rather complementary the regional level planningis more suitable for drawing sustainable strategies especially for areas withdissimilar needs like the Greek destinations The regional planning should lsquocon-tribute to the maximisation of regional development benefits in a way that utilisesand mobilises the regional resource base realises regional inter-sectoral linkagesand is compatible with regional economic interests societal values and environ-mental assetsrsquo It should also take into consideration the uniqueness of insulareconomies as well as the cultural and environmental resources of each particularregion and the complexity of rural and urban functions The planning processshould encourage the complementarity and coexistence of economic activitiesrather than promote sectoral separation and single-sector developments In addi-tion it needs to improve the balance between regional self-sufficiency anddependence upon external inputs and finally it should promote integration withinthe European Union

The public sector has to play its long overdue role as regulator coordinatorinfrastructure provider and promoter of the destination while a multi-integrationof the tourism industry with all the involved bodies in the preparation distribu-tion and delivery of the tourism experience needs to be ensured (Wanhill 1993Hall 1994 Skoulas 1994 10 Stavrou 1988 46) The private sector also has an impor-tant role to play as it should improve the Greek tourism industry competitivenessby improving its managerial and labour force competencies enhancing the qualityof services designing appropriate marketing mixes to attract and satisfy targetmarkets and cooperating closely in order to achieve synergies and economies ofscale (Briassoulis 1993 300 Cooper amp Buhalis 1992) To reverse the vicious circleof decreasing quality is of critical importance for the Greek tourism industryBetter quality services would stimulate the competitiveness of the Greek tourismproduct strengthen its position in the international market provide principalswith distribution channel power enhance its customersrsquo willingness to pay andenable the industry to increase its prices improving the profitability at the microlevel and the economic impacts of tourism at the macrolevel Ultimately a diagonalintegration strategy for both Greek tourism and SMTEs should aim to delightconsumers enhance the long-term prosperity of SMTEs and improve the welfareof the host populations The Olympic Games in 2004 offer a unique opportunity toregenerate and rebrand Greek tourism a cause which the entire industry shouldchampion

The AuthorDimitrios Buhalis is Senior Lecturer and course leader MSc in tourism at theUniversity of Surrey He holds a BBA from the University of the Aegean as wellas an MSc and a PhD in tourism management from the University of Surrey Hisresearch interests focus on information systems and technology strategic

474 Current Issues in Tourism

management distribution channels of tourism destination management andplanning and destination integrated computer information reservation manage-ment systems

AcknowledgementsThe author would like to acknowledge Prof C Cooper and Prof J Fletcher for

their invaluable contribution to this research Financial support from the SurreyResearch Group ConTours Consultants as well as field research sponsorshipsby the University of Surrey the Greek National Tourism Organisation and theUniversity of the Aegean are gratefully appreciated

Note1 An earlier version of this paper was published as a monograph PlanningDevelop-

ment by the International Centre for Research and Studies in TourismAix-en-Provence France

CorrespondenceAny correspondence should be directed to Dr Dimitrios Buhalis Senior

Lecturer in Business Information Management SMSSS University of SurreyGuildford GU2 7XH UK (dbuhalissurreyacuk)

ReferencesApostolopoulos T (1990) New strategy of tourism development (in Greek) Tourism and

Economy (November) 228ndash38Berry C (1981) The employee as customer Journal of Retail Banking 3 33ndash40Boniface B and Cooper C (1994) The Geography of Travel and Tourism (2nd edn) London

HeinemannBriassoulis H (1993) Tourism in Greece In W Pompl and P Lavery (eds) Tourism in

Europe Structures and Developments (pp285ndash301) Oxford CAB InternationalBuckley P and Papadopoulos S (1986) Marketing Greek tourism The planning process

Tourism Management 7 86ndash100Buhalis D (1991) Strategic marketing and management for the small and medium

tourism enterprises in the periphery of the European Community A case study for theAegean islands in Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Buhalis D (1994) Information and telecommunications technologies as a strategic tool forsmall and medium tourism enterprises in the contemporary business environment InA Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 254ndash75)England J Wiley and Sons

Buhalis D (1995) The impact of information telecommunications technologies on tourismdistribution channels Implications for the small and medium sized tourismenterprisesrsquo strategic management and marketing PhD Dissertation University ofSurrey Guildford

Buhalis D (2000a) Marketing the competitive destination of the future TourismManagement (Special Issue ndash The Competitive Destination) 21 (1) 97ndash116

Buhalis D (2000b) (forthcoming) Athens Tourism-Travel Intelligence LondonBuhalis D (2000c) Relationships in the distribution channel of tourism Conflicts between

hoteliers and tour operators in the Mediterranean region Journal of InternationalHospitality Leisure and Tourism Adminstration 1 (1) 113ndash39

Buhalis D and Diamantis D (2001 forthcoming) Tourism development andsustainability on the Greek archipelagos In G Apostolopoulos and D Ioannides (eds)Tourism in the Mediterranean Routledge

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 475

Buhalis D and Fletcher J (1995) Environmental impacts on tourism destinations Aneconomic analysis In H Coccosis and P Nijkamp (eds) Sustainable Tourism Development(pp 3ndash25) London Avebury

Camison C Bigne E and Monfort VM (1994) The Spanish tourism industry Analysisof its strategies and the efficacy and achievements gained from them In A Seaton et al(eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 442ndash52) England JWiley and Sons

Castelberg-Koulma M (1991) Greek women and tourism Womenrsquos co-operatives as analternative form of organisation In N Redclift and T Sinclair (eds) Working WomenInternational Perspectives on Labour and Gender Ideology (pp 197ndash223) LondonRoutledge

Chitiris L (1991) Hotel Management (in Greek) Athens InterbooksCoccosis H and Parprairis A (1992) Assessing the interactions between environment

and tourism Case study of the island of Mykonos Paper presented in the IV WorldCongress of Regional Science International University of Balearic Islands Palma deMallorca 26ndash9 May

Conway H (1996) Greece Travel Weekly 1308 39ndash43Cooper C and Buhalis D (1992) Strategic management and marketing of small and

medium sized tourism enterprises in the Greek Aegean islands In R Teare D Adamsand S Messenger (eds) Managing Projects in Hospitality Organisations (pp 101ndash25)London Cassell

Daskalantonakis N (1994) Quality ndash The future of tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (3 July)D9

Divanis A (1994b) Tourism policy Left on its own luck (in Greek) XENIA (October)4ndash5

Donatos G and Zairis P (1991) Seasonality of foreign tourism in the Greek islands ofCrete Annals of Tourism Research 18 515ndash19

Douvitsas P (1994) Marketing Greece through British tour operators A futureperspective MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Drakatos C (1987) Seasonal concentration of tourism in Greece Annals of Tourism Research14 582ndash6

EC (1993a) Microeconomic Analysis of the Tourism Sector A study by the pH Group forEuropean Commission DGXXIII (September) Report XXIII30394-EN BrusselsEuropean Commission

EC (1993b) Growth competitiveness employment The challenges and ways forward intothe 21st century Bulletin of the European Communities Supplement 693 (White Paper)Luxembourg

Economist (1993) Last Chance Sisyphus A survey of Greece Economist (22 May) 2ndash22EIU (1986) Greece (pp 45ndash60) International tourist reports National Report No 3EIU (1990) Greece (pp 45ndash62) International tourist reports National Report No 4EIU (1993) Greece ndash Country Profile 1992ndash1993 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEIU (1994) Greece ndash Country Profile 1994ndash1995 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEpilogi (1994) Economic review ndash The Greek Economy 1994 (in Greek) AthensEuromonitor (1992) Tourism in Greece Market Research Europe (25 May) 51ndash63Fayos-Sola E (1992) A Strategic Outlook for Regional Tourism Policy The White Paper

on Valencian Tourism Tourism Management 13 45ndash9Fotis J (1992) Vacational lifestyle segmentation of tourists on the island of Rhodes

Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey GuildfordGilbert D (1984) The need for countries to differentiate their tourist product and how to

do so Seminar papers for Ministers of Tourism and Directors of National TouristOrganisations Tourism Managing for Results University of Surrey Guildford

Gilbert D (1990) Strategic marketing planning for national tourism Tourist Review 45 (1)18ndash27

GNTO (1985a) Survey of attributes of foreign tourists 1984ndash1985 (in Greek) Greek NationalStatistical Services Athens GNTO

476 Current Issues in Tourism

GNTO (1985b) EOT-Tourism rsquo85 Development ndash Participation ndash Quality of Life (in Greek)Greek National Statistical Services Athens GNTO

GNTO (1989a) Annual report 1988 ndash Forecast 89 Towards Quality Athens GNTOGNTO (1989b) The study of tourism promotion With special reference to the measures to

increase Japanese tourists to Greece Draft final report Japan InternationalCooperation Agency

GNTO (1993) Tourism towards the 2000 (in Greek) Greek National Tourism OrganisationAthens GNTO

Hall M (1994) Tourism and Politics Policy Power and Place J Wiley and SonsHorwath (annual) The Greek Hotel Industry (in Greek) Annual reports Pireus HorwathJenner P and Smith C (1993) Tourism in the Mediterranean Research report London

Economist Intelligence UnitJosephides N (1993) Environmental Concern ndash Whatrsquos In It for the Tourism Industry (pp 51ndash6)

Proceedings of the conference Tourism and the environment Challenges and choicesfor the 1990rsquos 16ndash17 November 1992 Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre LondonBrussels European Union

Josephides N (1994) Tourism analysis Presentation in Philoxenia international tourismexhibition Thessaloniki Greece

Josephides N (1995) A sorry state for beautiful Greece Travel Weekly 1261 (5 April)11Kalogeropoulou H (1993) Greece ndash Prospects for the tourism industry within the context

of the European Single Market of 1993 Tourism Review 48 (1) 2ndash4Kassimati K Thanopoulou M and Tsartas P (1994) Womenrsquos Employment in the

Tourist Sector Study of the Greek Labour Market and Identification of Future ProspectsDGV Equal Opportunities Unit Document V40994-EN European CommissionBrussels

Komilis P (1987) Spatial analysis of tourism in Greece (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planningand Economic Research

Komilis P (1992) The spatial structure of tourism and physical planning practices inGreece Paper presented in conference Tourism and environment Issues ofpolicyplanningmanagement 23ndash4 October University of the Aegean Dept ofEnvironment Lesvos

Komilis P (1993) Values in the Tourism Planning and Policy Making Process (pp 224ndash9)Proceedings of the conference Values and the environment 23ndash4 September GuildfordUniversity of Surrey

Komilis P (1994) Tourism and sustainable regional development In A Seaton et al (eds)Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 65ndash73) England JWiley andSons

Konsolas N and Zacharatos G (1993) Regionalization of tourism activity in GreeceProblems and policies In H Briassoulis and J Van der Straaten (eds) Tourism andEnvironment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 57ndash65) Dordrecht Kluer AcademicPublisher

Kousis M (1989) Tourism and the family in a rural Cretan community Annals of TourismResearch 16 318ndash32

Kriebardis S and Marmagiolis I (1990) Tourism Activity in Greece Problems and Perspectives(pp 45ndash54) (in Greek) Economic Report of Commercial Bank AprilndashJune AthensCommercial Bank

Ktenas S (1994) Hoteliers ask for 15 to 20 increases for 1995 (in Greek) TO BHMA (3July) D9

Ktenas S (1996) Crisis in Greek tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (7 April) D16Leontidou L (1991) Greece Prospects and contradictions of tourism in the 1980rsquos In AM

Williams and GJ Shaw (eds) Tourism and Economic Development Western EuropeanExperiences (2nd edn) (pp 94ndash106) London Belhaven Press

Logothetis M (1990) The Economy of Dodekanisos During 1988ndash1989 Developments andPerspectives (in Greek) Rhodes Regional association of municipalities of Dodekanisos

Logothetis M (1992) Touristiki Sigkiria (in Greek) Rhodes Institute of Tourist and HotelResearch

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 477

Loukissas P (1977) The impact of tourism on regional development A comparativeanalysis of the Greek islands PhD Dissertation Cornell University USA

Loukissas P (1982) Tourismrsquos regional development impacts A comparative analysis ofthe Greek islands Annals of Tourism Research 9 523ndash43

Marinos P (1983) Small island tourism-the case of Zakynthos in Greece TourismManagement 4 212ndash15

Moore R (1992) From shepherds to shopkeepers The development of tourism in a centralGreek town PhD Dissertation University of California at Berkeley USA

Moore R (1995) Gender and alcohol use in a Greek tourist town Annals of Tourism Research22 300ndash13

Mourdoukoutas P (1988) Seasonal employment seasonal unemployment andunemployment compensation The case of the tourism industry of the Greek islandsAmerican Journal of Economics and Sociology 47 315ndash29

NSSG (l983) Tourism Statistics 1981 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (l985) Tourism Statistics 1982ndash1983 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1987) Tourism Statistics 1984ndash1985 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1990) Tourism Statistics 1986ndash1987 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1993) Tourism Statistics 1988ndash1990 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceOECD (1992) Greece Tourism Policy and International Tourism in OECD Member Countries (pp

70ndash8) Paris OECDOttaway M (1992) Turtle power Sunday Times Travel and Style (28 June)Ottaway M (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 1 Sunday Times (17 January)

57ndash59Panagiotopoulou R (1990) The problem and perspectives of the European insular regions

(in Greek) Working paper University of the Aegean ChiosPapadimitris G (1988) Short run and long run prospects of the Greek tourism industry

PhD Dissertation University of Manchester ManchesterPapadopoulos S (1985) An economic analysis of foreign tourism in Greece An

examination of the growth and structure of foreign tourism to Greece 1960ndash1984 with aplanning model and marketing policy recommendations PhD Thesis University ofBradford Management Centre Bradford

Papadopoulos S (1987) Strategic marketing techniques in international tourismInternational Marketing Review (summer) 71ndash84

Papadopoulos S (1988a) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (1) 29ndash30

Papadopoulos S (1988b) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (2) 24ndash7

Papadopoulos S (1989) Greek marketing strategies in the Europe tourism market ServiceIndustries Journal 9 297ndash314

Papadopoulos S and Mirza H (1985) Foreign tourism in Greece An economic analysisTourism Management 6 125ndash37

Papandropoulos A (1995) The crisis in tourism is evident (in Greek) OikonomikosTachydromos (29 June) 26ndash8

Papanikos G (1999) The year 2004 olympic games and their influence upon the Greektourism (in Greek) ITEP (Research Institute for Tourism) Athens

Paulopoulos P (1999) The Size and Dynamics of the Tourism Sector (in Greek) ResearchInstitute for Tourism Athens

Peterson C (1990) Greece tackles overbuilding in tourism areas EnvironmentalConservation 17 166ndash8

Plevris V (1995) Alarm bells from the Hellenic Federation of Hotels (in Greek) XENIA128 (May) 6ndash7

Poon A (1987) Information technology and innovation in international tourism ndashimplications for the Caribbean tourism industry PhD thesis Science Policy ResearchUnit University of Sussex Brighton

Poon A (1988) Flexible specialisation and small size ndash the case of Caribbean tourism DRCDiscussion Paper 57 SPRU Brighton University of Sussex

478 Current Issues in Tourism

Poon A (1989) Competitive strategies for new tourism In C Cooper (ed) Progress inTourism Recreation and Hospitality Management (vol 1) (pp 91ndash102) London BelhavenPress

Poon A (1990) Flexible specialisation at small size The case of Caribbean tourism WorldDevelopment 18 109ndash23

Poon A (1993) Tourism Technology and Competitive Strategies Oxford CAB InternationalPorter M (1980) Competitive Strategy Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors

New York Free PressPorter M (1985) Competitive Advantage Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance New

York Free PressPorter M (1990) The Competitive Advantage of Nations New York Free PressPrurier E Sweeney A and Geen A (1993) Tourism and the environment The case of

Zakynthos Tourism Management 14 137ndash9Psoinos P (1994a) Research on the foreign touristsrsquo attributes in Greece (in Greek) Athens

Greek National Tourism OrganisationPsoinos P (1994b) Research on the attributes of foreigners who have never visited Greece (in

Greek) Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationRichter-Papaconstantinou C (1992) Tourism development of Rhodes Cahiers du Tourisme

(Serie B) 67 Aix en Provence Centre des Hautes Eacutetudes TouristiquesRomanos A (1998) Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites (in Greek) Athens

Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites SASETE (1993) Tourism Developments and problems (in Greek) Athens Association of Greek

Tourism EnterprisesSezer H and Harrison A (1994) Tourism in Greece and Turkey An economic view for

planners In A Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposiumpp74ndash84 England Wiley and Sons

Skoulas N (1985) Holidays and travel in the year 2035 ndash Contribution of the NationalTourist Organisation of Greece SDI Schriftey Wirtschafts und Unternehmenspolitik 40181ndash99

Skoulas N (1994) Quality improvement of tourism services (in Greek) Paper presentedin the conference Competitiveness of tourism enterprises ndash the role of quality 1 AprilHoliday Inn Athens Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises

Smith C and Jenner P (1995) Greece International Tourism Reports 3 5ndash21Stavrou S (1978) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Kos Island (in Greek) Research and

Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationStavrou S (1979) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Mykonos and Naxos Islands (in

Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1980) Research on Tourism Awareness on the Islands Kalymnos and Leros (in Greek)Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1984) Tourism Development in Greece during 1969ndash1982 (in Greek) Research andDevelopment Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986a) Research for the Characteristics of Foreign Tourist Demand in Greece in theYears 8485 (in Greek) Research Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1986b) Research on the Tourism Awareness on Paros Santorini Kythira Islands (inGreek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986c) Critical Review of Tourism Activity in the Years 8385 (in Greek) Researchand Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1988) Tourism in the Northern Aegean Islands Presentation of GNTO for the TourismDevelopment of the Periphery (in Greek) Proceedings of the first conference for thedevelopment of the Northern Aegean islands Homereum cultural centre Chios 11November Chios Periphery of Northern Aegean islands

Stavrou S (1989a) GNTO Presentation for the Tourism Development Possibilities for theSouthern Aegean Islands (in Greek) Conference for the development of Southern Aegean

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 479

islands Syros 30 September ndash 2 OctoberStavrou S (1989b) The Contribution of the Development Law 126282 in the Development of the

Country (in Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A5 Athens GreekNational Tourism Organisation

Stereopoulos N (1995) It is regarded ideal it became problematic (in Greek) OikonomikosTachidromos (21 December) 151ndash3

Touloupas P (1996) Greece as a tourist destination for the British tour operators Ananalysis from a marketing perspective in the particular context of the United KingdomMSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Tourismos ke Oikonomia (1993) 20 years 1973ndash1993 (in Greek) Special Issue AthensTourismos ke Oikonomia (1994) ICAP tourism enterprises Drastic reduction of loses in 1993

(in Greek) December 14ndash15Touristiki Agora (various issues) (Monthly tourism industry periodical in Greek) Business

Press AthensTruett D and Truett L (1987) The response of tourism to international economic

conditions Greece Mexico and Spain Journal of Developing Areas 21 177ndash90Tsartas P (1989) Socioeconomic Impacts of Tourism Development in Cyclades Region with Special

Reference on Ios and Serifos Islands During 1950ndash1980 (in Greek) Athens National Centrefor Social Research

Tsartas P (1992) Socioeconomic impacts of tourism on two Greek isles Annals of TourismResearch 19 516ndash33

Van Den Bergh J (1993) Tourism development and natural environment Aneconomicndashecological model for the Sporades islands In H Briassoulis and J Van DerStraaten (eds) Tourism and Environment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 67ndash83)Dordrecht Kluer Academic Publishers

Velissariou E (1991) Die Wirtschaftlichen Effekte des Tourismus Dargestell am Beispiel Kretas(The Economic Impacts of Tourism on Crete) PhD Dissertation University of MunichFrankfurt Peter Lang

Vernikos N (1987) The study of Mediterranean small islands Emerging theoreticalissues Ekistics 54 (323ndash4) 101ndash9

Wanhill S (1993) Government organisations In C Cooper J Fletcher D Gilbert and SWanhill (eds) Tourism Principle and Practice (pp 145ndash60) London Pitman

Wickens D (1994) Consumption of the authentic The hedonistic tourist in Greece In ASeaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 819ndash25)England JWiley and Sons

Wickens E (2000) Rethinking touristsrsquo experiences In M Robinson et al (eds) MotivationsBehaviour and Tourist Types (pp 455ndash72) Business Education Publishers Sunderland

Wickers D (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 2 Sunday Times 57ndash510Wilkinson PF (1989) Strategies for tourism in islands microstates Annals of Tourism

Research 16 153ndash77XENIA (various issues) (Monthly bulletin of the Greek Hotel Chamber in Greek) AthensZacharatos G (1984) Tourismus und Wirtschafts-Struktur Dargestellt am Beispiel

Griechenlands Europaische Hochschulschriften Reihex Band 7 Frankfurt am MainZacharatos G (1986) Tourism consumption (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planning and

Economic ResearchZacharatos G (1988) The simplistic empiricism Tourism policy and the time of crisis

(1992) (in Greek) Sychrona Themata 11 (May) 21ndash6Zacharatos G (1989) The problems and perspectives of tourism in Greece (in Greek) In H

Katsoulis T Giannitsis and P Kazakos (eds) Politics and Society Economy and ForeignRelationships (pp 273ndash89) Athens Papazisis

Zacharatos G (1993) The necessity of multimedia use in the tourism education in Greece(in Greek) Paper presented at the international conference Overcomingisolation-telematics and regional development University of the Aegean Chios 30April ndash 2 May

480 Current Issues in Tourism

Page 20: Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challengescore.ac.uk/download/pdf/101686.pdf · Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challenges Dimitrios Buhalis School of Management

tourism industry Based on the assumption that tourism arrivals to Greece wouldincrease indefinitely the general directions of the Greek tourism policy focusalmost invariably on the targets summarised in Table 7 (Euromonitor 1992 61GNTO 1989b 41 and 1993 1 OECD 1992 70 Skoulas 1985 194 Leontidou 199188ndash91 Apostolopoulos 1990 Zacharatos 1989 275 and 1988 21)

However as these tasks are not quantified and there is no time schedule orplanning process for their achievement it is inevitable that their implementationand assessment is subject to irrationalities and personal judgement Occa-sionally incentives for tourism development responses to lobbying from tour-ism-related associations and regions training programmes and generallegislation attempt to direct the Greek tourism industry towards the describedpolicy directions In addition an inconsistent and untargeted promotionalcampaign is implemented yearly (Touloupas 1996 130) The campaign attempts toachieve the above unspecified policy tasks while it is often a lsquolast minutersquo reactionmeasure to a forecasted decline of bookings for the current season rather than acoordinated long-term marketing policy (Jenner amp Smith 1993 143Papadopoulos 1989 304) Despite the advertising campaignrsquos positive impact onarrivals the feedback to the campaign is rather speculative as no formal researchis undertaken to identify the most cost-effective media and communication meth-ods for each target market (Papadopoulos 1989 311 and 1987 82)

Because the deficient scientific examination of Greek tourism and its impactsprevents the authorities from establishing quantifiable and measurable tourismpolicies their policies are based on subjective and personal judgements while feedbackpractices are rarely followed In addition the implementation of the vaguelydefined tourism policy as well as the targets regulations and standards are oftenbent to accommodate lobbying and political pressures (Zacharatos 1989 279)Komilis (1993 225) suggests that tourism planning in Greece is generally realisedand exercised within a socio-political environment characterised by severalfactors a limited degree of political commitment lack of social awareness andacceptability of planning actions inadequacy of scientific and technical founda-

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 459

Table 7 Greek tourism policy targets

Development of demand

Training of tourism employees

Increase arrivals and foreign exchange income

Increase competitiveness of tourism product

Improvement of services in the industry

Reduction of seasonality and expansion of tourism season

Attraction of high spenders and alternative types of tourism

Construction of facilities appealing to the upper end of the market such as luxuryhotels golf courses congress centres casinos and marinas

Development of tourism infrastructure with emphasis on transportation

Support of social tourism for low-income domestic tourists

Geographical redistribution of tourism

tion to support planning intervention and a centralised administrative-institu-tional system gathering a plethora of functions but failing to perform itscoordination and enforcing role When the conflicting interests and power of eachmember of the tourism industry are brought into the equation where differentpartners attempt to influence legislation in order to maximise their own short-termprofitability regardless of the impacts on the destination and other enterprises theplanning process becomes more complicated This results in an ineffective plan-ning system and process which produces policies unable to provide an appropri-ate balance between restrictive policies and control planning implementationMoreover the plethora of SMTEs in combination with inadequate legislationconcerning their establishment and operation seem to affect adversely thecompetitiveness of the industry and the ability to diversify and enrich local tour-ism products (Komilis 1992 11 EIU 1990 59)

Consequently several structural problems are originated jeopardising theprosperity of both SMTEs and destinations especially in overdeveloped regionsOn the supply side failure of the infrastructure to follow the dramatic expansionof the superstructure in combination with the lack of solid institutional context oftourism policy and long-term regulation result in the exploitation and inadequacyof environmental and socio-cultural resources as well as the inability of the indus-try to generate the level of economic benefits desired and expected On the tourismdemand side after the meteoric growth in the 1970s and 1980s the Greek tourismindustry has been trying to transform lsquothe country into a destination which cancompete not just on price but on value for moneyrsquo (EIU 1990 45) It is becomingapparent that the tourism population in not infinite and an adaptability andresponsiveness to touristsrsquo needs is ofgreat importance (Sezeramp Harrison 1994 83)

Structural problems jeopardise the profitability of the private sectorBecause of the aforementioned structural problems most tourism industry

enterprises are experiencing a decline in profitability Hotels in particular arebadly affected due to the high fixed assets as well as their immobility and inflexi-bility which prevents them from adjusting to demand fluctuation Several reasonsdetermine their low profitability and inability to increase prices in line with infla-tion The low occupancy levels achieved yearly is a key problem Smith and Jenner(1995 17) estimate that the lsquoyear-round bed occupancy over the range of licensedaccommodation is slightly under 30rsquo As most of the properties are closed duringthe winter months due to the seasonality problems they rely on three to six monthsto generate sufficient returns on their investment The occupancy levels of accom-modation establishments in Greek tourism are often determined by theirco-operation with travel intermediaries Based on the different seasonality patternsof different markets rooms are normally allocated a year before the summer seasonto tour operators on lsquoallotmentrsquo or lsquocommitmentrsquo contracts which effectively deter-mine the prices charged according to the security provided by tour operators forusing and paying for hoteliersrsquo rooms Once the contracts are signed hoteliers effec-tively lose their control on their inventory and their right to market their rooms toother business sources before the release period (typically 7ndash14 days before arrival)in order to avoid overbooking However should their bookings fail to match theirprogramme tour operators often utilise their buying power to cancel unwantedrooms at the beginning of the tourist season without paying compensation Smaller

460 Current Issues in Tourism

hoteliers are often left with unoccupied rooms they which are unable to promote atthe lsquolast minutersquo unless they drop their prices to unacceptable levels As a result oftheir deficient intra-channel power hotels often suffer a significant cut-back of theiroccupancy levels which has direct implications for their profitability (Buhalis 19952000c 460 Ktenas 1996)

Similarly the seasonality of the Mediterranean and Greek tourism industry hasalways been a problem for the profitability of SMTEs since enterprises operateonly for a limited period (Jenner amp Smith 1993 70 Drakatos 1987 Donatos ampZairis 1991) Attempts to promote winter tourism by developing cultural andspecial interest tourism in the islands and winter sports in several ski resorts inGreece have proved fairly unsuccessful (EIU 1986 56) This is attributed to theimage of Greece as an exclusively summer-sun destination as well as to the unco-ordinated attempts to maintain tourism enterprises active during the wintermonths (EIU 1990 57)

The average room rate is the second major determinant of hotel profitability It isbecoming apparent that employment costs and cost of capital in combination witha relatively strong currency policy reduce the ability of Greek accommodationestablishments to offer competitive pricing and maintain their profitabilityMarketing inadequacies and inability to promote the tourism product as a differ-entiated entity the rapid increase of supply in comparison to demand and theoverall dependence upon the oligopsonistic tour operators for the Greek tourismproduct promotion force hoteliers to accept contracts by tour operators whichminimise their profit margin and adversely effect the quality of their productIncreasing levels of pressure by tour operators prevent SMTEs from renovatingand investing in their properties and therefore a gradual deterioration of the prop-erties is inevitable (Richter-Papaconstantinou 1992 14 Skoulas 1985 189) Euro-pean tour operators faced with fierce competition in their markets are essentiallywilling to pay an annual price increase equal to little less than the depreciation ofthe drachma plus the inflation at the place of origin of the tourists (Ktenas 1994)This policy progressively deteriorates the profitability of the Greek tourism indus-try and has severe impacts for its prosperity The situation is worse for smalleraccommodation establishments which manage to negotiate even smaller priceincreases due to their exclusive dependence upon fewer intermediaries(Logothetis 1992 14)

The oversupply of tourism services both in Greece and worldwide also contributesto global competition for a less rapidly increasing demand (Josephides 1993 54)In Greece the average annual increase of the official hotel bed supply in 1983ndash1992was 47 while the annual average increase in international tourist bednights was27 (Epilogi 1994 271) The investment incentive Law 126282 boosted this over-supply as it generated small infeasible and uncontrollable accommodation unitsunable to offer high quality of services while it increased the concentration of tour-ism units in infrastructure-undersupplied resorts (Kriebardis amp Marmagiolis1990 51 Stavrou 1989b 5) The vast majority of the capacity growth is on the lsquoille-galrsquo unregistered self-catering and self-serviced lsquoparahoteleriarsquo sector whichprovide very low quality and priced accommodation and therefore appeal tomass tour operatorsrsquo clientele This not only increases unfair competition for theofficially registered hotels but also reduces both tax revenues and employment atthe macro level

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 461

Horwath (1994 3) concludes that

unfortunately the results in terms of return on investment in the tourismindustry are not very promising especially when compared with those ofother Greek economic sectors It is an undisputable fact that the averageGreek tourism entrepreneur is heavily dependent on the tourist packageprice which is strongly negotiated by the international tour operators It isan lsquounhealthyrsquo dependency as a result of the weak position of the Greektourist product in the international market In addition the aforemen-tioned dependency is the result of the lack of marketing activities in anaverage tourist enterprise As we all know effective marketing activitiesare based on the product place price promotion which all contribute toclient satisfaction and further to a bigger share in the international touristmarket Up to now three of the aforementioned important elements ofmarketing have been overlooked which determine the weak negotiationpower of the Greek entrepreneur

This situation has also resulted to several European companies expandingtheir operations into Greece or purchasing shares in Greek partners in order toimprove their vertical integration Should this vertical integration expand signif-icantly however lsquoGreek tourism will be in fact controlled by foreign deci-sion-making centres which will certainly operate on the basis of their owninterests and not according to the overall interests of our national economyrsquo(Kalogeropoulou 1993 2) Hence radical measures are required immediately inproduct formulation promotion strategy and distribution channels to supportboth Greek destinations and SMTEs to enhance their competitiveness profitabil-ity and prosperity Failure to react would have severe implications for the futureof the Greek tourism private sector as the essence of its existence would be jeop-ardised its costs may exceeding its returns

Structural problems generate negative tourism impactsIn addition to the profitability problems of the private sector the aforemen-

tioned structural problems have profound implications for the welfare of hostpopulations in various Greek destinations as their economic social cultural andenvironmental resources are exploited without ensuring their sustainabilityLack of comprehensive research and failure to initiate carrying-capacity limits orzoning systems contribute to the anarchic development of tourism as well asexpand negative impacts of tourism on local societies and environments Thefollowing section highlights some of the costs Greek destinations are called topay for their tourism activity whilst it suggests that these issues should beaddressed in the strategic planning process

Macro-economic negative impactsDespite the contribution of tourism to the Greek economy certain potential

risks can also be identified Not only is the competitiveness and profitability ofthe tourism industry jeopardised but also several destination regions seem tofollow a policy of developing tourism at the expense of industrial and agricul-tural growth (Stavrou 1989a 6 Vernicos 1987 105) Instead of tourism stimulat-ing agriculture it seems that it hastens its decline as the two economic activities

462 Current Issues in Tourism

compete for land and labour The lack of structural investments in industrial oragricultural sectors combined with the popularity of tourism professions in theworkforce endanger the balance of the regional economy while reducing thetourism multipliers (Briassoulis 1993 295) As a result the economic structure ofthe destination is jeopardised while a complete dependence upon tourismbecomes inevitable (Komilis 1992 7) Both opportunity costs and displacementeffects are therefore evident Moreover there is evidence that the progress ofdestinations through their life-cycle and especially the introduction of masstourism decreases their economic impacts while it makes local control of theindustry far more difficult (Loukissas 1982 537) lsquoBecause of the high degree ofdependence of Greek tourist enterprises on tour operators the actual amount oftourist spending remaining in the country is only the 40ndash50 of total touristspendingrsquo (Briassoulis 1993 296) Public-sector subsidies to the private sector invarious forms such as incentives cooperative marketing campaigns and unem-ployment benefits in the off-season as well as tax evasion and lsquoparaeconomyrsquo alsoreduce the real benefit at the macro level (Mourdoukoutas 1988 Drakatos 1987Leontidou 1991 102) Lack of scientific research on the economic impacts oftourism makes the real contribution of tourism in the economy speculativerather than based on hard evidence (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Konsolas ampZacharatos 1993)

Social and cultural negative impactsThe development of mass tourism and the lack of effective planning and

management are also responsible for a number of negative social and culturalimpacts observed in Greek host societies (Tsartas 1989 1992 Stavrou 19781979 1980 1986b) Although the degree of interaction of the population withtourists depends heavily on the geomorphology of destinations and the loca-tion of resorts (Loukissas 1982 538) touristsrsquo behaviour is often offensive tothe host population but tolerated due to the economic benefits (Castelberg-Koulma 1991 201 Kousis 1989 Wickens 1994 823) Most Greek tourismdestinations are almost crime-free zones during the winter due to the smallpopulation and personal relationships of locals Tourism however introducesseveral types of criminal activity often unknown to local people As policeforces are usually allocated according to needs of the permanent population ina destination they are often incapable of handling the demands of the summermonths and are unable to deal with visitorsrsquo misbehaviour such as hooliganismand lsquolager-lootingrsquo

The commercialisation of history cultural traditions and the Greek lifestyle isa phenomenon met in several destinations This regrettably affects the renownedGreek hospitality commercialises human relations with tourists and reduces theties of solidarity and cooperation between locals since they compete for the tour-ism market (Papadopoulos 1988b 24) As the average employee works 605hours weekly for 295 weeks a year there is little time left for social religious andcultural obligations during the season (Mourdoukoutas 1988 325) Although acertain degree of lsquodemonstration effectrsquo and lsquoxenomaniarsquo can be attributed totourism the country is equally influenced by the mass media as well as by theGreek students and professionals living abroad (Papadopoulos 1988a 30Wickens 1994 822) Moore (1995) also explains that tourism not only has had a

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 463

contribution to the increase of alcohol consumption by Greeks but has alsoshifted their taste away from locally produced wine to imported spirits and beerBriassoulis (1993 296) perhaps describes best the change in labour force valueswhen as she suggests that tourism has created a

peculiar parasitic group of tourist entrepreneurs operating tourist-servingenterprises like tavernas cafeterias etc the principal characteristics ofwhich are high profits and tax evasion Consequently a particular person-ality type is created the lsquosuccessfulrsquo entrepreneur who earns a lot with littlework has a rich erotic life and is professionally independent (in contrast topublic and private employees) This model is followed by many youngpeople who abandon other productive year-round occupations lsquoworkrsquoonly during the tourist season stay idle for the rest of the year and eventu-ally suffer from the volatility of the tourist market

The family relations and values are therefore under great transition andperhaps threat (Castelberg-Koulma 1991 201 Kousis 1989 Moore 1992)

Negative environmental impactsDespite environmental resources becoming central to destinationsrsquo competi-

tiveness most Greek destinations go through an unparalleled exploitation due toinadequate planning and reinvestment in their sustainability jeopardising theirfuture (Buhalis amp Fletcher 1995) Boniface and Cooper (1994 141) suggest thatgeographical concentration of tourism

has led to the view that Greece will become saturated with tourists and thatdamage will be done to the environment and cultural heritage in the morepopular areas Already the environment has suffered from haphazarduncontrolled building and pollution of the sea and the flora and fauna arebeing effected by waste disposal

Coastal pollution water shortages sewage treatment waste disposal trafficcongestion noise pollution overbuilding and aesthetic degradation are some ofthe impacts experienced already in a number of resorts (Briassoulis 1993 297Coccosis amp Parprairis 1992 Peterson 1990 Marinos 1983 Stavrou 1988 19 and1989a 5 Papadopoulos 1988b 24) Most of the islands also face water shortagedue to the inability of natural supplies to provide sufficient water for the tourismdemand Imported mineral water from the mainland is an expensive way tosolve this problem due to the transportation cost while it creates more waste andenvironmental damage In addition the destruction of endangered speciesrsquo habi-tats is another problem experienced on several islands (ZakynthosCaretta-Caretta and Allonissos monk-seals) (Ottaway 1992 Van Den Bergh1993 70 Prurier et al 1993) Urgent coordination with all tourism actors at thelocal level is essential while regulation is required to set objective and measurablelimits and targets in order to preserve local environmental resources Financialdifficulties in the industry only exacerbate these impacts as the private and publicsectors feel unable to reinvest in the conservation of resources

The aforementioned negative impacts emerge as a result of the structuralproblems of the Greek tourism industry and illustrate that the mass tourismorientation of the industry reduces the sovereignty of the host population over

464 Current Issues in Tourism

their land and resources whilst jeopardising their expected benefits and futurewelfare As these impacts are trade-offs for the economic gains of the tourismactivity it is important that consistent long-term strategic planning should beundertaken in order to enable the preservation of the local resources and achievesustainability at tourism destinations These tasks should all be reinforced byresearch political will and strategic planning

Where Do We Need to Go and How Are We Going ThereTowards Strengthening the Competitiveness of Greek Tourismand SMTEs

Based on the situation analysis as well as on the strategic weaknesses andstructural problems the paper attempts to provide a framework for strategicplanning which will enable the strengthening of the competitiveness of Greektourism and SMTEs Porter (1985 1) suggests that competitive strategy lsquois thesearch for a favourable competitive position in an industryrsquo which is a function ofthe attractiveness of the industry and the relative competitive position withinthat particular industry He also argues that lsquocompetitive strategy aims to estab-lish a profitable and sustainable position against the forces that determine indus-try competitionrsquo Competitiveness is therefore defined as the effort undertakenby organisations to maintain long-term profitability above the average of theparticular industry within which they operate or above alternative investmentopportunities in other industries

Traditionally the tourism industry in the majority of destinations worldwideis based on a network of SMTEs which provide all types of tourism products andservices while enabling closer interaction between the host population and visi-tors as well as facilitating a rapid infusion of tourism spending into the localeconomy As lsquotouristsrsquo overall experience is composed of numerous smallencounters with a variety of tourism service providersrsquo (Moutinho 1990 104)there is a great overlap between the customer perception of local SMTEs anddestinations which makes them almost indistinguishable Consequently thecompetitiveness and prosperity of destinations and SMTEs are closely interre-lated as the fortune of the one depends heavily upon the management andcompetitiveness of the other Therefore the generic strategy for destinationsinvolves SMTEs and vice versa

Grand strategy Strategy formulation for Greek tourism and SMTEsBased on the strategic analysis a grand strategy is proposed for the Greek

tourism industry and SMTEs in order to demonstrate the directions the destina-tions should follow in their attempt to increase their competitiveness and reducetheir vulnerability As different resorts destinations and SMTEs have dissimilarneeds only generic strategies can be drawn However these guidelines can beapplicable to destinations and SMTEs worldwide as they address strategic ratherthan operational issues The analysis is based on the assumption that SMTEsformulate leisure value-added chains or networks of wealth creation whichessentially comprise the entire destination Therefore an integrated approach isfollowed as there is a great complementarity between the strategies and strate-gic directions for both the Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 465

The grand strategy analysis is based on an examination of three general strat-egy models namely Porterrsquos generic strategies Gilbertrsquos proposition for lsquodiffer-entiation of the destinationrsquo and Poonrsquos analysis for lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo Agrand strategy is then proposed for both Greek tourism and SMTEs based oninference emerging from these three models Figure 1 illustrates the three maingeneric strategies proposed by Porter (1980 34ndash46) in order to lsquooutperform otherfirms in an industryrsquo overall cost leadership where the firm is required to minimiseits costs based on mass production and strict cost control of the main businessfunctions differentiation of products or services by lsquocreating something that isperceived industry-wide as being uniquersquo or focus on a lsquoparticular buyer groupsegment of the product line or geographical marketrsquo and achieve either cost leader-ship or product differentiation (Porter 1980 37ndash8)

Furthermore Gilbert (1984 1990) argues that destinations should differenti-ate their tourism products in order to be able to achieve a unique lsquotourist productbenefitrsquo which would enable them to establish their position in the internationaltourism market as well as to attract high spenders and loyal tourists Tourismdestinations therefore should attempt to achieve a lsquostatus arearsquo image ratherthan a lsquocommodity arearsquo one as illustrated in Figure 2 In the first case the desti-nation is heavily substitutable very sensitive to price and economic changeswhile consumers have a low awareness of any unique benefits or attributes of theregion Thus holidaymakers base their decision to visit the area merely on pricewhile the demand for the destination is incidental and destinations are unable toattract high spenders In contrast lsquostatus areasrsquo achieve intentional demand as aresult of the unique product attributes perceived by the tourism market Theseunique attributes may be genuine or imagined and thus a destination isregarded as irreplaceable increasing consumersrsquo loyalty and willingness to payGilbert (1990 24ndash5) asserts that destinations should attempt to become lsquostatusareasrsquo in order to improve their image loyalty and economic benefits

A third strategic approach is proposed by Poon (1987 1988 1989 1990 1993)based on the concept of lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo of the tourism business Inessence Poon examines the industry processes and proposes a strategy to enabletourism organisations to improve their competitiveness Poon argues that lsquoflexi-ble specialisationrsquo is a strategy of lsquopermanent innovationrsquo and lsquoceaseless changersquowhich provides for the lsquonew tourismrsquo This new tourism is flexible segmentedcustomised to the touristrsquos needs and diagonally integrated In contrast the oldtourism can be characterised as lsquomass standardised and rigidly packagedrsquo(Poon 1989 91ndash3)

466 Current Issues in Tourism

STRATEGIC ADVANTAGE

Perceived product uniqueness Cost advantage

TARGETMARKET

Industrywide Differentiation Cost Leadership

Particularsegmentsonly

Differentiation Focus Cost Focus

Figure 1 Porterrsquos three generic strategiesSource Porter 1980 39

The main sources of flexibility for service firms lie in the organisationmanagement marketing distribution and other forms of interaction andinterrelationships among guests hotels suppliers distributors What isimportant however is not each of these stand alone aspects but how theyare coupled to create competitive advantages and hence capabilities tomove with the market (Poon 1988 24)

Examination of these three main strategies illustrates that they share a similarbase Porterrsquos lsquodifferentiationrsquo Gilbertrsquos lsquostatus arearsquo and Poonrsquos lsquoflexiblespecialisationrsquo describe the attempt undertaken by firms and tourist destinationsto achieve value competitive advantages In contrast the lsquocost leadershiprsquo lsquocom-modity arearsquo and the lsquostandardisation or Fordism production modelrsquo describethe effort to achieve lsquocost competitive advantagersquo where destinations andSMTEs offer their products for less than their competitors In the first caseconsumers perceive the product as unique and are willing to pay a premiumwhile in the second case the decision is merely based on price Thus the classicalstrategic decision of lsquolow volume-high profit marginrsquo or lsquohigh volume-low profitmarginrsquo is the underlying concept of the two alternative strategies

Both Gilbert and Poon agree that destinations should aim to achieve lsquostatusarearsquo or niche orientation through differentiation in order to increase consumersatisfaction as well as to maximise the benefits for both regions and SMTEs As aresult Greek tourism and SMTEs need to focus towards the differentiation strat-egy define their niche markets and serve them accordingly This strategy isalready adopted in several resort areas such as Valencia in Spain where it isrecognised that the need for diversification and differentiation lsquohas now becomeessential owing to the level of competitiveness that has been attained (and can beforeseen) in the world tourist marketrsquo (Fayos-Sola 1992 49) Differentiation isalso particularly useful for insular destinations in microstates where a limitednumber of economic and financial resources are available (Wilkinson 1989 170)As most destinations consist of SMTEs networks there is an overlap betweentheir strategic orientations and therefore the above analysis is applicable to boththe Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Destinations implementing a lsquostatus arearsquo strategy can enhance the satisfac-tion of tourists as well as their competitiveness The formulation of unique and

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 467

CommodityArea

Statusarea

Willingness topay higher prices

StatusArea

Product attributes Product attributes

CommodityArea

Figure 2 Gilbertrsquos differentiation strategySource Adapted from Gilbert 1990 25

customised products by using flexibility and cooperation also increases touristsrsquowillingness to pay and wins their loyalty while it responds to the new tourismdemand trends However the proposed strategy should not be seen as an excusefor SMTEs and destinations not to attempt to improve their efficiency and mini-mise their production costs Although the unique service for touristsrsquo needs shouldbe their priority offering perceived value for money would determine theircompetitiveness in the marketplace As a result all Greek resorts and SMTEsshould assess their assets and strengths for serving specific target markets takingadvantage of their small size which facilitates flexibility and specialisation

It is quite apparent that the cost advantage strategy has to be avoided inmanagement of tourism destinations as regions need to preserve their scarceenvironmental and sociocultural resources and achieve sustainable develop-ment As cost advantage is based on mass production and consumption itassumes an unlimited production capacity which is inapplicable in the tourismindustry The inseparability of the tourism product determines that consumersshould be present at the time of product delivery and when combined with tour-ism seasonality it generates demand peaks which drain destinationsrsquo scarceenvironmental sociocultural resources The lsquohigh volume-low profit marginrsquostrategy has therefore harmful social and environmental impacts on destina-tions Destinations have maximum carrying capacities beyond which both thewelfare of local populations and the satisfaction of tourists are jeopardisedAlthough economic benefits can also be achieved by using the lsquocommodity arearsquoor the lsquostandard product modelrsquo it is argued that these approaches reduce tour-istsrsquo satisfaction and their willingness to pay and are opposed to the demandtrend towards individualisation

Unfortunately however some destinations can no longer be positioned asirreplaceable unique products due to their overdevelopment Tourism supplyhas exceeded the carrying capacity of these resorts and their product hasreached the saturation or decline phase of their life-cycle Several Spanish costasand some Greek resorts such as Benitses Kavos Faliraki Malia Hersonissos andNidri (Josephides 1994) have been overdeveloped to such an extent that only alsquohigh-volume low-profit marginrsquo strategy is feasible When resorts reach theirsaturation level only a lsquocost leadershiprsquo or lsquomass productionrsquo strategy can beproposed as they are unable to provide any specific lsquotourist product benefitrsquo Theattraction of the lower end of the market is inevitable and as a consequence thereare no alternative strategies The minimisation of further sociocultural and envi-ronmental damage as well as attempts to improve the surrounding environmentshould also be a primary objective of both tourism destinations and SMTEs in thiscase The ultimate aim should be to regenerate the resources of the area and torelaunch the tourism destination to attract specific markets which will be willing topay a higher price for the destination

Strategic directions objectives and tasks for Greek tourism and SMTEsTable 8 presents three pivotal strategic directions which are identified in order

to stimulate the competitiveness of both Greek tourism and SMTEs This sectionillustrates how the aforementioned grand strategy can be implemented for tour-ist destinations and SMTEs through a number of strategic directions objectivesand tasks as presented in Table 9

468 Current Issues in Tourism

Enhancing the satisfaction of tourists and delighting the customer are pivotalto ensuring the well-being of Greek destinations and SMTEs in the long term andthus the entire range of tourism service providers should aim to delight theirclients As a result of the tourism product integration consumer satisfactioncannot be achieved by independent businesses separately but by the entirenetwork of SMTEs in Greek destinations The improvement in services isperhaps the most important strategic objective Consistency of promises throughstandardisation of service delivery and implementation of a total qualitymanagement philosophy throughout the industry are essential strategic tasks forachieving this objective while flexibility in service delivery and improvementsin training are critical In line with the grand strategy the production oftailor-made tourism products should be ensured in order to satisfy the specificneeds of particular niches and the requirements of the emerging new tourismdemand Product augmentation would enable also the Greek tourism product toexceed the expectations of consumers and hence enhance their satisfaction Lifestyle segmentation would enable Greek tourism and SMTEs to design appropri-ate tourism products As tourist demand elasticity has increasingly becomedoubtful in recent years the price of the holiday is no longer considered to be themost important attribute in the decision-making process Consequently theGreek tourism industry should concentrate on providing value for money at allprice levels as well as offering at least whatever they have promised to theconsumer

Supporting the long-term competitiveness and profitability of Greek tour-ism and SMTEs is by far the most important strategic objective for the tourismindustry The first strategic objective for every SMTE has to be the increase inrevenue by maximising its occupancy or load factors and the rates it achievesThe lengthening of the operating season as well as the identification of newmarkets and the penetration into existing ones and the effective utilisation ofdistribution channels will contribute to this strategic direction Higher ratescan be achieved by targeting specialised and smaller tour operators attractingalternative types of tourists and expanding the distribution channels mix aswell as by attempting a certain degree of lsquodisintermediationrsquo by encouragingdirect sales to outgoing travel agencies or consumers Aggressive marketingand establishment of partnerships with other enterprises should be essentialfunctions of Greek tourism and SMTEs Motivation of lsquofront-of-housersquo employ-ees as salesmen and sale incentives would also increase average spending percustomer The use of CRSs and destination management systems may also bean appropriate method for achieving higher prices and better occupancy rates(Buhalis 1994) Finally yield management techniques should be utilised by alltypes of SMTEs to assist them in pricing and maximising revenue Cost control

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 469

Table 8 Pivotal strategic dimensions for Greek tourism

(1) Enhance the satisfaction of tourists and delight the customer(2) Strengthen the long-term profitability and competitiveness of Greek tourism and

SMTEs(3) Develop Greek destinations sustainably and ensure prosperity of host population

470 Current Issues in Tourism

Table 9 Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Strategic directions Strategic objectives Strategic tasks

1 Enhance the sat-isfaction of tour-ists and delightthe customer

11 Improvement of services a Standardisation of service de-livery

b Development of quality controlsystems

c Consistency of promisesd Improvements in operational

managemente Flexibility in services deliveryf Training and education im-

provementsg Smile and personal relation-

shipsh Augmentation of tourism

producti Total quality management

12 Specialisation of tourismproduct

a Niche marketingb Lifestyle targeting

13 Value for money a Quality at each price level

2 Strengthen thelong-term com-petitiveness andprofitability ofGreek tourismand SMTEs

21 Increase revenue a Increase tourist volumesb Target new markets and pene-

tration in existing marketsc Use yield managementd Expand distribution channel

mixe Aggressive marketingf Achieve high average spending

per customerg Select high-quality specialised

tour operatorsh Attract alternative types of

tourismi Use alternative distribution

channelsj Motivate front-of-house em-

ployees as salesmen

22 Cost control and rationalmanagement

a Standardise service deliveryb Increase productivityc Reduce labour costsd Rationalise supplies manage-

mente Educationtraining for manag-

ers and employeesf Use of new technologyg Integrate service delivery

within SMTEs

23 Human resources man-agement

a Internal marketingb Empowermentc Satisfactory salary and working

conditionsd Long-term relations with em-

ployeese Motivation and rewards

and rational management is the second strategic objective needed to increaseefficiency and profitability of both Greek destinations and SMTEs in the longterm Standardisation of the service delivery process and minimisation of thelabour cost through better operational management would be primary recom-mendations Managers and employees should improve their productivity andmarketing skills by intensive training In addition the rationalisation of supplymanagement and the use of new technology is expected to reduce operationalcosts Finally integration of service delivery enables SMTEs to provide comple-mentary services and achieve additional revenues without immense costs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 471

24 State and public tourismorganisation support

a Destination development andcontrol

b Incentives policies for improve-ment

c Attract European Union assis-tance

d Promotional activitye Provide financial resources

3 Develop Greekdestinationssustainably andensure prosper-ity of host popu-lation

31 Environmental protection a Carrying capacity identificationb Zoning system applicationc Architecture preservationd Installation of sewage treat-

ment systemse Reduction of noise pollutionf Natural supplies management

32 Infrastructure ameliora-tion

a Accessibility improvementsb Telecommunication improve-

mentsc Public facilities advancements

33 Transportation improve-ments

a Improvement of local timeta-bles

b Punctuality and reliabilityc Improvements of vehiclesd Flexibility to meet demand

needs

34 Economic integration a Integration with raw materialproduction

b Utilisation of local labour forcec Integration of tourism servicesd Diagonal integration of destina-

tionrsquos economy

35 Equitable return on re-sources utilised

a Establish mechanism forreinvestments

b Provide services for hostcommunity

c Invest in sustainability ofresources

d Ensure equity in distributionof wealth produced

Source Adapted from Buhalis 1991 83a

Table 9 (cont) Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Human resources management is crucial in the delivery process of tourismproducts The concept of lsquointernal marketingrsquo where employees are perceivedand treated as lsquointernal customersrsquo has to be utilised in order to ensure theirsatisfaction As Berry (1981 34) states lsquothe satisfaction of the needs and wants ofthe internal customers can upgrade their capacity for satisfying the needs andwants of their external customersrsquo and as a consequence it can contribute to thecompetitiveness and profitability of Greek tourism and SMTEs Satisfactorysalary and working conditions are prerequisites for the well-being of SMTEsrsquoemployees Long-term relationships between employees and SMTEs minimiseturnover enabling a better performance while they reduce recruitment andtraining costs Empowerment would enable employees to be involved in themanagement of SMTEs and authorise them to respond more efficiently toconsumer requests while contributing to their job satisfaction Finally thesupport of the GNTO is vital for the long-term survival of SMTEs Apart fromthe improvement in infrastructure the GNTO is expected to hold the strategicresponsibility of the destination as well as to regulate the competition in orderto enable smaller enterprises to survive Incentive policies need to reflect thespecific requirements of each resort and enable development or improvementof certain types of enterprises The GNTO is also instrumental in attractingassistance from European development funds while it should also coordinatethe majority of Greek tourism promotional activity A promotional mix whichmaximises the effectiveness of the communication message needs to be drawnwhile budgets need to be available at the time consumers go through their deci-sion-making process in order to influence their choice of destination Finally theneed for the public sector to provide affordable financial resources for SMTEs ishighlighted by the EU (EC 1993b 73)

The third strategic direction for Greek tourism and SMTEs should be thesustainable development of destinations and local areas not only for the hostpopulation but also because this is vital for both consumer satisfaction and theprofitability of SMTEs Although in most cases SMTEs are unable to incorporatethese types of strategic objectives and tasks on their own they can initiate aframework of necessary actions for sustainable destination developmentthrough their associations Environmental protection is naturally the mostimportant strategic objective as consumersrsquo environmental consciousness hasbeen raised recently Carrying capacity limits should be identified and strictregulations and guidelines for tourism development need to be drawn A zoningsystem should be implemented in order to locate tourism activities according tothe geographical morphology of the destination In addition natural resourcesmanagement is necessary as tourism demand may exhaust the resources andespecially the water supplies The installation of sewage treatment systems andthe reduction of noise pollution should be considered especially for resortswhich suffer the consequences of these problems In addition infrastructureamelioration must be one of the primary objectives as it is an essential prerequi-site for both consumersrsquo satisfaction and SMTEsrsquo development The improve-ment of accessibility public services as well as telecommunications facilities is acrucial factor Transportation is also significant in increasing both consumersatisfaction and profitability of SMTEs as it determines whether consumers canaccess the destination easily while it also provides the first impression to tour-

472 Current Issues in Tourism

ists Improvements of timetables and services reliability increasing transporta-tion capacity and an enhancement of the fleet in terms of speed cleanliness andleisure facilities are all required Furthermore greater flexibility is needed bytransportation operators in order to meet demand needs Economic integrationcan improve the economic and social benefits of tourism in the region and theefficiency of SMTEs Ultimately tourism should be utilised as the catalyst andmajor stimulant for regional development Tourism enterprises should makeevery effort to use local raw materials and labour in order to maximise the multi-plier effects within Greece Diagonal integration of destinationsrsquo economy can beachieved by rearranging the goods and service production in order to supportthe tourism industry demand and thus minimise imports Finally SMTEs andtourism organisations need to offer a fair return-on-resources utilised back to thehost community A mechanism should be established in order to reinvest part ofthe revenues in the sustainability of resources provide services for the hostcommunity such as education training health services and generally ensureequity in distribution of wealth produced from local resources As the privatesector cannot be expected to behave altruistically towards the host communitythe GNTO and other public-sector departments should probably utilise regula-tion and taxation for this purpose

Conclusion Greek Tourism Needs a Long Overdue Master Planand Comprehensive Policy

The emerging international tourism competition the hitherto mass tourismorientation of the industry the transformation of demand the development ofthe volume of tourists visiting the dependence upon intermediaries for thedistribution of the tourism product in the major target markets the lack of a widerange of managerial skills by Greek tourism entrepreneurs and the lack of acomprehensive tourism policy or Master Plan by the public sector has led thecompetitiveness of Greece tourism to decline This has several unfavourableimplications for the profitability of the private sector as well as numerous nega-tive economic sociocultural and environmental impacts for the host populationAs a result the return on resources utilised for the production of Greek tourismservices is inadequate and the sustainability of Greece as a major tourism desti-nation is rapidly becoming doubtful Based on a strategic analysis the paper illu-minates the strategic weaknesses and structural problems of both the private andpublic sectors and demonstrates that a rationalisation of the tourism industry isurgently required Consequently a grand strategy as well as a wide range of stra-tegic directions objectives and tasks are proposed for both Greece as an entityand its SMTEs Although no quantitative targets are set in this paper it isexpected that each destination will analyse its resources and adapt its strategicplanning accordingly

The GNTO is urged to rationalise its strategy and to draw up a Master Plan anda comprehensive strategy for the entire country and for each resort where a strategywould be adopted based on quantifiable objectives and tasks Extensive researchneeds to be undertaken by using credible measurement methodologies such asInput-Output models and multipliers analysis not only for the economic but alsofor the social cultural and environmental impacts (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Buhalis

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 473

amp Fletcher 1995) A holistic tourism management system is demanded to facilitatethe development and implementation of the tourism strategy through funds allo-cation and monitoring land use control and examination of tourism public- andprivate-sector practices A thorough examination of tourism impacts in eachregion would be a prerequisite for tourism planning as it will establish andprovide scientific backing to strategic targets Komilis (1994 71) explains thatalthough the various levels of planning (sectoral nationalEU spatial or regional)are not mutually exclusive but rather complementary the regional level planningis more suitable for drawing sustainable strategies especially for areas withdissimilar needs like the Greek destinations The regional planning should lsquocon-tribute to the maximisation of regional development benefits in a way that utilisesand mobilises the regional resource base realises regional inter-sectoral linkagesand is compatible with regional economic interests societal values and environ-mental assetsrsquo It should also take into consideration the uniqueness of insulareconomies as well as the cultural and environmental resources of each particularregion and the complexity of rural and urban functions The planning processshould encourage the complementarity and coexistence of economic activitiesrather than promote sectoral separation and single-sector developments In addi-tion it needs to improve the balance between regional self-sufficiency anddependence upon external inputs and finally it should promote integration withinthe European Union

The public sector has to play its long overdue role as regulator coordinatorinfrastructure provider and promoter of the destination while a multi-integrationof the tourism industry with all the involved bodies in the preparation distribu-tion and delivery of the tourism experience needs to be ensured (Wanhill 1993Hall 1994 Skoulas 1994 10 Stavrou 1988 46) The private sector also has an impor-tant role to play as it should improve the Greek tourism industry competitivenessby improving its managerial and labour force competencies enhancing the qualityof services designing appropriate marketing mixes to attract and satisfy targetmarkets and cooperating closely in order to achieve synergies and economies ofscale (Briassoulis 1993 300 Cooper amp Buhalis 1992) To reverse the vicious circleof decreasing quality is of critical importance for the Greek tourism industryBetter quality services would stimulate the competitiveness of the Greek tourismproduct strengthen its position in the international market provide principalswith distribution channel power enhance its customersrsquo willingness to pay andenable the industry to increase its prices improving the profitability at the microlevel and the economic impacts of tourism at the macrolevel Ultimately a diagonalintegration strategy for both Greek tourism and SMTEs should aim to delightconsumers enhance the long-term prosperity of SMTEs and improve the welfareof the host populations The Olympic Games in 2004 offer a unique opportunity toregenerate and rebrand Greek tourism a cause which the entire industry shouldchampion

The AuthorDimitrios Buhalis is Senior Lecturer and course leader MSc in tourism at theUniversity of Surrey He holds a BBA from the University of the Aegean as wellas an MSc and a PhD in tourism management from the University of Surrey Hisresearch interests focus on information systems and technology strategic

474 Current Issues in Tourism

management distribution channels of tourism destination management andplanning and destination integrated computer information reservation manage-ment systems

AcknowledgementsThe author would like to acknowledge Prof C Cooper and Prof J Fletcher for

their invaluable contribution to this research Financial support from the SurreyResearch Group ConTours Consultants as well as field research sponsorshipsby the University of Surrey the Greek National Tourism Organisation and theUniversity of the Aegean are gratefully appreciated

Note1 An earlier version of this paper was published as a monograph PlanningDevelop-

ment by the International Centre for Research and Studies in TourismAix-en-Provence France

CorrespondenceAny correspondence should be directed to Dr Dimitrios Buhalis Senior

Lecturer in Business Information Management SMSSS University of SurreyGuildford GU2 7XH UK (dbuhalissurreyacuk)

ReferencesApostolopoulos T (1990) New strategy of tourism development (in Greek) Tourism and

Economy (November) 228ndash38Berry C (1981) The employee as customer Journal of Retail Banking 3 33ndash40Boniface B and Cooper C (1994) The Geography of Travel and Tourism (2nd edn) London

HeinemannBriassoulis H (1993) Tourism in Greece In W Pompl and P Lavery (eds) Tourism in

Europe Structures and Developments (pp285ndash301) Oxford CAB InternationalBuckley P and Papadopoulos S (1986) Marketing Greek tourism The planning process

Tourism Management 7 86ndash100Buhalis D (1991) Strategic marketing and management for the small and medium

tourism enterprises in the periphery of the European Community A case study for theAegean islands in Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Buhalis D (1994) Information and telecommunications technologies as a strategic tool forsmall and medium tourism enterprises in the contemporary business environment InA Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 254ndash75)England J Wiley and Sons

Buhalis D (1995) The impact of information telecommunications technologies on tourismdistribution channels Implications for the small and medium sized tourismenterprisesrsquo strategic management and marketing PhD Dissertation University ofSurrey Guildford

Buhalis D (2000a) Marketing the competitive destination of the future TourismManagement (Special Issue ndash The Competitive Destination) 21 (1) 97ndash116

Buhalis D (2000b) (forthcoming) Athens Tourism-Travel Intelligence LondonBuhalis D (2000c) Relationships in the distribution channel of tourism Conflicts between

hoteliers and tour operators in the Mediterranean region Journal of InternationalHospitality Leisure and Tourism Adminstration 1 (1) 113ndash39

Buhalis D and Diamantis D (2001 forthcoming) Tourism development andsustainability on the Greek archipelagos In G Apostolopoulos and D Ioannides (eds)Tourism in the Mediterranean Routledge

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 475

Buhalis D and Fletcher J (1995) Environmental impacts on tourism destinations Aneconomic analysis In H Coccosis and P Nijkamp (eds) Sustainable Tourism Development(pp 3ndash25) London Avebury

Camison C Bigne E and Monfort VM (1994) The Spanish tourism industry Analysisof its strategies and the efficacy and achievements gained from them In A Seaton et al(eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 442ndash52) England JWiley and Sons

Castelberg-Koulma M (1991) Greek women and tourism Womenrsquos co-operatives as analternative form of organisation In N Redclift and T Sinclair (eds) Working WomenInternational Perspectives on Labour and Gender Ideology (pp 197ndash223) LondonRoutledge

Chitiris L (1991) Hotel Management (in Greek) Athens InterbooksCoccosis H and Parprairis A (1992) Assessing the interactions between environment

and tourism Case study of the island of Mykonos Paper presented in the IV WorldCongress of Regional Science International University of Balearic Islands Palma deMallorca 26ndash9 May

Conway H (1996) Greece Travel Weekly 1308 39ndash43Cooper C and Buhalis D (1992) Strategic management and marketing of small and

medium sized tourism enterprises in the Greek Aegean islands In R Teare D Adamsand S Messenger (eds) Managing Projects in Hospitality Organisations (pp 101ndash25)London Cassell

Daskalantonakis N (1994) Quality ndash The future of tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (3 July)D9

Divanis A (1994b) Tourism policy Left on its own luck (in Greek) XENIA (October)4ndash5

Donatos G and Zairis P (1991) Seasonality of foreign tourism in the Greek islands ofCrete Annals of Tourism Research 18 515ndash19

Douvitsas P (1994) Marketing Greece through British tour operators A futureperspective MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Drakatos C (1987) Seasonal concentration of tourism in Greece Annals of Tourism Research14 582ndash6

EC (1993a) Microeconomic Analysis of the Tourism Sector A study by the pH Group forEuropean Commission DGXXIII (September) Report XXIII30394-EN BrusselsEuropean Commission

EC (1993b) Growth competitiveness employment The challenges and ways forward intothe 21st century Bulletin of the European Communities Supplement 693 (White Paper)Luxembourg

Economist (1993) Last Chance Sisyphus A survey of Greece Economist (22 May) 2ndash22EIU (1986) Greece (pp 45ndash60) International tourist reports National Report No 3EIU (1990) Greece (pp 45ndash62) International tourist reports National Report No 4EIU (1993) Greece ndash Country Profile 1992ndash1993 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEIU (1994) Greece ndash Country Profile 1994ndash1995 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEpilogi (1994) Economic review ndash The Greek Economy 1994 (in Greek) AthensEuromonitor (1992) Tourism in Greece Market Research Europe (25 May) 51ndash63Fayos-Sola E (1992) A Strategic Outlook for Regional Tourism Policy The White Paper

on Valencian Tourism Tourism Management 13 45ndash9Fotis J (1992) Vacational lifestyle segmentation of tourists on the island of Rhodes

Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey GuildfordGilbert D (1984) The need for countries to differentiate their tourist product and how to

do so Seminar papers for Ministers of Tourism and Directors of National TouristOrganisations Tourism Managing for Results University of Surrey Guildford

Gilbert D (1990) Strategic marketing planning for national tourism Tourist Review 45 (1)18ndash27

GNTO (1985a) Survey of attributes of foreign tourists 1984ndash1985 (in Greek) Greek NationalStatistical Services Athens GNTO

476 Current Issues in Tourism

GNTO (1985b) EOT-Tourism rsquo85 Development ndash Participation ndash Quality of Life (in Greek)Greek National Statistical Services Athens GNTO

GNTO (1989a) Annual report 1988 ndash Forecast 89 Towards Quality Athens GNTOGNTO (1989b) The study of tourism promotion With special reference to the measures to

increase Japanese tourists to Greece Draft final report Japan InternationalCooperation Agency

GNTO (1993) Tourism towards the 2000 (in Greek) Greek National Tourism OrganisationAthens GNTO

Hall M (1994) Tourism and Politics Policy Power and Place J Wiley and SonsHorwath (annual) The Greek Hotel Industry (in Greek) Annual reports Pireus HorwathJenner P and Smith C (1993) Tourism in the Mediterranean Research report London

Economist Intelligence UnitJosephides N (1993) Environmental Concern ndash Whatrsquos In It for the Tourism Industry (pp 51ndash6)

Proceedings of the conference Tourism and the environment Challenges and choicesfor the 1990rsquos 16ndash17 November 1992 Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre LondonBrussels European Union

Josephides N (1994) Tourism analysis Presentation in Philoxenia international tourismexhibition Thessaloniki Greece

Josephides N (1995) A sorry state for beautiful Greece Travel Weekly 1261 (5 April)11Kalogeropoulou H (1993) Greece ndash Prospects for the tourism industry within the context

of the European Single Market of 1993 Tourism Review 48 (1) 2ndash4Kassimati K Thanopoulou M and Tsartas P (1994) Womenrsquos Employment in the

Tourist Sector Study of the Greek Labour Market and Identification of Future ProspectsDGV Equal Opportunities Unit Document V40994-EN European CommissionBrussels

Komilis P (1987) Spatial analysis of tourism in Greece (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planningand Economic Research

Komilis P (1992) The spatial structure of tourism and physical planning practices inGreece Paper presented in conference Tourism and environment Issues ofpolicyplanningmanagement 23ndash4 October University of the Aegean Dept ofEnvironment Lesvos

Komilis P (1993) Values in the Tourism Planning and Policy Making Process (pp 224ndash9)Proceedings of the conference Values and the environment 23ndash4 September GuildfordUniversity of Surrey

Komilis P (1994) Tourism and sustainable regional development In A Seaton et al (eds)Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 65ndash73) England JWiley andSons

Konsolas N and Zacharatos G (1993) Regionalization of tourism activity in GreeceProblems and policies In H Briassoulis and J Van der Straaten (eds) Tourism andEnvironment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 57ndash65) Dordrecht Kluer AcademicPublisher

Kousis M (1989) Tourism and the family in a rural Cretan community Annals of TourismResearch 16 318ndash32

Kriebardis S and Marmagiolis I (1990) Tourism Activity in Greece Problems and Perspectives(pp 45ndash54) (in Greek) Economic Report of Commercial Bank AprilndashJune AthensCommercial Bank

Ktenas S (1994) Hoteliers ask for 15 to 20 increases for 1995 (in Greek) TO BHMA (3July) D9

Ktenas S (1996) Crisis in Greek tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (7 April) D16Leontidou L (1991) Greece Prospects and contradictions of tourism in the 1980rsquos In AM

Williams and GJ Shaw (eds) Tourism and Economic Development Western EuropeanExperiences (2nd edn) (pp 94ndash106) London Belhaven Press

Logothetis M (1990) The Economy of Dodekanisos During 1988ndash1989 Developments andPerspectives (in Greek) Rhodes Regional association of municipalities of Dodekanisos

Logothetis M (1992) Touristiki Sigkiria (in Greek) Rhodes Institute of Tourist and HotelResearch

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 477

Loukissas P (1977) The impact of tourism on regional development A comparativeanalysis of the Greek islands PhD Dissertation Cornell University USA

Loukissas P (1982) Tourismrsquos regional development impacts A comparative analysis ofthe Greek islands Annals of Tourism Research 9 523ndash43

Marinos P (1983) Small island tourism-the case of Zakynthos in Greece TourismManagement 4 212ndash15

Moore R (1992) From shepherds to shopkeepers The development of tourism in a centralGreek town PhD Dissertation University of California at Berkeley USA

Moore R (1995) Gender and alcohol use in a Greek tourist town Annals of Tourism Research22 300ndash13

Mourdoukoutas P (1988) Seasonal employment seasonal unemployment andunemployment compensation The case of the tourism industry of the Greek islandsAmerican Journal of Economics and Sociology 47 315ndash29

NSSG (l983) Tourism Statistics 1981 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (l985) Tourism Statistics 1982ndash1983 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1987) Tourism Statistics 1984ndash1985 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1990) Tourism Statistics 1986ndash1987 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1993) Tourism Statistics 1988ndash1990 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceOECD (1992) Greece Tourism Policy and International Tourism in OECD Member Countries (pp

70ndash8) Paris OECDOttaway M (1992) Turtle power Sunday Times Travel and Style (28 June)Ottaway M (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 1 Sunday Times (17 January)

57ndash59Panagiotopoulou R (1990) The problem and perspectives of the European insular regions

(in Greek) Working paper University of the Aegean ChiosPapadimitris G (1988) Short run and long run prospects of the Greek tourism industry

PhD Dissertation University of Manchester ManchesterPapadopoulos S (1985) An economic analysis of foreign tourism in Greece An

examination of the growth and structure of foreign tourism to Greece 1960ndash1984 with aplanning model and marketing policy recommendations PhD Thesis University ofBradford Management Centre Bradford

Papadopoulos S (1987) Strategic marketing techniques in international tourismInternational Marketing Review (summer) 71ndash84

Papadopoulos S (1988a) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (1) 29ndash30

Papadopoulos S (1988b) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (2) 24ndash7

Papadopoulos S (1989) Greek marketing strategies in the Europe tourism market ServiceIndustries Journal 9 297ndash314

Papadopoulos S and Mirza H (1985) Foreign tourism in Greece An economic analysisTourism Management 6 125ndash37

Papandropoulos A (1995) The crisis in tourism is evident (in Greek) OikonomikosTachydromos (29 June) 26ndash8

Papanikos G (1999) The year 2004 olympic games and their influence upon the Greektourism (in Greek) ITEP (Research Institute for Tourism) Athens

Paulopoulos P (1999) The Size and Dynamics of the Tourism Sector (in Greek) ResearchInstitute for Tourism Athens

Peterson C (1990) Greece tackles overbuilding in tourism areas EnvironmentalConservation 17 166ndash8

Plevris V (1995) Alarm bells from the Hellenic Federation of Hotels (in Greek) XENIA128 (May) 6ndash7

Poon A (1987) Information technology and innovation in international tourism ndashimplications for the Caribbean tourism industry PhD thesis Science Policy ResearchUnit University of Sussex Brighton

Poon A (1988) Flexible specialisation and small size ndash the case of Caribbean tourism DRCDiscussion Paper 57 SPRU Brighton University of Sussex

478 Current Issues in Tourism

Poon A (1989) Competitive strategies for new tourism In C Cooper (ed) Progress inTourism Recreation and Hospitality Management (vol 1) (pp 91ndash102) London BelhavenPress

Poon A (1990) Flexible specialisation at small size The case of Caribbean tourism WorldDevelopment 18 109ndash23

Poon A (1993) Tourism Technology and Competitive Strategies Oxford CAB InternationalPorter M (1980) Competitive Strategy Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors

New York Free PressPorter M (1985) Competitive Advantage Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance New

York Free PressPorter M (1990) The Competitive Advantage of Nations New York Free PressPrurier E Sweeney A and Geen A (1993) Tourism and the environment The case of

Zakynthos Tourism Management 14 137ndash9Psoinos P (1994a) Research on the foreign touristsrsquo attributes in Greece (in Greek) Athens

Greek National Tourism OrganisationPsoinos P (1994b) Research on the attributes of foreigners who have never visited Greece (in

Greek) Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationRichter-Papaconstantinou C (1992) Tourism development of Rhodes Cahiers du Tourisme

(Serie B) 67 Aix en Provence Centre des Hautes Eacutetudes TouristiquesRomanos A (1998) Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites (in Greek) Athens

Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites SASETE (1993) Tourism Developments and problems (in Greek) Athens Association of Greek

Tourism EnterprisesSezer H and Harrison A (1994) Tourism in Greece and Turkey An economic view for

planners In A Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposiumpp74ndash84 England Wiley and Sons

Skoulas N (1985) Holidays and travel in the year 2035 ndash Contribution of the NationalTourist Organisation of Greece SDI Schriftey Wirtschafts und Unternehmenspolitik 40181ndash99

Skoulas N (1994) Quality improvement of tourism services (in Greek) Paper presentedin the conference Competitiveness of tourism enterprises ndash the role of quality 1 AprilHoliday Inn Athens Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises

Smith C and Jenner P (1995) Greece International Tourism Reports 3 5ndash21Stavrou S (1978) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Kos Island (in Greek) Research and

Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationStavrou S (1979) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Mykonos and Naxos Islands (in

Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1980) Research on Tourism Awareness on the Islands Kalymnos and Leros (in Greek)Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1984) Tourism Development in Greece during 1969ndash1982 (in Greek) Research andDevelopment Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986a) Research for the Characteristics of Foreign Tourist Demand in Greece in theYears 8485 (in Greek) Research Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1986b) Research on the Tourism Awareness on Paros Santorini Kythira Islands (inGreek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986c) Critical Review of Tourism Activity in the Years 8385 (in Greek) Researchand Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1988) Tourism in the Northern Aegean Islands Presentation of GNTO for the TourismDevelopment of the Periphery (in Greek) Proceedings of the first conference for thedevelopment of the Northern Aegean islands Homereum cultural centre Chios 11November Chios Periphery of Northern Aegean islands

Stavrou S (1989a) GNTO Presentation for the Tourism Development Possibilities for theSouthern Aegean Islands (in Greek) Conference for the development of Southern Aegean

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 479

islands Syros 30 September ndash 2 OctoberStavrou S (1989b) The Contribution of the Development Law 126282 in the Development of the

Country (in Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A5 Athens GreekNational Tourism Organisation

Stereopoulos N (1995) It is regarded ideal it became problematic (in Greek) OikonomikosTachidromos (21 December) 151ndash3

Touloupas P (1996) Greece as a tourist destination for the British tour operators Ananalysis from a marketing perspective in the particular context of the United KingdomMSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Tourismos ke Oikonomia (1993) 20 years 1973ndash1993 (in Greek) Special Issue AthensTourismos ke Oikonomia (1994) ICAP tourism enterprises Drastic reduction of loses in 1993

(in Greek) December 14ndash15Touristiki Agora (various issues) (Monthly tourism industry periodical in Greek) Business

Press AthensTruett D and Truett L (1987) The response of tourism to international economic

conditions Greece Mexico and Spain Journal of Developing Areas 21 177ndash90Tsartas P (1989) Socioeconomic Impacts of Tourism Development in Cyclades Region with Special

Reference on Ios and Serifos Islands During 1950ndash1980 (in Greek) Athens National Centrefor Social Research

Tsartas P (1992) Socioeconomic impacts of tourism on two Greek isles Annals of TourismResearch 19 516ndash33

Van Den Bergh J (1993) Tourism development and natural environment Aneconomicndashecological model for the Sporades islands In H Briassoulis and J Van DerStraaten (eds) Tourism and Environment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 67ndash83)Dordrecht Kluer Academic Publishers

Velissariou E (1991) Die Wirtschaftlichen Effekte des Tourismus Dargestell am Beispiel Kretas(The Economic Impacts of Tourism on Crete) PhD Dissertation University of MunichFrankfurt Peter Lang

Vernikos N (1987) The study of Mediterranean small islands Emerging theoreticalissues Ekistics 54 (323ndash4) 101ndash9

Wanhill S (1993) Government organisations In C Cooper J Fletcher D Gilbert and SWanhill (eds) Tourism Principle and Practice (pp 145ndash60) London Pitman

Wickens D (1994) Consumption of the authentic The hedonistic tourist in Greece In ASeaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 819ndash25)England JWiley and Sons

Wickens E (2000) Rethinking touristsrsquo experiences In M Robinson et al (eds) MotivationsBehaviour and Tourist Types (pp 455ndash72) Business Education Publishers Sunderland

Wickers D (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 2 Sunday Times 57ndash510Wilkinson PF (1989) Strategies for tourism in islands microstates Annals of Tourism

Research 16 153ndash77XENIA (various issues) (Monthly bulletin of the Greek Hotel Chamber in Greek) AthensZacharatos G (1984) Tourismus und Wirtschafts-Struktur Dargestellt am Beispiel

Griechenlands Europaische Hochschulschriften Reihex Band 7 Frankfurt am MainZacharatos G (1986) Tourism consumption (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planning and

Economic ResearchZacharatos G (1988) The simplistic empiricism Tourism policy and the time of crisis

(1992) (in Greek) Sychrona Themata 11 (May) 21ndash6Zacharatos G (1989) The problems and perspectives of tourism in Greece (in Greek) In H

Katsoulis T Giannitsis and P Kazakos (eds) Politics and Society Economy and ForeignRelationships (pp 273ndash89) Athens Papazisis

Zacharatos G (1993) The necessity of multimedia use in the tourism education in Greece(in Greek) Paper presented at the international conference Overcomingisolation-telematics and regional development University of the Aegean Chios 30April ndash 2 May

480 Current Issues in Tourism

Page 21: Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challengescore.ac.uk/download/pdf/101686.pdf · Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challenges Dimitrios Buhalis School of Management

tion to support planning intervention and a centralised administrative-institu-tional system gathering a plethora of functions but failing to perform itscoordination and enforcing role When the conflicting interests and power of eachmember of the tourism industry are brought into the equation where differentpartners attempt to influence legislation in order to maximise their own short-termprofitability regardless of the impacts on the destination and other enterprises theplanning process becomes more complicated This results in an ineffective plan-ning system and process which produces policies unable to provide an appropri-ate balance between restrictive policies and control planning implementationMoreover the plethora of SMTEs in combination with inadequate legislationconcerning their establishment and operation seem to affect adversely thecompetitiveness of the industry and the ability to diversify and enrich local tour-ism products (Komilis 1992 11 EIU 1990 59)

Consequently several structural problems are originated jeopardising theprosperity of both SMTEs and destinations especially in overdeveloped regionsOn the supply side failure of the infrastructure to follow the dramatic expansionof the superstructure in combination with the lack of solid institutional context oftourism policy and long-term regulation result in the exploitation and inadequacyof environmental and socio-cultural resources as well as the inability of the indus-try to generate the level of economic benefits desired and expected On the tourismdemand side after the meteoric growth in the 1970s and 1980s the Greek tourismindustry has been trying to transform lsquothe country into a destination which cancompete not just on price but on value for moneyrsquo (EIU 1990 45) It is becomingapparent that the tourism population in not infinite and an adaptability andresponsiveness to touristsrsquo needs is ofgreat importance (Sezeramp Harrison 1994 83)

Structural problems jeopardise the profitability of the private sectorBecause of the aforementioned structural problems most tourism industry

enterprises are experiencing a decline in profitability Hotels in particular arebadly affected due to the high fixed assets as well as their immobility and inflexi-bility which prevents them from adjusting to demand fluctuation Several reasonsdetermine their low profitability and inability to increase prices in line with infla-tion The low occupancy levels achieved yearly is a key problem Smith and Jenner(1995 17) estimate that the lsquoyear-round bed occupancy over the range of licensedaccommodation is slightly under 30rsquo As most of the properties are closed duringthe winter months due to the seasonality problems they rely on three to six monthsto generate sufficient returns on their investment The occupancy levels of accom-modation establishments in Greek tourism are often determined by theirco-operation with travel intermediaries Based on the different seasonality patternsof different markets rooms are normally allocated a year before the summer seasonto tour operators on lsquoallotmentrsquo or lsquocommitmentrsquo contracts which effectively deter-mine the prices charged according to the security provided by tour operators forusing and paying for hoteliersrsquo rooms Once the contracts are signed hoteliers effec-tively lose their control on their inventory and their right to market their rooms toother business sources before the release period (typically 7ndash14 days before arrival)in order to avoid overbooking However should their bookings fail to match theirprogramme tour operators often utilise their buying power to cancel unwantedrooms at the beginning of the tourist season without paying compensation Smaller

460 Current Issues in Tourism

hoteliers are often left with unoccupied rooms they which are unable to promote atthe lsquolast minutersquo unless they drop their prices to unacceptable levels As a result oftheir deficient intra-channel power hotels often suffer a significant cut-back of theiroccupancy levels which has direct implications for their profitability (Buhalis 19952000c 460 Ktenas 1996)

Similarly the seasonality of the Mediterranean and Greek tourism industry hasalways been a problem for the profitability of SMTEs since enterprises operateonly for a limited period (Jenner amp Smith 1993 70 Drakatos 1987 Donatos ampZairis 1991) Attempts to promote winter tourism by developing cultural andspecial interest tourism in the islands and winter sports in several ski resorts inGreece have proved fairly unsuccessful (EIU 1986 56) This is attributed to theimage of Greece as an exclusively summer-sun destination as well as to the unco-ordinated attempts to maintain tourism enterprises active during the wintermonths (EIU 1990 57)

The average room rate is the second major determinant of hotel profitability It isbecoming apparent that employment costs and cost of capital in combination witha relatively strong currency policy reduce the ability of Greek accommodationestablishments to offer competitive pricing and maintain their profitabilityMarketing inadequacies and inability to promote the tourism product as a differ-entiated entity the rapid increase of supply in comparison to demand and theoverall dependence upon the oligopsonistic tour operators for the Greek tourismproduct promotion force hoteliers to accept contracts by tour operators whichminimise their profit margin and adversely effect the quality of their productIncreasing levels of pressure by tour operators prevent SMTEs from renovatingand investing in their properties and therefore a gradual deterioration of the prop-erties is inevitable (Richter-Papaconstantinou 1992 14 Skoulas 1985 189) Euro-pean tour operators faced with fierce competition in their markets are essentiallywilling to pay an annual price increase equal to little less than the depreciation ofthe drachma plus the inflation at the place of origin of the tourists (Ktenas 1994)This policy progressively deteriorates the profitability of the Greek tourism indus-try and has severe impacts for its prosperity The situation is worse for smalleraccommodation establishments which manage to negotiate even smaller priceincreases due to their exclusive dependence upon fewer intermediaries(Logothetis 1992 14)

The oversupply of tourism services both in Greece and worldwide also contributesto global competition for a less rapidly increasing demand (Josephides 1993 54)In Greece the average annual increase of the official hotel bed supply in 1983ndash1992was 47 while the annual average increase in international tourist bednights was27 (Epilogi 1994 271) The investment incentive Law 126282 boosted this over-supply as it generated small infeasible and uncontrollable accommodation unitsunable to offer high quality of services while it increased the concentration of tour-ism units in infrastructure-undersupplied resorts (Kriebardis amp Marmagiolis1990 51 Stavrou 1989b 5) The vast majority of the capacity growth is on the lsquoille-galrsquo unregistered self-catering and self-serviced lsquoparahoteleriarsquo sector whichprovide very low quality and priced accommodation and therefore appeal tomass tour operatorsrsquo clientele This not only increases unfair competition for theofficially registered hotels but also reduces both tax revenues and employment atthe macro level

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 461

Horwath (1994 3) concludes that

unfortunately the results in terms of return on investment in the tourismindustry are not very promising especially when compared with those ofother Greek economic sectors It is an undisputable fact that the averageGreek tourism entrepreneur is heavily dependent on the tourist packageprice which is strongly negotiated by the international tour operators It isan lsquounhealthyrsquo dependency as a result of the weak position of the Greektourist product in the international market In addition the aforemen-tioned dependency is the result of the lack of marketing activities in anaverage tourist enterprise As we all know effective marketing activitiesare based on the product place price promotion which all contribute toclient satisfaction and further to a bigger share in the international touristmarket Up to now three of the aforementioned important elements ofmarketing have been overlooked which determine the weak negotiationpower of the Greek entrepreneur

This situation has also resulted to several European companies expandingtheir operations into Greece or purchasing shares in Greek partners in order toimprove their vertical integration Should this vertical integration expand signif-icantly however lsquoGreek tourism will be in fact controlled by foreign deci-sion-making centres which will certainly operate on the basis of their owninterests and not according to the overall interests of our national economyrsquo(Kalogeropoulou 1993 2) Hence radical measures are required immediately inproduct formulation promotion strategy and distribution channels to supportboth Greek destinations and SMTEs to enhance their competitiveness profitabil-ity and prosperity Failure to react would have severe implications for the futureof the Greek tourism private sector as the essence of its existence would be jeop-ardised its costs may exceeding its returns

Structural problems generate negative tourism impactsIn addition to the profitability problems of the private sector the aforemen-

tioned structural problems have profound implications for the welfare of hostpopulations in various Greek destinations as their economic social cultural andenvironmental resources are exploited without ensuring their sustainabilityLack of comprehensive research and failure to initiate carrying-capacity limits orzoning systems contribute to the anarchic development of tourism as well asexpand negative impacts of tourism on local societies and environments Thefollowing section highlights some of the costs Greek destinations are called topay for their tourism activity whilst it suggests that these issues should beaddressed in the strategic planning process

Macro-economic negative impactsDespite the contribution of tourism to the Greek economy certain potential

risks can also be identified Not only is the competitiveness and profitability ofthe tourism industry jeopardised but also several destination regions seem tofollow a policy of developing tourism at the expense of industrial and agricul-tural growth (Stavrou 1989a 6 Vernicos 1987 105) Instead of tourism stimulat-ing agriculture it seems that it hastens its decline as the two economic activities

462 Current Issues in Tourism

compete for land and labour The lack of structural investments in industrial oragricultural sectors combined with the popularity of tourism professions in theworkforce endanger the balance of the regional economy while reducing thetourism multipliers (Briassoulis 1993 295) As a result the economic structure ofthe destination is jeopardised while a complete dependence upon tourismbecomes inevitable (Komilis 1992 7) Both opportunity costs and displacementeffects are therefore evident Moreover there is evidence that the progress ofdestinations through their life-cycle and especially the introduction of masstourism decreases their economic impacts while it makes local control of theindustry far more difficult (Loukissas 1982 537) lsquoBecause of the high degree ofdependence of Greek tourist enterprises on tour operators the actual amount oftourist spending remaining in the country is only the 40ndash50 of total touristspendingrsquo (Briassoulis 1993 296) Public-sector subsidies to the private sector invarious forms such as incentives cooperative marketing campaigns and unem-ployment benefits in the off-season as well as tax evasion and lsquoparaeconomyrsquo alsoreduce the real benefit at the macro level (Mourdoukoutas 1988 Drakatos 1987Leontidou 1991 102) Lack of scientific research on the economic impacts oftourism makes the real contribution of tourism in the economy speculativerather than based on hard evidence (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Konsolas ampZacharatos 1993)

Social and cultural negative impactsThe development of mass tourism and the lack of effective planning and

management are also responsible for a number of negative social and culturalimpacts observed in Greek host societies (Tsartas 1989 1992 Stavrou 19781979 1980 1986b) Although the degree of interaction of the population withtourists depends heavily on the geomorphology of destinations and the loca-tion of resorts (Loukissas 1982 538) touristsrsquo behaviour is often offensive tothe host population but tolerated due to the economic benefits (Castelberg-Koulma 1991 201 Kousis 1989 Wickens 1994 823) Most Greek tourismdestinations are almost crime-free zones during the winter due to the smallpopulation and personal relationships of locals Tourism however introducesseveral types of criminal activity often unknown to local people As policeforces are usually allocated according to needs of the permanent population ina destination they are often incapable of handling the demands of the summermonths and are unable to deal with visitorsrsquo misbehaviour such as hooliganismand lsquolager-lootingrsquo

The commercialisation of history cultural traditions and the Greek lifestyle isa phenomenon met in several destinations This regrettably affects the renownedGreek hospitality commercialises human relations with tourists and reduces theties of solidarity and cooperation between locals since they compete for the tour-ism market (Papadopoulos 1988b 24) As the average employee works 605hours weekly for 295 weeks a year there is little time left for social religious andcultural obligations during the season (Mourdoukoutas 1988 325) Although acertain degree of lsquodemonstration effectrsquo and lsquoxenomaniarsquo can be attributed totourism the country is equally influenced by the mass media as well as by theGreek students and professionals living abroad (Papadopoulos 1988a 30Wickens 1994 822) Moore (1995) also explains that tourism not only has had a

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 463

contribution to the increase of alcohol consumption by Greeks but has alsoshifted their taste away from locally produced wine to imported spirits and beerBriassoulis (1993 296) perhaps describes best the change in labour force valueswhen as she suggests that tourism has created a

peculiar parasitic group of tourist entrepreneurs operating tourist-servingenterprises like tavernas cafeterias etc the principal characteristics ofwhich are high profits and tax evasion Consequently a particular person-ality type is created the lsquosuccessfulrsquo entrepreneur who earns a lot with littlework has a rich erotic life and is professionally independent (in contrast topublic and private employees) This model is followed by many youngpeople who abandon other productive year-round occupations lsquoworkrsquoonly during the tourist season stay idle for the rest of the year and eventu-ally suffer from the volatility of the tourist market

The family relations and values are therefore under great transition andperhaps threat (Castelberg-Koulma 1991 201 Kousis 1989 Moore 1992)

Negative environmental impactsDespite environmental resources becoming central to destinationsrsquo competi-

tiveness most Greek destinations go through an unparalleled exploitation due toinadequate planning and reinvestment in their sustainability jeopardising theirfuture (Buhalis amp Fletcher 1995) Boniface and Cooper (1994 141) suggest thatgeographical concentration of tourism

has led to the view that Greece will become saturated with tourists and thatdamage will be done to the environment and cultural heritage in the morepopular areas Already the environment has suffered from haphazarduncontrolled building and pollution of the sea and the flora and fauna arebeing effected by waste disposal

Coastal pollution water shortages sewage treatment waste disposal trafficcongestion noise pollution overbuilding and aesthetic degradation are some ofthe impacts experienced already in a number of resorts (Briassoulis 1993 297Coccosis amp Parprairis 1992 Peterson 1990 Marinos 1983 Stavrou 1988 19 and1989a 5 Papadopoulos 1988b 24) Most of the islands also face water shortagedue to the inability of natural supplies to provide sufficient water for the tourismdemand Imported mineral water from the mainland is an expensive way tosolve this problem due to the transportation cost while it creates more waste andenvironmental damage In addition the destruction of endangered speciesrsquo habi-tats is another problem experienced on several islands (ZakynthosCaretta-Caretta and Allonissos monk-seals) (Ottaway 1992 Van Den Bergh1993 70 Prurier et al 1993) Urgent coordination with all tourism actors at thelocal level is essential while regulation is required to set objective and measurablelimits and targets in order to preserve local environmental resources Financialdifficulties in the industry only exacerbate these impacts as the private and publicsectors feel unable to reinvest in the conservation of resources

The aforementioned negative impacts emerge as a result of the structuralproblems of the Greek tourism industry and illustrate that the mass tourismorientation of the industry reduces the sovereignty of the host population over

464 Current Issues in Tourism

their land and resources whilst jeopardising their expected benefits and futurewelfare As these impacts are trade-offs for the economic gains of the tourismactivity it is important that consistent long-term strategic planning should beundertaken in order to enable the preservation of the local resources and achievesustainability at tourism destinations These tasks should all be reinforced byresearch political will and strategic planning

Where Do We Need to Go and How Are We Going ThereTowards Strengthening the Competitiveness of Greek Tourismand SMTEs

Based on the situation analysis as well as on the strategic weaknesses andstructural problems the paper attempts to provide a framework for strategicplanning which will enable the strengthening of the competitiveness of Greektourism and SMTEs Porter (1985 1) suggests that competitive strategy lsquois thesearch for a favourable competitive position in an industryrsquo which is a function ofthe attractiveness of the industry and the relative competitive position withinthat particular industry He also argues that lsquocompetitive strategy aims to estab-lish a profitable and sustainable position against the forces that determine indus-try competitionrsquo Competitiveness is therefore defined as the effort undertakenby organisations to maintain long-term profitability above the average of theparticular industry within which they operate or above alternative investmentopportunities in other industries

Traditionally the tourism industry in the majority of destinations worldwideis based on a network of SMTEs which provide all types of tourism products andservices while enabling closer interaction between the host population and visi-tors as well as facilitating a rapid infusion of tourism spending into the localeconomy As lsquotouristsrsquo overall experience is composed of numerous smallencounters with a variety of tourism service providersrsquo (Moutinho 1990 104)there is a great overlap between the customer perception of local SMTEs anddestinations which makes them almost indistinguishable Consequently thecompetitiveness and prosperity of destinations and SMTEs are closely interre-lated as the fortune of the one depends heavily upon the management andcompetitiveness of the other Therefore the generic strategy for destinationsinvolves SMTEs and vice versa

Grand strategy Strategy formulation for Greek tourism and SMTEsBased on the strategic analysis a grand strategy is proposed for the Greek

tourism industry and SMTEs in order to demonstrate the directions the destina-tions should follow in their attempt to increase their competitiveness and reducetheir vulnerability As different resorts destinations and SMTEs have dissimilarneeds only generic strategies can be drawn However these guidelines can beapplicable to destinations and SMTEs worldwide as they address strategic ratherthan operational issues The analysis is based on the assumption that SMTEsformulate leisure value-added chains or networks of wealth creation whichessentially comprise the entire destination Therefore an integrated approach isfollowed as there is a great complementarity between the strategies and strate-gic directions for both the Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 465

The grand strategy analysis is based on an examination of three general strat-egy models namely Porterrsquos generic strategies Gilbertrsquos proposition for lsquodiffer-entiation of the destinationrsquo and Poonrsquos analysis for lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo Agrand strategy is then proposed for both Greek tourism and SMTEs based oninference emerging from these three models Figure 1 illustrates the three maingeneric strategies proposed by Porter (1980 34ndash46) in order to lsquooutperform otherfirms in an industryrsquo overall cost leadership where the firm is required to minimiseits costs based on mass production and strict cost control of the main businessfunctions differentiation of products or services by lsquocreating something that isperceived industry-wide as being uniquersquo or focus on a lsquoparticular buyer groupsegment of the product line or geographical marketrsquo and achieve either cost leader-ship or product differentiation (Porter 1980 37ndash8)

Furthermore Gilbert (1984 1990) argues that destinations should differenti-ate their tourism products in order to be able to achieve a unique lsquotourist productbenefitrsquo which would enable them to establish their position in the internationaltourism market as well as to attract high spenders and loyal tourists Tourismdestinations therefore should attempt to achieve a lsquostatus arearsquo image ratherthan a lsquocommodity arearsquo one as illustrated in Figure 2 In the first case the desti-nation is heavily substitutable very sensitive to price and economic changeswhile consumers have a low awareness of any unique benefits or attributes of theregion Thus holidaymakers base their decision to visit the area merely on pricewhile the demand for the destination is incidental and destinations are unable toattract high spenders In contrast lsquostatus areasrsquo achieve intentional demand as aresult of the unique product attributes perceived by the tourism market Theseunique attributes may be genuine or imagined and thus a destination isregarded as irreplaceable increasing consumersrsquo loyalty and willingness to payGilbert (1990 24ndash5) asserts that destinations should attempt to become lsquostatusareasrsquo in order to improve their image loyalty and economic benefits

A third strategic approach is proposed by Poon (1987 1988 1989 1990 1993)based on the concept of lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo of the tourism business Inessence Poon examines the industry processes and proposes a strategy to enabletourism organisations to improve their competitiveness Poon argues that lsquoflexi-ble specialisationrsquo is a strategy of lsquopermanent innovationrsquo and lsquoceaseless changersquowhich provides for the lsquonew tourismrsquo This new tourism is flexible segmentedcustomised to the touristrsquos needs and diagonally integrated In contrast the oldtourism can be characterised as lsquomass standardised and rigidly packagedrsquo(Poon 1989 91ndash3)

466 Current Issues in Tourism

STRATEGIC ADVANTAGE

Perceived product uniqueness Cost advantage

TARGETMARKET

Industrywide Differentiation Cost Leadership

Particularsegmentsonly

Differentiation Focus Cost Focus

Figure 1 Porterrsquos three generic strategiesSource Porter 1980 39

The main sources of flexibility for service firms lie in the organisationmanagement marketing distribution and other forms of interaction andinterrelationships among guests hotels suppliers distributors What isimportant however is not each of these stand alone aspects but how theyare coupled to create competitive advantages and hence capabilities tomove with the market (Poon 1988 24)

Examination of these three main strategies illustrates that they share a similarbase Porterrsquos lsquodifferentiationrsquo Gilbertrsquos lsquostatus arearsquo and Poonrsquos lsquoflexiblespecialisationrsquo describe the attempt undertaken by firms and tourist destinationsto achieve value competitive advantages In contrast the lsquocost leadershiprsquo lsquocom-modity arearsquo and the lsquostandardisation or Fordism production modelrsquo describethe effort to achieve lsquocost competitive advantagersquo where destinations andSMTEs offer their products for less than their competitors In the first caseconsumers perceive the product as unique and are willing to pay a premiumwhile in the second case the decision is merely based on price Thus the classicalstrategic decision of lsquolow volume-high profit marginrsquo or lsquohigh volume-low profitmarginrsquo is the underlying concept of the two alternative strategies

Both Gilbert and Poon agree that destinations should aim to achieve lsquostatusarearsquo or niche orientation through differentiation in order to increase consumersatisfaction as well as to maximise the benefits for both regions and SMTEs As aresult Greek tourism and SMTEs need to focus towards the differentiation strat-egy define their niche markets and serve them accordingly This strategy isalready adopted in several resort areas such as Valencia in Spain where it isrecognised that the need for diversification and differentiation lsquohas now becomeessential owing to the level of competitiveness that has been attained (and can beforeseen) in the world tourist marketrsquo (Fayos-Sola 1992 49) Differentiation isalso particularly useful for insular destinations in microstates where a limitednumber of economic and financial resources are available (Wilkinson 1989 170)As most destinations consist of SMTEs networks there is an overlap betweentheir strategic orientations and therefore the above analysis is applicable to boththe Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Destinations implementing a lsquostatus arearsquo strategy can enhance the satisfac-tion of tourists as well as their competitiveness The formulation of unique and

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 467

CommodityArea

Statusarea

Willingness topay higher prices

StatusArea

Product attributes Product attributes

CommodityArea

Figure 2 Gilbertrsquos differentiation strategySource Adapted from Gilbert 1990 25

customised products by using flexibility and cooperation also increases touristsrsquowillingness to pay and wins their loyalty while it responds to the new tourismdemand trends However the proposed strategy should not be seen as an excusefor SMTEs and destinations not to attempt to improve their efficiency and mini-mise their production costs Although the unique service for touristsrsquo needs shouldbe their priority offering perceived value for money would determine theircompetitiveness in the marketplace As a result all Greek resorts and SMTEsshould assess their assets and strengths for serving specific target markets takingadvantage of their small size which facilitates flexibility and specialisation

It is quite apparent that the cost advantage strategy has to be avoided inmanagement of tourism destinations as regions need to preserve their scarceenvironmental and sociocultural resources and achieve sustainable develop-ment As cost advantage is based on mass production and consumption itassumes an unlimited production capacity which is inapplicable in the tourismindustry The inseparability of the tourism product determines that consumersshould be present at the time of product delivery and when combined with tour-ism seasonality it generates demand peaks which drain destinationsrsquo scarceenvironmental sociocultural resources The lsquohigh volume-low profit marginrsquostrategy has therefore harmful social and environmental impacts on destina-tions Destinations have maximum carrying capacities beyond which both thewelfare of local populations and the satisfaction of tourists are jeopardisedAlthough economic benefits can also be achieved by using the lsquocommodity arearsquoor the lsquostandard product modelrsquo it is argued that these approaches reduce tour-istsrsquo satisfaction and their willingness to pay and are opposed to the demandtrend towards individualisation

Unfortunately however some destinations can no longer be positioned asirreplaceable unique products due to their overdevelopment Tourism supplyhas exceeded the carrying capacity of these resorts and their product hasreached the saturation or decline phase of their life-cycle Several Spanish costasand some Greek resorts such as Benitses Kavos Faliraki Malia Hersonissos andNidri (Josephides 1994) have been overdeveloped to such an extent that only alsquohigh-volume low-profit marginrsquo strategy is feasible When resorts reach theirsaturation level only a lsquocost leadershiprsquo or lsquomass productionrsquo strategy can beproposed as they are unable to provide any specific lsquotourist product benefitrsquo Theattraction of the lower end of the market is inevitable and as a consequence thereare no alternative strategies The minimisation of further sociocultural and envi-ronmental damage as well as attempts to improve the surrounding environmentshould also be a primary objective of both tourism destinations and SMTEs in thiscase The ultimate aim should be to regenerate the resources of the area and torelaunch the tourism destination to attract specific markets which will be willing topay a higher price for the destination

Strategic directions objectives and tasks for Greek tourism and SMTEsTable 8 presents three pivotal strategic directions which are identified in order

to stimulate the competitiveness of both Greek tourism and SMTEs This sectionillustrates how the aforementioned grand strategy can be implemented for tour-ist destinations and SMTEs through a number of strategic directions objectivesand tasks as presented in Table 9

468 Current Issues in Tourism

Enhancing the satisfaction of tourists and delighting the customer are pivotalto ensuring the well-being of Greek destinations and SMTEs in the long term andthus the entire range of tourism service providers should aim to delight theirclients As a result of the tourism product integration consumer satisfactioncannot be achieved by independent businesses separately but by the entirenetwork of SMTEs in Greek destinations The improvement in services isperhaps the most important strategic objective Consistency of promises throughstandardisation of service delivery and implementation of a total qualitymanagement philosophy throughout the industry are essential strategic tasks forachieving this objective while flexibility in service delivery and improvementsin training are critical In line with the grand strategy the production oftailor-made tourism products should be ensured in order to satisfy the specificneeds of particular niches and the requirements of the emerging new tourismdemand Product augmentation would enable also the Greek tourism product toexceed the expectations of consumers and hence enhance their satisfaction Lifestyle segmentation would enable Greek tourism and SMTEs to design appropri-ate tourism products As tourist demand elasticity has increasingly becomedoubtful in recent years the price of the holiday is no longer considered to be themost important attribute in the decision-making process Consequently theGreek tourism industry should concentrate on providing value for money at allprice levels as well as offering at least whatever they have promised to theconsumer

Supporting the long-term competitiveness and profitability of Greek tour-ism and SMTEs is by far the most important strategic objective for the tourismindustry The first strategic objective for every SMTE has to be the increase inrevenue by maximising its occupancy or load factors and the rates it achievesThe lengthening of the operating season as well as the identification of newmarkets and the penetration into existing ones and the effective utilisation ofdistribution channels will contribute to this strategic direction Higher ratescan be achieved by targeting specialised and smaller tour operators attractingalternative types of tourists and expanding the distribution channels mix aswell as by attempting a certain degree of lsquodisintermediationrsquo by encouragingdirect sales to outgoing travel agencies or consumers Aggressive marketingand establishment of partnerships with other enterprises should be essentialfunctions of Greek tourism and SMTEs Motivation of lsquofront-of-housersquo employ-ees as salesmen and sale incentives would also increase average spending percustomer The use of CRSs and destination management systems may also bean appropriate method for achieving higher prices and better occupancy rates(Buhalis 1994) Finally yield management techniques should be utilised by alltypes of SMTEs to assist them in pricing and maximising revenue Cost control

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 469

Table 8 Pivotal strategic dimensions for Greek tourism

(1) Enhance the satisfaction of tourists and delight the customer(2) Strengthen the long-term profitability and competitiveness of Greek tourism and

SMTEs(3) Develop Greek destinations sustainably and ensure prosperity of host population

470 Current Issues in Tourism

Table 9 Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Strategic directions Strategic objectives Strategic tasks

1 Enhance the sat-isfaction of tour-ists and delightthe customer

11 Improvement of services a Standardisation of service de-livery

b Development of quality controlsystems

c Consistency of promisesd Improvements in operational

managemente Flexibility in services deliveryf Training and education im-

provementsg Smile and personal relation-

shipsh Augmentation of tourism

producti Total quality management

12 Specialisation of tourismproduct

a Niche marketingb Lifestyle targeting

13 Value for money a Quality at each price level

2 Strengthen thelong-term com-petitiveness andprofitability ofGreek tourismand SMTEs

21 Increase revenue a Increase tourist volumesb Target new markets and pene-

tration in existing marketsc Use yield managementd Expand distribution channel

mixe Aggressive marketingf Achieve high average spending

per customerg Select high-quality specialised

tour operatorsh Attract alternative types of

tourismi Use alternative distribution

channelsj Motivate front-of-house em-

ployees as salesmen

22 Cost control and rationalmanagement

a Standardise service deliveryb Increase productivityc Reduce labour costsd Rationalise supplies manage-

mente Educationtraining for manag-

ers and employeesf Use of new technologyg Integrate service delivery

within SMTEs

23 Human resources man-agement

a Internal marketingb Empowermentc Satisfactory salary and working

conditionsd Long-term relations with em-

ployeese Motivation and rewards

and rational management is the second strategic objective needed to increaseefficiency and profitability of both Greek destinations and SMTEs in the longterm Standardisation of the service delivery process and minimisation of thelabour cost through better operational management would be primary recom-mendations Managers and employees should improve their productivity andmarketing skills by intensive training In addition the rationalisation of supplymanagement and the use of new technology is expected to reduce operationalcosts Finally integration of service delivery enables SMTEs to provide comple-mentary services and achieve additional revenues without immense costs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 471

24 State and public tourismorganisation support

a Destination development andcontrol

b Incentives policies for improve-ment

c Attract European Union assis-tance

d Promotional activitye Provide financial resources

3 Develop Greekdestinationssustainably andensure prosper-ity of host popu-lation

31 Environmental protection a Carrying capacity identificationb Zoning system applicationc Architecture preservationd Installation of sewage treat-

ment systemse Reduction of noise pollutionf Natural supplies management

32 Infrastructure ameliora-tion

a Accessibility improvementsb Telecommunication improve-

mentsc Public facilities advancements

33 Transportation improve-ments

a Improvement of local timeta-bles

b Punctuality and reliabilityc Improvements of vehiclesd Flexibility to meet demand

needs

34 Economic integration a Integration with raw materialproduction

b Utilisation of local labour forcec Integration of tourism servicesd Diagonal integration of destina-

tionrsquos economy

35 Equitable return on re-sources utilised

a Establish mechanism forreinvestments

b Provide services for hostcommunity

c Invest in sustainability ofresources

d Ensure equity in distributionof wealth produced

Source Adapted from Buhalis 1991 83a

Table 9 (cont) Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Human resources management is crucial in the delivery process of tourismproducts The concept of lsquointernal marketingrsquo where employees are perceivedand treated as lsquointernal customersrsquo has to be utilised in order to ensure theirsatisfaction As Berry (1981 34) states lsquothe satisfaction of the needs and wants ofthe internal customers can upgrade their capacity for satisfying the needs andwants of their external customersrsquo and as a consequence it can contribute to thecompetitiveness and profitability of Greek tourism and SMTEs Satisfactorysalary and working conditions are prerequisites for the well-being of SMTEsrsquoemployees Long-term relationships between employees and SMTEs minimiseturnover enabling a better performance while they reduce recruitment andtraining costs Empowerment would enable employees to be involved in themanagement of SMTEs and authorise them to respond more efficiently toconsumer requests while contributing to their job satisfaction Finally thesupport of the GNTO is vital for the long-term survival of SMTEs Apart fromthe improvement in infrastructure the GNTO is expected to hold the strategicresponsibility of the destination as well as to regulate the competition in orderto enable smaller enterprises to survive Incentive policies need to reflect thespecific requirements of each resort and enable development or improvementof certain types of enterprises The GNTO is also instrumental in attractingassistance from European development funds while it should also coordinatethe majority of Greek tourism promotional activity A promotional mix whichmaximises the effectiveness of the communication message needs to be drawnwhile budgets need to be available at the time consumers go through their deci-sion-making process in order to influence their choice of destination Finally theneed for the public sector to provide affordable financial resources for SMTEs ishighlighted by the EU (EC 1993b 73)

The third strategic direction for Greek tourism and SMTEs should be thesustainable development of destinations and local areas not only for the hostpopulation but also because this is vital for both consumer satisfaction and theprofitability of SMTEs Although in most cases SMTEs are unable to incorporatethese types of strategic objectives and tasks on their own they can initiate aframework of necessary actions for sustainable destination developmentthrough their associations Environmental protection is naturally the mostimportant strategic objective as consumersrsquo environmental consciousness hasbeen raised recently Carrying capacity limits should be identified and strictregulations and guidelines for tourism development need to be drawn A zoningsystem should be implemented in order to locate tourism activities according tothe geographical morphology of the destination In addition natural resourcesmanagement is necessary as tourism demand may exhaust the resources andespecially the water supplies The installation of sewage treatment systems andthe reduction of noise pollution should be considered especially for resortswhich suffer the consequences of these problems In addition infrastructureamelioration must be one of the primary objectives as it is an essential prerequi-site for both consumersrsquo satisfaction and SMTEsrsquo development The improve-ment of accessibility public services as well as telecommunications facilities is acrucial factor Transportation is also significant in increasing both consumersatisfaction and profitability of SMTEs as it determines whether consumers canaccess the destination easily while it also provides the first impression to tour-

472 Current Issues in Tourism

ists Improvements of timetables and services reliability increasing transporta-tion capacity and an enhancement of the fleet in terms of speed cleanliness andleisure facilities are all required Furthermore greater flexibility is needed bytransportation operators in order to meet demand needs Economic integrationcan improve the economic and social benefits of tourism in the region and theefficiency of SMTEs Ultimately tourism should be utilised as the catalyst andmajor stimulant for regional development Tourism enterprises should makeevery effort to use local raw materials and labour in order to maximise the multi-plier effects within Greece Diagonal integration of destinationsrsquo economy can beachieved by rearranging the goods and service production in order to supportthe tourism industry demand and thus minimise imports Finally SMTEs andtourism organisations need to offer a fair return-on-resources utilised back to thehost community A mechanism should be established in order to reinvest part ofthe revenues in the sustainability of resources provide services for the hostcommunity such as education training health services and generally ensureequity in distribution of wealth produced from local resources As the privatesector cannot be expected to behave altruistically towards the host communitythe GNTO and other public-sector departments should probably utilise regula-tion and taxation for this purpose

Conclusion Greek Tourism Needs a Long Overdue Master Planand Comprehensive Policy

The emerging international tourism competition the hitherto mass tourismorientation of the industry the transformation of demand the development ofthe volume of tourists visiting the dependence upon intermediaries for thedistribution of the tourism product in the major target markets the lack of a widerange of managerial skills by Greek tourism entrepreneurs and the lack of acomprehensive tourism policy or Master Plan by the public sector has led thecompetitiveness of Greece tourism to decline This has several unfavourableimplications for the profitability of the private sector as well as numerous nega-tive economic sociocultural and environmental impacts for the host populationAs a result the return on resources utilised for the production of Greek tourismservices is inadequate and the sustainability of Greece as a major tourism desti-nation is rapidly becoming doubtful Based on a strategic analysis the paper illu-minates the strategic weaknesses and structural problems of both the private andpublic sectors and demonstrates that a rationalisation of the tourism industry isurgently required Consequently a grand strategy as well as a wide range of stra-tegic directions objectives and tasks are proposed for both Greece as an entityand its SMTEs Although no quantitative targets are set in this paper it isexpected that each destination will analyse its resources and adapt its strategicplanning accordingly

The GNTO is urged to rationalise its strategy and to draw up a Master Plan anda comprehensive strategy for the entire country and for each resort where a strategywould be adopted based on quantifiable objectives and tasks Extensive researchneeds to be undertaken by using credible measurement methodologies such asInput-Output models and multipliers analysis not only for the economic but alsofor the social cultural and environmental impacts (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Buhalis

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 473

amp Fletcher 1995) A holistic tourism management system is demanded to facilitatethe development and implementation of the tourism strategy through funds allo-cation and monitoring land use control and examination of tourism public- andprivate-sector practices A thorough examination of tourism impacts in eachregion would be a prerequisite for tourism planning as it will establish andprovide scientific backing to strategic targets Komilis (1994 71) explains thatalthough the various levels of planning (sectoral nationalEU spatial or regional)are not mutually exclusive but rather complementary the regional level planningis more suitable for drawing sustainable strategies especially for areas withdissimilar needs like the Greek destinations The regional planning should lsquocon-tribute to the maximisation of regional development benefits in a way that utilisesand mobilises the regional resource base realises regional inter-sectoral linkagesand is compatible with regional economic interests societal values and environ-mental assetsrsquo It should also take into consideration the uniqueness of insulareconomies as well as the cultural and environmental resources of each particularregion and the complexity of rural and urban functions The planning processshould encourage the complementarity and coexistence of economic activitiesrather than promote sectoral separation and single-sector developments In addi-tion it needs to improve the balance between regional self-sufficiency anddependence upon external inputs and finally it should promote integration withinthe European Union

The public sector has to play its long overdue role as regulator coordinatorinfrastructure provider and promoter of the destination while a multi-integrationof the tourism industry with all the involved bodies in the preparation distribu-tion and delivery of the tourism experience needs to be ensured (Wanhill 1993Hall 1994 Skoulas 1994 10 Stavrou 1988 46) The private sector also has an impor-tant role to play as it should improve the Greek tourism industry competitivenessby improving its managerial and labour force competencies enhancing the qualityof services designing appropriate marketing mixes to attract and satisfy targetmarkets and cooperating closely in order to achieve synergies and economies ofscale (Briassoulis 1993 300 Cooper amp Buhalis 1992) To reverse the vicious circleof decreasing quality is of critical importance for the Greek tourism industryBetter quality services would stimulate the competitiveness of the Greek tourismproduct strengthen its position in the international market provide principalswith distribution channel power enhance its customersrsquo willingness to pay andenable the industry to increase its prices improving the profitability at the microlevel and the economic impacts of tourism at the macrolevel Ultimately a diagonalintegration strategy for both Greek tourism and SMTEs should aim to delightconsumers enhance the long-term prosperity of SMTEs and improve the welfareof the host populations The Olympic Games in 2004 offer a unique opportunity toregenerate and rebrand Greek tourism a cause which the entire industry shouldchampion

The AuthorDimitrios Buhalis is Senior Lecturer and course leader MSc in tourism at theUniversity of Surrey He holds a BBA from the University of the Aegean as wellas an MSc and a PhD in tourism management from the University of Surrey Hisresearch interests focus on information systems and technology strategic

474 Current Issues in Tourism

management distribution channels of tourism destination management andplanning and destination integrated computer information reservation manage-ment systems

AcknowledgementsThe author would like to acknowledge Prof C Cooper and Prof J Fletcher for

their invaluable contribution to this research Financial support from the SurreyResearch Group ConTours Consultants as well as field research sponsorshipsby the University of Surrey the Greek National Tourism Organisation and theUniversity of the Aegean are gratefully appreciated

Note1 An earlier version of this paper was published as a monograph PlanningDevelop-

ment by the International Centre for Research and Studies in TourismAix-en-Provence France

CorrespondenceAny correspondence should be directed to Dr Dimitrios Buhalis Senior

Lecturer in Business Information Management SMSSS University of SurreyGuildford GU2 7XH UK (dbuhalissurreyacuk)

ReferencesApostolopoulos T (1990) New strategy of tourism development (in Greek) Tourism and

Economy (November) 228ndash38Berry C (1981) The employee as customer Journal of Retail Banking 3 33ndash40Boniface B and Cooper C (1994) The Geography of Travel and Tourism (2nd edn) London

HeinemannBriassoulis H (1993) Tourism in Greece In W Pompl and P Lavery (eds) Tourism in

Europe Structures and Developments (pp285ndash301) Oxford CAB InternationalBuckley P and Papadopoulos S (1986) Marketing Greek tourism The planning process

Tourism Management 7 86ndash100Buhalis D (1991) Strategic marketing and management for the small and medium

tourism enterprises in the periphery of the European Community A case study for theAegean islands in Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Buhalis D (1994) Information and telecommunications technologies as a strategic tool forsmall and medium tourism enterprises in the contemporary business environment InA Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 254ndash75)England J Wiley and Sons

Buhalis D (1995) The impact of information telecommunications technologies on tourismdistribution channels Implications for the small and medium sized tourismenterprisesrsquo strategic management and marketing PhD Dissertation University ofSurrey Guildford

Buhalis D (2000a) Marketing the competitive destination of the future TourismManagement (Special Issue ndash The Competitive Destination) 21 (1) 97ndash116

Buhalis D (2000b) (forthcoming) Athens Tourism-Travel Intelligence LondonBuhalis D (2000c) Relationships in the distribution channel of tourism Conflicts between

hoteliers and tour operators in the Mediterranean region Journal of InternationalHospitality Leisure and Tourism Adminstration 1 (1) 113ndash39

Buhalis D and Diamantis D (2001 forthcoming) Tourism development andsustainability on the Greek archipelagos In G Apostolopoulos and D Ioannides (eds)Tourism in the Mediterranean Routledge

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 475

Buhalis D and Fletcher J (1995) Environmental impacts on tourism destinations Aneconomic analysis In H Coccosis and P Nijkamp (eds) Sustainable Tourism Development(pp 3ndash25) London Avebury

Camison C Bigne E and Monfort VM (1994) The Spanish tourism industry Analysisof its strategies and the efficacy and achievements gained from them In A Seaton et al(eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 442ndash52) England JWiley and Sons

Castelberg-Koulma M (1991) Greek women and tourism Womenrsquos co-operatives as analternative form of organisation In N Redclift and T Sinclair (eds) Working WomenInternational Perspectives on Labour and Gender Ideology (pp 197ndash223) LondonRoutledge

Chitiris L (1991) Hotel Management (in Greek) Athens InterbooksCoccosis H and Parprairis A (1992) Assessing the interactions between environment

and tourism Case study of the island of Mykonos Paper presented in the IV WorldCongress of Regional Science International University of Balearic Islands Palma deMallorca 26ndash9 May

Conway H (1996) Greece Travel Weekly 1308 39ndash43Cooper C and Buhalis D (1992) Strategic management and marketing of small and

medium sized tourism enterprises in the Greek Aegean islands In R Teare D Adamsand S Messenger (eds) Managing Projects in Hospitality Organisations (pp 101ndash25)London Cassell

Daskalantonakis N (1994) Quality ndash The future of tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (3 July)D9

Divanis A (1994b) Tourism policy Left on its own luck (in Greek) XENIA (October)4ndash5

Donatos G and Zairis P (1991) Seasonality of foreign tourism in the Greek islands ofCrete Annals of Tourism Research 18 515ndash19

Douvitsas P (1994) Marketing Greece through British tour operators A futureperspective MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Drakatos C (1987) Seasonal concentration of tourism in Greece Annals of Tourism Research14 582ndash6

EC (1993a) Microeconomic Analysis of the Tourism Sector A study by the pH Group forEuropean Commission DGXXIII (September) Report XXIII30394-EN BrusselsEuropean Commission

EC (1993b) Growth competitiveness employment The challenges and ways forward intothe 21st century Bulletin of the European Communities Supplement 693 (White Paper)Luxembourg

Economist (1993) Last Chance Sisyphus A survey of Greece Economist (22 May) 2ndash22EIU (1986) Greece (pp 45ndash60) International tourist reports National Report No 3EIU (1990) Greece (pp 45ndash62) International tourist reports National Report No 4EIU (1993) Greece ndash Country Profile 1992ndash1993 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEIU (1994) Greece ndash Country Profile 1994ndash1995 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEpilogi (1994) Economic review ndash The Greek Economy 1994 (in Greek) AthensEuromonitor (1992) Tourism in Greece Market Research Europe (25 May) 51ndash63Fayos-Sola E (1992) A Strategic Outlook for Regional Tourism Policy The White Paper

on Valencian Tourism Tourism Management 13 45ndash9Fotis J (1992) Vacational lifestyle segmentation of tourists on the island of Rhodes

Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey GuildfordGilbert D (1984) The need for countries to differentiate their tourist product and how to

do so Seminar papers for Ministers of Tourism and Directors of National TouristOrganisations Tourism Managing for Results University of Surrey Guildford

Gilbert D (1990) Strategic marketing planning for national tourism Tourist Review 45 (1)18ndash27

GNTO (1985a) Survey of attributes of foreign tourists 1984ndash1985 (in Greek) Greek NationalStatistical Services Athens GNTO

476 Current Issues in Tourism

GNTO (1985b) EOT-Tourism rsquo85 Development ndash Participation ndash Quality of Life (in Greek)Greek National Statistical Services Athens GNTO

GNTO (1989a) Annual report 1988 ndash Forecast 89 Towards Quality Athens GNTOGNTO (1989b) The study of tourism promotion With special reference to the measures to

increase Japanese tourists to Greece Draft final report Japan InternationalCooperation Agency

GNTO (1993) Tourism towards the 2000 (in Greek) Greek National Tourism OrganisationAthens GNTO

Hall M (1994) Tourism and Politics Policy Power and Place J Wiley and SonsHorwath (annual) The Greek Hotel Industry (in Greek) Annual reports Pireus HorwathJenner P and Smith C (1993) Tourism in the Mediterranean Research report London

Economist Intelligence UnitJosephides N (1993) Environmental Concern ndash Whatrsquos In It for the Tourism Industry (pp 51ndash6)

Proceedings of the conference Tourism and the environment Challenges and choicesfor the 1990rsquos 16ndash17 November 1992 Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre LondonBrussels European Union

Josephides N (1994) Tourism analysis Presentation in Philoxenia international tourismexhibition Thessaloniki Greece

Josephides N (1995) A sorry state for beautiful Greece Travel Weekly 1261 (5 April)11Kalogeropoulou H (1993) Greece ndash Prospects for the tourism industry within the context

of the European Single Market of 1993 Tourism Review 48 (1) 2ndash4Kassimati K Thanopoulou M and Tsartas P (1994) Womenrsquos Employment in the

Tourist Sector Study of the Greek Labour Market and Identification of Future ProspectsDGV Equal Opportunities Unit Document V40994-EN European CommissionBrussels

Komilis P (1987) Spatial analysis of tourism in Greece (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planningand Economic Research

Komilis P (1992) The spatial structure of tourism and physical planning practices inGreece Paper presented in conference Tourism and environment Issues ofpolicyplanningmanagement 23ndash4 October University of the Aegean Dept ofEnvironment Lesvos

Komilis P (1993) Values in the Tourism Planning and Policy Making Process (pp 224ndash9)Proceedings of the conference Values and the environment 23ndash4 September GuildfordUniversity of Surrey

Komilis P (1994) Tourism and sustainable regional development In A Seaton et al (eds)Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 65ndash73) England JWiley andSons

Konsolas N and Zacharatos G (1993) Regionalization of tourism activity in GreeceProblems and policies In H Briassoulis and J Van der Straaten (eds) Tourism andEnvironment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 57ndash65) Dordrecht Kluer AcademicPublisher

Kousis M (1989) Tourism and the family in a rural Cretan community Annals of TourismResearch 16 318ndash32

Kriebardis S and Marmagiolis I (1990) Tourism Activity in Greece Problems and Perspectives(pp 45ndash54) (in Greek) Economic Report of Commercial Bank AprilndashJune AthensCommercial Bank

Ktenas S (1994) Hoteliers ask for 15 to 20 increases for 1995 (in Greek) TO BHMA (3July) D9

Ktenas S (1996) Crisis in Greek tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (7 April) D16Leontidou L (1991) Greece Prospects and contradictions of tourism in the 1980rsquos In AM

Williams and GJ Shaw (eds) Tourism and Economic Development Western EuropeanExperiences (2nd edn) (pp 94ndash106) London Belhaven Press

Logothetis M (1990) The Economy of Dodekanisos During 1988ndash1989 Developments andPerspectives (in Greek) Rhodes Regional association of municipalities of Dodekanisos

Logothetis M (1992) Touristiki Sigkiria (in Greek) Rhodes Institute of Tourist and HotelResearch

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 477

Loukissas P (1977) The impact of tourism on regional development A comparativeanalysis of the Greek islands PhD Dissertation Cornell University USA

Loukissas P (1982) Tourismrsquos regional development impacts A comparative analysis ofthe Greek islands Annals of Tourism Research 9 523ndash43

Marinos P (1983) Small island tourism-the case of Zakynthos in Greece TourismManagement 4 212ndash15

Moore R (1992) From shepherds to shopkeepers The development of tourism in a centralGreek town PhD Dissertation University of California at Berkeley USA

Moore R (1995) Gender and alcohol use in a Greek tourist town Annals of Tourism Research22 300ndash13

Mourdoukoutas P (1988) Seasonal employment seasonal unemployment andunemployment compensation The case of the tourism industry of the Greek islandsAmerican Journal of Economics and Sociology 47 315ndash29

NSSG (l983) Tourism Statistics 1981 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (l985) Tourism Statistics 1982ndash1983 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1987) Tourism Statistics 1984ndash1985 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1990) Tourism Statistics 1986ndash1987 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1993) Tourism Statistics 1988ndash1990 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceOECD (1992) Greece Tourism Policy and International Tourism in OECD Member Countries (pp

70ndash8) Paris OECDOttaway M (1992) Turtle power Sunday Times Travel and Style (28 June)Ottaway M (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 1 Sunday Times (17 January)

57ndash59Panagiotopoulou R (1990) The problem and perspectives of the European insular regions

(in Greek) Working paper University of the Aegean ChiosPapadimitris G (1988) Short run and long run prospects of the Greek tourism industry

PhD Dissertation University of Manchester ManchesterPapadopoulos S (1985) An economic analysis of foreign tourism in Greece An

examination of the growth and structure of foreign tourism to Greece 1960ndash1984 with aplanning model and marketing policy recommendations PhD Thesis University ofBradford Management Centre Bradford

Papadopoulos S (1987) Strategic marketing techniques in international tourismInternational Marketing Review (summer) 71ndash84

Papadopoulos S (1988a) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (1) 29ndash30

Papadopoulos S (1988b) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (2) 24ndash7

Papadopoulos S (1989) Greek marketing strategies in the Europe tourism market ServiceIndustries Journal 9 297ndash314

Papadopoulos S and Mirza H (1985) Foreign tourism in Greece An economic analysisTourism Management 6 125ndash37

Papandropoulos A (1995) The crisis in tourism is evident (in Greek) OikonomikosTachydromos (29 June) 26ndash8

Papanikos G (1999) The year 2004 olympic games and their influence upon the Greektourism (in Greek) ITEP (Research Institute for Tourism) Athens

Paulopoulos P (1999) The Size and Dynamics of the Tourism Sector (in Greek) ResearchInstitute for Tourism Athens

Peterson C (1990) Greece tackles overbuilding in tourism areas EnvironmentalConservation 17 166ndash8

Plevris V (1995) Alarm bells from the Hellenic Federation of Hotels (in Greek) XENIA128 (May) 6ndash7

Poon A (1987) Information technology and innovation in international tourism ndashimplications for the Caribbean tourism industry PhD thesis Science Policy ResearchUnit University of Sussex Brighton

Poon A (1988) Flexible specialisation and small size ndash the case of Caribbean tourism DRCDiscussion Paper 57 SPRU Brighton University of Sussex

478 Current Issues in Tourism

Poon A (1989) Competitive strategies for new tourism In C Cooper (ed) Progress inTourism Recreation and Hospitality Management (vol 1) (pp 91ndash102) London BelhavenPress

Poon A (1990) Flexible specialisation at small size The case of Caribbean tourism WorldDevelopment 18 109ndash23

Poon A (1993) Tourism Technology and Competitive Strategies Oxford CAB InternationalPorter M (1980) Competitive Strategy Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors

New York Free PressPorter M (1985) Competitive Advantage Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance New

York Free PressPorter M (1990) The Competitive Advantage of Nations New York Free PressPrurier E Sweeney A and Geen A (1993) Tourism and the environment The case of

Zakynthos Tourism Management 14 137ndash9Psoinos P (1994a) Research on the foreign touristsrsquo attributes in Greece (in Greek) Athens

Greek National Tourism OrganisationPsoinos P (1994b) Research on the attributes of foreigners who have never visited Greece (in

Greek) Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationRichter-Papaconstantinou C (1992) Tourism development of Rhodes Cahiers du Tourisme

(Serie B) 67 Aix en Provence Centre des Hautes Eacutetudes TouristiquesRomanos A (1998) Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites (in Greek) Athens

Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites SASETE (1993) Tourism Developments and problems (in Greek) Athens Association of Greek

Tourism EnterprisesSezer H and Harrison A (1994) Tourism in Greece and Turkey An economic view for

planners In A Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposiumpp74ndash84 England Wiley and Sons

Skoulas N (1985) Holidays and travel in the year 2035 ndash Contribution of the NationalTourist Organisation of Greece SDI Schriftey Wirtschafts und Unternehmenspolitik 40181ndash99

Skoulas N (1994) Quality improvement of tourism services (in Greek) Paper presentedin the conference Competitiveness of tourism enterprises ndash the role of quality 1 AprilHoliday Inn Athens Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises

Smith C and Jenner P (1995) Greece International Tourism Reports 3 5ndash21Stavrou S (1978) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Kos Island (in Greek) Research and

Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationStavrou S (1979) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Mykonos and Naxos Islands (in

Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1980) Research on Tourism Awareness on the Islands Kalymnos and Leros (in Greek)Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1984) Tourism Development in Greece during 1969ndash1982 (in Greek) Research andDevelopment Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986a) Research for the Characteristics of Foreign Tourist Demand in Greece in theYears 8485 (in Greek) Research Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1986b) Research on the Tourism Awareness on Paros Santorini Kythira Islands (inGreek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986c) Critical Review of Tourism Activity in the Years 8385 (in Greek) Researchand Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1988) Tourism in the Northern Aegean Islands Presentation of GNTO for the TourismDevelopment of the Periphery (in Greek) Proceedings of the first conference for thedevelopment of the Northern Aegean islands Homereum cultural centre Chios 11November Chios Periphery of Northern Aegean islands

Stavrou S (1989a) GNTO Presentation for the Tourism Development Possibilities for theSouthern Aegean Islands (in Greek) Conference for the development of Southern Aegean

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 479

islands Syros 30 September ndash 2 OctoberStavrou S (1989b) The Contribution of the Development Law 126282 in the Development of the

Country (in Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A5 Athens GreekNational Tourism Organisation

Stereopoulos N (1995) It is regarded ideal it became problematic (in Greek) OikonomikosTachidromos (21 December) 151ndash3

Touloupas P (1996) Greece as a tourist destination for the British tour operators Ananalysis from a marketing perspective in the particular context of the United KingdomMSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Tourismos ke Oikonomia (1993) 20 years 1973ndash1993 (in Greek) Special Issue AthensTourismos ke Oikonomia (1994) ICAP tourism enterprises Drastic reduction of loses in 1993

(in Greek) December 14ndash15Touristiki Agora (various issues) (Monthly tourism industry periodical in Greek) Business

Press AthensTruett D and Truett L (1987) The response of tourism to international economic

conditions Greece Mexico and Spain Journal of Developing Areas 21 177ndash90Tsartas P (1989) Socioeconomic Impacts of Tourism Development in Cyclades Region with Special

Reference on Ios and Serifos Islands During 1950ndash1980 (in Greek) Athens National Centrefor Social Research

Tsartas P (1992) Socioeconomic impacts of tourism on two Greek isles Annals of TourismResearch 19 516ndash33

Van Den Bergh J (1993) Tourism development and natural environment Aneconomicndashecological model for the Sporades islands In H Briassoulis and J Van DerStraaten (eds) Tourism and Environment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 67ndash83)Dordrecht Kluer Academic Publishers

Velissariou E (1991) Die Wirtschaftlichen Effekte des Tourismus Dargestell am Beispiel Kretas(The Economic Impacts of Tourism on Crete) PhD Dissertation University of MunichFrankfurt Peter Lang

Vernikos N (1987) The study of Mediterranean small islands Emerging theoreticalissues Ekistics 54 (323ndash4) 101ndash9

Wanhill S (1993) Government organisations In C Cooper J Fletcher D Gilbert and SWanhill (eds) Tourism Principle and Practice (pp 145ndash60) London Pitman

Wickens D (1994) Consumption of the authentic The hedonistic tourist in Greece In ASeaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 819ndash25)England JWiley and Sons

Wickens E (2000) Rethinking touristsrsquo experiences In M Robinson et al (eds) MotivationsBehaviour and Tourist Types (pp 455ndash72) Business Education Publishers Sunderland

Wickers D (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 2 Sunday Times 57ndash510Wilkinson PF (1989) Strategies for tourism in islands microstates Annals of Tourism

Research 16 153ndash77XENIA (various issues) (Monthly bulletin of the Greek Hotel Chamber in Greek) AthensZacharatos G (1984) Tourismus und Wirtschafts-Struktur Dargestellt am Beispiel

Griechenlands Europaische Hochschulschriften Reihex Band 7 Frankfurt am MainZacharatos G (1986) Tourism consumption (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planning and

Economic ResearchZacharatos G (1988) The simplistic empiricism Tourism policy and the time of crisis

(1992) (in Greek) Sychrona Themata 11 (May) 21ndash6Zacharatos G (1989) The problems and perspectives of tourism in Greece (in Greek) In H

Katsoulis T Giannitsis and P Kazakos (eds) Politics and Society Economy and ForeignRelationships (pp 273ndash89) Athens Papazisis

Zacharatos G (1993) The necessity of multimedia use in the tourism education in Greece(in Greek) Paper presented at the international conference Overcomingisolation-telematics and regional development University of the Aegean Chios 30April ndash 2 May

480 Current Issues in Tourism

Page 22: Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challengescore.ac.uk/download/pdf/101686.pdf · Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challenges Dimitrios Buhalis School of Management

hoteliers are often left with unoccupied rooms they which are unable to promote atthe lsquolast minutersquo unless they drop their prices to unacceptable levels As a result oftheir deficient intra-channel power hotels often suffer a significant cut-back of theiroccupancy levels which has direct implications for their profitability (Buhalis 19952000c 460 Ktenas 1996)

Similarly the seasonality of the Mediterranean and Greek tourism industry hasalways been a problem for the profitability of SMTEs since enterprises operateonly for a limited period (Jenner amp Smith 1993 70 Drakatos 1987 Donatos ampZairis 1991) Attempts to promote winter tourism by developing cultural andspecial interest tourism in the islands and winter sports in several ski resorts inGreece have proved fairly unsuccessful (EIU 1986 56) This is attributed to theimage of Greece as an exclusively summer-sun destination as well as to the unco-ordinated attempts to maintain tourism enterprises active during the wintermonths (EIU 1990 57)

The average room rate is the second major determinant of hotel profitability It isbecoming apparent that employment costs and cost of capital in combination witha relatively strong currency policy reduce the ability of Greek accommodationestablishments to offer competitive pricing and maintain their profitabilityMarketing inadequacies and inability to promote the tourism product as a differ-entiated entity the rapid increase of supply in comparison to demand and theoverall dependence upon the oligopsonistic tour operators for the Greek tourismproduct promotion force hoteliers to accept contracts by tour operators whichminimise their profit margin and adversely effect the quality of their productIncreasing levels of pressure by tour operators prevent SMTEs from renovatingand investing in their properties and therefore a gradual deterioration of the prop-erties is inevitable (Richter-Papaconstantinou 1992 14 Skoulas 1985 189) Euro-pean tour operators faced with fierce competition in their markets are essentiallywilling to pay an annual price increase equal to little less than the depreciation ofthe drachma plus the inflation at the place of origin of the tourists (Ktenas 1994)This policy progressively deteriorates the profitability of the Greek tourism indus-try and has severe impacts for its prosperity The situation is worse for smalleraccommodation establishments which manage to negotiate even smaller priceincreases due to their exclusive dependence upon fewer intermediaries(Logothetis 1992 14)

The oversupply of tourism services both in Greece and worldwide also contributesto global competition for a less rapidly increasing demand (Josephides 1993 54)In Greece the average annual increase of the official hotel bed supply in 1983ndash1992was 47 while the annual average increase in international tourist bednights was27 (Epilogi 1994 271) The investment incentive Law 126282 boosted this over-supply as it generated small infeasible and uncontrollable accommodation unitsunable to offer high quality of services while it increased the concentration of tour-ism units in infrastructure-undersupplied resorts (Kriebardis amp Marmagiolis1990 51 Stavrou 1989b 5) The vast majority of the capacity growth is on the lsquoille-galrsquo unregistered self-catering and self-serviced lsquoparahoteleriarsquo sector whichprovide very low quality and priced accommodation and therefore appeal tomass tour operatorsrsquo clientele This not only increases unfair competition for theofficially registered hotels but also reduces both tax revenues and employment atthe macro level

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 461

Horwath (1994 3) concludes that

unfortunately the results in terms of return on investment in the tourismindustry are not very promising especially when compared with those ofother Greek economic sectors It is an undisputable fact that the averageGreek tourism entrepreneur is heavily dependent on the tourist packageprice which is strongly negotiated by the international tour operators It isan lsquounhealthyrsquo dependency as a result of the weak position of the Greektourist product in the international market In addition the aforemen-tioned dependency is the result of the lack of marketing activities in anaverage tourist enterprise As we all know effective marketing activitiesare based on the product place price promotion which all contribute toclient satisfaction and further to a bigger share in the international touristmarket Up to now three of the aforementioned important elements ofmarketing have been overlooked which determine the weak negotiationpower of the Greek entrepreneur

This situation has also resulted to several European companies expandingtheir operations into Greece or purchasing shares in Greek partners in order toimprove their vertical integration Should this vertical integration expand signif-icantly however lsquoGreek tourism will be in fact controlled by foreign deci-sion-making centres which will certainly operate on the basis of their owninterests and not according to the overall interests of our national economyrsquo(Kalogeropoulou 1993 2) Hence radical measures are required immediately inproduct formulation promotion strategy and distribution channels to supportboth Greek destinations and SMTEs to enhance their competitiveness profitabil-ity and prosperity Failure to react would have severe implications for the futureof the Greek tourism private sector as the essence of its existence would be jeop-ardised its costs may exceeding its returns

Structural problems generate negative tourism impactsIn addition to the profitability problems of the private sector the aforemen-

tioned structural problems have profound implications for the welfare of hostpopulations in various Greek destinations as their economic social cultural andenvironmental resources are exploited without ensuring their sustainabilityLack of comprehensive research and failure to initiate carrying-capacity limits orzoning systems contribute to the anarchic development of tourism as well asexpand negative impacts of tourism on local societies and environments Thefollowing section highlights some of the costs Greek destinations are called topay for their tourism activity whilst it suggests that these issues should beaddressed in the strategic planning process

Macro-economic negative impactsDespite the contribution of tourism to the Greek economy certain potential

risks can also be identified Not only is the competitiveness and profitability ofthe tourism industry jeopardised but also several destination regions seem tofollow a policy of developing tourism at the expense of industrial and agricul-tural growth (Stavrou 1989a 6 Vernicos 1987 105) Instead of tourism stimulat-ing agriculture it seems that it hastens its decline as the two economic activities

462 Current Issues in Tourism

compete for land and labour The lack of structural investments in industrial oragricultural sectors combined with the popularity of tourism professions in theworkforce endanger the balance of the regional economy while reducing thetourism multipliers (Briassoulis 1993 295) As a result the economic structure ofthe destination is jeopardised while a complete dependence upon tourismbecomes inevitable (Komilis 1992 7) Both opportunity costs and displacementeffects are therefore evident Moreover there is evidence that the progress ofdestinations through their life-cycle and especially the introduction of masstourism decreases their economic impacts while it makes local control of theindustry far more difficult (Loukissas 1982 537) lsquoBecause of the high degree ofdependence of Greek tourist enterprises on tour operators the actual amount oftourist spending remaining in the country is only the 40ndash50 of total touristspendingrsquo (Briassoulis 1993 296) Public-sector subsidies to the private sector invarious forms such as incentives cooperative marketing campaigns and unem-ployment benefits in the off-season as well as tax evasion and lsquoparaeconomyrsquo alsoreduce the real benefit at the macro level (Mourdoukoutas 1988 Drakatos 1987Leontidou 1991 102) Lack of scientific research on the economic impacts oftourism makes the real contribution of tourism in the economy speculativerather than based on hard evidence (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Konsolas ampZacharatos 1993)

Social and cultural negative impactsThe development of mass tourism and the lack of effective planning and

management are also responsible for a number of negative social and culturalimpacts observed in Greek host societies (Tsartas 1989 1992 Stavrou 19781979 1980 1986b) Although the degree of interaction of the population withtourists depends heavily on the geomorphology of destinations and the loca-tion of resorts (Loukissas 1982 538) touristsrsquo behaviour is often offensive tothe host population but tolerated due to the economic benefits (Castelberg-Koulma 1991 201 Kousis 1989 Wickens 1994 823) Most Greek tourismdestinations are almost crime-free zones during the winter due to the smallpopulation and personal relationships of locals Tourism however introducesseveral types of criminal activity often unknown to local people As policeforces are usually allocated according to needs of the permanent population ina destination they are often incapable of handling the demands of the summermonths and are unable to deal with visitorsrsquo misbehaviour such as hooliganismand lsquolager-lootingrsquo

The commercialisation of history cultural traditions and the Greek lifestyle isa phenomenon met in several destinations This regrettably affects the renownedGreek hospitality commercialises human relations with tourists and reduces theties of solidarity and cooperation between locals since they compete for the tour-ism market (Papadopoulos 1988b 24) As the average employee works 605hours weekly for 295 weeks a year there is little time left for social religious andcultural obligations during the season (Mourdoukoutas 1988 325) Although acertain degree of lsquodemonstration effectrsquo and lsquoxenomaniarsquo can be attributed totourism the country is equally influenced by the mass media as well as by theGreek students and professionals living abroad (Papadopoulos 1988a 30Wickens 1994 822) Moore (1995) also explains that tourism not only has had a

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 463

contribution to the increase of alcohol consumption by Greeks but has alsoshifted their taste away from locally produced wine to imported spirits and beerBriassoulis (1993 296) perhaps describes best the change in labour force valueswhen as she suggests that tourism has created a

peculiar parasitic group of tourist entrepreneurs operating tourist-servingenterprises like tavernas cafeterias etc the principal characteristics ofwhich are high profits and tax evasion Consequently a particular person-ality type is created the lsquosuccessfulrsquo entrepreneur who earns a lot with littlework has a rich erotic life and is professionally independent (in contrast topublic and private employees) This model is followed by many youngpeople who abandon other productive year-round occupations lsquoworkrsquoonly during the tourist season stay idle for the rest of the year and eventu-ally suffer from the volatility of the tourist market

The family relations and values are therefore under great transition andperhaps threat (Castelberg-Koulma 1991 201 Kousis 1989 Moore 1992)

Negative environmental impactsDespite environmental resources becoming central to destinationsrsquo competi-

tiveness most Greek destinations go through an unparalleled exploitation due toinadequate planning and reinvestment in their sustainability jeopardising theirfuture (Buhalis amp Fletcher 1995) Boniface and Cooper (1994 141) suggest thatgeographical concentration of tourism

has led to the view that Greece will become saturated with tourists and thatdamage will be done to the environment and cultural heritage in the morepopular areas Already the environment has suffered from haphazarduncontrolled building and pollution of the sea and the flora and fauna arebeing effected by waste disposal

Coastal pollution water shortages sewage treatment waste disposal trafficcongestion noise pollution overbuilding and aesthetic degradation are some ofthe impacts experienced already in a number of resorts (Briassoulis 1993 297Coccosis amp Parprairis 1992 Peterson 1990 Marinos 1983 Stavrou 1988 19 and1989a 5 Papadopoulos 1988b 24) Most of the islands also face water shortagedue to the inability of natural supplies to provide sufficient water for the tourismdemand Imported mineral water from the mainland is an expensive way tosolve this problem due to the transportation cost while it creates more waste andenvironmental damage In addition the destruction of endangered speciesrsquo habi-tats is another problem experienced on several islands (ZakynthosCaretta-Caretta and Allonissos monk-seals) (Ottaway 1992 Van Den Bergh1993 70 Prurier et al 1993) Urgent coordination with all tourism actors at thelocal level is essential while regulation is required to set objective and measurablelimits and targets in order to preserve local environmental resources Financialdifficulties in the industry only exacerbate these impacts as the private and publicsectors feel unable to reinvest in the conservation of resources

The aforementioned negative impacts emerge as a result of the structuralproblems of the Greek tourism industry and illustrate that the mass tourismorientation of the industry reduces the sovereignty of the host population over

464 Current Issues in Tourism

their land and resources whilst jeopardising their expected benefits and futurewelfare As these impacts are trade-offs for the economic gains of the tourismactivity it is important that consistent long-term strategic planning should beundertaken in order to enable the preservation of the local resources and achievesustainability at tourism destinations These tasks should all be reinforced byresearch political will and strategic planning

Where Do We Need to Go and How Are We Going ThereTowards Strengthening the Competitiveness of Greek Tourismand SMTEs

Based on the situation analysis as well as on the strategic weaknesses andstructural problems the paper attempts to provide a framework for strategicplanning which will enable the strengthening of the competitiveness of Greektourism and SMTEs Porter (1985 1) suggests that competitive strategy lsquois thesearch for a favourable competitive position in an industryrsquo which is a function ofthe attractiveness of the industry and the relative competitive position withinthat particular industry He also argues that lsquocompetitive strategy aims to estab-lish a profitable and sustainable position against the forces that determine indus-try competitionrsquo Competitiveness is therefore defined as the effort undertakenby organisations to maintain long-term profitability above the average of theparticular industry within which they operate or above alternative investmentopportunities in other industries

Traditionally the tourism industry in the majority of destinations worldwideis based on a network of SMTEs which provide all types of tourism products andservices while enabling closer interaction between the host population and visi-tors as well as facilitating a rapid infusion of tourism spending into the localeconomy As lsquotouristsrsquo overall experience is composed of numerous smallencounters with a variety of tourism service providersrsquo (Moutinho 1990 104)there is a great overlap between the customer perception of local SMTEs anddestinations which makes them almost indistinguishable Consequently thecompetitiveness and prosperity of destinations and SMTEs are closely interre-lated as the fortune of the one depends heavily upon the management andcompetitiveness of the other Therefore the generic strategy for destinationsinvolves SMTEs and vice versa

Grand strategy Strategy formulation for Greek tourism and SMTEsBased on the strategic analysis a grand strategy is proposed for the Greek

tourism industry and SMTEs in order to demonstrate the directions the destina-tions should follow in their attempt to increase their competitiveness and reducetheir vulnerability As different resorts destinations and SMTEs have dissimilarneeds only generic strategies can be drawn However these guidelines can beapplicable to destinations and SMTEs worldwide as they address strategic ratherthan operational issues The analysis is based on the assumption that SMTEsformulate leisure value-added chains or networks of wealth creation whichessentially comprise the entire destination Therefore an integrated approach isfollowed as there is a great complementarity between the strategies and strate-gic directions for both the Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 465

The grand strategy analysis is based on an examination of three general strat-egy models namely Porterrsquos generic strategies Gilbertrsquos proposition for lsquodiffer-entiation of the destinationrsquo and Poonrsquos analysis for lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo Agrand strategy is then proposed for both Greek tourism and SMTEs based oninference emerging from these three models Figure 1 illustrates the three maingeneric strategies proposed by Porter (1980 34ndash46) in order to lsquooutperform otherfirms in an industryrsquo overall cost leadership where the firm is required to minimiseits costs based on mass production and strict cost control of the main businessfunctions differentiation of products or services by lsquocreating something that isperceived industry-wide as being uniquersquo or focus on a lsquoparticular buyer groupsegment of the product line or geographical marketrsquo and achieve either cost leader-ship or product differentiation (Porter 1980 37ndash8)

Furthermore Gilbert (1984 1990) argues that destinations should differenti-ate their tourism products in order to be able to achieve a unique lsquotourist productbenefitrsquo which would enable them to establish their position in the internationaltourism market as well as to attract high spenders and loyal tourists Tourismdestinations therefore should attempt to achieve a lsquostatus arearsquo image ratherthan a lsquocommodity arearsquo one as illustrated in Figure 2 In the first case the desti-nation is heavily substitutable very sensitive to price and economic changeswhile consumers have a low awareness of any unique benefits or attributes of theregion Thus holidaymakers base their decision to visit the area merely on pricewhile the demand for the destination is incidental and destinations are unable toattract high spenders In contrast lsquostatus areasrsquo achieve intentional demand as aresult of the unique product attributes perceived by the tourism market Theseunique attributes may be genuine or imagined and thus a destination isregarded as irreplaceable increasing consumersrsquo loyalty and willingness to payGilbert (1990 24ndash5) asserts that destinations should attempt to become lsquostatusareasrsquo in order to improve their image loyalty and economic benefits

A third strategic approach is proposed by Poon (1987 1988 1989 1990 1993)based on the concept of lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo of the tourism business Inessence Poon examines the industry processes and proposes a strategy to enabletourism organisations to improve their competitiveness Poon argues that lsquoflexi-ble specialisationrsquo is a strategy of lsquopermanent innovationrsquo and lsquoceaseless changersquowhich provides for the lsquonew tourismrsquo This new tourism is flexible segmentedcustomised to the touristrsquos needs and diagonally integrated In contrast the oldtourism can be characterised as lsquomass standardised and rigidly packagedrsquo(Poon 1989 91ndash3)

466 Current Issues in Tourism

STRATEGIC ADVANTAGE

Perceived product uniqueness Cost advantage

TARGETMARKET

Industrywide Differentiation Cost Leadership

Particularsegmentsonly

Differentiation Focus Cost Focus

Figure 1 Porterrsquos three generic strategiesSource Porter 1980 39

The main sources of flexibility for service firms lie in the organisationmanagement marketing distribution and other forms of interaction andinterrelationships among guests hotels suppliers distributors What isimportant however is not each of these stand alone aspects but how theyare coupled to create competitive advantages and hence capabilities tomove with the market (Poon 1988 24)

Examination of these three main strategies illustrates that they share a similarbase Porterrsquos lsquodifferentiationrsquo Gilbertrsquos lsquostatus arearsquo and Poonrsquos lsquoflexiblespecialisationrsquo describe the attempt undertaken by firms and tourist destinationsto achieve value competitive advantages In contrast the lsquocost leadershiprsquo lsquocom-modity arearsquo and the lsquostandardisation or Fordism production modelrsquo describethe effort to achieve lsquocost competitive advantagersquo where destinations andSMTEs offer their products for less than their competitors In the first caseconsumers perceive the product as unique and are willing to pay a premiumwhile in the second case the decision is merely based on price Thus the classicalstrategic decision of lsquolow volume-high profit marginrsquo or lsquohigh volume-low profitmarginrsquo is the underlying concept of the two alternative strategies

Both Gilbert and Poon agree that destinations should aim to achieve lsquostatusarearsquo or niche orientation through differentiation in order to increase consumersatisfaction as well as to maximise the benefits for both regions and SMTEs As aresult Greek tourism and SMTEs need to focus towards the differentiation strat-egy define their niche markets and serve them accordingly This strategy isalready adopted in several resort areas such as Valencia in Spain where it isrecognised that the need for diversification and differentiation lsquohas now becomeessential owing to the level of competitiveness that has been attained (and can beforeseen) in the world tourist marketrsquo (Fayos-Sola 1992 49) Differentiation isalso particularly useful for insular destinations in microstates where a limitednumber of economic and financial resources are available (Wilkinson 1989 170)As most destinations consist of SMTEs networks there is an overlap betweentheir strategic orientations and therefore the above analysis is applicable to boththe Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Destinations implementing a lsquostatus arearsquo strategy can enhance the satisfac-tion of tourists as well as their competitiveness The formulation of unique and

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 467

CommodityArea

Statusarea

Willingness topay higher prices

StatusArea

Product attributes Product attributes

CommodityArea

Figure 2 Gilbertrsquos differentiation strategySource Adapted from Gilbert 1990 25

customised products by using flexibility and cooperation also increases touristsrsquowillingness to pay and wins their loyalty while it responds to the new tourismdemand trends However the proposed strategy should not be seen as an excusefor SMTEs and destinations not to attempt to improve their efficiency and mini-mise their production costs Although the unique service for touristsrsquo needs shouldbe their priority offering perceived value for money would determine theircompetitiveness in the marketplace As a result all Greek resorts and SMTEsshould assess their assets and strengths for serving specific target markets takingadvantage of their small size which facilitates flexibility and specialisation

It is quite apparent that the cost advantage strategy has to be avoided inmanagement of tourism destinations as regions need to preserve their scarceenvironmental and sociocultural resources and achieve sustainable develop-ment As cost advantage is based on mass production and consumption itassumes an unlimited production capacity which is inapplicable in the tourismindustry The inseparability of the tourism product determines that consumersshould be present at the time of product delivery and when combined with tour-ism seasonality it generates demand peaks which drain destinationsrsquo scarceenvironmental sociocultural resources The lsquohigh volume-low profit marginrsquostrategy has therefore harmful social and environmental impacts on destina-tions Destinations have maximum carrying capacities beyond which both thewelfare of local populations and the satisfaction of tourists are jeopardisedAlthough economic benefits can also be achieved by using the lsquocommodity arearsquoor the lsquostandard product modelrsquo it is argued that these approaches reduce tour-istsrsquo satisfaction and their willingness to pay and are opposed to the demandtrend towards individualisation

Unfortunately however some destinations can no longer be positioned asirreplaceable unique products due to their overdevelopment Tourism supplyhas exceeded the carrying capacity of these resorts and their product hasreached the saturation or decline phase of their life-cycle Several Spanish costasand some Greek resorts such as Benitses Kavos Faliraki Malia Hersonissos andNidri (Josephides 1994) have been overdeveloped to such an extent that only alsquohigh-volume low-profit marginrsquo strategy is feasible When resorts reach theirsaturation level only a lsquocost leadershiprsquo or lsquomass productionrsquo strategy can beproposed as they are unable to provide any specific lsquotourist product benefitrsquo Theattraction of the lower end of the market is inevitable and as a consequence thereare no alternative strategies The minimisation of further sociocultural and envi-ronmental damage as well as attempts to improve the surrounding environmentshould also be a primary objective of both tourism destinations and SMTEs in thiscase The ultimate aim should be to regenerate the resources of the area and torelaunch the tourism destination to attract specific markets which will be willing topay a higher price for the destination

Strategic directions objectives and tasks for Greek tourism and SMTEsTable 8 presents three pivotal strategic directions which are identified in order

to stimulate the competitiveness of both Greek tourism and SMTEs This sectionillustrates how the aforementioned grand strategy can be implemented for tour-ist destinations and SMTEs through a number of strategic directions objectivesand tasks as presented in Table 9

468 Current Issues in Tourism

Enhancing the satisfaction of tourists and delighting the customer are pivotalto ensuring the well-being of Greek destinations and SMTEs in the long term andthus the entire range of tourism service providers should aim to delight theirclients As a result of the tourism product integration consumer satisfactioncannot be achieved by independent businesses separately but by the entirenetwork of SMTEs in Greek destinations The improvement in services isperhaps the most important strategic objective Consistency of promises throughstandardisation of service delivery and implementation of a total qualitymanagement philosophy throughout the industry are essential strategic tasks forachieving this objective while flexibility in service delivery and improvementsin training are critical In line with the grand strategy the production oftailor-made tourism products should be ensured in order to satisfy the specificneeds of particular niches and the requirements of the emerging new tourismdemand Product augmentation would enable also the Greek tourism product toexceed the expectations of consumers and hence enhance their satisfaction Lifestyle segmentation would enable Greek tourism and SMTEs to design appropri-ate tourism products As tourist demand elasticity has increasingly becomedoubtful in recent years the price of the holiday is no longer considered to be themost important attribute in the decision-making process Consequently theGreek tourism industry should concentrate on providing value for money at allprice levels as well as offering at least whatever they have promised to theconsumer

Supporting the long-term competitiveness and profitability of Greek tour-ism and SMTEs is by far the most important strategic objective for the tourismindustry The first strategic objective for every SMTE has to be the increase inrevenue by maximising its occupancy or load factors and the rates it achievesThe lengthening of the operating season as well as the identification of newmarkets and the penetration into existing ones and the effective utilisation ofdistribution channels will contribute to this strategic direction Higher ratescan be achieved by targeting specialised and smaller tour operators attractingalternative types of tourists and expanding the distribution channels mix aswell as by attempting a certain degree of lsquodisintermediationrsquo by encouragingdirect sales to outgoing travel agencies or consumers Aggressive marketingand establishment of partnerships with other enterprises should be essentialfunctions of Greek tourism and SMTEs Motivation of lsquofront-of-housersquo employ-ees as salesmen and sale incentives would also increase average spending percustomer The use of CRSs and destination management systems may also bean appropriate method for achieving higher prices and better occupancy rates(Buhalis 1994) Finally yield management techniques should be utilised by alltypes of SMTEs to assist them in pricing and maximising revenue Cost control

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 469

Table 8 Pivotal strategic dimensions for Greek tourism

(1) Enhance the satisfaction of tourists and delight the customer(2) Strengthen the long-term profitability and competitiveness of Greek tourism and

SMTEs(3) Develop Greek destinations sustainably and ensure prosperity of host population

470 Current Issues in Tourism

Table 9 Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Strategic directions Strategic objectives Strategic tasks

1 Enhance the sat-isfaction of tour-ists and delightthe customer

11 Improvement of services a Standardisation of service de-livery

b Development of quality controlsystems

c Consistency of promisesd Improvements in operational

managemente Flexibility in services deliveryf Training and education im-

provementsg Smile and personal relation-

shipsh Augmentation of tourism

producti Total quality management

12 Specialisation of tourismproduct

a Niche marketingb Lifestyle targeting

13 Value for money a Quality at each price level

2 Strengthen thelong-term com-petitiveness andprofitability ofGreek tourismand SMTEs

21 Increase revenue a Increase tourist volumesb Target new markets and pene-

tration in existing marketsc Use yield managementd Expand distribution channel

mixe Aggressive marketingf Achieve high average spending

per customerg Select high-quality specialised

tour operatorsh Attract alternative types of

tourismi Use alternative distribution

channelsj Motivate front-of-house em-

ployees as salesmen

22 Cost control and rationalmanagement

a Standardise service deliveryb Increase productivityc Reduce labour costsd Rationalise supplies manage-

mente Educationtraining for manag-

ers and employeesf Use of new technologyg Integrate service delivery

within SMTEs

23 Human resources man-agement

a Internal marketingb Empowermentc Satisfactory salary and working

conditionsd Long-term relations with em-

ployeese Motivation and rewards

and rational management is the second strategic objective needed to increaseefficiency and profitability of both Greek destinations and SMTEs in the longterm Standardisation of the service delivery process and minimisation of thelabour cost through better operational management would be primary recom-mendations Managers and employees should improve their productivity andmarketing skills by intensive training In addition the rationalisation of supplymanagement and the use of new technology is expected to reduce operationalcosts Finally integration of service delivery enables SMTEs to provide comple-mentary services and achieve additional revenues without immense costs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 471

24 State and public tourismorganisation support

a Destination development andcontrol

b Incentives policies for improve-ment

c Attract European Union assis-tance

d Promotional activitye Provide financial resources

3 Develop Greekdestinationssustainably andensure prosper-ity of host popu-lation

31 Environmental protection a Carrying capacity identificationb Zoning system applicationc Architecture preservationd Installation of sewage treat-

ment systemse Reduction of noise pollutionf Natural supplies management

32 Infrastructure ameliora-tion

a Accessibility improvementsb Telecommunication improve-

mentsc Public facilities advancements

33 Transportation improve-ments

a Improvement of local timeta-bles

b Punctuality and reliabilityc Improvements of vehiclesd Flexibility to meet demand

needs

34 Economic integration a Integration with raw materialproduction

b Utilisation of local labour forcec Integration of tourism servicesd Diagonal integration of destina-

tionrsquos economy

35 Equitable return on re-sources utilised

a Establish mechanism forreinvestments

b Provide services for hostcommunity

c Invest in sustainability ofresources

d Ensure equity in distributionof wealth produced

Source Adapted from Buhalis 1991 83a

Table 9 (cont) Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Human resources management is crucial in the delivery process of tourismproducts The concept of lsquointernal marketingrsquo where employees are perceivedand treated as lsquointernal customersrsquo has to be utilised in order to ensure theirsatisfaction As Berry (1981 34) states lsquothe satisfaction of the needs and wants ofthe internal customers can upgrade their capacity for satisfying the needs andwants of their external customersrsquo and as a consequence it can contribute to thecompetitiveness and profitability of Greek tourism and SMTEs Satisfactorysalary and working conditions are prerequisites for the well-being of SMTEsrsquoemployees Long-term relationships between employees and SMTEs minimiseturnover enabling a better performance while they reduce recruitment andtraining costs Empowerment would enable employees to be involved in themanagement of SMTEs and authorise them to respond more efficiently toconsumer requests while contributing to their job satisfaction Finally thesupport of the GNTO is vital for the long-term survival of SMTEs Apart fromthe improvement in infrastructure the GNTO is expected to hold the strategicresponsibility of the destination as well as to regulate the competition in orderto enable smaller enterprises to survive Incentive policies need to reflect thespecific requirements of each resort and enable development or improvementof certain types of enterprises The GNTO is also instrumental in attractingassistance from European development funds while it should also coordinatethe majority of Greek tourism promotional activity A promotional mix whichmaximises the effectiveness of the communication message needs to be drawnwhile budgets need to be available at the time consumers go through their deci-sion-making process in order to influence their choice of destination Finally theneed for the public sector to provide affordable financial resources for SMTEs ishighlighted by the EU (EC 1993b 73)

The third strategic direction for Greek tourism and SMTEs should be thesustainable development of destinations and local areas not only for the hostpopulation but also because this is vital for both consumer satisfaction and theprofitability of SMTEs Although in most cases SMTEs are unable to incorporatethese types of strategic objectives and tasks on their own they can initiate aframework of necessary actions for sustainable destination developmentthrough their associations Environmental protection is naturally the mostimportant strategic objective as consumersrsquo environmental consciousness hasbeen raised recently Carrying capacity limits should be identified and strictregulations and guidelines for tourism development need to be drawn A zoningsystem should be implemented in order to locate tourism activities according tothe geographical morphology of the destination In addition natural resourcesmanagement is necessary as tourism demand may exhaust the resources andespecially the water supplies The installation of sewage treatment systems andthe reduction of noise pollution should be considered especially for resortswhich suffer the consequences of these problems In addition infrastructureamelioration must be one of the primary objectives as it is an essential prerequi-site for both consumersrsquo satisfaction and SMTEsrsquo development The improve-ment of accessibility public services as well as telecommunications facilities is acrucial factor Transportation is also significant in increasing both consumersatisfaction and profitability of SMTEs as it determines whether consumers canaccess the destination easily while it also provides the first impression to tour-

472 Current Issues in Tourism

ists Improvements of timetables and services reliability increasing transporta-tion capacity and an enhancement of the fleet in terms of speed cleanliness andleisure facilities are all required Furthermore greater flexibility is needed bytransportation operators in order to meet demand needs Economic integrationcan improve the economic and social benefits of tourism in the region and theefficiency of SMTEs Ultimately tourism should be utilised as the catalyst andmajor stimulant for regional development Tourism enterprises should makeevery effort to use local raw materials and labour in order to maximise the multi-plier effects within Greece Diagonal integration of destinationsrsquo economy can beachieved by rearranging the goods and service production in order to supportthe tourism industry demand and thus minimise imports Finally SMTEs andtourism organisations need to offer a fair return-on-resources utilised back to thehost community A mechanism should be established in order to reinvest part ofthe revenues in the sustainability of resources provide services for the hostcommunity such as education training health services and generally ensureequity in distribution of wealth produced from local resources As the privatesector cannot be expected to behave altruistically towards the host communitythe GNTO and other public-sector departments should probably utilise regula-tion and taxation for this purpose

Conclusion Greek Tourism Needs a Long Overdue Master Planand Comprehensive Policy

The emerging international tourism competition the hitherto mass tourismorientation of the industry the transformation of demand the development ofthe volume of tourists visiting the dependence upon intermediaries for thedistribution of the tourism product in the major target markets the lack of a widerange of managerial skills by Greek tourism entrepreneurs and the lack of acomprehensive tourism policy or Master Plan by the public sector has led thecompetitiveness of Greece tourism to decline This has several unfavourableimplications for the profitability of the private sector as well as numerous nega-tive economic sociocultural and environmental impacts for the host populationAs a result the return on resources utilised for the production of Greek tourismservices is inadequate and the sustainability of Greece as a major tourism desti-nation is rapidly becoming doubtful Based on a strategic analysis the paper illu-minates the strategic weaknesses and structural problems of both the private andpublic sectors and demonstrates that a rationalisation of the tourism industry isurgently required Consequently a grand strategy as well as a wide range of stra-tegic directions objectives and tasks are proposed for both Greece as an entityand its SMTEs Although no quantitative targets are set in this paper it isexpected that each destination will analyse its resources and adapt its strategicplanning accordingly

The GNTO is urged to rationalise its strategy and to draw up a Master Plan anda comprehensive strategy for the entire country and for each resort where a strategywould be adopted based on quantifiable objectives and tasks Extensive researchneeds to be undertaken by using credible measurement methodologies such asInput-Output models and multipliers analysis not only for the economic but alsofor the social cultural and environmental impacts (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Buhalis

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 473

amp Fletcher 1995) A holistic tourism management system is demanded to facilitatethe development and implementation of the tourism strategy through funds allo-cation and monitoring land use control and examination of tourism public- andprivate-sector practices A thorough examination of tourism impacts in eachregion would be a prerequisite for tourism planning as it will establish andprovide scientific backing to strategic targets Komilis (1994 71) explains thatalthough the various levels of planning (sectoral nationalEU spatial or regional)are not mutually exclusive but rather complementary the regional level planningis more suitable for drawing sustainable strategies especially for areas withdissimilar needs like the Greek destinations The regional planning should lsquocon-tribute to the maximisation of regional development benefits in a way that utilisesand mobilises the regional resource base realises regional inter-sectoral linkagesand is compatible with regional economic interests societal values and environ-mental assetsrsquo It should also take into consideration the uniqueness of insulareconomies as well as the cultural and environmental resources of each particularregion and the complexity of rural and urban functions The planning processshould encourage the complementarity and coexistence of economic activitiesrather than promote sectoral separation and single-sector developments In addi-tion it needs to improve the balance between regional self-sufficiency anddependence upon external inputs and finally it should promote integration withinthe European Union

The public sector has to play its long overdue role as regulator coordinatorinfrastructure provider and promoter of the destination while a multi-integrationof the tourism industry with all the involved bodies in the preparation distribu-tion and delivery of the tourism experience needs to be ensured (Wanhill 1993Hall 1994 Skoulas 1994 10 Stavrou 1988 46) The private sector also has an impor-tant role to play as it should improve the Greek tourism industry competitivenessby improving its managerial and labour force competencies enhancing the qualityof services designing appropriate marketing mixes to attract and satisfy targetmarkets and cooperating closely in order to achieve synergies and economies ofscale (Briassoulis 1993 300 Cooper amp Buhalis 1992) To reverse the vicious circleof decreasing quality is of critical importance for the Greek tourism industryBetter quality services would stimulate the competitiveness of the Greek tourismproduct strengthen its position in the international market provide principalswith distribution channel power enhance its customersrsquo willingness to pay andenable the industry to increase its prices improving the profitability at the microlevel and the economic impacts of tourism at the macrolevel Ultimately a diagonalintegration strategy for both Greek tourism and SMTEs should aim to delightconsumers enhance the long-term prosperity of SMTEs and improve the welfareof the host populations The Olympic Games in 2004 offer a unique opportunity toregenerate and rebrand Greek tourism a cause which the entire industry shouldchampion

The AuthorDimitrios Buhalis is Senior Lecturer and course leader MSc in tourism at theUniversity of Surrey He holds a BBA from the University of the Aegean as wellas an MSc and a PhD in tourism management from the University of Surrey Hisresearch interests focus on information systems and technology strategic

474 Current Issues in Tourism

management distribution channels of tourism destination management andplanning and destination integrated computer information reservation manage-ment systems

AcknowledgementsThe author would like to acknowledge Prof C Cooper and Prof J Fletcher for

their invaluable contribution to this research Financial support from the SurreyResearch Group ConTours Consultants as well as field research sponsorshipsby the University of Surrey the Greek National Tourism Organisation and theUniversity of the Aegean are gratefully appreciated

Note1 An earlier version of this paper was published as a monograph PlanningDevelop-

ment by the International Centre for Research and Studies in TourismAix-en-Provence France

CorrespondenceAny correspondence should be directed to Dr Dimitrios Buhalis Senior

Lecturer in Business Information Management SMSSS University of SurreyGuildford GU2 7XH UK (dbuhalissurreyacuk)

ReferencesApostolopoulos T (1990) New strategy of tourism development (in Greek) Tourism and

Economy (November) 228ndash38Berry C (1981) The employee as customer Journal of Retail Banking 3 33ndash40Boniface B and Cooper C (1994) The Geography of Travel and Tourism (2nd edn) London

HeinemannBriassoulis H (1993) Tourism in Greece In W Pompl and P Lavery (eds) Tourism in

Europe Structures and Developments (pp285ndash301) Oxford CAB InternationalBuckley P and Papadopoulos S (1986) Marketing Greek tourism The planning process

Tourism Management 7 86ndash100Buhalis D (1991) Strategic marketing and management for the small and medium

tourism enterprises in the periphery of the European Community A case study for theAegean islands in Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Buhalis D (1994) Information and telecommunications technologies as a strategic tool forsmall and medium tourism enterprises in the contemporary business environment InA Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 254ndash75)England J Wiley and Sons

Buhalis D (1995) The impact of information telecommunications technologies on tourismdistribution channels Implications for the small and medium sized tourismenterprisesrsquo strategic management and marketing PhD Dissertation University ofSurrey Guildford

Buhalis D (2000a) Marketing the competitive destination of the future TourismManagement (Special Issue ndash The Competitive Destination) 21 (1) 97ndash116

Buhalis D (2000b) (forthcoming) Athens Tourism-Travel Intelligence LondonBuhalis D (2000c) Relationships in the distribution channel of tourism Conflicts between

hoteliers and tour operators in the Mediterranean region Journal of InternationalHospitality Leisure and Tourism Adminstration 1 (1) 113ndash39

Buhalis D and Diamantis D (2001 forthcoming) Tourism development andsustainability on the Greek archipelagos In G Apostolopoulos and D Ioannides (eds)Tourism in the Mediterranean Routledge

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 475

Buhalis D and Fletcher J (1995) Environmental impacts on tourism destinations Aneconomic analysis In H Coccosis and P Nijkamp (eds) Sustainable Tourism Development(pp 3ndash25) London Avebury

Camison C Bigne E and Monfort VM (1994) The Spanish tourism industry Analysisof its strategies and the efficacy and achievements gained from them In A Seaton et al(eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 442ndash52) England JWiley and Sons

Castelberg-Koulma M (1991) Greek women and tourism Womenrsquos co-operatives as analternative form of organisation In N Redclift and T Sinclair (eds) Working WomenInternational Perspectives on Labour and Gender Ideology (pp 197ndash223) LondonRoutledge

Chitiris L (1991) Hotel Management (in Greek) Athens InterbooksCoccosis H and Parprairis A (1992) Assessing the interactions between environment

and tourism Case study of the island of Mykonos Paper presented in the IV WorldCongress of Regional Science International University of Balearic Islands Palma deMallorca 26ndash9 May

Conway H (1996) Greece Travel Weekly 1308 39ndash43Cooper C and Buhalis D (1992) Strategic management and marketing of small and

medium sized tourism enterprises in the Greek Aegean islands In R Teare D Adamsand S Messenger (eds) Managing Projects in Hospitality Organisations (pp 101ndash25)London Cassell

Daskalantonakis N (1994) Quality ndash The future of tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (3 July)D9

Divanis A (1994b) Tourism policy Left on its own luck (in Greek) XENIA (October)4ndash5

Donatos G and Zairis P (1991) Seasonality of foreign tourism in the Greek islands ofCrete Annals of Tourism Research 18 515ndash19

Douvitsas P (1994) Marketing Greece through British tour operators A futureperspective MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Drakatos C (1987) Seasonal concentration of tourism in Greece Annals of Tourism Research14 582ndash6

EC (1993a) Microeconomic Analysis of the Tourism Sector A study by the pH Group forEuropean Commission DGXXIII (September) Report XXIII30394-EN BrusselsEuropean Commission

EC (1993b) Growth competitiveness employment The challenges and ways forward intothe 21st century Bulletin of the European Communities Supplement 693 (White Paper)Luxembourg

Economist (1993) Last Chance Sisyphus A survey of Greece Economist (22 May) 2ndash22EIU (1986) Greece (pp 45ndash60) International tourist reports National Report No 3EIU (1990) Greece (pp 45ndash62) International tourist reports National Report No 4EIU (1993) Greece ndash Country Profile 1992ndash1993 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEIU (1994) Greece ndash Country Profile 1994ndash1995 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEpilogi (1994) Economic review ndash The Greek Economy 1994 (in Greek) AthensEuromonitor (1992) Tourism in Greece Market Research Europe (25 May) 51ndash63Fayos-Sola E (1992) A Strategic Outlook for Regional Tourism Policy The White Paper

on Valencian Tourism Tourism Management 13 45ndash9Fotis J (1992) Vacational lifestyle segmentation of tourists on the island of Rhodes

Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey GuildfordGilbert D (1984) The need for countries to differentiate their tourist product and how to

do so Seminar papers for Ministers of Tourism and Directors of National TouristOrganisations Tourism Managing for Results University of Surrey Guildford

Gilbert D (1990) Strategic marketing planning for national tourism Tourist Review 45 (1)18ndash27

GNTO (1985a) Survey of attributes of foreign tourists 1984ndash1985 (in Greek) Greek NationalStatistical Services Athens GNTO

476 Current Issues in Tourism

GNTO (1985b) EOT-Tourism rsquo85 Development ndash Participation ndash Quality of Life (in Greek)Greek National Statistical Services Athens GNTO

GNTO (1989a) Annual report 1988 ndash Forecast 89 Towards Quality Athens GNTOGNTO (1989b) The study of tourism promotion With special reference to the measures to

increase Japanese tourists to Greece Draft final report Japan InternationalCooperation Agency

GNTO (1993) Tourism towards the 2000 (in Greek) Greek National Tourism OrganisationAthens GNTO

Hall M (1994) Tourism and Politics Policy Power and Place J Wiley and SonsHorwath (annual) The Greek Hotel Industry (in Greek) Annual reports Pireus HorwathJenner P and Smith C (1993) Tourism in the Mediterranean Research report London

Economist Intelligence UnitJosephides N (1993) Environmental Concern ndash Whatrsquos In It for the Tourism Industry (pp 51ndash6)

Proceedings of the conference Tourism and the environment Challenges and choicesfor the 1990rsquos 16ndash17 November 1992 Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre LondonBrussels European Union

Josephides N (1994) Tourism analysis Presentation in Philoxenia international tourismexhibition Thessaloniki Greece

Josephides N (1995) A sorry state for beautiful Greece Travel Weekly 1261 (5 April)11Kalogeropoulou H (1993) Greece ndash Prospects for the tourism industry within the context

of the European Single Market of 1993 Tourism Review 48 (1) 2ndash4Kassimati K Thanopoulou M and Tsartas P (1994) Womenrsquos Employment in the

Tourist Sector Study of the Greek Labour Market and Identification of Future ProspectsDGV Equal Opportunities Unit Document V40994-EN European CommissionBrussels

Komilis P (1987) Spatial analysis of tourism in Greece (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planningand Economic Research

Komilis P (1992) The spatial structure of tourism and physical planning practices inGreece Paper presented in conference Tourism and environment Issues ofpolicyplanningmanagement 23ndash4 October University of the Aegean Dept ofEnvironment Lesvos

Komilis P (1993) Values in the Tourism Planning and Policy Making Process (pp 224ndash9)Proceedings of the conference Values and the environment 23ndash4 September GuildfordUniversity of Surrey

Komilis P (1994) Tourism and sustainable regional development In A Seaton et al (eds)Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 65ndash73) England JWiley andSons

Konsolas N and Zacharatos G (1993) Regionalization of tourism activity in GreeceProblems and policies In H Briassoulis and J Van der Straaten (eds) Tourism andEnvironment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 57ndash65) Dordrecht Kluer AcademicPublisher

Kousis M (1989) Tourism and the family in a rural Cretan community Annals of TourismResearch 16 318ndash32

Kriebardis S and Marmagiolis I (1990) Tourism Activity in Greece Problems and Perspectives(pp 45ndash54) (in Greek) Economic Report of Commercial Bank AprilndashJune AthensCommercial Bank

Ktenas S (1994) Hoteliers ask for 15 to 20 increases for 1995 (in Greek) TO BHMA (3July) D9

Ktenas S (1996) Crisis in Greek tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (7 April) D16Leontidou L (1991) Greece Prospects and contradictions of tourism in the 1980rsquos In AM

Williams and GJ Shaw (eds) Tourism and Economic Development Western EuropeanExperiences (2nd edn) (pp 94ndash106) London Belhaven Press

Logothetis M (1990) The Economy of Dodekanisos During 1988ndash1989 Developments andPerspectives (in Greek) Rhodes Regional association of municipalities of Dodekanisos

Logothetis M (1992) Touristiki Sigkiria (in Greek) Rhodes Institute of Tourist and HotelResearch

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 477

Loukissas P (1977) The impact of tourism on regional development A comparativeanalysis of the Greek islands PhD Dissertation Cornell University USA

Loukissas P (1982) Tourismrsquos regional development impacts A comparative analysis ofthe Greek islands Annals of Tourism Research 9 523ndash43

Marinos P (1983) Small island tourism-the case of Zakynthos in Greece TourismManagement 4 212ndash15

Moore R (1992) From shepherds to shopkeepers The development of tourism in a centralGreek town PhD Dissertation University of California at Berkeley USA

Moore R (1995) Gender and alcohol use in a Greek tourist town Annals of Tourism Research22 300ndash13

Mourdoukoutas P (1988) Seasonal employment seasonal unemployment andunemployment compensation The case of the tourism industry of the Greek islandsAmerican Journal of Economics and Sociology 47 315ndash29

NSSG (l983) Tourism Statistics 1981 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (l985) Tourism Statistics 1982ndash1983 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1987) Tourism Statistics 1984ndash1985 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1990) Tourism Statistics 1986ndash1987 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1993) Tourism Statistics 1988ndash1990 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceOECD (1992) Greece Tourism Policy and International Tourism in OECD Member Countries (pp

70ndash8) Paris OECDOttaway M (1992) Turtle power Sunday Times Travel and Style (28 June)Ottaway M (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 1 Sunday Times (17 January)

57ndash59Panagiotopoulou R (1990) The problem and perspectives of the European insular regions

(in Greek) Working paper University of the Aegean ChiosPapadimitris G (1988) Short run and long run prospects of the Greek tourism industry

PhD Dissertation University of Manchester ManchesterPapadopoulos S (1985) An economic analysis of foreign tourism in Greece An

examination of the growth and structure of foreign tourism to Greece 1960ndash1984 with aplanning model and marketing policy recommendations PhD Thesis University ofBradford Management Centre Bradford

Papadopoulos S (1987) Strategic marketing techniques in international tourismInternational Marketing Review (summer) 71ndash84

Papadopoulos S (1988a) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (1) 29ndash30

Papadopoulos S (1988b) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (2) 24ndash7

Papadopoulos S (1989) Greek marketing strategies in the Europe tourism market ServiceIndustries Journal 9 297ndash314

Papadopoulos S and Mirza H (1985) Foreign tourism in Greece An economic analysisTourism Management 6 125ndash37

Papandropoulos A (1995) The crisis in tourism is evident (in Greek) OikonomikosTachydromos (29 June) 26ndash8

Papanikos G (1999) The year 2004 olympic games and their influence upon the Greektourism (in Greek) ITEP (Research Institute for Tourism) Athens

Paulopoulos P (1999) The Size and Dynamics of the Tourism Sector (in Greek) ResearchInstitute for Tourism Athens

Peterson C (1990) Greece tackles overbuilding in tourism areas EnvironmentalConservation 17 166ndash8

Plevris V (1995) Alarm bells from the Hellenic Federation of Hotels (in Greek) XENIA128 (May) 6ndash7

Poon A (1987) Information technology and innovation in international tourism ndashimplications for the Caribbean tourism industry PhD thesis Science Policy ResearchUnit University of Sussex Brighton

Poon A (1988) Flexible specialisation and small size ndash the case of Caribbean tourism DRCDiscussion Paper 57 SPRU Brighton University of Sussex

478 Current Issues in Tourism

Poon A (1989) Competitive strategies for new tourism In C Cooper (ed) Progress inTourism Recreation and Hospitality Management (vol 1) (pp 91ndash102) London BelhavenPress

Poon A (1990) Flexible specialisation at small size The case of Caribbean tourism WorldDevelopment 18 109ndash23

Poon A (1993) Tourism Technology and Competitive Strategies Oxford CAB InternationalPorter M (1980) Competitive Strategy Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors

New York Free PressPorter M (1985) Competitive Advantage Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance New

York Free PressPorter M (1990) The Competitive Advantage of Nations New York Free PressPrurier E Sweeney A and Geen A (1993) Tourism and the environment The case of

Zakynthos Tourism Management 14 137ndash9Psoinos P (1994a) Research on the foreign touristsrsquo attributes in Greece (in Greek) Athens

Greek National Tourism OrganisationPsoinos P (1994b) Research on the attributes of foreigners who have never visited Greece (in

Greek) Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationRichter-Papaconstantinou C (1992) Tourism development of Rhodes Cahiers du Tourisme

(Serie B) 67 Aix en Provence Centre des Hautes Eacutetudes TouristiquesRomanos A (1998) Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites (in Greek) Athens

Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites SASETE (1993) Tourism Developments and problems (in Greek) Athens Association of Greek

Tourism EnterprisesSezer H and Harrison A (1994) Tourism in Greece and Turkey An economic view for

planners In A Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposiumpp74ndash84 England Wiley and Sons

Skoulas N (1985) Holidays and travel in the year 2035 ndash Contribution of the NationalTourist Organisation of Greece SDI Schriftey Wirtschafts und Unternehmenspolitik 40181ndash99

Skoulas N (1994) Quality improvement of tourism services (in Greek) Paper presentedin the conference Competitiveness of tourism enterprises ndash the role of quality 1 AprilHoliday Inn Athens Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises

Smith C and Jenner P (1995) Greece International Tourism Reports 3 5ndash21Stavrou S (1978) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Kos Island (in Greek) Research and

Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationStavrou S (1979) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Mykonos and Naxos Islands (in

Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1980) Research on Tourism Awareness on the Islands Kalymnos and Leros (in Greek)Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1984) Tourism Development in Greece during 1969ndash1982 (in Greek) Research andDevelopment Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986a) Research for the Characteristics of Foreign Tourist Demand in Greece in theYears 8485 (in Greek) Research Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1986b) Research on the Tourism Awareness on Paros Santorini Kythira Islands (inGreek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986c) Critical Review of Tourism Activity in the Years 8385 (in Greek) Researchand Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1988) Tourism in the Northern Aegean Islands Presentation of GNTO for the TourismDevelopment of the Periphery (in Greek) Proceedings of the first conference for thedevelopment of the Northern Aegean islands Homereum cultural centre Chios 11November Chios Periphery of Northern Aegean islands

Stavrou S (1989a) GNTO Presentation for the Tourism Development Possibilities for theSouthern Aegean Islands (in Greek) Conference for the development of Southern Aegean

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 479

islands Syros 30 September ndash 2 OctoberStavrou S (1989b) The Contribution of the Development Law 126282 in the Development of the

Country (in Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A5 Athens GreekNational Tourism Organisation

Stereopoulos N (1995) It is regarded ideal it became problematic (in Greek) OikonomikosTachidromos (21 December) 151ndash3

Touloupas P (1996) Greece as a tourist destination for the British tour operators Ananalysis from a marketing perspective in the particular context of the United KingdomMSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Tourismos ke Oikonomia (1993) 20 years 1973ndash1993 (in Greek) Special Issue AthensTourismos ke Oikonomia (1994) ICAP tourism enterprises Drastic reduction of loses in 1993

(in Greek) December 14ndash15Touristiki Agora (various issues) (Monthly tourism industry periodical in Greek) Business

Press AthensTruett D and Truett L (1987) The response of tourism to international economic

conditions Greece Mexico and Spain Journal of Developing Areas 21 177ndash90Tsartas P (1989) Socioeconomic Impacts of Tourism Development in Cyclades Region with Special

Reference on Ios and Serifos Islands During 1950ndash1980 (in Greek) Athens National Centrefor Social Research

Tsartas P (1992) Socioeconomic impacts of tourism on two Greek isles Annals of TourismResearch 19 516ndash33

Van Den Bergh J (1993) Tourism development and natural environment Aneconomicndashecological model for the Sporades islands In H Briassoulis and J Van DerStraaten (eds) Tourism and Environment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 67ndash83)Dordrecht Kluer Academic Publishers

Velissariou E (1991) Die Wirtschaftlichen Effekte des Tourismus Dargestell am Beispiel Kretas(The Economic Impacts of Tourism on Crete) PhD Dissertation University of MunichFrankfurt Peter Lang

Vernikos N (1987) The study of Mediterranean small islands Emerging theoreticalissues Ekistics 54 (323ndash4) 101ndash9

Wanhill S (1993) Government organisations In C Cooper J Fletcher D Gilbert and SWanhill (eds) Tourism Principle and Practice (pp 145ndash60) London Pitman

Wickens D (1994) Consumption of the authentic The hedonistic tourist in Greece In ASeaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 819ndash25)England JWiley and Sons

Wickens E (2000) Rethinking touristsrsquo experiences In M Robinson et al (eds) MotivationsBehaviour and Tourist Types (pp 455ndash72) Business Education Publishers Sunderland

Wickers D (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 2 Sunday Times 57ndash510Wilkinson PF (1989) Strategies for tourism in islands microstates Annals of Tourism

Research 16 153ndash77XENIA (various issues) (Monthly bulletin of the Greek Hotel Chamber in Greek) AthensZacharatos G (1984) Tourismus und Wirtschafts-Struktur Dargestellt am Beispiel

Griechenlands Europaische Hochschulschriften Reihex Band 7 Frankfurt am MainZacharatos G (1986) Tourism consumption (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planning and

Economic ResearchZacharatos G (1988) The simplistic empiricism Tourism policy and the time of crisis

(1992) (in Greek) Sychrona Themata 11 (May) 21ndash6Zacharatos G (1989) The problems and perspectives of tourism in Greece (in Greek) In H

Katsoulis T Giannitsis and P Kazakos (eds) Politics and Society Economy and ForeignRelationships (pp 273ndash89) Athens Papazisis

Zacharatos G (1993) The necessity of multimedia use in the tourism education in Greece(in Greek) Paper presented at the international conference Overcomingisolation-telematics and regional development University of the Aegean Chios 30April ndash 2 May

480 Current Issues in Tourism

Page 23: Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challengescore.ac.uk/download/pdf/101686.pdf · Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challenges Dimitrios Buhalis School of Management

Horwath (1994 3) concludes that

unfortunately the results in terms of return on investment in the tourismindustry are not very promising especially when compared with those ofother Greek economic sectors It is an undisputable fact that the averageGreek tourism entrepreneur is heavily dependent on the tourist packageprice which is strongly negotiated by the international tour operators It isan lsquounhealthyrsquo dependency as a result of the weak position of the Greektourist product in the international market In addition the aforemen-tioned dependency is the result of the lack of marketing activities in anaverage tourist enterprise As we all know effective marketing activitiesare based on the product place price promotion which all contribute toclient satisfaction and further to a bigger share in the international touristmarket Up to now three of the aforementioned important elements ofmarketing have been overlooked which determine the weak negotiationpower of the Greek entrepreneur

This situation has also resulted to several European companies expandingtheir operations into Greece or purchasing shares in Greek partners in order toimprove their vertical integration Should this vertical integration expand signif-icantly however lsquoGreek tourism will be in fact controlled by foreign deci-sion-making centres which will certainly operate on the basis of their owninterests and not according to the overall interests of our national economyrsquo(Kalogeropoulou 1993 2) Hence radical measures are required immediately inproduct formulation promotion strategy and distribution channels to supportboth Greek destinations and SMTEs to enhance their competitiveness profitabil-ity and prosperity Failure to react would have severe implications for the futureof the Greek tourism private sector as the essence of its existence would be jeop-ardised its costs may exceeding its returns

Structural problems generate negative tourism impactsIn addition to the profitability problems of the private sector the aforemen-

tioned structural problems have profound implications for the welfare of hostpopulations in various Greek destinations as their economic social cultural andenvironmental resources are exploited without ensuring their sustainabilityLack of comprehensive research and failure to initiate carrying-capacity limits orzoning systems contribute to the anarchic development of tourism as well asexpand negative impacts of tourism on local societies and environments Thefollowing section highlights some of the costs Greek destinations are called topay for their tourism activity whilst it suggests that these issues should beaddressed in the strategic planning process

Macro-economic negative impactsDespite the contribution of tourism to the Greek economy certain potential

risks can also be identified Not only is the competitiveness and profitability ofthe tourism industry jeopardised but also several destination regions seem tofollow a policy of developing tourism at the expense of industrial and agricul-tural growth (Stavrou 1989a 6 Vernicos 1987 105) Instead of tourism stimulat-ing agriculture it seems that it hastens its decline as the two economic activities

462 Current Issues in Tourism

compete for land and labour The lack of structural investments in industrial oragricultural sectors combined with the popularity of tourism professions in theworkforce endanger the balance of the regional economy while reducing thetourism multipliers (Briassoulis 1993 295) As a result the economic structure ofthe destination is jeopardised while a complete dependence upon tourismbecomes inevitable (Komilis 1992 7) Both opportunity costs and displacementeffects are therefore evident Moreover there is evidence that the progress ofdestinations through their life-cycle and especially the introduction of masstourism decreases their economic impacts while it makes local control of theindustry far more difficult (Loukissas 1982 537) lsquoBecause of the high degree ofdependence of Greek tourist enterprises on tour operators the actual amount oftourist spending remaining in the country is only the 40ndash50 of total touristspendingrsquo (Briassoulis 1993 296) Public-sector subsidies to the private sector invarious forms such as incentives cooperative marketing campaigns and unem-ployment benefits in the off-season as well as tax evasion and lsquoparaeconomyrsquo alsoreduce the real benefit at the macro level (Mourdoukoutas 1988 Drakatos 1987Leontidou 1991 102) Lack of scientific research on the economic impacts oftourism makes the real contribution of tourism in the economy speculativerather than based on hard evidence (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Konsolas ampZacharatos 1993)

Social and cultural negative impactsThe development of mass tourism and the lack of effective planning and

management are also responsible for a number of negative social and culturalimpacts observed in Greek host societies (Tsartas 1989 1992 Stavrou 19781979 1980 1986b) Although the degree of interaction of the population withtourists depends heavily on the geomorphology of destinations and the loca-tion of resorts (Loukissas 1982 538) touristsrsquo behaviour is often offensive tothe host population but tolerated due to the economic benefits (Castelberg-Koulma 1991 201 Kousis 1989 Wickens 1994 823) Most Greek tourismdestinations are almost crime-free zones during the winter due to the smallpopulation and personal relationships of locals Tourism however introducesseveral types of criminal activity often unknown to local people As policeforces are usually allocated according to needs of the permanent population ina destination they are often incapable of handling the demands of the summermonths and are unable to deal with visitorsrsquo misbehaviour such as hooliganismand lsquolager-lootingrsquo

The commercialisation of history cultural traditions and the Greek lifestyle isa phenomenon met in several destinations This regrettably affects the renownedGreek hospitality commercialises human relations with tourists and reduces theties of solidarity and cooperation between locals since they compete for the tour-ism market (Papadopoulos 1988b 24) As the average employee works 605hours weekly for 295 weeks a year there is little time left for social religious andcultural obligations during the season (Mourdoukoutas 1988 325) Although acertain degree of lsquodemonstration effectrsquo and lsquoxenomaniarsquo can be attributed totourism the country is equally influenced by the mass media as well as by theGreek students and professionals living abroad (Papadopoulos 1988a 30Wickens 1994 822) Moore (1995) also explains that tourism not only has had a

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 463

contribution to the increase of alcohol consumption by Greeks but has alsoshifted their taste away from locally produced wine to imported spirits and beerBriassoulis (1993 296) perhaps describes best the change in labour force valueswhen as she suggests that tourism has created a

peculiar parasitic group of tourist entrepreneurs operating tourist-servingenterprises like tavernas cafeterias etc the principal characteristics ofwhich are high profits and tax evasion Consequently a particular person-ality type is created the lsquosuccessfulrsquo entrepreneur who earns a lot with littlework has a rich erotic life and is professionally independent (in contrast topublic and private employees) This model is followed by many youngpeople who abandon other productive year-round occupations lsquoworkrsquoonly during the tourist season stay idle for the rest of the year and eventu-ally suffer from the volatility of the tourist market

The family relations and values are therefore under great transition andperhaps threat (Castelberg-Koulma 1991 201 Kousis 1989 Moore 1992)

Negative environmental impactsDespite environmental resources becoming central to destinationsrsquo competi-

tiveness most Greek destinations go through an unparalleled exploitation due toinadequate planning and reinvestment in their sustainability jeopardising theirfuture (Buhalis amp Fletcher 1995) Boniface and Cooper (1994 141) suggest thatgeographical concentration of tourism

has led to the view that Greece will become saturated with tourists and thatdamage will be done to the environment and cultural heritage in the morepopular areas Already the environment has suffered from haphazarduncontrolled building and pollution of the sea and the flora and fauna arebeing effected by waste disposal

Coastal pollution water shortages sewage treatment waste disposal trafficcongestion noise pollution overbuilding and aesthetic degradation are some ofthe impacts experienced already in a number of resorts (Briassoulis 1993 297Coccosis amp Parprairis 1992 Peterson 1990 Marinos 1983 Stavrou 1988 19 and1989a 5 Papadopoulos 1988b 24) Most of the islands also face water shortagedue to the inability of natural supplies to provide sufficient water for the tourismdemand Imported mineral water from the mainland is an expensive way tosolve this problem due to the transportation cost while it creates more waste andenvironmental damage In addition the destruction of endangered speciesrsquo habi-tats is another problem experienced on several islands (ZakynthosCaretta-Caretta and Allonissos monk-seals) (Ottaway 1992 Van Den Bergh1993 70 Prurier et al 1993) Urgent coordination with all tourism actors at thelocal level is essential while regulation is required to set objective and measurablelimits and targets in order to preserve local environmental resources Financialdifficulties in the industry only exacerbate these impacts as the private and publicsectors feel unable to reinvest in the conservation of resources

The aforementioned negative impacts emerge as a result of the structuralproblems of the Greek tourism industry and illustrate that the mass tourismorientation of the industry reduces the sovereignty of the host population over

464 Current Issues in Tourism

their land and resources whilst jeopardising their expected benefits and futurewelfare As these impacts are trade-offs for the economic gains of the tourismactivity it is important that consistent long-term strategic planning should beundertaken in order to enable the preservation of the local resources and achievesustainability at tourism destinations These tasks should all be reinforced byresearch political will and strategic planning

Where Do We Need to Go and How Are We Going ThereTowards Strengthening the Competitiveness of Greek Tourismand SMTEs

Based on the situation analysis as well as on the strategic weaknesses andstructural problems the paper attempts to provide a framework for strategicplanning which will enable the strengthening of the competitiveness of Greektourism and SMTEs Porter (1985 1) suggests that competitive strategy lsquois thesearch for a favourable competitive position in an industryrsquo which is a function ofthe attractiveness of the industry and the relative competitive position withinthat particular industry He also argues that lsquocompetitive strategy aims to estab-lish a profitable and sustainable position against the forces that determine indus-try competitionrsquo Competitiveness is therefore defined as the effort undertakenby organisations to maintain long-term profitability above the average of theparticular industry within which they operate or above alternative investmentopportunities in other industries

Traditionally the tourism industry in the majority of destinations worldwideis based on a network of SMTEs which provide all types of tourism products andservices while enabling closer interaction between the host population and visi-tors as well as facilitating a rapid infusion of tourism spending into the localeconomy As lsquotouristsrsquo overall experience is composed of numerous smallencounters with a variety of tourism service providersrsquo (Moutinho 1990 104)there is a great overlap between the customer perception of local SMTEs anddestinations which makes them almost indistinguishable Consequently thecompetitiveness and prosperity of destinations and SMTEs are closely interre-lated as the fortune of the one depends heavily upon the management andcompetitiveness of the other Therefore the generic strategy for destinationsinvolves SMTEs and vice versa

Grand strategy Strategy formulation for Greek tourism and SMTEsBased on the strategic analysis a grand strategy is proposed for the Greek

tourism industry and SMTEs in order to demonstrate the directions the destina-tions should follow in their attempt to increase their competitiveness and reducetheir vulnerability As different resorts destinations and SMTEs have dissimilarneeds only generic strategies can be drawn However these guidelines can beapplicable to destinations and SMTEs worldwide as they address strategic ratherthan operational issues The analysis is based on the assumption that SMTEsformulate leisure value-added chains or networks of wealth creation whichessentially comprise the entire destination Therefore an integrated approach isfollowed as there is a great complementarity between the strategies and strate-gic directions for both the Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 465

The grand strategy analysis is based on an examination of three general strat-egy models namely Porterrsquos generic strategies Gilbertrsquos proposition for lsquodiffer-entiation of the destinationrsquo and Poonrsquos analysis for lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo Agrand strategy is then proposed for both Greek tourism and SMTEs based oninference emerging from these three models Figure 1 illustrates the three maingeneric strategies proposed by Porter (1980 34ndash46) in order to lsquooutperform otherfirms in an industryrsquo overall cost leadership where the firm is required to minimiseits costs based on mass production and strict cost control of the main businessfunctions differentiation of products or services by lsquocreating something that isperceived industry-wide as being uniquersquo or focus on a lsquoparticular buyer groupsegment of the product line or geographical marketrsquo and achieve either cost leader-ship or product differentiation (Porter 1980 37ndash8)

Furthermore Gilbert (1984 1990) argues that destinations should differenti-ate their tourism products in order to be able to achieve a unique lsquotourist productbenefitrsquo which would enable them to establish their position in the internationaltourism market as well as to attract high spenders and loyal tourists Tourismdestinations therefore should attempt to achieve a lsquostatus arearsquo image ratherthan a lsquocommodity arearsquo one as illustrated in Figure 2 In the first case the desti-nation is heavily substitutable very sensitive to price and economic changeswhile consumers have a low awareness of any unique benefits or attributes of theregion Thus holidaymakers base their decision to visit the area merely on pricewhile the demand for the destination is incidental and destinations are unable toattract high spenders In contrast lsquostatus areasrsquo achieve intentional demand as aresult of the unique product attributes perceived by the tourism market Theseunique attributes may be genuine or imagined and thus a destination isregarded as irreplaceable increasing consumersrsquo loyalty and willingness to payGilbert (1990 24ndash5) asserts that destinations should attempt to become lsquostatusareasrsquo in order to improve their image loyalty and economic benefits

A third strategic approach is proposed by Poon (1987 1988 1989 1990 1993)based on the concept of lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo of the tourism business Inessence Poon examines the industry processes and proposes a strategy to enabletourism organisations to improve their competitiveness Poon argues that lsquoflexi-ble specialisationrsquo is a strategy of lsquopermanent innovationrsquo and lsquoceaseless changersquowhich provides for the lsquonew tourismrsquo This new tourism is flexible segmentedcustomised to the touristrsquos needs and diagonally integrated In contrast the oldtourism can be characterised as lsquomass standardised and rigidly packagedrsquo(Poon 1989 91ndash3)

466 Current Issues in Tourism

STRATEGIC ADVANTAGE

Perceived product uniqueness Cost advantage

TARGETMARKET

Industrywide Differentiation Cost Leadership

Particularsegmentsonly

Differentiation Focus Cost Focus

Figure 1 Porterrsquos three generic strategiesSource Porter 1980 39

The main sources of flexibility for service firms lie in the organisationmanagement marketing distribution and other forms of interaction andinterrelationships among guests hotels suppliers distributors What isimportant however is not each of these stand alone aspects but how theyare coupled to create competitive advantages and hence capabilities tomove with the market (Poon 1988 24)

Examination of these three main strategies illustrates that they share a similarbase Porterrsquos lsquodifferentiationrsquo Gilbertrsquos lsquostatus arearsquo and Poonrsquos lsquoflexiblespecialisationrsquo describe the attempt undertaken by firms and tourist destinationsto achieve value competitive advantages In contrast the lsquocost leadershiprsquo lsquocom-modity arearsquo and the lsquostandardisation or Fordism production modelrsquo describethe effort to achieve lsquocost competitive advantagersquo where destinations andSMTEs offer their products for less than their competitors In the first caseconsumers perceive the product as unique and are willing to pay a premiumwhile in the second case the decision is merely based on price Thus the classicalstrategic decision of lsquolow volume-high profit marginrsquo or lsquohigh volume-low profitmarginrsquo is the underlying concept of the two alternative strategies

Both Gilbert and Poon agree that destinations should aim to achieve lsquostatusarearsquo or niche orientation through differentiation in order to increase consumersatisfaction as well as to maximise the benefits for both regions and SMTEs As aresult Greek tourism and SMTEs need to focus towards the differentiation strat-egy define their niche markets and serve them accordingly This strategy isalready adopted in several resort areas such as Valencia in Spain where it isrecognised that the need for diversification and differentiation lsquohas now becomeessential owing to the level of competitiveness that has been attained (and can beforeseen) in the world tourist marketrsquo (Fayos-Sola 1992 49) Differentiation isalso particularly useful for insular destinations in microstates where a limitednumber of economic and financial resources are available (Wilkinson 1989 170)As most destinations consist of SMTEs networks there is an overlap betweentheir strategic orientations and therefore the above analysis is applicable to boththe Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Destinations implementing a lsquostatus arearsquo strategy can enhance the satisfac-tion of tourists as well as their competitiveness The formulation of unique and

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 467

CommodityArea

Statusarea

Willingness topay higher prices

StatusArea

Product attributes Product attributes

CommodityArea

Figure 2 Gilbertrsquos differentiation strategySource Adapted from Gilbert 1990 25

customised products by using flexibility and cooperation also increases touristsrsquowillingness to pay and wins their loyalty while it responds to the new tourismdemand trends However the proposed strategy should not be seen as an excusefor SMTEs and destinations not to attempt to improve their efficiency and mini-mise their production costs Although the unique service for touristsrsquo needs shouldbe their priority offering perceived value for money would determine theircompetitiveness in the marketplace As a result all Greek resorts and SMTEsshould assess their assets and strengths for serving specific target markets takingadvantage of their small size which facilitates flexibility and specialisation

It is quite apparent that the cost advantage strategy has to be avoided inmanagement of tourism destinations as regions need to preserve their scarceenvironmental and sociocultural resources and achieve sustainable develop-ment As cost advantage is based on mass production and consumption itassumes an unlimited production capacity which is inapplicable in the tourismindustry The inseparability of the tourism product determines that consumersshould be present at the time of product delivery and when combined with tour-ism seasonality it generates demand peaks which drain destinationsrsquo scarceenvironmental sociocultural resources The lsquohigh volume-low profit marginrsquostrategy has therefore harmful social and environmental impacts on destina-tions Destinations have maximum carrying capacities beyond which both thewelfare of local populations and the satisfaction of tourists are jeopardisedAlthough economic benefits can also be achieved by using the lsquocommodity arearsquoor the lsquostandard product modelrsquo it is argued that these approaches reduce tour-istsrsquo satisfaction and their willingness to pay and are opposed to the demandtrend towards individualisation

Unfortunately however some destinations can no longer be positioned asirreplaceable unique products due to their overdevelopment Tourism supplyhas exceeded the carrying capacity of these resorts and their product hasreached the saturation or decline phase of their life-cycle Several Spanish costasand some Greek resorts such as Benitses Kavos Faliraki Malia Hersonissos andNidri (Josephides 1994) have been overdeveloped to such an extent that only alsquohigh-volume low-profit marginrsquo strategy is feasible When resorts reach theirsaturation level only a lsquocost leadershiprsquo or lsquomass productionrsquo strategy can beproposed as they are unable to provide any specific lsquotourist product benefitrsquo Theattraction of the lower end of the market is inevitable and as a consequence thereare no alternative strategies The minimisation of further sociocultural and envi-ronmental damage as well as attempts to improve the surrounding environmentshould also be a primary objective of both tourism destinations and SMTEs in thiscase The ultimate aim should be to regenerate the resources of the area and torelaunch the tourism destination to attract specific markets which will be willing topay a higher price for the destination

Strategic directions objectives and tasks for Greek tourism and SMTEsTable 8 presents three pivotal strategic directions which are identified in order

to stimulate the competitiveness of both Greek tourism and SMTEs This sectionillustrates how the aforementioned grand strategy can be implemented for tour-ist destinations and SMTEs through a number of strategic directions objectivesand tasks as presented in Table 9

468 Current Issues in Tourism

Enhancing the satisfaction of tourists and delighting the customer are pivotalto ensuring the well-being of Greek destinations and SMTEs in the long term andthus the entire range of tourism service providers should aim to delight theirclients As a result of the tourism product integration consumer satisfactioncannot be achieved by independent businesses separately but by the entirenetwork of SMTEs in Greek destinations The improvement in services isperhaps the most important strategic objective Consistency of promises throughstandardisation of service delivery and implementation of a total qualitymanagement philosophy throughout the industry are essential strategic tasks forachieving this objective while flexibility in service delivery and improvementsin training are critical In line with the grand strategy the production oftailor-made tourism products should be ensured in order to satisfy the specificneeds of particular niches and the requirements of the emerging new tourismdemand Product augmentation would enable also the Greek tourism product toexceed the expectations of consumers and hence enhance their satisfaction Lifestyle segmentation would enable Greek tourism and SMTEs to design appropri-ate tourism products As tourist demand elasticity has increasingly becomedoubtful in recent years the price of the holiday is no longer considered to be themost important attribute in the decision-making process Consequently theGreek tourism industry should concentrate on providing value for money at allprice levels as well as offering at least whatever they have promised to theconsumer

Supporting the long-term competitiveness and profitability of Greek tour-ism and SMTEs is by far the most important strategic objective for the tourismindustry The first strategic objective for every SMTE has to be the increase inrevenue by maximising its occupancy or load factors and the rates it achievesThe lengthening of the operating season as well as the identification of newmarkets and the penetration into existing ones and the effective utilisation ofdistribution channels will contribute to this strategic direction Higher ratescan be achieved by targeting specialised and smaller tour operators attractingalternative types of tourists and expanding the distribution channels mix aswell as by attempting a certain degree of lsquodisintermediationrsquo by encouragingdirect sales to outgoing travel agencies or consumers Aggressive marketingand establishment of partnerships with other enterprises should be essentialfunctions of Greek tourism and SMTEs Motivation of lsquofront-of-housersquo employ-ees as salesmen and sale incentives would also increase average spending percustomer The use of CRSs and destination management systems may also bean appropriate method for achieving higher prices and better occupancy rates(Buhalis 1994) Finally yield management techniques should be utilised by alltypes of SMTEs to assist them in pricing and maximising revenue Cost control

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 469

Table 8 Pivotal strategic dimensions for Greek tourism

(1) Enhance the satisfaction of tourists and delight the customer(2) Strengthen the long-term profitability and competitiveness of Greek tourism and

SMTEs(3) Develop Greek destinations sustainably and ensure prosperity of host population

470 Current Issues in Tourism

Table 9 Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Strategic directions Strategic objectives Strategic tasks

1 Enhance the sat-isfaction of tour-ists and delightthe customer

11 Improvement of services a Standardisation of service de-livery

b Development of quality controlsystems

c Consistency of promisesd Improvements in operational

managemente Flexibility in services deliveryf Training and education im-

provementsg Smile and personal relation-

shipsh Augmentation of tourism

producti Total quality management

12 Specialisation of tourismproduct

a Niche marketingb Lifestyle targeting

13 Value for money a Quality at each price level

2 Strengthen thelong-term com-petitiveness andprofitability ofGreek tourismand SMTEs

21 Increase revenue a Increase tourist volumesb Target new markets and pene-

tration in existing marketsc Use yield managementd Expand distribution channel

mixe Aggressive marketingf Achieve high average spending

per customerg Select high-quality specialised

tour operatorsh Attract alternative types of

tourismi Use alternative distribution

channelsj Motivate front-of-house em-

ployees as salesmen

22 Cost control and rationalmanagement

a Standardise service deliveryb Increase productivityc Reduce labour costsd Rationalise supplies manage-

mente Educationtraining for manag-

ers and employeesf Use of new technologyg Integrate service delivery

within SMTEs

23 Human resources man-agement

a Internal marketingb Empowermentc Satisfactory salary and working

conditionsd Long-term relations with em-

ployeese Motivation and rewards

and rational management is the second strategic objective needed to increaseefficiency and profitability of both Greek destinations and SMTEs in the longterm Standardisation of the service delivery process and minimisation of thelabour cost through better operational management would be primary recom-mendations Managers and employees should improve their productivity andmarketing skills by intensive training In addition the rationalisation of supplymanagement and the use of new technology is expected to reduce operationalcosts Finally integration of service delivery enables SMTEs to provide comple-mentary services and achieve additional revenues without immense costs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 471

24 State and public tourismorganisation support

a Destination development andcontrol

b Incentives policies for improve-ment

c Attract European Union assis-tance

d Promotional activitye Provide financial resources

3 Develop Greekdestinationssustainably andensure prosper-ity of host popu-lation

31 Environmental protection a Carrying capacity identificationb Zoning system applicationc Architecture preservationd Installation of sewage treat-

ment systemse Reduction of noise pollutionf Natural supplies management

32 Infrastructure ameliora-tion

a Accessibility improvementsb Telecommunication improve-

mentsc Public facilities advancements

33 Transportation improve-ments

a Improvement of local timeta-bles

b Punctuality and reliabilityc Improvements of vehiclesd Flexibility to meet demand

needs

34 Economic integration a Integration with raw materialproduction

b Utilisation of local labour forcec Integration of tourism servicesd Diagonal integration of destina-

tionrsquos economy

35 Equitable return on re-sources utilised

a Establish mechanism forreinvestments

b Provide services for hostcommunity

c Invest in sustainability ofresources

d Ensure equity in distributionof wealth produced

Source Adapted from Buhalis 1991 83a

Table 9 (cont) Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Human resources management is crucial in the delivery process of tourismproducts The concept of lsquointernal marketingrsquo where employees are perceivedand treated as lsquointernal customersrsquo has to be utilised in order to ensure theirsatisfaction As Berry (1981 34) states lsquothe satisfaction of the needs and wants ofthe internal customers can upgrade their capacity for satisfying the needs andwants of their external customersrsquo and as a consequence it can contribute to thecompetitiveness and profitability of Greek tourism and SMTEs Satisfactorysalary and working conditions are prerequisites for the well-being of SMTEsrsquoemployees Long-term relationships between employees and SMTEs minimiseturnover enabling a better performance while they reduce recruitment andtraining costs Empowerment would enable employees to be involved in themanagement of SMTEs and authorise them to respond more efficiently toconsumer requests while contributing to their job satisfaction Finally thesupport of the GNTO is vital for the long-term survival of SMTEs Apart fromthe improvement in infrastructure the GNTO is expected to hold the strategicresponsibility of the destination as well as to regulate the competition in orderto enable smaller enterprises to survive Incentive policies need to reflect thespecific requirements of each resort and enable development or improvementof certain types of enterprises The GNTO is also instrumental in attractingassistance from European development funds while it should also coordinatethe majority of Greek tourism promotional activity A promotional mix whichmaximises the effectiveness of the communication message needs to be drawnwhile budgets need to be available at the time consumers go through their deci-sion-making process in order to influence their choice of destination Finally theneed for the public sector to provide affordable financial resources for SMTEs ishighlighted by the EU (EC 1993b 73)

The third strategic direction for Greek tourism and SMTEs should be thesustainable development of destinations and local areas not only for the hostpopulation but also because this is vital for both consumer satisfaction and theprofitability of SMTEs Although in most cases SMTEs are unable to incorporatethese types of strategic objectives and tasks on their own they can initiate aframework of necessary actions for sustainable destination developmentthrough their associations Environmental protection is naturally the mostimportant strategic objective as consumersrsquo environmental consciousness hasbeen raised recently Carrying capacity limits should be identified and strictregulations and guidelines for tourism development need to be drawn A zoningsystem should be implemented in order to locate tourism activities according tothe geographical morphology of the destination In addition natural resourcesmanagement is necessary as tourism demand may exhaust the resources andespecially the water supplies The installation of sewage treatment systems andthe reduction of noise pollution should be considered especially for resortswhich suffer the consequences of these problems In addition infrastructureamelioration must be one of the primary objectives as it is an essential prerequi-site for both consumersrsquo satisfaction and SMTEsrsquo development The improve-ment of accessibility public services as well as telecommunications facilities is acrucial factor Transportation is also significant in increasing both consumersatisfaction and profitability of SMTEs as it determines whether consumers canaccess the destination easily while it also provides the first impression to tour-

472 Current Issues in Tourism

ists Improvements of timetables and services reliability increasing transporta-tion capacity and an enhancement of the fleet in terms of speed cleanliness andleisure facilities are all required Furthermore greater flexibility is needed bytransportation operators in order to meet demand needs Economic integrationcan improve the economic and social benefits of tourism in the region and theefficiency of SMTEs Ultimately tourism should be utilised as the catalyst andmajor stimulant for regional development Tourism enterprises should makeevery effort to use local raw materials and labour in order to maximise the multi-plier effects within Greece Diagonal integration of destinationsrsquo economy can beachieved by rearranging the goods and service production in order to supportthe tourism industry demand and thus minimise imports Finally SMTEs andtourism organisations need to offer a fair return-on-resources utilised back to thehost community A mechanism should be established in order to reinvest part ofthe revenues in the sustainability of resources provide services for the hostcommunity such as education training health services and generally ensureequity in distribution of wealth produced from local resources As the privatesector cannot be expected to behave altruistically towards the host communitythe GNTO and other public-sector departments should probably utilise regula-tion and taxation for this purpose

Conclusion Greek Tourism Needs a Long Overdue Master Planand Comprehensive Policy

The emerging international tourism competition the hitherto mass tourismorientation of the industry the transformation of demand the development ofthe volume of tourists visiting the dependence upon intermediaries for thedistribution of the tourism product in the major target markets the lack of a widerange of managerial skills by Greek tourism entrepreneurs and the lack of acomprehensive tourism policy or Master Plan by the public sector has led thecompetitiveness of Greece tourism to decline This has several unfavourableimplications for the profitability of the private sector as well as numerous nega-tive economic sociocultural and environmental impacts for the host populationAs a result the return on resources utilised for the production of Greek tourismservices is inadequate and the sustainability of Greece as a major tourism desti-nation is rapidly becoming doubtful Based on a strategic analysis the paper illu-minates the strategic weaknesses and structural problems of both the private andpublic sectors and demonstrates that a rationalisation of the tourism industry isurgently required Consequently a grand strategy as well as a wide range of stra-tegic directions objectives and tasks are proposed for both Greece as an entityand its SMTEs Although no quantitative targets are set in this paper it isexpected that each destination will analyse its resources and adapt its strategicplanning accordingly

The GNTO is urged to rationalise its strategy and to draw up a Master Plan anda comprehensive strategy for the entire country and for each resort where a strategywould be adopted based on quantifiable objectives and tasks Extensive researchneeds to be undertaken by using credible measurement methodologies such asInput-Output models and multipliers analysis not only for the economic but alsofor the social cultural and environmental impacts (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Buhalis

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 473

amp Fletcher 1995) A holistic tourism management system is demanded to facilitatethe development and implementation of the tourism strategy through funds allo-cation and monitoring land use control and examination of tourism public- andprivate-sector practices A thorough examination of tourism impacts in eachregion would be a prerequisite for tourism planning as it will establish andprovide scientific backing to strategic targets Komilis (1994 71) explains thatalthough the various levels of planning (sectoral nationalEU spatial or regional)are not mutually exclusive but rather complementary the regional level planningis more suitable for drawing sustainable strategies especially for areas withdissimilar needs like the Greek destinations The regional planning should lsquocon-tribute to the maximisation of regional development benefits in a way that utilisesand mobilises the regional resource base realises regional inter-sectoral linkagesand is compatible with regional economic interests societal values and environ-mental assetsrsquo It should also take into consideration the uniqueness of insulareconomies as well as the cultural and environmental resources of each particularregion and the complexity of rural and urban functions The planning processshould encourage the complementarity and coexistence of economic activitiesrather than promote sectoral separation and single-sector developments In addi-tion it needs to improve the balance between regional self-sufficiency anddependence upon external inputs and finally it should promote integration withinthe European Union

The public sector has to play its long overdue role as regulator coordinatorinfrastructure provider and promoter of the destination while a multi-integrationof the tourism industry with all the involved bodies in the preparation distribu-tion and delivery of the tourism experience needs to be ensured (Wanhill 1993Hall 1994 Skoulas 1994 10 Stavrou 1988 46) The private sector also has an impor-tant role to play as it should improve the Greek tourism industry competitivenessby improving its managerial and labour force competencies enhancing the qualityof services designing appropriate marketing mixes to attract and satisfy targetmarkets and cooperating closely in order to achieve synergies and economies ofscale (Briassoulis 1993 300 Cooper amp Buhalis 1992) To reverse the vicious circleof decreasing quality is of critical importance for the Greek tourism industryBetter quality services would stimulate the competitiveness of the Greek tourismproduct strengthen its position in the international market provide principalswith distribution channel power enhance its customersrsquo willingness to pay andenable the industry to increase its prices improving the profitability at the microlevel and the economic impacts of tourism at the macrolevel Ultimately a diagonalintegration strategy for both Greek tourism and SMTEs should aim to delightconsumers enhance the long-term prosperity of SMTEs and improve the welfareof the host populations The Olympic Games in 2004 offer a unique opportunity toregenerate and rebrand Greek tourism a cause which the entire industry shouldchampion

The AuthorDimitrios Buhalis is Senior Lecturer and course leader MSc in tourism at theUniversity of Surrey He holds a BBA from the University of the Aegean as wellas an MSc and a PhD in tourism management from the University of Surrey Hisresearch interests focus on information systems and technology strategic

474 Current Issues in Tourism

management distribution channels of tourism destination management andplanning and destination integrated computer information reservation manage-ment systems

AcknowledgementsThe author would like to acknowledge Prof C Cooper and Prof J Fletcher for

their invaluable contribution to this research Financial support from the SurreyResearch Group ConTours Consultants as well as field research sponsorshipsby the University of Surrey the Greek National Tourism Organisation and theUniversity of the Aegean are gratefully appreciated

Note1 An earlier version of this paper was published as a monograph PlanningDevelop-

ment by the International Centre for Research and Studies in TourismAix-en-Provence France

CorrespondenceAny correspondence should be directed to Dr Dimitrios Buhalis Senior

Lecturer in Business Information Management SMSSS University of SurreyGuildford GU2 7XH UK (dbuhalissurreyacuk)

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Economy (November) 228ndash38Berry C (1981) The employee as customer Journal of Retail Banking 3 33ndash40Boniface B and Cooper C (1994) The Geography of Travel and Tourism (2nd edn) London

HeinemannBriassoulis H (1993) Tourism in Greece In W Pompl and P Lavery (eds) Tourism in

Europe Structures and Developments (pp285ndash301) Oxford CAB InternationalBuckley P and Papadopoulos S (1986) Marketing Greek tourism The planning process

Tourism Management 7 86ndash100Buhalis D (1991) Strategic marketing and management for the small and medium

tourism enterprises in the periphery of the European Community A case study for theAegean islands in Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Buhalis D (1994) Information and telecommunications technologies as a strategic tool forsmall and medium tourism enterprises in the contemporary business environment InA Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 254ndash75)England J Wiley and Sons

Buhalis D (1995) The impact of information telecommunications technologies on tourismdistribution channels Implications for the small and medium sized tourismenterprisesrsquo strategic management and marketing PhD Dissertation University ofSurrey Guildford

Buhalis D (2000a) Marketing the competitive destination of the future TourismManagement (Special Issue ndash The Competitive Destination) 21 (1) 97ndash116

Buhalis D (2000b) (forthcoming) Athens Tourism-Travel Intelligence LondonBuhalis D (2000c) Relationships in the distribution channel of tourism Conflicts between

hoteliers and tour operators in the Mediterranean region Journal of InternationalHospitality Leisure and Tourism Adminstration 1 (1) 113ndash39

Buhalis D and Diamantis D (2001 forthcoming) Tourism development andsustainability on the Greek archipelagos In G Apostolopoulos and D Ioannides (eds)Tourism in the Mediterranean Routledge

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 475

Buhalis D and Fletcher J (1995) Environmental impacts on tourism destinations Aneconomic analysis In H Coccosis and P Nijkamp (eds) Sustainable Tourism Development(pp 3ndash25) London Avebury

Camison C Bigne E and Monfort VM (1994) The Spanish tourism industry Analysisof its strategies and the efficacy and achievements gained from them In A Seaton et al(eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 442ndash52) England JWiley and Sons

Castelberg-Koulma M (1991) Greek women and tourism Womenrsquos co-operatives as analternative form of organisation In N Redclift and T Sinclair (eds) Working WomenInternational Perspectives on Labour and Gender Ideology (pp 197ndash223) LondonRoutledge

Chitiris L (1991) Hotel Management (in Greek) Athens InterbooksCoccosis H and Parprairis A (1992) Assessing the interactions between environment

and tourism Case study of the island of Mykonos Paper presented in the IV WorldCongress of Regional Science International University of Balearic Islands Palma deMallorca 26ndash9 May

Conway H (1996) Greece Travel Weekly 1308 39ndash43Cooper C and Buhalis D (1992) Strategic management and marketing of small and

medium sized tourism enterprises in the Greek Aegean islands In R Teare D Adamsand S Messenger (eds) Managing Projects in Hospitality Organisations (pp 101ndash25)London Cassell

Daskalantonakis N (1994) Quality ndash The future of tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (3 July)D9

Divanis A (1994b) Tourism policy Left on its own luck (in Greek) XENIA (October)4ndash5

Donatos G and Zairis P (1991) Seasonality of foreign tourism in the Greek islands ofCrete Annals of Tourism Research 18 515ndash19

Douvitsas P (1994) Marketing Greece through British tour operators A futureperspective MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Drakatos C (1987) Seasonal concentration of tourism in Greece Annals of Tourism Research14 582ndash6

EC (1993a) Microeconomic Analysis of the Tourism Sector A study by the pH Group forEuropean Commission DGXXIII (September) Report XXIII30394-EN BrusselsEuropean Commission

EC (1993b) Growth competitiveness employment The challenges and ways forward intothe 21st century Bulletin of the European Communities Supplement 693 (White Paper)Luxembourg

Economist (1993) Last Chance Sisyphus A survey of Greece Economist (22 May) 2ndash22EIU (1986) Greece (pp 45ndash60) International tourist reports National Report No 3EIU (1990) Greece (pp 45ndash62) International tourist reports National Report No 4EIU (1993) Greece ndash Country Profile 1992ndash1993 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEIU (1994) Greece ndash Country Profile 1994ndash1995 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEpilogi (1994) Economic review ndash The Greek Economy 1994 (in Greek) AthensEuromonitor (1992) Tourism in Greece Market Research Europe (25 May) 51ndash63Fayos-Sola E (1992) A Strategic Outlook for Regional Tourism Policy The White Paper

on Valencian Tourism Tourism Management 13 45ndash9Fotis J (1992) Vacational lifestyle segmentation of tourists on the island of Rhodes

Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey GuildfordGilbert D (1984) The need for countries to differentiate their tourist product and how to

do so Seminar papers for Ministers of Tourism and Directors of National TouristOrganisations Tourism Managing for Results University of Surrey Guildford

Gilbert D (1990) Strategic marketing planning for national tourism Tourist Review 45 (1)18ndash27

GNTO (1985a) Survey of attributes of foreign tourists 1984ndash1985 (in Greek) Greek NationalStatistical Services Athens GNTO

476 Current Issues in Tourism

GNTO (1985b) EOT-Tourism rsquo85 Development ndash Participation ndash Quality of Life (in Greek)Greek National Statistical Services Athens GNTO

GNTO (1989a) Annual report 1988 ndash Forecast 89 Towards Quality Athens GNTOGNTO (1989b) The study of tourism promotion With special reference to the measures to

increase Japanese tourists to Greece Draft final report Japan InternationalCooperation Agency

GNTO (1993) Tourism towards the 2000 (in Greek) Greek National Tourism OrganisationAthens GNTO

Hall M (1994) Tourism and Politics Policy Power and Place J Wiley and SonsHorwath (annual) The Greek Hotel Industry (in Greek) Annual reports Pireus HorwathJenner P and Smith C (1993) Tourism in the Mediterranean Research report London

Economist Intelligence UnitJosephides N (1993) Environmental Concern ndash Whatrsquos In It for the Tourism Industry (pp 51ndash6)

Proceedings of the conference Tourism and the environment Challenges and choicesfor the 1990rsquos 16ndash17 November 1992 Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre LondonBrussels European Union

Josephides N (1994) Tourism analysis Presentation in Philoxenia international tourismexhibition Thessaloniki Greece

Josephides N (1995) A sorry state for beautiful Greece Travel Weekly 1261 (5 April)11Kalogeropoulou H (1993) Greece ndash Prospects for the tourism industry within the context

of the European Single Market of 1993 Tourism Review 48 (1) 2ndash4Kassimati K Thanopoulou M and Tsartas P (1994) Womenrsquos Employment in the

Tourist Sector Study of the Greek Labour Market and Identification of Future ProspectsDGV Equal Opportunities Unit Document V40994-EN European CommissionBrussels

Komilis P (1987) Spatial analysis of tourism in Greece (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planningand Economic Research

Komilis P (1992) The spatial structure of tourism and physical planning practices inGreece Paper presented in conference Tourism and environment Issues ofpolicyplanningmanagement 23ndash4 October University of the Aegean Dept ofEnvironment Lesvos

Komilis P (1993) Values in the Tourism Planning and Policy Making Process (pp 224ndash9)Proceedings of the conference Values and the environment 23ndash4 September GuildfordUniversity of Surrey

Komilis P (1994) Tourism and sustainable regional development In A Seaton et al (eds)Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 65ndash73) England JWiley andSons

Konsolas N and Zacharatos G (1993) Regionalization of tourism activity in GreeceProblems and policies In H Briassoulis and J Van der Straaten (eds) Tourism andEnvironment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 57ndash65) Dordrecht Kluer AcademicPublisher

Kousis M (1989) Tourism and the family in a rural Cretan community Annals of TourismResearch 16 318ndash32

Kriebardis S and Marmagiolis I (1990) Tourism Activity in Greece Problems and Perspectives(pp 45ndash54) (in Greek) Economic Report of Commercial Bank AprilndashJune AthensCommercial Bank

Ktenas S (1994) Hoteliers ask for 15 to 20 increases for 1995 (in Greek) TO BHMA (3July) D9

Ktenas S (1996) Crisis in Greek tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (7 April) D16Leontidou L (1991) Greece Prospects and contradictions of tourism in the 1980rsquos In AM

Williams and GJ Shaw (eds) Tourism and Economic Development Western EuropeanExperiences (2nd edn) (pp 94ndash106) London Belhaven Press

Logothetis M (1990) The Economy of Dodekanisos During 1988ndash1989 Developments andPerspectives (in Greek) Rhodes Regional association of municipalities of Dodekanisos

Logothetis M (1992) Touristiki Sigkiria (in Greek) Rhodes Institute of Tourist and HotelResearch

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 477

Loukissas P (1977) The impact of tourism on regional development A comparativeanalysis of the Greek islands PhD Dissertation Cornell University USA

Loukissas P (1982) Tourismrsquos regional development impacts A comparative analysis ofthe Greek islands Annals of Tourism Research 9 523ndash43

Marinos P (1983) Small island tourism-the case of Zakynthos in Greece TourismManagement 4 212ndash15

Moore R (1992) From shepherds to shopkeepers The development of tourism in a centralGreek town PhD Dissertation University of California at Berkeley USA

Moore R (1995) Gender and alcohol use in a Greek tourist town Annals of Tourism Research22 300ndash13

Mourdoukoutas P (1988) Seasonal employment seasonal unemployment andunemployment compensation The case of the tourism industry of the Greek islandsAmerican Journal of Economics and Sociology 47 315ndash29

NSSG (l983) Tourism Statistics 1981 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (l985) Tourism Statistics 1982ndash1983 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1987) Tourism Statistics 1984ndash1985 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1990) Tourism Statistics 1986ndash1987 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1993) Tourism Statistics 1988ndash1990 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceOECD (1992) Greece Tourism Policy and International Tourism in OECD Member Countries (pp

70ndash8) Paris OECDOttaway M (1992) Turtle power Sunday Times Travel and Style (28 June)Ottaway M (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 1 Sunday Times (17 January)

57ndash59Panagiotopoulou R (1990) The problem and perspectives of the European insular regions

(in Greek) Working paper University of the Aegean ChiosPapadimitris G (1988) Short run and long run prospects of the Greek tourism industry

PhD Dissertation University of Manchester ManchesterPapadopoulos S (1985) An economic analysis of foreign tourism in Greece An

examination of the growth and structure of foreign tourism to Greece 1960ndash1984 with aplanning model and marketing policy recommendations PhD Thesis University ofBradford Management Centre Bradford

Papadopoulos S (1987) Strategic marketing techniques in international tourismInternational Marketing Review (summer) 71ndash84

Papadopoulos S (1988a) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (1) 29ndash30

Papadopoulos S (1988b) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (2) 24ndash7

Papadopoulos S (1989) Greek marketing strategies in the Europe tourism market ServiceIndustries Journal 9 297ndash314

Papadopoulos S and Mirza H (1985) Foreign tourism in Greece An economic analysisTourism Management 6 125ndash37

Papandropoulos A (1995) The crisis in tourism is evident (in Greek) OikonomikosTachydromos (29 June) 26ndash8

Papanikos G (1999) The year 2004 olympic games and their influence upon the Greektourism (in Greek) ITEP (Research Institute for Tourism) Athens

Paulopoulos P (1999) The Size and Dynamics of the Tourism Sector (in Greek) ResearchInstitute for Tourism Athens

Peterson C (1990) Greece tackles overbuilding in tourism areas EnvironmentalConservation 17 166ndash8

Plevris V (1995) Alarm bells from the Hellenic Federation of Hotels (in Greek) XENIA128 (May) 6ndash7

Poon A (1987) Information technology and innovation in international tourism ndashimplications for the Caribbean tourism industry PhD thesis Science Policy ResearchUnit University of Sussex Brighton

Poon A (1988) Flexible specialisation and small size ndash the case of Caribbean tourism DRCDiscussion Paper 57 SPRU Brighton University of Sussex

478 Current Issues in Tourism

Poon A (1989) Competitive strategies for new tourism In C Cooper (ed) Progress inTourism Recreation and Hospitality Management (vol 1) (pp 91ndash102) London BelhavenPress

Poon A (1990) Flexible specialisation at small size The case of Caribbean tourism WorldDevelopment 18 109ndash23

Poon A (1993) Tourism Technology and Competitive Strategies Oxford CAB InternationalPorter M (1980) Competitive Strategy Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors

New York Free PressPorter M (1985) Competitive Advantage Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance New

York Free PressPorter M (1990) The Competitive Advantage of Nations New York Free PressPrurier E Sweeney A and Geen A (1993) Tourism and the environment The case of

Zakynthos Tourism Management 14 137ndash9Psoinos P (1994a) Research on the foreign touristsrsquo attributes in Greece (in Greek) Athens

Greek National Tourism OrganisationPsoinos P (1994b) Research on the attributes of foreigners who have never visited Greece (in

Greek) Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationRichter-Papaconstantinou C (1992) Tourism development of Rhodes Cahiers du Tourisme

(Serie B) 67 Aix en Provence Centre des Hautes Eacutetudes TouristiquesRomanos A (1998) Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites (in Greek) Athens

Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites SASETE (1993) Tourism Developments and problems (in Greek) Athens Association of Greek

Tourism EnterprisesSezer H and Harrison A (1994) Tourism in Greece and Turkey An economic view for

planners In A Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposiumpp74ndash84 England Wiley and Sons

Skoulas N (1985) Holidays and travel in the year 2035 ndash Contribution of the NationalTourist Organisation of Greece SDI Schriftey Wirtschafts und Unternehmenspolitik 40181ndash99

Skoulas N (1994) Quality improvement of tourism services (in Greek) Paper presentedin the conference Competitiveness of tourism enterprises ndash the role of quality 1 AprilHoliday Inn Athens Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises

Smith C and Jenner P (1995) Greece International Tourism Reports 3 5ndash21Stavrou S (1978) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Kos Island (in Greek) Research and

Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationStavrou S (1979) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Mykonos and Naxos Islands (in

Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1980) Research on Tourism Awareness on the Islands Kalymnos and Leros (in Greek)Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1984) Tourism Development in Greece during 1969ndash1982 (in Greek) Research andDevelopment Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986a) Research for the Characteristics of Foreign Tourist Demand in Greece in theYears 8485 (in Greek) Research Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1986b) Research on the Tourism Awareness on Paros Santorini Kythira Islands (inGreek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986c) Critical Review of Tourism Activity in the Years 8385 (in Greek) Researchand Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1988) Tourism in the Northern Aegean Islands Presentation of GNTO for the TourismDevelopment of the Periphery (in Greek) Proceedings of the first conference for thedevelopment of the Northern Aegean islands Homereum cultural centre Chios 11November Chios Periphery of Northern Aegean islands

Stavrou S (1989a) GNTO Presentation for the Tourism Development Possibilities for theSouthern Aegean Islands (in Greek) Conference for the development of Southern Aegean

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 479

islands Syros 30 September ndash 2 OctoberStavrou S (1989b) The Contribution of the Development Law 126282 in the Development of the

Country (in Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A5 Athens GreekNational Tourism Organisation

Stereopoulos N (1995) It is regarded ideal it became problematic (in Greek) OikonomikosTachidromos (21 December) 151ndash3

Touloupas P (1996) Greece as a tourist destination for the British tour operators Ananalysis from a marketing perspective in the particular context of the United KingdomMSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Tourismos ke Oikonomia (1993) 20 years 1973ndash1993 (in Greek) Special Issue AthensTourismos ke Oikonomia (1994) ICAP tourism enterprises Drastic reduction of loses in 1993

(in Greek) December 14ndash15Touristiki Agora (various issues) (Monthly tourism industry periodical in Greek) Business

Press AthensTruett D and Truett L (1987) The response of tourism to international economic

conditions Greece Mexico and Spain Journal of Developing Areas 21 177ndash90Tsartas P (1989) Socioeconomic Impacts of Tourism Development in Cyclades Region with Special

Reference on Ios and Serifos Islands During 1950ndash1980 (in Greek) Athens National Centrefor Social Research

Tsartas P (1992) Socioeconomic impacts of tourism on two Greek isles Annals of TourismResearch 19 516ndash33

Van Den Bergh J (1993) Tourism development and natural environment Aneconomicndashecological model for the Sporades islands In H Briassoulis and J Van DerStraaten (eds) Tourism and Environment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 67ndash83)Dordrecht Kluer Academic Publishers

Velissariou E (1991) Die Wirtschaftlichen Effekte des Tourismus Dargestell am Beispiel Kretas(The Economic Impacts of Tourism on Crete) PhD Dissertation University of MunichFrankfurt Peter Lang

Vernikos N (1987) The study of Mediterranean small islands Emerging theoreticalissues Ekistics 54 (323ndash4) 101ndash9

Wanhill S (1993) Government organisations In C Cooper J Fletcher D Gilbert and SWanhill (eds) Tourism Principle and Practice (pp 145ndash60) London Pitman

Wickens D (1994) Consumption of the authentic The hedonistic tourist in Greece In ASeaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 819ndash25)England JWiley and Sons

Wickens E (2000) Rethinking touristsrsquo experiences In M Robinson et al (eds) MotivationsBehaviour and Tourist Types (pp 455ndash72) Business Education Publishers Sunderland

Wickers D (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 2 Sunday Times 57ndash510Wilkinson PF (1989) Strategies for tourism in islands microstates Annals of Tourism

Research 16 153ndash77XENIA (various issues) (Monthly bulletin of the Greek Hotel Chamber in Greek) AthensZacharatos G (1984) Tourismus und Wirtschafts-Struktur Dargestellt am Beispiel

Griechenlands Europaische Hochschulschriften Reihex Band 7 Frankfurt am MainZacharatos G (1986) Tourism consumption (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planning and

Economic ResearchZacharatos G (1988) The simplistic empiricism Tourism policy and the time of crisis

(1992) (in Greek) Sychrona Themata 11 (May) 21ndash6Zacharatos G (1989) The problems and perspectives of tourism in Greece (in Greek) In H

Katsoulis T Giannitsis and P Kazakos (eds) Politics and Society Economy and ForeignRelationships (pp 273ndash89) Athens Papazisis

Zacharatos G (1993) The necessity of multimedia use in the tourism education in Greece(in Greek) Paper presented at the international conference Overcomingisolation-telematics and regional development University of the Aegean Chios 30April ndash 2 May

480 Current Issues in Tourism

Page 24: Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challengescore.ac.uk/download/pdf/101686.pdf · Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challenges Dimitrios Buhalis School of Management

compete for land and labour The lack of structural investments in industrial oragricultural sectors combined with the popularity of tourism professions in theworkforce endanger the balance of the regional economy while reducing thetourism multipliers (Briassoulis 1993 295) As a result the economic structure ofthe destination is jeopardised while a complete dependence upon tourismbecomes inevitable (Komilis 1992 7) Both opportunity costs and displacementeffects are therefore evident Moreover there is evidence that the progress ofdestinations through their life-cycle and especially the introduction of masstourism decreases their economic impacts while it makes local control of theindustry far more difficult (Loukissas 1982 537) lsquoBecause of the high degree ofdependence of Greek tourist enterprises on tour operators the actual amount oftourist spending remaining in the country is only the 40ndash50 of total touristspendingrsquo (Briassoulis 1993 296) Public-sector subsidies to the private sector invarious forms such as incentives cooperative marketing campaigns and unem-ployment benefits in the off-season as well as tax evasion and lsquoparaeconomyrsquo alsoreduce the real benefit at the macro level (Mourdoukoutas 1988 Drakatos 1987Leontidou 1991 102) Lack of scientific research on the economic impacts oftourism makes the real contribution of tourism in the economy speculativerather than based on hard evidence (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Konsolas ampZacharatos 1993)

Social and cultural negative impactsThe development of mass tourism and the lack of effective planning and

management are also responsible for a number of negative social and culturalimpacts observed in Greek host societies (Tsartas 1989 1992 Stavrou 19781979 1980 1986b) Although the degree of interaction of the population withtourists depends heavily on the geomorphology of destinations and the loca-tion of resorts (Loukissas 1982 538) touristsrsquo behaviour is often offensive tothe host population but tolerated due to the economic benefits (Castelberg-Koulma 1991 201 Kousis 1989 Wickens 1994 823) Most Greek tourismdestinations are almost crime-free zones during the winter due to the smallpopulation and personal relationships of locals Tourism however introducesseveral types of criminal activity often unknown to local people As policeforces are usually allocated according to needs of the permanent population ina destination they are often incapable of handling the demands of the summermonths and are unable to deal with visitorsrsquo misbehaviour such as hooliganismand lsquolager-lootingrsquo

The commercialisation of history cultural traditions and the Greek lifestyle isa phenomenon met in several destinations This regrettably affects the renownedGreek hospitality commercialises human relations with tourists and reduces theties of solidarity and cooperation between locals since they compete for the tour-ism market (Papadopoulos 1988b 24) As the average employee works 605hours weekly for 295 weeks a year there is little time left for social religious andcultural obligations during the season (Mourdoukoutas 1988 325) Although acertain degree of lsquodemonstration effectrsquo and lsquoxenomaniarsquo can be attributed totourism the country is equally influenced by the mass media as well as by theGreek students and professionals living abroad (Papadopoulos 1988a 30Wickens 1994 822) Moore (1995) also explains that tourism not only has had a

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 463

contribution to the increase of alcohol consumption by Greeks but has alsoshifted their taste away from locally produced wine to imported spirits and beerBriassoulis (1993 296) perhaps describes best the change in labour force valueswhen as she suggests that tourism has created a

peculiar parasitic group of tourist entrepreneurs operating tourist-servingenterprises like tavernas cafeterias etc the principal characteristics ofwhich are high profits and tax evasion Consequently a particular person-ality type is created the lsquosuccessfulrsquo entrepreneur who earns a lot with littlework has a rich erotic life and is professionally independent (in contrast topublic and private employees) This model is followed by many youngpeople who abandon other productive year-round occupations lsquoworkrsquoonly during the tourist season stay idle for the rest of the year and eventu-ally suffer from the volatility of the tourist market

The family relations and values are therefore under great transition andperhaps threat (Castelberg-Koulma 1991 201 Kousis 1989 Moore 1992)

Negative environmental impactsDespite environmental resources becoming central to destinationsrsquo competi-

tiveness most Greek destinations go through an unparalleled exploitation due toinadequate planning and reinvestment in their sustainability jeopardising theirfuture (Buhalis amp Fletcher 1995) Boniface and Cooper (1994 141) suggest thatgeographical concentration of tourism

has led to the view that Greece will become saturated with tourists and thatdamage will be done to the environment and cultural heritage in the morepopular areas Already the environment has suffered from haphazarduncontrolled building and pollution of the sea and the flora and fauna arebeing effected by waste disposal

Coastal pollution water shortages sewage treatment waste disposal trafficcongestion noise pollution overbuilding and aesthetic degradation are some ofthe impacts experienced already in a number of resorts (Briassoulis 1993 297Coccosis amp Parprairis 1992 Peterson 1990 Marinos 1983 Stavrou 1988 19 and1989a 5 Papadopoulos 1988b 24) Most of the islands also face water shortagedue to the inability of natural supplies to provide sufficient water for the tourismdemand Imported mineral water from the mainland is an expensive way tosolve this problem due to the transportation cost while it creates more waste andenvironmental damage In addition the destruction of endangered speciesrsquo habi-tats is another problem experienced on several islands (ZakynthosCaretta-Caretta and Allonissos monk-seals) (Ottaway 1992 Van Den Bergh1993 70 Prurier et al 1993) Urgent coordination with all tourism actors at thelocal level is essential while regulation is required to set objective and measurablelimits and targets in order to preserve local environmental resources Financialdifficulties in the industry only exacerbate these impacts as the private and publicsectors feel unable to reinvest in the conservation of resources

The aforementioned negative impacts emerge as a result of the structuralproblems of the Greek tourism industry and illustrate that the mass tourismorientation of the industry reduces the sovereignty of the host population over

464 Current Issues in Tourism

their land and resources whilst jeopardising their expected benefits and futurewelfare As these impacts are trade-offs for the economic gains of the tourismactivity it is important that consistent long-term strategic planning should beundertaken in order to enable the preservation of the local resources and achievesustainability at tourism destinations These tasks should all be reinforced byresearch political will and strategic planning

Where Do We Need to Go and How Are We Going ThereTowards Strengthening the Competitiveness of Greek Tourismand SMTEs

Based on the situation analysis as well as on the strategic weaknesses andstructural problems the paper attempts to provide a framework for strategicplanning which will enable the strengthening of the competitiveness of Greektourism and SMTEs Porter (1985 1) suggests that competitive strategy lsquois thesearch for a favourable competitive position in an industryrsquo which is a function ofthe attractiveness of the industry and the relative competitive position withinthat particular industry He also argues that lsquocompetitive strategy aims to estab-lish a profitable and sustainable position against the forces that determine indus-try competitionrsquo Competitiveness is therefore defined as the effort undertakenby organisations to maintain long-term profitability above the average of theparticular industry within which they operate or above alternative investmentopportunities in other industries

Traditionally the tourism industry in the majority of destinations worldwideis based on a network of SMTEs which provide all types of tourism products andservices while enabling closer interaction between the host population and visi-tors as well as facilitating a rapid infusion of tourism spending into the localeconomy As lsquotouristsrsquo overall experience is composed of numerous smallencounters with a variety of tourism service providersrsquo (Moutinho 1990 104)there is a great overlap between the customer perception of local SMTEs anddestinations which makes them almost indistinguishable Consequently thecompetitiveness and prosperity of destinations and SMTEs are closely interre-lated as the fortune of the one depends heavily upon the management andcompetitiveness of the other Therefore the generic strategy for destinationsinvolves SMTEs and vice versa

Grand strategy Strategy formulation for Greek tourism and SMTEsBased on the strategic analysis a grand strategy is proposed for the Greek

tourism industry and SMTEs in order to demonstrate the directions the destina-tions should follow in their attempt to increase their competitiveness and reducetheir vulnerability As different resorts destinations and SMTEs have dissimilarneeds only generic strategies can be drawn However these guidelines can beapplicable to destinations and SMTEs worldwide as they address strategic ratherthan operational issues The analysis is based on the assumption that SMTEsformulate leisure value-added chains or networks of wealth creation whichessentially comprise the entire destination Therefore an integrated approach isfollowed as there is a great complementarity between the strategies and strate-gic directions for both the Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 465

The grand strategy analysis is based on an examination of three general strat-egy models namely Porterrsquos generic strategies Gilbertrsquos proposition for lsquodiffer-entiation of the destinationrsquo and Poonrsquos analysis for lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo Agrand strategy is then proposed for both Greek tourism and SMTEs based oninference emerging from these three models Figure 1 illustrates the three maingeneric strategies proposed by Porter (1980 34ndash46) in order to lsquooutperform otherfirms in an industryrsquo overall cost leadership where the firm is required to minimiseits costs based on mass production and strict cost control of the main businessfunctions differentiation of products or services by lsquocreating something that isperceived industry-wide as being uniquersquo or focus on a lsquoparticular buyer groupsegment of the product line or geographical marketrsquo and achieve either cost leader-ship or product differentiation (Porter 1980 37ndash8)

Furthermore Gilbert (1984 1990) argues that destinations should differenti-ate their tourism products in order to be able to achieve a unique lsquotourist productbenefitrsquo which would enable them to establish their position in the internationaltourism market as well as to attract high spenders and loyal tourists Tourismdestinations therefore should attempt to achieve a lsquostatus arearsquo image ratherthan a lsquocommodity arearsquo one as illustrated in Figure 2 In the first case the desti-nation is heavily substitutable very sensitive to price and economic changeswhile consumers have a low awareness of any unique benefits or attributes of theregion Thus holidaymakers base their decision to visit the area merely on pricewhile the demand for the destination is incidental and destinations are unable toattract high spenders In contrast lsquostatus areasrsquo achieve intentional demand as aresult of the unique product attributes perceived by the tourism market Theseunique attributes may be genuine or imagined and thus a destination isregarded as irreplaceable increasing consumersrsquo loyalty and willingness to payGilbert (1990 24ndash5) asserts that destinations should attempt to become lsquostatusareasrsquo in order to improve their image loyalty and economic benefits

A third strategic approach is proposed by Poon (1987 1988 1989 1990 1993)based on the concept of lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo of the tourism business Inessence Poon examines the industry processes and proposes a strategy to enabletourism organisations to improve their competitiveness Poon argues that lsquoflexi-ble specialisationrsquo is a strategy of lsquopermanent innovationrsquo and lsquoceaseless changersquowhich provides for the lsquonew tourismrsquo This new tourism is flexible segmentedcustomised to the touristrsquos needs and diagonally integrated In contrast the oldtourism can be characterised as lsquomass standardised and rigidly packagedrsquo(Poon 1989 91ndash3)

466 Current Issues in Tourism

STRATEGIC ADVANTAGE

Perceived product uniqueness Cost advantage

TARGETMARKET

Industrywide Differentiation Cost Leadership

Particularsegmentsonly

Differentiation Focus Cost Focus

Figure 1 Porterrsquos three generic strategiesSource Porter 1980 39

The main sources of flexibility for service firms lie in the organisationmanagement marketing distribution and other forms of interaction andinterrelationships among guests hotels suppliers distributors What isimportant however is not each of these stand alone aspects but how theyare coupled to create competitive advantages and hence capabilities tomove with the market (Poon 1988 24)

Examination of these three main strategies illustrates that they share a similarbase Porterrsquos lsquodifferentiationrsquo Gilbertrsquos lsquostatus arearsquo and Poonrsquos lsquoflexiblespecialisationrsquo describe the attempt undertaken by firms and tourist destinationsto achieve value competitive advantages In contrast the lsquocost leadershiprsquo lsquocom-modity arearsquo and the lsquostandardisation or Fordism production modelrsquo describethe effort to achieve lsquocost competitive advantagersquo where destinations andSMTEs offer their products for less than their competitors In the first caseconsumers perceive the product as unique and are willing to pay a premiumwhile in the second case the decision is merely based on price Thus the classicalstrategic decision of lsquolow volume-high profit marginrsquo or lsquohigh volume-low profitmarginrsquo is the underlying concept of the two alternative strategies

Both Gilbert and Poon agree that destinations should aim to achieve lsquostatusarearsquo or niche orientation through differentiation in order to increase consumersatisfaction as well as to maximise the benefits for both regions and SMTEs As aresult Greek tourism and SMTEs need to focus towards the differentiation strat-egy define their niche markets and serve them accordingly This strategy isalready adopted in several resort areas such as Valencia in Spain where it isrecognised that the need for diversification and differentiation lsquohas now becomeessential owing to the level of competitiveness that has been attained (and can beforeseen) in the world tourist marketrsquo (Fayos-Sola 1992 49) Differentiation isalso particularly useful for insular destinations in microstates where a limitednumber of economic and financial resources are available (Wilkinson 1989 170)As most destinations consist of SMTEs networks there is an overlap betweentheir strategic orientations and therefore the above analysis is applicable to boththe Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Destinations implementing a lsquostatus arearsquo strategy can enhance the satisfac-tion of tourists as well as their competitiveness The formulation of unique and

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 467

CommodityArea

Statusarea

Willingness topay higher prices

StatusArea

Product attributes Product attributes

CommodityArea

Figure 2 Gilbertrsquos differentiation strategySource Adapted from Gilbert 1990 25

customised products by using flexibility and cooperation also increases touristsrsquowillingness to pay and wins their loyalty while it responds to the new tourismdemand trends However the proposed strategy should not be seen as an excusefor SMTEs and destinations not to attempt to improve their efficiency and mini-mise their production costs Although the unique service for touristsrsquo needs shouldbe their priority offering perceived value for money would determine theircompetitiveness in the marketplace As a result all Greek resorts and SMTEsshould assess their assets and strengths for serving specific target markets takingadvantage of their small size which facilitates flexibility and specialisation

It is quite apparent that the cost advantage strategy has to be avoided inmanagement of tourism destinations as regions need to preserve their scarceenvironmental and sociocultural resources and achieve sustainable develop-ment As cost advantage is based on mass production and consumption itassumes an unlimited production capacity which is inapplicable in the tourismindustry The inseparability of the tourism product determines that consumersshould be present at the time of product delivery and when combined with tour-ism seasonality it generates demand peaks which drain destinationsrsquo scarceenvironmental sociocultural resources The lsquohigh volume-low profit marginrsquostrategy has therefore harmful social and environmental impacts on destina-tions Destinations have maximum carrying capacities beyond which both thewelfare of local populations and the satisfaction of tourists are jeopardisedAlthough economic benefits can also be achieved by using the lsquocommodity arearsquoor the lsquostandard product modelrsquo it is argued that these approaches reduce tour-istsrsquo satisfaction and their willingness to pay and are opposed to the demandtrend towards individualisation

Unfortunately however some destinations can no longer be positioned asirreplaceable unique products due to their overdevelopment Tourism supplyhas exceeded the carrying capacity of these resorts and their product hasreached the saturation or decline phase of their life-cycle Several Spanish costasand some Greek resorts such as Benitses Kavos Faliraki Malia Hersonissos andNidri (Josephides 1994) have been overdeveloped to such an extent that only alsquohigh-volume low-profit marginrsquo strategy is feasible When resorts reach theirsaturation level only a lsquocost leadershiprsquo or lsquomass productionrsquo strategy can beproposed as they are unable to provide any specific lsquotourist product benefitrsquo Theattraction of the lower end of the market is inevitable and as a consequence thereare no alternative strategies The minimisation of further sociocultural and envi-ronmental damage as well as attempts to improve the surrounding environmentshould also be a primary objective of both tourism destinations and SMTEs in thiscase The ultimate aim should be to regenerate the resources of the area and torelaunch the tourism destination to attract specific markets which will be willing topay a higher price for the destination

Strategic directions objectives and tasks for Greek tourism and SMTEsTable 8 presents three pivotal strategic directions which are identified in order

to stimulate the competitiveness of both Greek tourism and SMTEs This sectionillustrates how the aforementioned grand strategy can be implemented for tour-ist destinations and SMTEs through a number of strategic directions objectivesand tasks as presented in Table 9

468 Current Issues in Tourism

Enhancing the satisfaction of tourists and delighting the customer are pivotalto ensuring the well-being of Greek destinations and SMTEs in the long term andthus the entire range of tourism service providers should aim to delight theirclients As a result of the tourism product integration consumer satisfactioncannot be achieved by independent businesses separately but by the entirenetwork of SMTEs in Greek destinations The improvement in services isperhaps the most important strategic objective Consistency of promises throughstandardisation of service delivery and implementation of a total qualitymanagement philosophy throughout the industry are essential strategic tasks forachieving this objective while flexibility in service delivery and improvementsin training are critical In line with the grand strategy the production oftailor-made tourism products should be ensured in order to satisfy the specificneeds of particular niches and the requirements of the emerging new tourismdemand Product augmentation would enable also the Greek tourism product toexceed the expectations of consumers and hence enhance their satisfaction Lifestyle segmentation would enable Greek tourism and SMTEs to design appropri-ate tourism products As tourist demand elasticity has increasingly becomedoubtful in recent years the price of the holiday is no longer considered to be themost important attribute in the decision-making process Consequently theGreek tourism industry should concentrate on providing value for money at allprice levels as well as offering at least whatever they have promised to theconsumer

Supporting the long-term competitiveness and profitability of Greek tour-ism and SMTEs is by far the most important strategic objective for the tourismindustry The first strategic objective for every SMTE has to be the increase inrevenue by maximising its occupancy or load factors and the rates it achievesThe lengthening of the operating season as well as the identification of newmarkets and the penetration into existing ones and the effective utilisation ofdistribution channels will contribute to this strategic direction Higher ratescan be achieved by targeting specialised and smaller tour operators attractingalternative types of tourists and expanding the distribution channels mix aswell as by attempting a certain degree of lsquodisintermediationrsquo by encouragingdirect sales to outgoing travel agencies or consumers Aggressive marketingand establishment of partnerships with other enterprises should be essentialfunctions of Greek tourism and SMTEs Motivation of lsquofront-of-housersquo employ-ees as salesmen and sale incentives would also increase average spending percustomer The use of CRSs and destination management systems may also bean appropriate method for achieving higher prices and better occupancy rates(Buhalis 1994) Finally yield management techniques should be utilised by alltypes of SMTEs to assist them in pricing and maximising revenue Cost control

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 469

Table 8 Pivotal strategic dimensions for Greek tourism

(1) Enhance the satisfaction of tourists and delight the customer(2) Strengthen the long-term profitability and competitiveness of Greek tourism and

SMTEs(3) Develop Greek destinations sustainably and ensure prosperity of host population

470 Current Issues in Tourism

Table 9 Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Strategic directions Strategic objectives Strategic tasks

1 Enhance the sat-isfaction of tour-ists and delightthe customer

11 Improvement of services a Standardisation of service de-livery

b Development of quality controlsystems

c Consistency of promisesd Improvements in operational

managemente Flexibility in services deliveryf Training and education im-

provementsg Smile and personal relation-

shipsh Augmentation of tourism

producti Total quality management

12 Specialisation of tourismproduct

a Niche marketingb Lifestyle targeting

13 Value for money a Quality at each price level

2 Strengthen thelong-term com-petitiveness andprofitability ofGreek tourismand SMTEs

21 Increase revenue a Increase tourist volumesb Target new markets and pene-

tration in existing marketsc Use yield managementd Expand distribution channel

mixe Aggressive marketingf Achieve high average spending

per customerg Select high-quality specialised

tour operatorsh Attract alternative types of

tourismi Use alternative distribution

channelsj Motivate front-of-house em-

ployees as salesmen

22 Cost control and rationalmanagement

a Standardise service deliveryb Increase productivityc Reduce labour costsd Rationalise supplies manage-

mente Educationtraining for manag-

ers and employeesf Use of new technologyg Integrate service delivery

within SMTEs

23 Human resources man-agement

a Internal marketingb Empowermentc Satisfactory salary and working

conditionsd Long-term relations with em-

ployeese Motivation and rewards

and rational management is the second strategic objective needed to increaseefficiency and profitability of both Greek destinations and SMTEs in the longterm Standardisation of the service delivery process and minimisation of thelabour cost through better operational management would be primary recom-mendations Managers and employees should improve their productivity andmarketing skills by intensive training In addition the rationalisation of supplymanagement and the use of new technology is expected to reduce operationalcosts Finally integration of service delivery enables SMTEs to provide comple-mentary services and achieve additional revenues without immense costs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 471

24 State and public tourismorganisation support

a Destination development andcontrol

b Incentives policies for improve-ment

c Attract European Union assis-tance

d Promotional activitye Provide financial resources

3 Develop Greekdestinationssustainably andensure prosper-ity of host popu-lation

31 Environmental protection a Carrying capacity identificationb Zoning system applicationc Architecture preservationd Installation of sewage treat-

ment systemse Reduction of noise pollutionf Natural supplies management

32 Infrastructure ameliora-tion

a Accessibility improvementsb Telecommunication improve-

mentsc Public facilities advancements

33 Transportation improve-ments

a Improvement of local timeta-bles

b Punctuality and reliabilityc Improvements of vehiclesd Flexibility to meet demand

needs

34 Economic integration a Integration with raw materialproduction

b Utilisation of local labour forcec Integration of tourism servicesd Diagonal integration of destina-

tionrsquos economy

35 Equitable return on re-sources utilised

a Establish mechanism forreinvestments

b Provide services for hostcommunity

c Invest in sustainability ofresources

d Ensure equity in distributionof wealth produced

Source Adapted from Buhalis 1991 83a

Table 9 (cont) Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Human resources management is crucial in the delivery process of tourismproducts The concept of lsquointernal marketingrsquo where employees are perceivedand treated as lsquointernal customersrsquo has to be utilised in order to ensure theirsatisfaction As Berry (1981 34) states lsquothe satisfaction of the needs and wants ofthe internal customers can upgrade their capacity for satisfying the needs andwants of their external customersrsquo and as a consequence it can contribute to thecompetitiveness and profitability of Greek tourism and SMTEs Satisfactorysalary and working conditions are prerequisites for the well-being of SMTEsrsquoemployees Long-term relationships between employees and SMTEs minimiseturnover enabling a better performance while they reduce recruitment andtraining costs Empowerment would enable employees to be involved in themanagement of SMTEs and authorise them to respond more efficiently toconsumer requests while contributing to their job satisfaction Finally thesupport of the GNTO is vital for the long-term survival of SMTEs Apart fromthe improvement in infrastructure the GNTO is expected to hold the strategicresponsibility of the destination as well as to regulate the competition in orderto enable smaller enterprises to survive Incentive policies need to reflect thespecific requirements of each resort and enable development or improvementof certain types of enterprises The GNTO is also instrumental in attractingassistance from European development funds while it should also coordinatethe majority of Greek tourism promotional activity A promotional mix whichmaximises the effectiveness of the communication message needs to be drawnwhile budgets need to be available at the time consumers go through their deci-sion-making process in order to influence their choice of destination Finally theneed for the public sector to provide affordable financial resources for SMTEs ishighlighted by the EU (EC 1993b 73)

The third strategic direction for Greek tourism and SMTEs should be thesustainable development of destinations and local areas not only for the hostpopulation but also because this is vital for both consumer satisfaction and theprofitability of SMTEs Although in most cases SMTEs are unable to incorporatethese types of strategic objectives and tasks on their own they can initiate aframework of necessary actions for sustainable destination developmentthrough their associations Environmental protection is naturally the mostimportant strategic objective as consumersrsquo environmental consciousness hasbeen raised recently Carrying capacity limits should be identified and strictregulations and guidelines for tourism development need to be drawn A zoningsystem should be implemented in order to locate tourism activities according tothe geographical morphology of the destination In addition natural resourcesmanagement is necessary as tourism demand may exhaust the resources andespecially the water supplies The installation of sewage treatment systems andthe reduction of noise pollution should be considered especially for resortswhich suffer the consequences of these problems In addition infrastructureamelioration must be one of the primary objectives as it is an essential prerequi-site for both consumersrsquo satisfaction and SMTEsrsquo development The improve-ment of accessibility public services as well as telecommunications facilities is acrucial factor Transportation is also significant in increasing both consumersatisfaction and profitability of SMTEs as it determines whether consumers canaccess the destination easily while it also provides the first impression to tour-

472 Current Issues in Tourism

ists Improvements of timetables and services reliability increasing transporta-tion capacity and an enhancement of the fleet in terms of speed cleanliness andleisure facilities are all required Furthermore greater flexibility is needed bytransportation operators in order to meet demand needs Economic integrationcan improve the economic and social benefits of tourism in the region and theefficiency of SMTEs Ultimately tourism should be utilised as the catalyst andmajor stimulant for regional development Tourism enterprises should makeevery effort to use local raw materials and labour in order to maximise the multi-plier effects within Greece Diagonal integration of destinationsrsquo economy can beachieved by rearranging the goods and service production in order to supportthe tourism industry demand and thus minimise imports Finally SMTEs andtourism organisations need to offer a fair return-on-resources utilised back to thehost community A mechanism should be established in order to reinvest part ofthe revenues in the sustainability of resources provide services for the hostcommunity such as education training health services and generally ensureequity in distribution of wealth produced from local resources As the privatesector cannot be expected to behave altruistically towards the host communitythe GNTO and other public-sector departments should probably utilise regula-tion and taxation for this purpose

Conclusion Greek Tourism Needs a Long Overdue Master Planand Comprehensive Policy

The emerging international tourism competition the hitherto mass tourismorientation of the industry the transformation of demand the development ofthe volume of tourists visiting the dependence upon intermediaries for thedistribution of the tourism product in the major target markets the lack of a widerange of managerial skills by Greek tourism entrepreneurs and the lack of acomprehensive tourism policy or Master Plan by the public sector has led thecompetitiveness of Greece tourism to decline This has several unfavourableimplications for the profitability of the private sector as well as numerous nega-tive economic sociocultural and environmental impacts for the host populationAs a result the return on resources utilised for the production of Greek tourismservices is inadequate and the sustainability of Greece as a major tourism desti-nation is rapidly becoming doubtful Based on a strategic analysis the paper illu-minates the strategic weaknesses and structural problems of both the private andpublic sectors and demonstrates that a rationalisation of the tourism industry isurgently required Consequently a grand strategy as well as a wide range of stra-tegic directions objectives and tasks are proposed for both Greece as an entityand its SMTEs Although no quantitative targets are set in this paper it isexpected that each destination will analyse its resources and adapt its strategicplanning accordingly

The GNTO is urged to rationalise its strategy and to draw up a Master Plan anda comprehensive strategy for the entire country and for each resort where a strategywould be adopted based on quantifiable objectives and tasks Extensive researchneeds to be undertaken by using credible measurement methodologies such asInput-Output models and multipliers analysis not only for the economic but alsofor the social cultural and environmental impacts (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Buhalis

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 473

amp Fletcher 1995) A holistic tourism management system is demanded to facilitatethe development and implementation of the tourism strategy through funds allo-cation and monitoring land use control and examination of tourism public- andprivate-sector practices A thorough examination of tourism impacts in eachregion would be a prerequisite for tourism planning as it will establish andprovide scientific backing to strategic targets Komilis (1994 71) explains thatalthough the various levels of planning (sectoral nationalEU spatial or regional)are not mutually exclusive but rather complementary the regional level planningis more suitable for drawing sustainable strategies especially for areas withdissimilar needs like the Greek destinations The regional planning should lsquocon-tribute to the maximisation of regional development benefits in a way that utilisesand mobilises the regional resource base realises regional inter-sectoral linkagesand is compatible with regional economic interests societal values and environ-mental assetsrsquo It should also take into consideration the uniqueness of insulareconomies as well as the cultural and environmental resources of each particularregion and the complexity of rural and urban functions The planning processshould encourage the complementarity and coexistence of economic activitiesrather than promote sectoral separation and single-sector developments In addi-tion it needs to improve the balance between regional self-sufficiency anddependence upon external inputs and finally it should promote integration withinthe European Union

The public sector has to play its long overdue role as regulator coordinatorinfrastructure provider and promoter of the destination while a multi-integrationof the tourism industry with all the involved bodies in the preparation distribu-tion and delivery of the tourism experience needs to be ensured (Wanhill 1993Hall 1994 Skoulas 1994 10 Stavrou 1988 46) The private sector also has an impor-tant role to play as it should improve the Greek tourism industry competitivenessby improving its managerial and labour force competencies enhancing the qualityof services designing appropriate marketing mixes to attract and satisfy targetmarkets and cooperating closely in order to achieve synergies and economies ofscale (Briassoulis 1993 300 Cooper amp Buhalis 1992) To reverse the vicious circleof decreasing quality is of critical importance for the Greek tourism industryBetter quality services would stimulate the competitiveness of the Greek tourismproduct strengthen its position in the international market provide principalswith distribution channel power enhance its customersrsquo willingness to pay andenable the industry to increase its prices improving the profitability at the microlevel and the economic impacts of tourism at the macrolevel Ultimately a diagonalintegration strategy for both Greek tourism and SMTEs should aim to delightconsumers enhance the long-term prosperity of SMTEs and improve the welfareof the host populations The Olympic Games in 2004 offer a unique opportunity toregenerate and rebrand Greek tourism a cause which the entire industry shouldchampion

The AuthorDimitrios Buhalis is Senior Lecturer and course leader MSc in tourism at theUniversity of Surrey He holds a BBA from the University of the Aegean as wellas an MSc and a PhD in tourism management from the University of Surrey Hisresearch interests focus on information systems and technology strategic

474 Current Issues in Tourism

management distribution channels of tourism destination management andplanning and destination integrated computer information reservation manage-ment systems

AcknowledgementsThe author would like to acknowledge Prof C Cooper and Prof J Fletcher for

their invaluable contribution to this research Financial support from the SurreyResearch Group ConTours Consultants as well as field research sponsorshipsby the University of Surrey the Greek National Tourism Organisation and theUniversity of the Aegean are gratefully appreciated

Note1 An earlier version of this paper was published as a monograph PlanningDevelop-

ment by the International Centre for Research and Studies in TourismAix-en-Provence France

CorrespondenceAny correspondence should be directed to Dr Dimitrios Buhalis Senior

Lecturer in Business Information Management SMSSS University of SurreyGuildford GU2 7XH UK (dbuhalissurreyacuk)

ReferencesApostolopoulos T (1990) New strategy of tourism development (in Greek) Tourism and

Economy (November) 228ndash38Berry C (1981) The employee as customer Journal of Retail Banking 3 33ndash40Boniface B and Cooper C (1994) The Geography of Travel and Tourism (2nd edn) London

HeinemannBriassoulis H (1993) Tourism in Greece In W Pompl and P Lavery (eds) Tourism in

Europe Structures and Developments (pp285ndash301) Oxford CAB InternationalBuckley P and Papadopoulos S (1986) Marketing Greek tourism The planning process

Tourism Management 7 86ndash100Buhalis D (1991) Strategic marketing and management for the small and medium

tourism enterprises in the periphery of the European Community A case study for theAegean islands in Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Buhalis D (1994) Information and telecommunications technologies as a strategic tool forsmall and medium tourism enterprises in the contemporary business environment InA Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 254ndash75)England J Wiley and Sons

Buhalis D (1995) The impact of information telecommunications technologies on tourismdistribution channels Implications for the small and medium sized tourismenterprisesrsquo strategic management and marketing PhD Dissertation University ofSurrey Guildford

Buhalis D (2000a) Marketing the competitive destination of the future TourismManagement (Special Issue ndash The Competitive Destination) 21 (1) 97ndash116

Buhalis D (2000b) (forthcoming) Athens Tourism-Travel Intelligence LondonBuhalis D (2000c) Relationships in the distribution channel of tourism Conflicts between

hoteliers and tour operators in the Mediterranean region Journal of InternationalHospitality Leisure and Tourism Adminstration 1 (1) 113ndash39

Buhalis D and Diamantis D (2001 forthcoming) Tourism development andsustainability on the Greek archipelagos In G Apostolopoulos and D Ioannides (eds)Tourism in the Mediterranean Routledge

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 475

Buhalis D and Fletcher J (1995) Environmental impacts on tourism destinations Aneconomic analysis In H Coccosis and P Nijkamp (eds) Sustainable Tourism Development(pp 3ndash25) London Avebury

Camison C Bigne E and Monfort VM (1994) The Spanish tourism industry Analysisof its strategies and the efficacy and achievements gained from them In A Seaton et al(eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 442ndash52) England JWiley and Sons

Castelberg-Koulma M (1991) Greek women and tourism Womenrsquos co-operatives as analternative form of organisation In N Redclift and T Sinclair (eds) Working WomenInternational Perspectives on Labour and Gender Ideology (pp 197ndash223) LondonRoutledge

Chitiris L (1991) Hotel Management (in Greek) Athens InterbooksCoccosis H and Parprairis A (1992) Assessing the interactions between environment

and tourism Case study of the island of Mykonos Paper presented in the IV WorldCongress of Regional Science International University of Balearic Islands Palma deMallorca 26ndash9 May

Conway H (1996) Greece Travel Weekly 1308 39ndash43Cooper C and Buhalis D (1992) Strategic management and marketing of small and

medium sized tourism enterprises in the Greek Aegean islands In R Teare D Adamsand S Messenger (eds) Managing Projects in Hospitality Organisations (pp 101ndash25)London Cassell

Daskalantonakis N (1994) Quality ndash The future of tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (3 July)D9

Divanis A (1994b) Tourism policy Left on its own luck (in Greek) XENIA (October)4ndash5

Donatos G and Zairis P (1991) Seasonality of foreign tourism in the Greek islands ofCrete Annals of Tourism Research 18 515ndash19

Douvitsas P (1994) Marketing Greece through British tour operators A futureperspective MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Drakatos C (1987) Seasonal concentration of tourism in Greece Annals of Tourism Research14 582ndash6

EC (1993a) Microeconomic Analysis of the Tourism Sector A study by the pH Group forEuropean Commission DGXXIII (September) Report XXIII30394-EN BrusselsEuropean Commission

EC (1993b) Growth competitiveness employment The challenges and ways forward intothe 21st century Bulletin of the European Communities Supplement 693 (White Paper)Luxembourg

Economist (1993) Last Chance Sisyphus A survey of Greece Economist (22 May) 2ndash22EIU (1986) Greece (pp 45ndash60) International tourist reports National Report No 3EIU (1990) Greece (pp 45ndash62) International tourist reports National Report No 4EIU (1993) Greece ndash Country Profile 1992ndash1993 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEIU (1994) Greece ndash Country Profile 1994ndash1995 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEpilogi (1994) Economic review ndash The Greek Economy 1994 (in Greek) AthensEuromonitor (1992) Tourism in Greece Market Research Europe (25 May) 51ndash63Fayos-Sola E (1992) A Strategic Outlook for Regional Tourism Policy The White Paper

on Valencian Tourism Tourism Management 13 45ndash9Fotis J (1992) Vacational lifestyle segmentation of tourists on the island of Rhodes

Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey GuildfordGilbert D (1984) The need for countries to differentiate their tourist product and how to

do so Seminar papers for Ministers of Tourism and Directors of National TouristOrganisations Tourism Managing for Results University of Surrey Guildford

Gilbert D (1990) Strategic marketing planning for national tourism Tourist Review 45 (1)18ndash27

GNTO (1985a) Survey of attributes of foreign tourists 1984ndash1985 (in Greek) Greek NationalStatistical Services Athens GNTO

476 Current Issues in Tourism

GNTO (1985b) EOT-Tourism rsquo85 Development ndash Participation ndash Quality of Life (in Greek)Greek National Statistical Services Athens GNTO

GNTO (1989a) Annual report 1988 ndash Forecast 89 Towards Quality Athens GNTOGNTO (1989b) The study of tourism promotion With special reference to the measures to

increase Japanese tourists to Greece Draft final report Japan InternationalCooperation Agency

GNTO (1993) Tourism towards the 2000 (in Greek) Greek National Tourism OrganisationAthens GNTO

Hall M (1994) Tourism and Politics Policy Power and Place J Wiley and SonsHorwath (annual) The Greek Hotel Industry (in Greek) Annual reports Pireus HorwathJenner P and Smith C (1993) Tourism in the Mediterranean Research report London

Economist Intelligence UnitJosephides N (1993) Environmental Concern ndash Whatrsquos In It for the Tourism Industry (pp 51ndash6)

Proceedings of the conference Tourism and the environment Challenges and choicesfor the 1990rsquos 16ndash17 November 1992 Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre LondonBrussels European Union

Josephides N (1994) Tourism analysis Presentation in Philoxenia international tourismexhibition Thessaloniki Greece

Josephides N (1995) A sorry state for beautiful Greece Travel Weekly 1261 (5 April)11Kalogeropoulou H (1993) Greece ndash Prospects for the tourism industry within the context

of the European Single Market of 1993 Tourism Review 48 (1) 2ndash4Kassimati K Thanopoulou M and Tsartas P (1994) Womenrsquos Employment in the

Tourist Sector Study of the Greek Labour Market and Identification of Future ProspectsDGV Equal Opportunities Unit Document V40994-EN European CommissionBrussels

Komilis P (1987) Spatial analysis of tourism in Greece (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planningand Economic Research

Komilis P (1992) The spatial structure of tourism and physical planning practices inGreece Paper presented in conference Tourism and environment Issues ofpolicyplanningmanagement 23ndash4 October University of the Aegean Dept ofEnvironment Lesvos

Komilis P (1993) Values in the Tourism Planning and Policy Making Process (pp 224ndash9)Proceedings of the conference Values and the environment 23ndash4 September GuildfordUniversity of Surrey

Komilis P (1994) Tourism and sustainable regional development In A Seaton et al (eds)Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 65ndash73) England JWiley andSons

Konsolas N and Zacharatos G (1993) Regionalization of tourism activity in GreeceProblems and policies In H Briassoulis and J Van der Straaten (eds) Tourism andEnvironment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 57ndash65) Dordrecht Kluer AcademicPublisher

Kousis M (1989) Tourism and the family in a rural Cretan community Annals of TourismResearch 16 318ndash32

Kriebardis S and Marmagiolis I (1990) Tourism Activity in Greece Problems and Perspectives(pp 45ndash54) (in Greek) Economic Report of Commercial Bank AprilndashJune AthensCommercial Bank

Ktenas S (1994) Hoteliers ask for 15 to 20 increases for 1995 (in Greek) TO BHMA (3July) D9

Ktenas S (1996) Crisis in Greek tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (7 April) D16Leontidou L (1991) Greece Prospects and contradictions of tourism in the 1980rsquos In AM

Williams and GJ Shaw (eds) Tourism and Economic Development Western EuropeanExperiences (2nd edn) (pp 94ndash106) London Belhaven Press

Logothetis M (1990) The Economy of Dodekanisos During 1988ndash1989 Developments andPerspectives (in Greek) Rhodes Regional association of municipalities of Dodekanisos

Logothetis M (1992) Touristiki Sigkiria (in Greek) Rhodes Institute of Tourist and HotelResearch

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 477

Loukissas P (1977) The impact of tourism on regional development A comparativeanalysis of the Greek islands PhD Dissertation Cornell University USA

Loukissas P (1982) Tourismrsquos regional development impacts A comparative analysis ofthe Greek islands Annals of Tourism Research 9 523ndash43

Marinos P (1983) Small island tourism-the case of Zakynthos in Greece TourismManagement 4 212ndash15

Moore R (1992) From shepherds to shopkeepers The development of tourism in a centralGreek town PhD Dissertation University of California at Berkeley USA

Moore R (1995) Gender and alcohol use in a Greek tourist town Annals of Tourism Research22 300ndash13

Mourdoukoutas P (1988) Seasonal employment seasonal unemployment andunemployment compensation The case of the tourism industry of the Greek islandsAmerican Journal of Economics and Sociology 47 315ndash29

NSSG (l983) Tourism Statistics 1981 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (l985) Tourism Statistics 1982ndash1983 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1987) Tourism Statistics 1984ndash1985 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1990) Tourism Statistics 1986ndash1987 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1993) Tourism Statistics 1988ndash1990 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceOECD (1992) Greece Tourism Policy and International Tourism in OECD Member Countries (pp

70ndash8) Paris OECDOttaway M (1992) Turtle power Sunday Times Travel and Style (28 June)Ottaway M (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 1 Sunday Times (17 January)

57ndash59Panagiotopoulou R (1990) The problem and perspectives of the European insular regions

(in Greek) Working paper University of the Aegean ChiosPapadimitris G (1988) Short run and long run prospects of the Greek tourism industry

PhD Dissertation University of Manchester ManchesterPapadopoulos S (1985) An economic analysis of foreign tourism in Greece An

examination of the growth and structure of foreign tourism to Greece 1960ndash1984 with aplanning model and marketing policy recommendations PhD Thesis University ofBradford Management Centre Bradford

Papadopoulos S (1987) Strategic marketing techniques in international tourismInternational Marketing Review (summer) 71ndash84

Papadopoulos S (1988a) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (1) 29ndash30

Papadopoulos S (1988b) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (2) 24ndash7

Papadopoulos S (1989) Greek marketing strategies in the Europe tourism market ServiceIndustries Journal 9 297ndash314

Papadopoulos S and Mirza H (1985) Foreign tourism in Greece An economic analysisTourism Management 6 125ndash37

Papandropoulos A (1995) The crisis in tourism is evident (in Greek) OikonomikosTachydromos (29 June) 26ndash8

Papanikos G (1999) The year 2004 olympic games and their influence upon the Greektourism (in Greek) ITEP (Research Institute for Tourism) Athens

Paulopoulos P (1999) The Size and Dynamics of the Tourism Sector (in Greek) ResearchInstitute for Tourism Athens

Peterson C (1990) Greece tackles overbuilding in tourism areas EnvironmentalConservation 17 166ndash8

Plevris V (1995) Alarm bells from the Hellenic Federation of Hotels (in Greek) XENIA128 (May) 6ndash7

Poon A (1987) Information technology and innovation in international tourism ndashimplications for the Caribbean tourism industry PhD thesis Science Policy ResearchUnit University of Sussex Brighton

Poon A (1988) Flexible specialisation and small size ndash the case of Caribbean tourism DRCDiscussion Paper 57 SPRU Brighton University of Sussex

478 Current Issues in Tourism

Poon A (1989) Competitive strategies for new tourism In C Cooper (ed) Progress inTourism Recreation and Hospitality Management (vol 1) (pp 91ndash102) London BelhavenPress

Poon A (1990) Flexible specialisation at small size The case of Caribbean tourism WorldDevelopment 18 109ndash23

Poon A (1993) Tourism Technology and Competitive Strategies Oxford CAB InternationalPorter M (1980) Competitive Strategy Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors

New York Free PressPorter M (1985) Competitive Advantage Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance New

York Free PressPorter M (1990) The Competitive Advantage of Nations New York Free PressPrurier E Sweeney A and Geen A (1993) Tourism and the environment The case of

Zakynthos Tourism Management 14 137ndash9Psoinos P (1994a) Research on the foreign touristsrsquo attributes in Greece (in Greek) Athens

Greek National Tourism OrganisationPsoinos P (1994b) Research on the attributes of foreigners who have never visited Greece (in

Greek) Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationRichter-Papaconstantinou C (1992) Tourism development of Rhodes Cahiers du Tourisme

(Serie B) 67 Aix en Provence Centre des Hautes Eacutetudes TouristiquesRomanos A (1998) Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites (in Greek) Athens

Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites SASETE (1993) Tourism Developments and problems (in Greek) Athens Association of Greek

Tourism EnterprisesSezer H and Harrison A (1994) Tourism in Greece and Turkey An economic view for

planners In A Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposiumpp74ndash84 England Wiley and Sons

Skoulas N (1985) Holidays and travel in the year 2035 ndash Contribution of the NationalTourist Organisation of Greece SDI Schriftey Wirtschafts und Unternehmenspolitik 40181ndash99

Skoulas N (1994) Quality improvement of tourism services (in Greek) Paper presentedin the conference Competitiveness of tourism enterprises ndash the role of quality 1 AprilHoliday Inn Athens Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises

Smith C and Jenner P (1995) Greece International Tourism Reports 3 5ndash21Stavrou S (1978) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Kos Island (in Greek) Research and

Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationStavrou S (1979) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Mykonos and Naxos Islands (in

Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1980) Research on Tourism Awareness on the Islands Kalymnos and Leros (in Greek)Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1984) Tourism Development in Greece during 1969ndash1982 (in Greek) Research andDevelopment Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986a) Research for the Characteristics of Foreign Tourist Demand in Greece in theYears 8485 (in Greek) Research Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1986b) Research on the Tourism Awareness on Paros Santorini Kythira Islands (inGreek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986c) Critical Review of Tourism Activity in the Years 8385 (in Greek) Researchand Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1988) Tourism in the Northern Aegean Islands Presentation of GNTO for the TourismDevelopment of the Periphery (in Greek) Proceedings of the first conference for thedevelopment of the Northern Aegean islands Homereum cultural centre Chios 11November Chios Periphery of Northern Aegean islands

Stavrou S (1989a) GNTO Presentation for the Tourism Development Possibilities for theSouthern Aegean Islands (in Greek) Conference for the development of Southern Aegean

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 479

islands Syros 30 September ndash 2 OctoberStavrou S (1989b) The Contribution of the Development Law 126282 in the Development of the

Country (in Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A5 Athens GreekNational Tourism Organisation

Stereopoulos N (1995) It is regarded ideal it became problematic (in Greek) OikonomikosTachidromos (21 December) 151ndash3

Touloupas P (1996) Greece as a tourist destination for the British tour operators Ananalysis from a marketing perspective in the particular context of the United KingdomMSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Tourismos ke Oikonomia (1993) 20 years 1973ndash1993 (in Greek) Special Issue AthensTourismos ke Oikonomia (1994) ICAP tourism enterprises Drastic reduction of loses in 1993

(in Greek) December 14ndash15Touristiki Agora (various issues) (Monthly tourism industry periodical in Greek) Business

Press AthensTruett D and Truett L (1987) The response of tourism to international economic

conditions Greece Mexico and Spain Journal of Developing Areas 21 177ndash90Tsartas P (1989) Socioeconomic Impacts of Tourism Development in Cyclades Region with Special

Reference on Ios and Serifos Islands During 1950ndash1980 (in Greek) Athens National Centrefor Social Research

Tsartas P (1992) Socioeconomic impacts of tourism on two Greek isles Annals of TourismResearch 19 516ndash33

Van Den Bergh J (1993) Tourism development and natural environment Aneconomicndashecological model for the Sporades islands In H Briassoulis and J Van DerStraaten (eds) Tourism and Environment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 67ndash83)Dordrecht Kluer Academic Publishers

Velissariou E (1991) Die Wirtschaftlichen Effekte des Tourismus Dargestell am Beispiel Kretas(The Economic Impacts of Tourism on Crete) PhD Dissertation University of MunichFrankfurt Peter Lang

Vernikos N (1987) The study of Mediterranean small islands Emerging theoreticalissues Ekistics 54 (323ndash4) 101ndash9

Wanhill S (1993) Government organisations In C Cooper J Fletcher D Gilbert and SWanhill (eds) Tourism Principle and Practice (pp 145ndash60) London Pitman

Wickens D (1994) Consumption of the authentic The hedonistic tourist in Greece In ASeaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 819ndash25)England JWiley and Sons

Wickens E (2000) Rethinking touristsrsquo experiences In M Robinson et al (eds) MotivationsBehaviour and Tourist Types (pp 455ndash72) Business Education Publishers Sunderland

Wickers D (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 2 Sunday Times 57ndash510Wilkinson PF (1989) Strategies for tourism in islands microstates Annals of Tourism

Research 16 153ndash77XENIA (various issues) (Monthly bulletin of the Greek Hotel Chamber in Greek) AthensZacharatos G (1984) Tourismus und Wirtschafts-Struktur Dargestellt am Beispiel

Griechenlands Europaische Hochschulschriften Reihex Band 7 Frankfurt am MainZacharatos G (1986) Tourism consumption (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planning and

Economic ResearchZacharatos G (1988) The simplistic empiricism Tourism policy and the time of crisis

(1992) (in Greek) Sychrona Themata 11 (May) 21ndash6Zacharatos G (1989) The problems and perspectives of tourism in Greece (in Greek) In H

Katsoulis T Giannitsis and P Kazakos (eds) Politics and Society Economy and ForeignRelationships (pp 273ndash89) Athens Papazisis

Zacharatos G (1993) The necessity of multimedia use in the tourism education in Greece(in Greek) Paper presented at the international conference Overcomingisolation-telematics and regional development University of the Aegean Chios 30April ndash 2 May

480 Current Issues in Tourism

Page 25: Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challengescore.ac.uk/download/pdf/101686.pdf · Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challenges Dimitrios Buhalis School of Management

contribution to the increase of alcohol consumption by Greeks but has alsoshifted their taste away from locally produced wine to imported spirits and beerBriassoulis (1993 296) perhaps describes best the change in labour force valueswhen as she suggests that tourism has created a

peculiar parasitic group of tourist entrepreneurs operating tourist-servingenterprises like tavernas cafeterias etc the principal characteristics ofwhich are high profits and tax evasion Consequently a particular person-ality type is created the lsquosuccessfulrsquo entrepreneur who earns a lot with littlework has a rich erotic life and is professionally independent (in contrast topublic and private employees) This model is followed by many youngpeople who abandon other productive year-round occupations lsquoworkrsquoonly during the tourist season stay idle for the rest of the year and eventu-ally suffer from the volatility of the tourist market

The family relations and values are therefore under great transition andperhaps threat (Castelberg-Koulma 1991 201 Kousis 1989 Moore 1992)

Negative environmental impactsDespite environmental resources becoming central to destinationsrsquo competi-

tiveness most Greek destinations go through an unparalleled exploitation due toinadequate planning and reinvestment in their sustainability jeopardising theirfuture (Buhalis amp Fletcher 1995) Boniface and Cooper (1994 141) suggest thatgeographical concentration of tourism

has led to the view that Greece will become saturated with tourists and thatdamage will be done to the environment and cultural heritage in the morepopular areas Already the environment has suffered from haphazarduncontrolled building and pollution of the sea and the flora and fauna arebeing effected by waste disposal

Coastal pollution water shortages sewage treatment waste disposal trafficcongestion noise pollution overbuilding and aesthetic degradation are some ofthe impacts experienced already in a number of resorts (Briassoulis 1993 297Coccosis amp Parprairis 1992 Peterson 1990 Marinos 1983 Stavrou 1988 19 and1989a 5 Papadopoulos 1988b 24) Most of the islands also face water shortagedue to the inability of natural supplies to provide sufficient water for the tourismdemand Imported mineral water from the mainland is an expensive way tosolve this problem due to the transportation cost while it creates more waste andenvironmental damage In addition the destruction of endangered speciesrsquo habi-tats is another problem experienced on several islands (ZakynthosCaretta-Caretta and Allonissos monk-seals) (Ottaway 1992 Van Den Bergh1993 70 Prurier et al 1993) Urgent coordination with all tourism actors at thelocal level is essential while regulation is required to set objective and measurablelimits and targets in order to preserve local environmental resources Financialdifficulties in the industry only exacerbate these impacts as the private and publicsectors feel unable to reinvest in the conservation of resources

The aforementioned negative impacts emerge as a result of the structuralproblems of the Greek tourism industry and illustrate that the mass tourismorientation of the industry reduces the sovereignty of the host population over

464 Current Issues in Tourism

their land and resources whilst jeopardising their expected benefits and futurewelfare As these impacts are trade-offs for the economic gains of the tourismactivity it is important that consistent long-term strategic planning should beundertaken in order to enable the preservation of the local resources and achievesustainability at tourism destinations These tasks should all be reinforced byresearch political will and strategic planning

Where Do We Need to Go and How Are We Going ThereTowards Strengthening the Competitiveness of Greek Tourismand SMTEs

Based on the situation analysis as well as on the strategic weaknesses andstructural problems the paper attempts to provide a framework for strategicplanning which will enable the strengthening of the competitiveness of Greektourism and SMTEs Porter (1985 1) suggests that competitive strategy lsquois thesearch for a favourable competitive position in an industryrsquo which is a function ofthe attractiveness of the industry and the relative competitive position withinthat particular industry He also argues that lsquocompetitive strategy aims to estab-lish a profitable and sustainable position against the forces that determine indus-try competitionrsquo Competitiveness is therefore defined as the effort undertakenby organisations to maintain long-term profitability above the average of theparticular industry within which they operate or above alternative investmentopportunities in other industries

Traditionally the tourism industry in the majority of destinations worldwideis based on a network of SMTEs which provide all types of tourism products andservices while enabling closer interaction between the host population and visi-tors as well as facilitating a rapid infusion of tourism spending into the localeconomy As lsquotouristsrsquo overall experience is composed of numerous smallencounters with a variety of tourism service providersrsquo (Moutinho 1990 104)there is a great overlap between the customer perception of local SMTEs anddestinations which makes them almost indistinguishable Consequently thecompetitiveness and prosperity of destinations and SMTEs are closely interre-lated as the fortune of the one depends heavily upon the management andcompetitiveness of the other Therefore the generic strategy for destinationsinvolves SMTEs and vice versa

Grand strategy Strategy formulation for Greek tourism and SMTEsBased on the strategic analysis a grand strategy is proposed for the Greek

tourism industry and SMTEs in order to demonstrate the directions the destina-tions should follow in their attempt to increase their competitiveness and reducetheir vulnerability As different resorts destinations and SMTEs have dissimilarneeds only generic strategies can be drawn However these guidelines can beapplicable to destinations and SMTEs worldwide as they address strategic ratherthan operational issues The analysis is based on the assumption that SMTEsformulate leisure value-added chains or networks of wealth creation whichessentially comprise the entire destination Therefore an integrated approach isfollowed as there is a great complementarity between the strategies and strate-gic directions for both the Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 465

The grand strategy analysis is based on an examination of three general strat-egy models namely Porterrsquos generic strategies Gilbertrsquos proposition for lsquodiffer-entiation of the destinationrsquo and Poonrsquos analysis for lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo Agrand strategy is then proposed for both Greek tourism and SMTEs based oninference emerging from these three models Figure 1 illustrates the three maingeneric strategies proposed by Porter (1980 34ndash46) in order to lsquooutperform otherfirms in an industryrsquo overall cost leadership where the firm is required to minimiseits costs based on mass production and strict cost control of the main businessfunctions differentiation of products or services by lsquocreating something that isperceived industry-wide as being uniquersquo or focus on a lsquoparticular buyer groupsegment of the product line or geographical marketrsquo and achieve either cost leader-ship or product differentiation (Porter 1980 37ndash8)

Furthermore Gilbert (1984 1990) argues that destinations should differenti-ate their tourism products in order to be able to achieve a unique lsquotourist productbenefitrsquo which would enable them to establish their position in the internationaltourism market as well as to attract high spenders and loyal tourists Tourismdestinations therefore should attempt to achieve a lsquostatus arearsquo image ratherthan a lsquocommodity arearsquo one as illustrated in Figure 2 In the first case the desti-nation is heavily substitutable very sensitive to price and economic changeswhile consumers have a low awareness of any unique benefits or attributes of theregion Thus holidaymakers base their decision to visit the area merely on pricewhile the demand for the destination is incidental and destinations are unable toattract high spenders In contrast lsquostatus areasrsquo achieve intentional demand as aresult of the unique product attributes perceived by the tourism market Theseunique attributes may be genuine or imagined and thus a destination isregarded as irreplaceable increasing consumersrsquo loyalty and willingness to payGilbert (1990 24ndash5) asserts that destinations should attempt to become lsquostatusareasrsquo in order to improve their image loyalty and economic benefits

A third strategic approach is proposed by Poon (1987 1988 1989 1990 1993)based on the concept of lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo of the tourism business Inessence Poon examines the industry processes and proposes a strategy to enabletourism organisations to improve their competitiveness Poon argues that lsquoflexi-ble specialisationrsquo is a strategy of lsquopermanent innovationrsquo and lsquoceaseless changersquowhich provides for the lsquonew tourismrsquo This new tourism is flexible segmentedcustomised to the touristrsquos needs and diagonally integrated In contrast the oldtourism can be characterised as lsquomass standardised and rigidly packagedrsquo(Poon 1989 91ndash3)

466 Current Issues in Tourism

STRATEGIC ADVANTAGE

Perceived product uniqueness Cost advantage

TARGETMARKET

Industrywide Differentiation Cost Leadership

Particularsegmentsonly

Differentiation Focus Cost Focus

Figure 1 Porterrsquos three generic strategiesSource Porter 1980 39

The main sources of flexibility for service firms lie in the organisationmanagement marketing distribution and other forms of interaction andinterrelationships among guests hotels suppliers distributors What isimportant however is not each of these stand alone aspects but how theyare coupled to create competitive advantages and hence capabilities tomove with the market (Poon 1988 24)

Examination of these three main strategies illustrates that they share a similarbase Porterrsquos lsquodifferentiationrsquo Gilbertrsquos lsquostatus arearsquo and Poonrsquos lsquoflexiblespecialisationrsquo describe the attempt undertaken by firms and tourist destinationsto achieve value competitive advantages In contrast the lsquocost leadershiprsquo lsquocom-modity arearsquo and the lsquostandardisation or Fordism production modelrsquo describethe effort to achieve lsquocost competitive advantagersquo where destinations andSMTEs offer their products for less than their competitors In the first caseconsumers perceive the product as unique and are willing to pay a premiumwhile in the second case the decision is merely based on price Thus the classicalstrategic decision of lsquolow volume-high profit marginrsquo or lsquohigh volume-low profitmarginrsquo is the underlying concept of the two alternative strategies

Both Gilbert and Poon agree that destinations should aim to achieve lsquostatusarearsquo or niche orientation through differentiation in order to increase consumersatisfaction as well as to maximise the benefits for both regions and SMTEs As aresult Greek tourism and SMTEs need to focus towards the differentiation strat-egy define their niche markets and serve them accordingly This strategy isalready adopted in several resort areas such as Valencia in Spain where it isrecognised that the need for diversification and differentiation lsquohas now becomeessential owing to the level of competitiveness that has been attained (and can beforeseen) in the world tourist marketrsquo (Fayos-Sola 1992 49) Differentiation isalso particularly useful for insular destinations in microstates where a limitednumber of economic and financial resources are available (Wilkinson 1989 170)As most destinations consist of SMTEs networks there is an overlap betweentheir strategic orientations and therefore the above analysis is applicable to boththe Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Destinations implementing a lsquostatus arearsquo strategy can enhance the satisfac-tion of tourists as well as their competitiveness The formulation of unique and

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 467

CommodityArea

Statusarea

Willingness topay higher prices

StatusArea

Product attributes Product attributes

CommodityArea

Figure 2 Gilbertrsquos differentiation strategySource Adapted from Gilbert 1990 25

customised products by using flexibility and cooperation also increases touristsrsquowillingness to pay and wins their loyalty while it responds to the new tourismdemand trends However the proposed strategy should not be seen as an excusefor SMTEs and destinations not to attempt to improve their efficiency and mini-mise their production costs Although the unique service for touristsrsquo needs shouldbe their priority offering perceived value for money would determine theircompetitiveness in the marketplace As a result all Greek resorts and SMTEsshould assess their assets and strengths for serving specific target markets takingadvantage of their small size which facilitates flexibility and specialisation

It is quite apparent that the cost advantage strategy has to be avoided inmanagement of tourism destinations as regions need to preserve their scarceenvironmental and sociocultural resources and achieve sustainable develop-ment As cost advantage is based on mass production and consumption itassumes an unlimited production capacity which is inapplicable in the tourismindustry The inseparability of the tourism product determines that consumersshould be present at the time of product delivery and when combined with tour-ism seasonality it generates demand peaks which drain destinationsrsquo scarceenvironmental sociocultural resources The lsquohigh volume-low profit marginrsquostrategy has therefore harmful social and environmental impacts on destina-tions Destinations have maximum carrying capacities beyond which both thewelfare of local populations and the satisfaction of tourists are jeopardisedAlthough economic benefits can also be achieved by using the lsquocommodity arearsquoor the lsquostandard product modelrsquo it is argued that these approaches reduce tour-istsrsquo satisfaction and their willingness to pay and are opposed to the demandtrend towards individualisation

Unfortunately however some destinations can no longer be positioned asirreplaceable unique products due to their overdevelopment Tourism supplyhas exceeded the carrying capacity of these resorts and their product hasreached the saturation or decline phase of their life-cycle Several Spanish costasand some Greek resorts such as Benitses Kavos Faliraki Malia Hersonissos andNidri (Josephides 1994) have been overdeveloped to such an extent that only alsquohigh-volume low-profit marginrsquo strategy is feasible When resorts reach theirsaturation level only a lsquocost leadershiprsquo or lsquomass productionrsquo strategy can beproposed as they are unable to provide any specific lsquotourist product benefitrsquo Theattraction of the lower end of the market is inevitable and as a consequence thereare no alternative strategies The minimisation of further sociocultural and envi-ronmental damage as well as attempts to improve the surrounding environmentshould also be a primary objective of both tourism destinations and SMTEs in thiscase The ultimate aim should be to regenerate the resources of the area and torelaunch the tourism destination to attract specific markets which will be willing topay a higher price for the destination

Strategic directions objectives and tasks for Greek tourism and SMTEsTable 8 presents three pivotal strategic directions which are identified in order

to stimulate the competitiveness of both Greek tourism and SMTEs This sectionillustrates how the aforementioned grand strategy can be implemented for tour-ist destinations and SMTEs through a number of strategic directions objectivesand tasks as presented in Table 9

468 Current Issues in Tourism

Enhancing the satisfaction of tourists and delighting the customer are pivotalto ensuring the well-being of Greek destinations and SMTEs in the long term andthus the entire range of tourism service providers should aim to delight theirclients As a result of the tourism product integration consumer satisfactioncannot be achieved by independent businesses separately but by the entirenetwork of SMTEs in Greek destinations The improvement in services isperhaps the most important strategic objective Consistency of promises throughstandardisation of service delivery and implementation of a total qualitymanagement philosophy throughout the industry are essential strategic tasks forachieving this objective while flexibility in service delivery and improvementsin training are critical In line with the grand strategy the production oftailor-made tourism products should be ensured in order to satisfy the specificneeds of particular niches and the requirements of the emerging new tourismdemand Product augmentation would enable also the Greek tourism product toexceed the expectations of consumers and hence enhance their satisfaction Lifestyle segmentation would enable Greek tourism and SMTEs to design appropri-ate tourism products As tourist demand elasticity has increasingly becomedoubtful in recent years the price of the holiday is no longer considered to be themost important attribute in the decision-making process Consequently theGreek tourism industry should concentrate on providing value for money at allprice levels as well as offering at least whatever they have promised to theconsumer

Supporting the long-term competitiveness and profitability of Greek tour-ism and SMTEs is by far the most important strategic objective for the tourismindustry The first strategic objective for every SMTE has to be the increase inrevenue by maximising its occupancy or load factors and the rates it achievesThe lengthening of the operating season as well as the identification of newmarkets and the penetration into existing ones and the effective utilisation ofdistribution channels will contribute to this strategic direction Higher ratescan be achieved by targeting specialised and smaller tour operators attractingalternative types of tourists and expanding the distribution channels mix aswell as by attempting a certain degree of lsquodisintermediationrsquo by encouragingdirect sales to outgoing travel agencies or consumers Aggressive marketingand establishment of partnerships with other enterprises should be essentialfunctions of Greek tourism and SMTEs Motivation of lsquofront-of-housersquo employ-ees as salesmen and sale incentives would also increase average spending percustomer The use of CRSs and destination management systems may also bean appropriate method for achieving higher prices and better occupancy rates(Buhalis 1994) Finally yield management techniques should be utilised by alltypes of SMTEs to assist them in pricing and maximising revenue Cost control

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 469

Table 8 Pivotal strategic dimensions for Greek tourism

(1) Enhance the satisfaction of tourists and delight the customer(2) Strengthen the long-term profitability and competitiveness of Greek tourism and

SMTEs(3) Develop Greek destinations sustainably and ensure prosperity of host population

470 Current Issues in Tourism

Table 9 Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Strategic directions Strategic objectives Strategic tasks

1 Enhance the sat-isfaction of tour-ists and delightthe customer

11 Improvement of services a Standardisation of service de-livery

b Development of quality controlsystems

c Consistency of promisesd Improvements in operational

managemente Flexibility in services deliveryf Training and education im-

provementsg Smile and personal relation-

shipsh Augmentation of tourism

producti Total quality management

12 Specialisation of tourismproduct

a Niche marketingb Lifestyle targeting

13 Value for money a Quality at each price level

2 Strengthen thelong-term com-petitiveness andprofitability ofGreek tourismand SMTEs

21 Increase revenue a Increase tourist volumesb Target new markets and pene-

tration in existing marketsc Use yield managementd Expand distribution channel

mixe Aggressive marketingf Achieve high average spending

per customerg Select high-quality specialised

tour operatorsh Attract alternative types of

tourismi Use alternative distribution

channelsj Motivate front-of-house em-

ployees as salesmen

22 Cost control and rationalmanagement

a Standardise service deliveryb Increase productivityc Reduce labour costsd Rationalise supplies manage-

mente Educationtraining for manag-

ers and employeesf Use of new technologyg Integrate service delivery

within SMTEs

23 Human resources man-agement

a Internal marketingb Empowermentc Satisfactory salary and working

conditionsd Long-term relations with em-

ployeese Motivation and rewards

and rational management is the second strategic objective needed to increaseefficiency and profitability of both Greek destinations and SMTEs in the longterm Standardisation of the service delivery process and minimisation of thelabour cost through better operational management would be primary recom-mendations Managers and employees should improve their productivity andmarketing skills by intensive training In addition the rationalisation of supplymanagement and the use of new technology is expected to reduce operationalcosts Finally integration of service delivery enables SMTEs to provide comple-mentary services and achieve additional revenues without immense costs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 471

24 State and public tourismorganisation support

a Destination development andcontrol

b Incentives policies for improve-ment

c Attract European Union assis-tance

d Promotional activitye Provide financial resources

3 Develop Greekdestinationssustainably andensure prosper-ity of host popu-lation

31 Environmental protection a Carrying capacity identificationb Zoning system applicationc Architecture preservationd Installation of sewage treat-

ment systemse Reduction of noise pollutionf Natural supplies management

32 Infrastructure ameliora-tion

a Accessibility improvementsb Telecommunication improve-

mentsc Public facilities advancements

33 Transportation improve-ments

a Improvement of local timeta-bles

b Punctuality and reliabilityc Improvements of vehiclesd Flexibility to meet demand

needs

34 Economic integration a Integration with raw materialproduction

b Utilisation of local labour forcec Integration of tourism servicesd Diagonal integration of destina-

tionrsquos economy

35 Equitable return on re-sources utilised

a Establish mechanism forreinvestments

b Provide services for hostcommunity

c Invest in sustainability ofresources

d Ensure equity in distributionof wealth produced

Source Adapted from Buhalis 1991 83a

Table 9 (cont) Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Human resources management is crucial in the delivery process of tourismproducts The concept of lsquointernal marketingrsquo where employees are perceivedand treated as lsquointernal customersrsquo has to be utilised in order to ensure theirsatisfaction As Berry (1981 34) states lsquothe satisfaction of the needs and wants ofthe internal customers can upgrade their capacity for satisfying the needs andwants of their external customersrsquo and as a consequence it can contribute to thecompetitiveness and profitability of Greek tourism and SMTEs Satisfactorysalary and working conditions are prerequisites for the well-being of SMTEsrsquoemployees Long-term relationships between employees and SMTEs minimiseturnover enabling a better performance while they reduce recruitment andtraining costs Empowerment would enable employees to be involved in themanagement of SMTEs and authorise them to respond more efficiently toconsumer requests while contributing to their job satisfaction Finally thesupport of the GNTO is vital for the long-term survival of SMTEs Apart fromthe improvement in infrastructure the GNTO is expected to hold the strategicresponsibility of the destination as well as to regulate the competition in orderto enable smaller enterprises to survive Incentive policies need to reflect thespecific requirements of each resort and enable development or improvementof certain types of enterprises The GNTO is also instrumental in attractingassistance from European development funds while it should also coordinatethe majority of Greek tourism promotional activity A promotional mix whichmaximises the effectiveness of the communication message needs to be drawnwhile budgets need to be available at the time consumers go through their deci-sion-making process in order to influence their choice of destination Finally theneed for the public sector to provide affordable financial resources for SMTEs ishighlighted by the EU (EC 1993b 73)

The third strategic direction for Greek tourism and SMTEs should be thesustainable development of destinations and local areas not only for the hostpopulation but also because this is vital for both consumer satisfaction and theprofitability of SMTEs Although in most cases SMTEs are unable to incorporatethese types of strategic objectives and tasks on their own they can initiate aframework of necessary actions for sustainable destination developmentthrough their associations Environmental protection is naturally the mostimportant strategic objective as consumersrsquo environmental consciousness hasbeen raised recently Carrying capacity limits should be identified and strictregulations and guidelines for tourism development need to be drawn A zoningsystem should be implemented in order to locate tourism activities according tothe geographical morphology of the destination In addition natural resourcesmanagement is necessary as tourism demand may exhaust the resources andespecially the water supplies The installation of sewage treatment systems andthe reduction of noise pollution should be considered especially for resortswhich suffer the consequences of these problems In addition infrastructureamelioration must be one of the primary objectives as it is an essential prerequi-site for both consumersrsquo satisfaction and SMTEsrsquo development The improve-ment of accessibility public services as well as telecommunications facilities is acrucial factor Transportation is also significant in increasing both consumersatisfaction and profitability of SMTEs as it determines whether consumers canaccess the destination easily while it also provides the first impression to tour-

472 Current Issues in Tourism

ists Improvements of timetables and services reliability increasing transporta-tion capacity and an enhancement of the fleet in terms of speed cleanliness andleisure facilities are all required Furthermore greater flexibility is needed bytransportation operators in order to meet demand needs Economic integrationcan improve the economic and social benefits of tourism in the region and theefficiency of SMTEs Ultimately tourism should be utilised as the catalyst andmajor stimulant for regional development Tourism enterprises should makeevery effort to use local raw materials and labour in order to maximise the multi-plier effects within Greece Diagonal integration of destinationsrsquo economy can beachieved by rearranging the goods and service production in order to supportthe tourism industry demand and thus minimise imports Finally SMTEs andtourism organisations need to offer a fair return-on-resources utilised back to thehost community A mechanism should be established in order to reinvest part ofthe revenues in the sustainability of resources provide services for the hostcommunity such as education training health services and generally ensureequity in distribution of wealth produced from local resources As the privatesector cannot be expected to behave altruistically towards the host communitythe GNTO and other public-sector departments should probably utilise regula-tion and taxation for this purpose

Conclusion Greek Tourism Needs a Long Overdue Master Planand Comprehensive Policy

The emerging international tourism competition the hitherto mass tourismorientation of the industry the transformation of demand the development ofthe volume of tourists visiting the dependence upon intermediaries for thedistribution of the tourism product in the major target markets the lack of a widerange of managerial skills by Greek tourism entrepreneurs and the lack of acomprehensive tourism policy or Master Plan by the public sector has led thecompetitiveness of Greece tourism to decline This has several unfavourableimplications for the profitability of the private sector as well as numerous nega-tive economic sociocultural and environmental impacts for the host populationAs a result the return on resources utilised for the production of Greek tourismservices is inadequate and the sustainability of Greece as a major tourism desti-nation is rapidly becoming doubtful Based on a strategic analysis the paper illu-minates the strategic weaknesses and structural problems of both the private andpublic sectors and demonstrates that a rationalisation of the tourism industry isurgently required Consequently a grand strategy as well as a wide range of stra-tegic directions objectives and tasks are proposed for both Greece as an entityand its SMTEs Although no quantitative targets are set in this paper it isexpected that each destination will analyse its resources and adapt its strategicplanning accordingly

The GNTO is urged to rationalise its strategy and to draw up a Master Plan anda comprehensive strategy for the entire country and for each resort where a strategywould be adopted based on quantifiable objectives and tasks Extensive researchneeds to be undertaken by using credible measurement methodologies such asInput-Output models and multipliers analysis not only for the economic but alsofor the social cultural and environmental impacts (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Buhalis

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 473

amp Fletcher 1995) A holistic tourism management system is demanded to facilitatethe development and implementation of the tourism strategy through funds allo-cation and monitoring land use control and examination of tourism public- andprivate-sector practices A thorough examination of tourism impacts in eachregion would be a prerequisite for tourism planning as it will establish andprovide scientific backing to strategic targets Komilis (1994 71) explains thatalthough the various levels of planning (sectoral nationalEU spatial or regional)are not mutually exclusive but rather complementary the regional level planningis more suitable for drawing sustainable strategies especially for areas withdissimilar needs like the Greek destinations The regional planning should lsquocon-tribute to the maximisation of regional development benefits in a way that utilisesand mobilises the regional resource base realises regional inter-sectoral linkagesand is compatible with regional economic interests societal values and environ-mental assetsrsquo It should also take into consideration the uniqueness of insulareconomies as well as the cultural and environmental resources of each particularregion and the complexity of rural and urban functions The planning processshould encourage the complementarity and coexistence of economic activitiesrather than promote sectoral separation and single-sector developments In addi-tion it needs to improve the balance between regional self-sufficiency anddependence upon external inputs and finally it should promote integration withinthe European Union

The public sector has to play its long overdue role as regulator coordinatorinfrastructure provider and promoter of the destination while a multi-integrationof the tourism industry with all the involved bodies in the preparation distribu-tion and delivery of the tourism experience needs to be ensured (Wanhill 1993Hall 1994 Skoulas 1994 10 Stavrou 1988 46) The private sector also has an impor-tant role to play as it should improve the Greek tourism industry competitivenessby improving its managerial and labour force competencies enhancing the qualityof services designing appropriate marketing mixes to attract and satisfy targetmarkets and cooperating closely in order to achieve synergies and economies ofscale (Briassoulis 1993 300 Cooper amp Buhalis 1992) To reverse the vicious circleof decreasing quality is of critical importance for the Greek tourism industryBetter quality services would stimulate the competitiveness of the Greek tourismproduct strengthen its position in the international market provide principalswith distribution channel power enhance its customersrsquo willingness to pay andenable the industry to increase its prices improving the profitability at the microlevel and the economic impacts of tourism at the macrolevel Ultimately a diagonalintegration strategy for both Greek tourism and SMTEs should aim to delightconsumers enhance the long-term prosperity of SMTEs and improve the welfareof the host populations The Olympic Games in 2004 offer a unique opportunity toregenerate and rebrand Greek tourism a cause which the entire industry shouldchampion

The AuthorDimitrios Buhalis is Senior Lecturer and course leader MSc in tourism at theUniversity of Surrey He holds a BBA from the University of the Aegean as wellas an MSc and a PhD in tourism management from the University of Surrey Hisresearch interests focus on information systems and technology strategic

474 Current Issues in Tourism

management distribution channels of tourism destination management andplanning and destination integrated computer information reservation manage-ment systems

AcknowledgementsThe author would like to acknowledge Prof C Cooper and Prof J Fletcher for

their invaluable contribution to this research Financial support from the SurreyResearch Group ConTours Consultants as well as field research sponsorshipsby the University of Surrey the Greek National Tourism Organisation and theUniversity of the Aegean are gratefully appreciated

Note1 An earlier version of this paper was published as a monograph PlanningDevelop-

ment by the International Centre for Research and Studies in TourismAix-en-Provence France

CorrespondenceAny correspondence should be directed to Dr Dimitrios Buhalis Senior

Lecturer in Business Information Management SMSSS University of SurreyGuildford GU2 7XH UK (dbuhalissurreyacuk)

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Economy (November) 228ndash38Berry C (1981) The employee as customer Journal of Retail Banking 3 33ndash40Boniface B and Cooper C (1994) The Geography of Travel and Tourism (2nd edn) London

HeinemannBriassoulis H (1993) Tourism in Greece In W Pompl and P Lavery (eds) Tourism in

Europe Structures and Developments (pp285ndash301) Oxford CAB InternationalBuckley P and Papadopoulos S (1986) Marketing Greek tourism The planning process

Tourism Management 7 86ndash100Buhalis D (1991) Strategic marketing and management for the small and medium

tourism enterprises in the periphery of the European Community A case study for theAegean islands in Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Buhalis D (1994) Information and telecommunications technologies as a strategic tool forsmall and medium tourism enterprises in the contemporary business environment InA Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 254ndash75)England J Wiley and Sons

Buhalis D (1995) The impact of information telecommunications technologies on tourismdistribution channels Implications for the small and medium sized tourismenterprisesrsquo strategic management and marketing PhD Dissertation University ofSurrey Guildford

Buhalis D (2000a) Marketing the competitive destination of the future TourismManagement (Special Issue ndash The Competitive Destination) 21 (1) 97ndash116

Buhalis D (2000b) (forthcoming) Athens Tourism-Travel Intelligence LondonBuhalis D (2000c) Relationships in the distribution channel of tourism Conflicts between

hoteliers and tour operators in the Mediterranean region Journal of InternationalHospitality Leisure and Tourism Adminstration 1 (1) 113ndash39

Buhalis D and Diamantis D (2001 forthcoming) Tourism development andsustainability on the Greek archipelagos In G Apostolopoulos and D Ioannides (eds)Tourism in the Mediterranean Routledge

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 475

Buhalis D and Fletcher J (1995) Environmental impacts on tourism destinations Aneconomic analysis In H Coccosis and P Nijkamp (eds) Sustainable Tourism Development(pp 3ndash25) London Avebury

Camison C Bigne E and Monfort VM (1994) The Spanish tourism industry Analysisof its strategies and the efficacy and achievements gained from them In A Seaton et al(eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 442ndash52) England JWiley and Sons

Castelberg-Koulma M (1991) Greek women and tourism Womenrsquos co-operatives as analternative form of organisation In N Redclift and T Sinclair (eds) Working WomenInternational Perspectives on Labour and Gender Ideology (pp 197ndash223) LondonRoutledge

Chitiris L (1991) Hotel Management (in Greek) Athens InterbooksCoccosis H and Parprairis A (1992) Assessing the interactions between environment

and tourism Case study of the island of Mykonos Paper presented in the IV WorldCongress of Regional Science International University of Balearic Islands Palma deMallorca 26ndash9 May

Conway H (1996) Greece Travel Weekly 1308 39ndash43Cooper C and Buhalis D (1992) Strategic management and marketing of small and

medium sized tourism enterprises in the Greek Aegean islands In R Teare D Adamsand S Messenger (eds) Managing Projects in Hospitality Organisations (pp 101ndash25)London Cassell

Daskalantonakis N (1994) Quality ndash The future of tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (3 July)D9

Divanis A (1994b) Tourism policy Left on its own luck (in Greek) XENIA (October)4ndash5

Donatos G and Zairis P (1991) Seasonality of foreign tourism in the Greek islands ofCrete Annals of Tourism Research 18 515ndash19

Douvitsas P (1994) Marketing Greece through British tour operators A futureperspective MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Drakatos C (1987) Seasonal concentration of tourism in Greece Annals of Tourism Research14 582ndash6

EC (1993a) Microeconomic Analysis of the Tourism Sector A study by the pH Group forEuropean Commission DGXXIII (September) Report XXIII30394-EN BrusselsEuropean Commission

EC (1993b) Growth competitiveness employment The challenges and ways forward intothe 21st century Bulletin of the European Communities Supplement 693 (White Paper)Luxembourg

Economist (1993) Last Chance Sisyphus A survey of Greece Economist (22 May) 2ndash22EIU (1986) Greece (pp 45ndash60) International tourist reports National Report No 3EIU (1990) Greece (pp 45ndash62) International tourist reports National Report No 4EIU (1993) Greece ndash Country Profile 1992ndash1993 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEIU (1994) Greece ndash Country Profile 1994ndash1995 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEpilogi (1994) Economic review ndash The Greek Economy 1994 (in Greek) AthensEuromonitor (1992) Tourism in Greece Market Research Europe (25 May) 51ndash63Fayos-Sola E (1992) A Strategic Outlook for Regional Tourism Policy The White Paper

on Valencian Tourism Tourism Management 13 45ndash9Fotis J (1992) Vacational lifestyle segmentation of tourists on the island of Rhodes

Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey GuildfordGilbert D (1984) The need for countries to differentiate their tourist product and how to

do so Seminar papers for Ministers of Tourism and Directors of National TouristOrganisations Tourism Managing for Results University of Surrey Guildford

Gilbert D (1990) Strategic marketing planning for national tourism Tourist Review 45 (1)18ndash27

GNTO (1985a) Survey of attributes of foreign tourists 1984ndash1985 (in Greek) Greek NationalStatistical Services Athens GNTO

476 Current Issues in Tourism

GNTO (1985b) EOT-Tourism rsquo85 Development ndash Participation ndash Quality of Life (in Greek)Greek National Statistical Services Athens GNTO

GNTO (1989a) Annual report 1988 ndash Forecast 89 Towards Quality Athens GNTOGNTO (1989b) The study of tourism promotion With special reference to the measures to

increase Japanese tourists to Greece Draft final report Japan InternationalCooperation Agency

GNTO (1993) Tourism towards the 2000 (in Greek) Greek National Tourism OrganisationAthens GNTO

Hall M (1994) Tourism and Politics Policy Power and Place J Wiley and SonsHorwath (annual) The Greek Hotel Industry (in Greek) Annual reports Pireus HorwathJenner P and Smith C (1993) Tourism in the Mediterranean Research report London

Economist Intelligence UnitJosephides N (1993) Environmental Concern ndash Whatrsquos In It for the Tourism Industry (pp 51ndash6)

Proceedings of the conference Tourism and the environment Challenges and choicesfor the 1990rsquos 16ndash17 November 1992 Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre LondonBrussels European Union

Josephides N (1994) Tourism analysis Presentation in Philoxenia international tourismexhibition Thessaloniki Greece

Josephides N (1995) A sorry state for beautiful Greece Travel Weekly 1261 (5 April)11Kalogeropoulou H (1993) Greece ndash Prospects for the tourism industry within the context

of the European Single Market of 1993 Tourism Review 48 (1) 2ndash4Kassimati K Thanopoulou M and Tsartas P (1994) Womenrsquos Employment in the

Tourist Sector Study of the Greek Labour Market and Identification of Future ProspectsDGV Equal Opportunities Unit Document V40994-EN European CommissionBrussels

Komilis P (1987) Spatial analysis of tourism in Greece (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planningand Economic Research

Komilis P (1992) The spatial structure of tourism and physical planning practices inGreece Paper presented in conference Tourism and environment Issues ofpolicyplanningmanagement 23ndash4 October University of the Aegean Dept ofEnvironment Lesvos

Komilis P (1993) Values in the Tourism Planning and Policy Making Process (pp 224ndash9)Proceedings of the conference Values and the environment 23ndash4 September GuildfordUniversity of Surrey

Komilis P (1994) Tourism and sustainable regional development In A Seaton et al (eds)Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 65ndash73) England JWiley andSons

Konsolas N and Zacharatos G (1993) Regionalization of tourism activity in GreeceProblems and policies In H Briassoulis and J Van der Straaten (eds) Tourism andEnvironment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 57ndash65) Dordrecht Kluer AcademicPublisher

Kousis M (1989) Tourism and the family in a rural Cretan community Annals of TourismResearch 16 318ndash32

Kriebardis S and Marmagiolis I (1990) Tourism Activity in Greece Problems and Perspectives(pp 45ndash54) (in Greek) Economic Report of Commercial Bank AprilndashJune AthensCommercial Bank

Ktenas S (1994) Hoteliers ask for 15 to 20 increases for 1995 (in Greek) TO BHMA (3July) D9

Ktenas S (1996) Crisis in Greek tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (7 April) D16Leontidou L (1991) Greece Prospects and contradictions of tourism in the 1980rsquos In AM

Williams and GJ Shaw (eds) Tourism and Economic Development Western EuropeanExperiences (2nd edn) (pp 94ndash106) London Belhaven Press

Logothetis M (1990) The Economy of Dodekanisos During 1988ndash1989 Developments andPerspectives (in Greek) Rhodes Regional association of municipalities of Dodekanisos

Logothetis M (1992) Touristiki Sigkiria (in Greek) Rhodes Institute of Tourist and HotelResearch

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 477

Loukissas P (1977) The impact of tourism on regional development A comparativeanalysis of the Greek islands PhD Dissertation Cornell University USA

Loukissas P (1982) Tourismrsquos regional development impacts A comparative analysis ofthe Greek islands Annals of Tourism Research 9 523ndash43

Marinos P (1983) Small island tourism-the case of Zakynthos in Greece TourismManagement 4 212ndash15

Moore R (1992) From shepherds to shopkeepers The development of tourism in a centralGreek town PhD Dissertation University of California at Berkeley USA

Moore R (1995) Gender and alcohol use in a Greek tourist town Annals of Tourism Research22 300ndash13

Mourdoukoutas P (1988) Seasonal employment seasonal unemployment andunemployment compensation The case of the tourism industry of the Greek islandsAmerican Journal of Economics and Sociology 47 315ndash29

NSSG (l983) Tourism Statistics 1981 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (l985) Tourism Statistics 1982ndash1983 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1987) Tourism Statistics 1984ndash1985 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1990) Tourism Statistics 1986ndash1987 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1993) Tourism Statistics 1988ndash1990 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceOECD (1992) Greece Tourism Policy and International Tourism in OECD Member Countries (pp

70ndash8) Paris OECDOttaway M (1992) Turtle power Sunday Times Travel and Style (28 June)Ottaway M (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 1 Sunday Times (17 January)

57ndash59Panagiotopoulou R (1990) The problem and perspectives of the European insular regions

(in Greek) Working paper University of the Aegean ChiosPapadimitris G (1988) Short run and long run prospects of the Greek tourism industry

PhD Dissertation University of Manchester ManchesterPapadopoulos S (1985) An economic analysis of foreign tourism in Greece An

examination of the growth and structure of foreign tourism to Greece 1960ndash1984 with aplanning model and marketing policy recommendations PhD Thesis University ofBradford Management Centre Bradford

Papadopoulos S (1987) Strategic marketing techniques in international tourismInternational Marketing Review (summer) 71ndash84

Papadopoulos S (1988a) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (1) 29ndash30

Papadopoulos S (1988b) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (2) 24ndash7

Papadopoulos S (1989) Greek marketing strategies in the Europe tourism market ServiceIndustries Journal 9 297ndash314

Papadopoulos S and Mirza H (1985) Foreign tourism in Greece An economic analysisTourism Management 6 125ndash37

Papandropoulos A (1995) The crisis in tourism is evident (in Greek) OikonomikosTachydromos (29 June) 26ndash8

Papanikos G (1999) The year 2004 olympic games and their influence upon the Greektourism (in Greek) ITEP (Research Institute for Tourism) Athens

Paulopoulos P (1999) The Size and Dynamics of the Tourism Sector (in Greek) ResearchInstitute for Tourism Athens

Peterson C (1990) Greece tackles overbuilding in tourism areas EnvironmentalConservation 17 166ndash8

Plevris V (1995) Alarm bells from the Hellenic Federation of Hotels (in Greek) XENIA128 (May) 6ndash7

Poon A (1987) Information technology and innovation in international tourism ndashimplications for the Caribbean tourism industry PhD thesis Science Policy ResearchUnit University of Sussex Brighton

Poon A (1988) Flexible specialisation and small size ndash the case of Caribbean tourism DRCDiscussion Paper 57 SPRU Brighton University of Sussex

478 Current Issues in Tourism

Poon A (1989) Competitive strategies for new tourism In C Cooper (ed) Progress inTourism Recreation and Hospitality Management (vol 1) (pp 91ndash102) London BelhavenPress

Poon A (1990) Flexible specialisation at small size The case of Caribbean tourism WorldDevelopment 18 109ndash23

Poon A (1993) Tourism Technology and Competitive Strategies Oxford CAB InternationalPorter M (1980) Competitive Strategy Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors

New York Free PressPorter M (1985) Competitive Advantage Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance New

York Free PressPorter M (1990) The Competitive Advantage of Nations New York Free PressPrurier E Sweeney A and Geen A (1993) Tourism and the environment The case of

Zakynthos Tourism Management 14 137ndash9Psoinos P (1994a) Research on the foreign touristsrsquo attributes in Greece (in Greek) Athens

Greek National Tourism OrganisationPsoinos P (1994b) Research on the attributes of foreigners who have never visited Greece (in

Greek) Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationRichter-Papaconstantinou C (1992) Tourism development of Rhodes Cahiers du Tourisme

(Serie B) 67 Aix en Provence Centre des Hautes Eacutetudes TouristiquesRomanos A (1998) Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites (in Greek) Athens

Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites SASETE (1993) Tourism Developments and problems (in Greek) Athens Association of Greek

Tourism EnterprisesSezer H and Harrison A (1994) Tourism in Greece and Turkey An economic view for

planners In A Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposiumpp74ndash84 England Wiley and Sons

Skoulas N (1985) Holidays and travel in the year 2035 ndash Contribution of the NationalTourist Organisation of Greece SDI Schriftey Wirtschafts und Unternehmenspolitik 40181ndash99

Skoulas N (1994) Quality improvement of tourism services (in Greek) Paper presentedin the conference Competitiveness of tourism enterprises ndash the role of quality 1 AprilHoliday Inn Athens Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises

Smith C and Jenner P (1995) Greece International Tourism Reports 3 5ndash21Stavrou S (1978) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Kos Island (in Greek) Research and

Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationStavrou S (1979) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Mykonos and Naxos Islands (in

Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1980) Research on Tourism Awareness on the Islands Kalymnos and Leros (in Greek)Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1984) Tourism Development in Greece during 1969ndash1982 (in Greek) Research andDevelopment Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986a) Research for the Characteristics of Foreign Tourist Demand in Greece in theYears 8485 (in Greek) Research Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1986b) Research on the Tourism Awareness on Paros Santorini Kythira Islands (inGreek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986c) Critical Review of Tourism Activity in the Years 8385 (in Greek) Researchand Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1988) Tourism in the Northern Aegean Islands Presentation of GNTO for the TourismDevelopment of the Periphery (in Greek) Proceedings of the first conference for thedevelopment of the Northern Aegean islands Homereum cultural centre Chios 11November Chios Periphery of Northern Aegean islands

Stavrou S (1989a) GNTO Presentation for the Tourism Development Possibilities for theSouthern Aegean Islands (in Greek) Conference for the development of Southern Aegean

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 479

islands Syros 30 September ndash 2 OctoberStavrou S (1989b) The Contribution of the Development Law 126282 in the Development of the

Country (in Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A5 Athens GreekNational Tourism Organisation

Stereopoulos N (1995) It is regarded ideal it became problematic (in Greek) OikonomikosTachidromos (21 December) 151ndash3

Touloupas P (1996) Greece as a tourist destination for the British tour operators Ananalysis from a marketing perspective in the particular context of the United KingdomMSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Tourismos ke Oikonomia (1993) 20 years 1973ndash1993 (in Greek) Special Issue AthensTourismos ke Oikonomia (1994) ICAP tourism enterprises Drastic reduction of loses in 1993

(in Greek) December 14ndash15Touristiki Agora (various issues) (Monthly tourism industry periodical in Greek) Business

Press AthensTruett D and Truett L (1987) The response of tourism to international economic

conditions Greece Mexico and Spain Journal of Developing Areas 21 177ndash90Tsartas P (1989) Socioeconomic Impacts of Tourism Development in Cyclades Region with Special

Reference on Ios and Serifos Islands During 1950ndash1980 (in Greek) Athens National Centrefor Social Research

Tsartas P (1992) Socioeconomic impacts of tourism on two Greek isles Annals of TourismResearch 19 516ndash33

Van Den Bergh J (1993) Tourism development and natural environment Aneconomicndashecological model for the Sporades islands In H Briassoulis and J Van DerStraaten (eds) Tourism and Environment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 67ndash83)Dordrecht Kluer Academic Publishers

Velissariou E (1991) Die Wirtschaftlichen Effekte des Tourismus Dargestell am Beispiel Kretas(The Economic Impacts of Tourism on Crete) PhD Dissertation University of MunichFrankfurt Peter Lang

Vernikos N (1987) The study of Mediterranean small islands Emerging theoreticalissues Ekistics 54 (323ndash4) 101ndash9

Wanhill S (1993) Government organisations In C Cooper J Fletcher D Gilbert and SWanhill (eds) Tourism Principle and Practice (pp 145ndash60) London Pitman

Wickens D (1994) Consumption of the authentic The hedonistic tourist in Greece In ASeaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 819ndash25)England JWiley and Sons

Wickens E (2000) Rethinking touristsrsquo experiences In M Robinson et al (eds) MotivationsBehaviour and Tourist Types (pp 455ndash72) Business Education Publishers Sunderland

Wickers D (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 2 Sunday Times 57ndash510Wilkinson PF (1989) Strategies for tourism in islands microstates Annals of Tourism

Research 16 153ndash77XENIA (various issues) (Monthly bulletin of the Greek Hotel Chamber in Greek) AthensZacharatos G (1984) Tourismus und Wirtschafts-Struktur Dargestellt am Beispiel

Griechenlands Europaische Hochschulschriften Reihex Band 7 Frankfurt am MainZacharatos G (1986) Tourism consumption (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planning and

Economic ResearchZacharatos G (1988) The simplistic empiricism Tourism policy and the time of crisis

(1992) (in Greek) Sychrona Themata 11 (May) 21ndash6Zacharatos G (1989) The problems and perspectives of tourism in Greece (in Greek) In H

Katsoulis T Giannitsis and P Kazakos (eds) Politics and Society Economy and ForeignRelationships (pp 273ndash89) Athens Papazisis

Zacharatos G (1993) The necessity of multimedia use in the tourism education in Greece(in Greek) Paper presented at the international conference Overcomingisolation-telematics and regional development University of the Aegean Chios 30April ndash 2 May

480 Current Issues in Tourism

Page 26: Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challengescore.ac.uk/download/pdf/101686.pdf · Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challenges Dimitrios Buhalis School of Management

their land and resources whilst jeopardising their expected benefits and futurewelfare As these impacts are trade-offs for the economic gains of the tourismactivity it is important that consistent long-term strategic planning should beundertaken in order to enable the preservation of the local resources and achievesustainability at tourism destinations These tasks should all be reinforced byresearch political will and strategic planning

Where Do We Need to Go and How Are We Going ThereTowards Strengthening the Competitiveness of Greek Tourismand SMTEs

Based on the situation analysis as well as on the strategic weaknesses andstructural problems the paper attempts to provide a framework for strategicplanning which will enable the strengthening of the competitiveness of Greektourism and SMTEs Porter (1985 1) suggests that competitive strategy lsquois thesearch for a favourable competitive position in an industryrsquo which is a function ofthe attractiveness of the industry and the relative competitive position withinthat particular industry He also argues that lsquocompetitive strategy aims to estab-lish a profitable and sustainable position against the forces that determine indus-try competitionrsquo Competitiveness is therefore defined as the effort undertakenby organisations to maintain long-term profitability above the average of theparticular industry within which they operate or above alternative investmentopportunities in other industries

Traditionally the tourism industry in the majority of destinations worldwideis based on a network of SMTEs which provide all types of tourism products andservices while enabling closer interaction between the host population and visi-tors as well as facilitating a rapid infusion of tourism spending into the localeconomy As lsquotouristsrsquo overall experience is composed of numerous smallencounters with a variety of tourism service providersrsquo (Moutinho 1990 104)there is a great overlap between the customer perception of local SMTEs anddestinations which makes them almost indistinguishable Consequently thecompetitiveness and prosperity of destinations and SMTEs are closely interre-lated as the fortune of the one depends heavily upon the management andcompetitiveness of the other Therefore the generic strategy for destinationsinvolves SMTEs and vice versa

Grand strategy Strategy formulation for Greek tourism and SMTEsBased on the strategic analysis a grand strategy is proposed for the Greek

tourism industry and SMTEs in order to demonstrate the directions the destina-tions should follow in their attempt to increase their competitiveness and reducetheir vulnerability As different resorts destinations and SMTEs have dissimilarneeds only generic strategies can be drawn However these guidelines can beapplicable to destinations and SMTEs worldwide as they address strategic ratherthan operational issues The analysis is based on the assumption that SMTEsformulate leisure value-added chains or networks of wealth creation whichessentially comprise the entire destination Therefore an integrated approach isfollowed as there is a great complementarity between the strategies and strate-gic directions for both the Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 465

The grand strategy analysis is based on an examination of three general strat-egy models namely Porterrsquos generic strategies Gilbertrsquos proposition for lsquodiffer-entiation of the destinationrsquo and Poonrsquos analysis for lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo Agrand strategy is then proposed for both Greek tourism and SMTEs based oninference emerging from these three models Figure 1 illustrates the three maingeneric strategies proposed by Porter (1980 34ndash46) in order to lsquooutperform otherfirms in an industryrsquo overall cost leadership where the firm is required to minimiseits costs based on mass production and strict cost control of the main businessfunctions differentiation of products or services by lsquocreating something that isperceived industry-wide as being uniquersquo or focus on a lsquoparticular buyer groupsegment of the product line or geographical marketrsquo and achieve either cost leader-ship or product differentiation (Porter 1980 37ndash8)

Furthermore Gilbert (1984 1990) argues that destinations should differenti-ate their tourism products in order to be able to achieve a unique lsquotourist productbenefitrsquo which would enable them to establish their position in the internationaltourism market as well as to attract high spenders and loyal tourists Tourismdestinations therefore should attempt to achieve a lsquostatus arearsquo image ratherthan a lsquocommodity arearsquo one as illustrated in Figure 2 In the first case the desti-nation is heavily substitutable very sensitive to price and economic changeswhile consumers have a low awareness of any unique benefits or attributes of theregion Thus holidaymakers base their decision to visit the area merely on pricewhile the demand for the destination is incidental and destinations are unable toattract high spenders In contrast lsquostatus areasrsquo achieve intentional demand as aresult of the unique product attributes perceived by the tourism market Theseunique attributes may be genuine or imagined and thus a destination isregarded as irreplaceable increasing consumersrsquo loyalty and willingness to payGilbert (1990 24ndash5) asserts that destinations should attempt to become lsquostatusareasrsquo in order to improve their image loyalty and economic benefits

A third strategic approach is proposed by Poon (1987 1988 1989 1990 1993)based on the concept of lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo of the tourism business Inessence Poon examines the industry processes and proposes a strategy to enabletourism organisations to improve their competitiveness Poon argues that lsquoflexi-ble specialisationrsquo is a strategy of lsquopermanent innovationrsquo and lsquoceaseless changersquowhich provides for the lsquonew tourismrsquo This new tourism is flexible segmentedcustomised to the touristrsquos needs and diagonally integrated In contrast the oldtourism can be characterised as lsquomass standardised and rigidly packagedrsquo(Poon 1989 91ndash3)

466 Current Issues in Tourism

STRATEGIC ADVANTAGE

Perceived product uniqueness Cost advantage

TARGETMARKET

Industrywide Differentiation Cost Leadership

Particularsegmentsonly

Differentiation Focus Cost Focus

Figure 1 Porterrsquos three generic strategiesSource Porter 1980 39

The main sources of flexibility for service firms lie in the organisationmanagement marketing distribution and other forms of interaction andinterrelationships among guests hotels suppliers distributors What isimportant however is not each of these stand alone aspects but how theyare coupled to create competitive advantages and hence capabilities tomove with the market (Poon 1988 24)

Examination of these three main strategies illustrates that they share a similarbase Porterrsquos lsquodifferentiationrsquo Gilbertrsquos lsquostatus arearsquo and Poonrsquos lsquoflexiblespecialisationrsquo describe the attempt undertaken by firms and tourist destinationsto achieve value competitive advantages In contrast the lsquocost leadershiprsquo lsquocom-modity arearsquo and the lsquostandardisation or Fordism production modelrsquo describethe effort to achieve lsquocost competitive advantagersquo where destinations andSMTEs offer their products for less than their competitors In the first caseconsumers perceive the product as unique and are willing to pay a premiumwhile in the second case the decision is merely based on price Thus the classicalstrategic decision of lsquolow volume-high profit marginrsquo or lsquohigh volume-low profitmarginrsquo is the underlying concept of the two alternative strategies

Both Gilbert and Poon agree that destinations should aim to achieve lsquostatusarearsquo or niche orientation through differentiation in order to increase consumersatisfaction as well as to maximise the benefits for both regions and SMTEs As aresult Greek tourism and SMTEs need to focus towards the differentiation strat-egy define their niche markets and serve them accordingly This strategy isalready adopted in several resort areas such as Valencia in Spain where it isrecognised that the need for diversification and differentiation lsquohas now becomeessential owing to the level of competitiveness that has been attained (and can beforeseen) in the world tourist marketrsquo (Fayos-Sola 1992 49) Differentiation isalso particularly useful for insular destinations in microstates where a limitednumber of economic and financial resources are available (Wilkinson 1989 170)As most destinations consist of SMTEs networks there is an overlap betweentheir strategic orientations and therefore the above analysis is applicable to boththe Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Destinations implementing a lsquostatus arearsquo strategy can enhance the satisfac-tion of tourists as well as their competitiveness The formulation of unique and

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 467

CommodityArea

Statusarea

Willingness topay higher prices

StatusArea

Product attributes Product attributes

CommodityArea

Figure 2 Gilbertrsquos differentiation strategySource Adapted from Gilbert 1990 25

customised products by using flexibility and cooperation also increases touristsrsquowillingness to pay and wins their loyalty while it responds to the new tourismdemand trends However the proposed strategy should not be seen as an excusefor SMTEs and destinations not to attempt to improve their efficiency and mini-mise their production costs Although the unique service for touristsrsquo needs shouldbe their priority offering perceived value for money would determine theircompetitiveness in the marketplace As a result all Greek resorts and SMTEsshould assess their assets and strengths for serving specific target markets takingadvantage of their small size which facilitates flexibility and specialisation

It is quite apparent that the cost advantage strategy has to be avoided inmanagement of tourism destinations as regions need to preserve their scarceenvironmental and sociocultural resources and achieve sustainable develop-ment As cost advantage is based on mass production and consumption itassumes an unlimited production capacity which is inapplicable in the tourismindustry The inseparability of the tourism product determines that consumersshould be present at the time of product delivery and when combined with tour-ism seasonality it generates demand peaks which drain destinationsrsquo scarceenvironmental sociocultural resources The lsquohigh volume-low profit marginrsquostrategy has therefore harmful social and environmental impacts on destina-tions Destinations have maximum carrying capacities beyond which both thewelfare of local populations and the satisfaction of tourists are jeopardisedAlthough economic benefits can also be achieved by using the lsquocommodity arearsquoor the lsquostandard product modelrsquo it is argued that these approaches reduce tour-istsrsquo satisfaction and their willingness to pay and are opposed to the demandtrend towards individualisation

Unfortunately however some destinations can no longer be positioned asirreplaceable unique products due to their overdevelopment Tourism supplyhas exceeded the carrying capacity of these resorts and their product hasreached the saturation or decline phase of their life-cycle Several Spanish costasand some Greek resorts such as Benitses Kavos Faliraki Malia Hersonissos andNidri (Josephides 1994) have been overdeveloped to such an extent that only alsquohigh-volume low-profit marginrsquo strategy is feasible When resorts reach theirsaturation level only a lsquocost leadershiprsquo or lsquomass productionrsquo strategy can beproposed as they are unable to provide any specific lsquotourist product benefitrsquo Theattraction of the lower end of the market is inevitable and as a consequence thereare no alternative strategies The minimisation of further sociocultural and envi-ronmental damage as well as attempts to improve the surrounding environmentshould also be a primary objective of both tourism destinations and SMTEs in thiscase The ultimate aim should be to regenerate the resources of the area and torelaunch the tourism destination to attract specific markets which will be willing topay a higher price for the destination

Strategic directions objectives and tasks for Greek tourism and SMTEsTable 8 presents three pivotal strategic directions which are identified in order

to stimulate the competitiveness of both Greek tourism and SMTEs This sectionillustrates how the aforementioned grand strategy can be implemented for tour-ist destinations and SMTEs through a number of strategic directions objectivesand tasks as presented in Table 9

468 Current Issues in Tourism

Enhancing the satisfaction of tourists and delighting the customer are pivotalto ensuring the well-being of Greek destinations and SMTEs in the long term andthus the entire range of tourism service providers should aim to delight theirclients As a result of the tourism product integration consumer satisfactioncannot be achieved by independent businesses separately but by the entirenetwork of SMTEs in Greek destinations The improvement in services isperhaps the most important strategic objective Consistency of promises throughstandardisation of service delivery and implementation of a total qualitymanagement philosophy throughout the industry are essential strategic tasks forachieving this objective while flexibility in service delivery and improvementsin training are critical In line with the grand strategy the production oftailor-made tourism products should be ensured in order to satisfy the specificneeds of particular niches and the requirements of the emerging new tourismdemand Product augmentation would enable also the Greek tourism product toexceed the expectations of consumers and hence enhance their satisfaction Lifestyle segmentation would enable Greek tourism and SMTEs to design appropri-ate tourism products As tourist demand elasticity has increasingly becomedoubtful in recent years the price of the holiday is no longer considered to be themost important attribute in the decision-making process Consequently theGreek tourism industry should concentrate on providing value for money at allprice levels as well as offering at least whatever they have promised to theconsumer

Supporting the long-term competitiveness and profitability of Greek tour-ism and SMTEs is by far the most important strategic objective for the tourismindustry The first strategic objective for every SMTE has to be the increase inrevenue by maximising its occupancy or load factors and the rates it achievesThe lengthening of the operating season as well as the identification of newmarkets and the penetration into existing ones and the effective utilisation ofdistribution channels will contribute to this strategic direction Higher ratescan be achieved by targeting specialised and smaller tour operators attractingalternative types of tourists and expanding the distribution channels mix aswell as by attempting a certain degree of lsquodisintermediationrsquo by encouragingdirect sales to outgoing travel agencies or consumers Aggressive marketingand establishment of partnerships with other enterprises should be essentialfunctions of Greek tourism and SMTEs Motivation of lsquofront-of-housersquo employ-ees as salesmen and sale incentives would also increase average spending percustomer The use of CRSs and destination management systems may also bean appropriate method for achieving higher prices and better occupancy rates(Buhalis 1994) Finally yield management techniques should be utilised by alltypes of SMTEs to assist them in pricing and maximising revenue Cost control

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 469

Table 8 Pivotal strategic dimensions for Greek tourism

(1) Enhance the satisfaction of tourists and delight the customer(2) Strengthen the long-term profitability and competitiveness of Greek tourism and

SMTEs(3) Develop Greek destinations sustainably and ensure prosperity of host population

470 Current Issues in Tourism

Table 9 Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Strategic directions Strategic objectives Strategic tasks

1 Enhance the sat-isfaction of tour-ists and delightthe customer

11 Improvement of services a Standardisation of service de-livery

b Development of quality controlsystems

c Consistency of promisesd Improvements in operational

managemente Flexibility in services deliveryf Training and education im-

provementsg Smile and personal relation-

shipsh Augmentation of tourism

producti Total quality management

12 Specialisation of tourismproduct

a Niche marketingb Lifestyle targeting

13 Value for money a Quality at each price level

2 Strengthen thelong-term com-petitiveness andprofitability ofGreek tourismand SMTEs

21 Increase revenue a Increase tourist volumesb Target new markets and pene-

tration in existing marketsc Use yield managementd Expand distribution channel

mixe Aggressive marketingf Achieve high average spending

per customerg Select high-quality specialised

tour operatorsh Attract alternative types of

tourismi Use alternative distribution

channelsj Motivate front-of-house em-

ployees as salesmen

22 Cost control and rationalmanagement

a Standardise service deliveryb Increase productivityc Reduce labour costsd Rationalise supplies manage-

mente Educationtraining for manag-

ers and employeesf Use of new technologyg Integrate service delivery

within SMTEs

23 Human resources man-agement

a Internal marketingb Empowermentc Satisfactory salary and working

conditionsd Long-term relations with em-

ployeese Motivation and rewards

and rational management is the second strategic objective needed to increaseefficiency and profitability of both Greek destinations and SMTEs in the longterm Standardisation of the service delivery process and minimisation of thelabour cost through better operational management would be primary recom-mendations Managers and employees should improve their productivity andmarketing skills by intensive training In addition the rationalisation of supplymanagement and the use of new technology is expected to reduce operationalcosts Finally integration of service delivery enables SMTEs to provide comple-mentary services and achieve additional revenues without immense costs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 471

24 State and public tourismorganisation support

a Destination development andcontrol

b Incentives policies for improve-ment

c Attract European Union assis-tance

d Promotional activitye Provide financial resources

3 Develop Greekdestinationssustainably andensure prosper-ity of host popu-lation

31 Environmental protection a Carrying capacity identificationb Zoning system applicationc Architecture preservationd Installation of sewage treat-

ment systemse Reduction of noise pollutionf Natural supplies management

32 Infrastructure ameliora-tion

a Accessibility improvementsb Telecommunication improve-

mentsc Public facilities advancements

33 Transportation improve-ments

a Improvement of local timeta-bles

b Punctuality and reliabilityc Improvements of vehiclesd Flexibility to meet demand

needs

34 Economic integration a Integration with raw materialproduction

b Utilisation of local labour forcec Integration of tourism servicesd Diagonal integration of destina-

tionrsquos economy

35 Equitable return on re-sources utilised

a Establish mechanism forreinvestments

b Provide services for hostcommunity

c Invest in sustainability ofresources

d Ensure equity in distributionof wealth produced

Source Adapted from Buhalis 1991 83a

Table 9 (cont) Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Human resources management is crucial in the delivery process of tourismproducts The concept of lsquointernal marketingrsquo where employees are perceivedand treated as lsquointernal customersrsquo has to be utilised in order to ensure theirsatisfaction As Berry (1981 34) states lsquothe satisfaction of the needs and wants ofthe internal customers can upgrade their capacity for satisfying the needs andwants of their external customersrsquo and as a consequence it can contribute to thecompetitiveness and profitability of Greek tourism and SMTEs Satisfactorysalary and working conditions are prerequisites for the well-being of SMTEsrsquoemployees Long-term relationships between employees and SMTEs minimiseturnover enabling a better performance while they reduce recruitment andtraining costs Empowerment would enable employees to be involved in themanagement of SMTEs and authorise them to respond more efficiently toconsumer requests while contributing to their job satisfaction Finally thesupport of the GNTO is vital for the long-term survival of SMTEs Apart fromthe improvement in infrastructure the GNTO is expected to hold the strategicresponsibility of the destination as well as to regulate the competition in orderto enable smaller enterprises to survive Incentive policies need to reflect thespecific requirements of each resort and enable development or improvementof certain types of enterprises The GNTO is also instrumental in attractingassistance from European development funds while it should also coordinatethe majority of Greek tourism promotional activity A promotional mix whichmaximises the effectiveness of the communication message needs to be drawnwhile budgets need to be available at the time consumers go through their deci-sion-making process in order to influence their choice of destination Finally theneed for the public sector to provide affordable financial resources for SMTEs ishighlighted by the EU (EC 1993b 73)

The third strategic direction for Greek tourism and SMTEs should be thesustainable development of destinations and local areas not only for the hostpopulation but also because this is vital for both consumer satisfaction and theprofitability of SMTEs Although in most cases SMTEs are unable to incorporatethese types of strategic objectives and tasks on their own they can initiate aframework of necessary actions for sustainable destination developmentthrough their associations Environmental protection is naturally the mostimportant strategic objective as consumersrsquo environmental consciousness hasbeen raised recently Carrying capacity limits should be identified and strictregulations and guidelines for tourism development need to be drawn A zoningsystem should be implemented in order to locate tourism activities according tothe geographical morphology of the destination In addition natural resourcesmanagement is necessary as tourism demand may exhaust the resources andespecially the water supplies The installation of sewage treatment systems andthe reduction of noise pollution should be considered especially for resortswhich suffer the consequences of these problems In addition infrastructureamelioration must be one of the primary objectives as it is an essential prerequi-site for both consumersrsquo satisfaction and SMTEsrsquo development The improve-ment of accessibility public services as well as telecommunications facilities is acrucial factor Transportation is also significant in increasing both consumersatisfaction and profitability of SMTEs as it determines whether consumers canaccess the destination easily while it also provides the first impression to tour-

472 Current Issues in Tourism

ists Improvements of timetables and services reliability increasing transporta-tion capacity and an enhancement of the fleet in terms of speed cleanliness andleisure facilities are all required Furthermore greater flexibility is needed bytransportation operators in order to meet demand needs Economic integrationcan improve the economic and social benefits of tourism in the region and theefficiency of SMTEs Ultimately tourism should be utilised as the catalyst andmajor stimulant for regional development Tourism enterprises should makeevery effort to use local raw materials and labour in order to maximise the multi-plier effects within Greece Diagonal integration of destinationsrsquo economy can beachieved by rearranging the goods and service production in order to supportthe tourism industry demand and thus minimise imports Finally SMTEs andtourism organisations need to offer a fair return-on-resources utilised back to thehost community A mechanism should be established in order to reinvest part ofthe revenues in the sustainability of resources provide services for the hostcommunity such as education training health services and generally ensureequity in distribution of wealth produced from local resources As the privatesector cannot be expected to behave altruistically towards the host communitythe GNTO and other public-sector departments should probably utilise regula-tion and taxation for this purpose

Conclusion Greek Tourism Needs a Long Overdue Master Planand Comprehensive Policy

The emerging international tourism competition the hitherto mass tourismorientation of the industry the transformation of demand the development ofthe volume of tourists visiting the dependence upon intermediaries for thedistribution of the tourism product in the major target markets the lack of a widerange of managerial skills by Greek tourism entrepreneurs and the lack of acomprehensive tourism policy or Master Plan by the public sector has led thecompetitiveness of Greece tourism to decline This has several unfavourableimplications for the profitability of the private sector as well as numerous nega-tive economic sociocultural and environmental impacts for the host populationAs a result the return on resources utilised for the production of Greek tourismservices is inadequate and the sustainability of Greece as a major tourism desti-nation is rapidly becoming doubtful Based on a strategic analysis the paper illu-minates the strategic weaknesses and structural problems of both the private andpublic sectors and demonstrates that a rationalisation of the tourism industry isurgently required Consequently a grand strategy as well as a wide range of stra-tegic directions objectives and tasks are proposed for both Greece as an entityand its SMTEs Although no quantitative targets are set in this paper it isexpected that each destination will analyse its resources and adapt its strategicplanning accordingly

The GNTO is urged to rationalise its strategy and to draw up a Master Plan anda comprehensive strategy for the entire country and for each resort where a strategywould be adopted based on quantifiable objectives and tasks Extensive researchneeds to be undertaken by using credible measurement methodologies such asInput-Output models and multipliers analysis not only for the economic but alsofor the social cultural and environmental impacts (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Buhalis

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 473

amp Fletcher 1995) A holistic tourism management system is demanded to facilitatethe development and implementation of the tourism strategy through funds allo-cation and monitoring land use control and examination of tourism public- andprivate-sector practices A thorough examination of tourism impacts in eachregion would be a prerequisite for tourism planning as it will establish andprovide scientific backing to strategic targets Komilis (1994 71) explains thatalthough the various levels of planning (sectoral nationalEU spatial or regional)are not mutually exclusive but rather complementary the regional level planningis more suitable for drawing sustainable strategies especially for areas withdissimilar needs like the Greek destinations The regional planning should lsquocon-tribute to the maximisation of regional development benefits in a way that utilisesand mobilises the regional resource base realises regional inter-sectoral linkagesand is compatible with regional economic interests societal values and environ-mental assetsrsquo It should also take into consideration the uniqueness of insulareconomies as well as the cultural and environmental resources of each particularregion and the complexity of rural and urban functions The planning processshould encourage the complementarity and coexistence of economic activitiesrather than promote sectoral separation and single-sector developments In addi-tion it needs to improve the balance between regional self-sufficiency anddependence upon external inputs and finally it should promote integration withinthe European Union

The public sector has to play its long overdue role as regulator coordinatorinfrastructure provider and promoter of the destination while a multi-integrationof the tourism industry with all the involved bodies in the preparation distribu-tion and delivery of the tourism experience needs to be ensured (Wanhill 1993Hall 1994 Skoulas 1994 10 Stavrou 1988 46) The private sector also has an impor-tant role to play as it should improve the Greek tourism industry competitivenessby improving its managerial and labour force competencies enhancing the qualityof services designing appropriate marketing mixes to attract and satisfy targetmarkets and cooperating closely in order to achieve synergies and economies ofscale (Briassoulis 1993 300 Cooper amp Buhalis 1992) To reverse the vicious circleof decreasing quality is of critical importance for the Greek tourism industryBetter quality services would stimulate the competitiveness of the Greek tourismproduct strengthen its position in the international market provide principalswith distribution channel power enhance its customersrsquo willingness to pay andenable the industry to increase its prices improving the profitability at the microlevel and the economic impacts of tourism at the macrolevel Ultimately a diagonalintegration strategy for both Greek tourism and SMTEs should aim to delightconsumers enhance the long-term prosperity of SMTEs and improve the welfareof the host populations The Olympic Games in 2004 offer a unique opportunity toregenerate and rebrand Greek tourism a cause which the entire industry shouldchampion

The AuthorDimitrios Buhalis is Senior Lecturer and course leader MSc in tourism at theUniversity of Surrey He holds a BBA from the University of the Aegean as wellas an MSc and a PhD in tourism management from the University of Surrey Hisresearch interests focus on information systems and technology strategic

474 Current Issues in Tourism

management distribution channels of tourism destination management andplanning and destination integrated computer information reservation manage-ment systems

AcknowledgementsThe author would like to acknowledge Prof C Cooper and Prof J Fletcher for

their invaluable contribution to this research Financial support from the SurreyResearch Group ConTours Consultants as well as field research sponsorshipsby the University of Surrey the Greek National Tourism Organisation and theUniversity of the Aegean are gratefully appreciated

Note1 An earlier version of this paper was published as a monograph PlanningDevelop-

ment by the International Centre for Research and Studies in TourismAix-en-Provence France

CorrespondenceAny correspondence should be directed to Dr Dimitrios Buhalis Senior

Lecturer in Business Information Management SMSSS University of SurreyGuildford GU2 7XH UK (dbuhalissurreyacuk)

ReferencesApostolopoulos T (1990) New strategy of tourism development (in Greek) Tourism and

Economy (November) 228ndash38Berry C (1981) The employee as customer Journal of Retail Banking 3 33ndash40Boniface B and Cooper C (1994) The Geography of Travel and Tourism (2nd edn) London

HeinemannBriassoulis H (1993) Tourism in Greece In W Pompl and P Lavery (eds) Tourism in

Europe Structures and Developments (pp285ndash301) Oxford CAB InternationalBuckley P and Papadopoulos S (1986) Marketing Greek tourism The planning process

Tourism Management 7 86ndash100Buhalis D (1991) Strategic marketing and management for the small and medium

tourism enterprises in the periphery of the European Community A case study for theAegean islands in Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Buhalis D (1994) Information and telecommunications technologies as a strategic tool forsmall and medium tourism enterprises in the contemporary business environment InA Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 254ndash75)England J Wiley and Sons

Buhalis D (1995) The impact of information telecommunications technologies on tourismdistribution channels Implications for the small and medium sized tourismenterprisesrsquo strategic management and marketing PhD Dissertation University ofSurrey Guildford

Buhalis D (2000a) Marketing the competitive destination of the future TourismManagement (Special Issue ndash The Competitive Destination) 21 (1) 97ndash116

Buhalis D (2000b) (forthcoming) Athens Tourism-Travel Intelligence LondonBuhalis D (2000c) Relationships in the distribution channel of tourism Conflicts between

hoteliers and tour operators in the Mediterranean region Journal of InternationalHospitality Leisure and Tourism Adminstration 1 (1) 113ndash39

Buhalis D and Diamantis D (2001 forthcoming) Tourism development andsustainability on the Greek archipelagos In G Apostolopoulos and D Ioannides (eds)Tourism in the Mediterranean Routledge

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 475

Buhalis D and Fletcher J (1995) Environmental impacts on tourism destinations Aneconomic analysis In H Coccosis and P Nijkamp (eds) Sustainable Tourism Development(pp 3ndash25) London Avebury

Camison C Bigne E and Monfort VM (1994) The Spanish tourism industry Analysisof its strategies and the efficacy and achievements gained from them In A Seaton et al(eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 442ndash52) England JWiley and Sons

Castelberg-Koulma M (1991) Greek women and tourism Womenrsquos co-operatives as analternative form of organisation In N Redclift and T Sinclair (eds) Working WomenInternational Perspectives on Labour and Gender Ideology (pp 197ndash223) LondonRoutledge

Chitiris L (1991) Hotel Management (in Greek) Athens InterbooksCoccosis H and Parprairis A (1992) Assessing the interactions between environment

and tourism Case study of the island of Mykonos Paper presented in the IV WorldCongress of Regional Science International University of Balearic Islands Palma deMallorca 26ndash9 May

Conway H (1996) Greece Travel Weekly 1308 39ndash43Cooper C and Buhalis D (1992) Strategic management and marketing of small and

medium sized tourism enterprises in the Greek Aegean islands In R Teare D Adamsand S Messenger (eds) Managing Projects in Hospitality Organisations (pp 101ndash25)London Cassell

Daskalantonakis N (1994) Quality ndash The future of tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (3 July)D9

Divanis A (1994b) Tourism policy Left on its own luck (in Greek) XENIA (October)4ndash5

Donatos G and Zairis P (1991) Seasonality of foreign tourism in the Greek islands ofCrete Annals of Tourism Research 18 515ndash19

Douvitsas P (1994) Marketing Greece through British tour operators A futureperspective MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Drakatos C (1987) Seasonal concentration of tourism in Greece Annals of Tourism Research14 582ndash6

EC (1993a) Microeconomic Analysis of the Tourism Sector A study by the pH Group forEuropean Commission DGXXIII (September) Report XXIII30394-EN BrusselsEuropean Commission

EC (1993b) Growth competitiveness employment The challenges and ways forward intothe 21st century Bulletin of the European Communities Supplement 693 (White Paper)Luxembourg

Economist (1993) Last Chance Sisyphus A survey of Greece Economist (22 May) 2ndash22EIU (1986) Greece (pp 45ndash60) International tourist reports National Report No 3EIU (1990) Greece (pp 45ndash62) International tourist reports National Report No 4EIU (1993) Greece ndash Country Profile 1992ndash1993 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEIU (1994) Greece ndash Country Profile 1994ndash1995 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEpilogi (1994) Economic review ndash The Greek Economy 1994 (in Greek) AthensEuromonitor (1992) Tourism in Greece Market Research Europe (25 May) 51ndash63Fayos-Sola E (1992) A Strategic Outlook for Regional Tourism Policy The White Paper

on Valencian Tourism Tourism Management 13 45ndash9Fotis J (1992) Vacational lifestyle segmentation of tourists on the island of Rhodes

Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey GuildfordGilbert D (1984) The need for countries to differentiate their tourist product and how to

do so Seminar papers for Ministers of Tourism and Directors of National TouristOrganisations Tourism Managing for Results University of Surrey Guildford

Gilbert D (1990) Strategic marketing planning for national tourism Tourist Review 45 (1)18ndash27

GNTO (1985a) Survey of attributes of foreign tourists 1984ndash1985 (in Greek) Greek NationalStatistical Services Athens GNTO

476 Current Issues in Tourism

GNTO (1985b) EOT-Tourism rsquo85 Development ndash Participation ndash Quality of Life (in Greek)Greek National Statistical Services Athens GNTO

GNTO (1989a) Annual report 1988 ndash Forecast 89 Towards Quality Athens GNTOGNTO (1989b) The study of tourism promotion With special reference to the measures to

increase Japanese tourists to Greece Draft final report Japan InternationalCooperation Agency

GNTO (1993) Tourism towards the 2000 (in Greek) Greek National Tourism OrganisationAthens GNTO

Hall M (1994) Tourism and Politics Policy Power and Place J Wiley and SonsHorwath (annual) The Greek Hotel Industry (in Greek) Annual reports Pireus HorwathJenner P and Smith C (1993) Tourism in the Mediterranean Research report London

Economist Intelligence UnitJosephides N (1993) Environmental Concern ndash Whatrsquos In It for the Tourism Industry (pp 51ndash6)

Proceedings of the conference Tourism and the environment Challenges and choicesfor the 1990rsquos 16ndash17 November 1992 Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre LondonBrussels European Union

Josephides N (1994) Tourism analysis Presentation in Philoxenia international tourismexhibition Thessaloniki Greece

Josephides N (1995) A sorry state for beautiful Greece Travel Weekly 1261 (5 April)11Kalogeropoulou H (1993) Greece ndash Prospects for the tourism industry within the context

of the European Single Market of 1993 Tourism Review 48 (1) 2ndash4Kassimati K Thanopoulou M and Tsartas P (1994) Womenrsquos Employment in the

Tourist Sector Study of the Greek Labour Market and Identification of Future ProspectsDGV Equal Opportunities Unit Document V40994-EN European CommissionBrussels

Komilis P (1987) Spatial analysis of tourism in Greece (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planningand Economic Research

Komilis P (1992) The spatial structure of tourism and physical planning practices inGreece Paper presented in conference Tourism and environment Issues ofpolicyplanningmanagement 23ndash4 October University of the Aegean Dept ofEnvironment Lesvos

Komilis P (1993) Values in the Tourism Planning and Policy Making Process (pp 224ndash9)Proceedings of the conference Values and the environment 23ndash4 September GuildfordUniversity of Surrey

Komilis P (1994) Tourism and sustainable regional development In A Seaton et al (eds)Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 65ndash73) England JWiley andSons

Konsolas N and Zacharatos G (1993) Regionalization of tourism activity in GreeceProblems and policies In H Briassoulis and J Van der Straaten (eds) Tourism andEnvironment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 57ndash65) Dordrecht Kluer AcademicPublisher

Kousis M (1989) Tourism and the family in a rural Cretan community Annals of TourismResearch 16 318ndash32

Kriebardis S and Marmagiolis I (1990) Tourism Activity in Greece Problems and Perspectives(pp 45ndash54) (in Greek) Economic Report of Commercial Bank AprilndashJune AthensCommercial Bank

Ktenas S (1994) Hoteliers ask for 15 to 20 increases for 1995 (in Greek) TO BHMA (3July) D9

Ktenas S (1996) Crisis in Greek tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (7 April) D16Leontidou L (1991) Greece Prospects and contradictions of tourism in the 1980rsquos In AM

Williams and GJ Shaw (eds) Tourism and Economic Development Western EuropeanExperiences (2nd edn) (pp 94ndash106) London Belhaven Press

Logothetis M (1990) The Economy of Dodekanisos During 1988ndash1989 Developments andPerspectives (in Greek) Rhodes Regional association of municipalities of Dodekanisos

Logothetis M (1992) Touristiki Sigkiria (in Greek) Rhodes Institute of Tourist and HotelResearch

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 477

Loukissas P (1977) The impact of tourism on regional development A comparativeanalysis of the Greek islands PhD Dissertation Cornell University USA

Loukissas P (1982) Tourismrsquos regional development impacts A comparative analysis ofthe Greek islands Annals of Tourism Research 9 523ndash43

Marinos P (1983) Small island tourism-the case of Zakynthos in Greece TourismManagement 4 212ndash15

Moore R (1992) From shepherds to shopkeepers The development of tourism in a centralGreek town PhD Dissertation University of California at Berkeley USA

Moore R (1995) Gender and alcohol use in a Greek tourist town Annals of Tourism Research22 300ndash13

Mourdoukoutas P (1988) Seasonal employment seasonal unemployment andunemployment compensation The case of the tourism industry of the Greek islandsAmerican Journal of Economics and Sociology 47 315ndash29

NSSG (l983) Tourism Statistics 1981 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (l985) Tourism Statistics 1982ndash1983 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1987) Tourism Statistics 1984ndash1985 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1990) Tourism Statistics 1986ndash1987 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1993) Tourism Statistics 1988ndash1990 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceOECD (1992) Greece Tourism Policy and International Tourism in OECD Member Countries (pp

70ndash8) Paris OECDOttaway M (1992) Turtle power Sunday Times Travel and Style (28 June)Ottaway M (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 1 Sunday Times (17 January)

57ndash59Panagiotopoulou R (1990) The problem and perspectives of the European insular regions

(in Greek) Working paper University of the Aegean ChiosPapadimitris G (1988) Short run and long run prospects of the Greek tourism industry

PhD Dissertation University of Manchester ManchesterPapadopoulos S (1985) An economic analysis of foreign tourism in Greece An

examination of the growth and structure of foreign tourism to Greece 1960ndash1984 with aplanning model and marketing policy recommendations PhD Thesis University ofBradford Management Centre Bradford

Papadopoulos S (1987) Strategic marketing techniques in international tourismInternational Marketing Review (summer) 71ndash84

Papadopoulos S (1988a) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (1) 29ndash30

Papadopoulos S (1988b) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (2) 24ndash7

Papadopoulos S (1989) Greek marketing strategies in the Europe tourism market ServiceIndustries Journal 9 297ndash314

Papadopoulos S and Mirza H (1985) Foreign tourism in Greece An economic analysisTourism Management 6 125ndash37

Papandropoulos A (1995) The crisis in tourism is evident (in Greek) OikonomikosTachydromos (29 June) 26ndash8

Papanikos G (1999) The year 2004 olympic games and their influence upon the Greektourism (in Greek) ITEP (Research Institute for Tourism) Athens

Paulopoulos P (1999) The Size and Dynamics of the Tourism Sector (in Greek) ResearchInstitute for Tourism Athens

Peterson C (1990) Greece tackles overbuilding in tourism areas EnvironmentalConservation 17 166ndash8

Plevris V (1995) Alarm bells from the Hellenic Federation of Hotels (in Greek) XENIA128 (May) 6ndash7

Poon A (1987) Information technology and innovation in international tourism ndashimplications for the Caribbean tourism industry PhD thesis Science Policy ResearchUnit University of Sussex Brighton

Poon A (1988) Flexible specialisation and small size ndash the case of Caribbean tourism DRCDiscussion Paper 57 SPRU Brighton University of Sussex

478 Current Issues in Tourism

Poon A (1989) Competitive strategies for new tourism In C Cooper (ed) Progress inTourism Recreation and Hospitality Management (vol 1) (pp 91ndash102) London BelhavenPress

Poon A (1990) Flexible specialisation at small size The case of Caribbean tourism WorldDevelopment 18 109ndash23

Poon A (1993) Tourism Technology and Competitive Strategies Oxford CAB InternationalPorter M (1980) Competitive Strategy Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors

New York Free PressPorter M (1985) Competitive Advantage Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance New

York Free PressPorter M (1990) The Competitive Advantage of Nations New York Free PressPrurier E Sweeney A and Geen A (1993) Tourism and the environment The case of

Zakynthos Tourism Management 14 137ndash9Psoinos P (1994a) Research on the foreign touristsrsquo attributes in Greece (in Greek) Athens

Greek National Tourism OrganisationPsoinos P (1994b) Research on the attributes of foreigners who have never visited Greece (in

Greek) Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationRichter-Papaconstantinou C (1992) Tourism development of Rhodes Cahiers du Tourisme

(Serie B) 67 Aix en Provence Centre des Hautes Eacutetudes TouristiquesRomanos A (1998) Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites (in Greek) Athens

Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites SASETE (1993) Tourism Developments and problems (in Greek) Athens Association of Greek

Tourism EnterprisesSezer H and Harrison A (1994) Tourism in Greece and Turkey An economic view for

planners In A Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposiumpp74ndash84 England Wiley and Sons

Skoulas N (1985) Holidays and travel in the year 2035 ndash Contribution of the NationalTourist Organisation of Greece SDI Schriftey Wirtschafts und Unternehmenspolitik 40181ndash99

Skoulas N (1994) Quality improvement of tourism services (in Greek) Paper presentedin the conference Competitiveness of tourism enterprises ndash the role of quality 1 AprilHoliday Inn Athens Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises

Smith C and Jenner P (1995) Greece International Tourism Reports 3 5ndash21Stavrou S (1978) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Kos Island (in Greek) Research and

Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationStavrou S (1979) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Mykonos and Naxos Islands (in

Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1980) Research on Tourism Awareness on the Islands Kalymnos and Leros (in Greek)Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1984) Tourism Development in Greece during 1969ndash1982 (in Greek) Research andDevelopment Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986a) Research for the Characteristics of Foreign Tourist Demand in Greece in theYears 8485 (in Greek) Research Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1986b) Research on the Tourism Awareness on Paros Santorini Kythira Islands (inGreek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986c) Critical Review of Tourism Activity in the Years 8385 (in Greek) Researchand Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1988) Tourism in the Northern Aegean Islands Presentation of GNTO for the TourismDevelopment of the Periphery (in Greek) Proceedings of the first conference for thedevelopment of the Northern Aegean islands Homereum cultural centre Chios 11November Chios Periphery of Northern Aegean islands

Stavrou S (1989a) GNTO Presentation for the Tourism Development Possibilities for theSouthern Aegean Islands (in Greek) Conference for the development of Southern Aegean

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 479

islands Syros 30 September ndash 2 OctoberStavrou S (1989b) The Contribution of the Development Law 126282 in the Development of the

Country (in Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A5 Athens GreekNational Tourism Organisation

Stereopoulos N (1995) It is regarded ideal it became problematic (in Greek) OikonomikosTachidromos (21 December) 151ndash3

Touloupas P (1996) Greece as a tourist destination for the British tour operators Ananalysis from a marketing perspective in the particular context of the United KingdomMSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Tourismos ke Oikonomia (1993) 20 years 1973ndash1993 (in Greek) Special Issue AthensTourismos ke Oikonomia (1994) ICAP tourism enterprises Drastic reduction of loses in 1993

(in Greek) December 14ndash15Touristiki Agora (various issues) (Monthly tourism industry periodical in Greek) Business

Press AthensTruett D and Truett L (1987) The response of tourism to international economic

conditions Greece Mexico and Spain Journal of Developing Areas 21 177ndash90Tsartas P (1989) Socioeconomic Impacts of Tourism Development in Cyclades Region with Special

Reference on Ios and Serifos Islands During 1950ndash1980 (in Greek) Athens National Centrefor Social Research

Tsartas P (1992) Socioeconomic impacts of tourism on two Greek isles Annals of TourismResearch 19 516ndash33

Van Den Bergh J (1993) Tourism development and natural environment Aneconomicndashecological model for the Sporades islands In H Briassoulis and J Van DerStraaten (eds) Tourism and Environment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 67ndash83)Dordrecht Kluer Academic Publishers

Velissariou E (1991) Die Wirtschaftlichen Effekte des Tourismus Dargestell am Beispiel Kretas(The Economic Impacts of Tourism on Crete) PhD Dissertation University of MunichFrankfurt Peter Lang

Vernikos N (1987) The study of Mediterranean small islands Emerging theoreticalissues Ekistics 54 (323ndash4) 101ndash9

Wanhill S (1993) Government organisations In C Cooper J Fletcher D Gilbert and SWanhill (eds) Tourism Principle and Practice (pp 145ndash60) London Pitman

Wickens D (1994) Consumption of the authentic The hedonistic tourist in Greece In ASeaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 819ndash25)England JWiley and Sons

Wickens E (2000) Rethinking touristsrsquo experiences In M Robinson et al (eds) MotivationsBehaviour and Tourist Types (pp 455ndash72) Business Education Publishers Sunderland

Wickers D (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 2 Sunday Times 57ndash510Wilkinson PF (1989) Strategies for tourism in islands microstates Annals of Tourism

Research 16 153ndash77XENIA (various issues) (Monthly bulletin of the Greek Hotel Chamber in Greek) AthensZacharatos G (1984) Tourismus und Wirtschafts-Struktur Dargestellt am Beispiel

Griechenlands Europaische Hochschulschriften Reihex Band 7 Frankfurt am MainZacharatos G (1986) Tourism consumption (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planning and

Economic ResearchZacharatos G (1988) The simplistic empiricism Tourism policy and the time of crisis

(1992) (in Greek) Sychrona Themata 11 (May) 21ndash6Zacharatos G (1989) The problems and perspectives of tourism in Greece (in Greek) In H

Katsoulis T Giannitsis and P Kazakos (eds) Politics and Society Economy and ForeignRelationships (pp 273ndash89) Athens Papazisis

Zacharatos G (1993) The necessity of multimedia use in the tourism education in Greece(in Greek) Paper presented at the international conference Overcomingisolation-telematics and regional development University of the Aegean Chios 30April ndash 2 May

480 Current Issues in Tourism

Page 27: Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challengescore.ac.uk/download/pdf/101686.pdf · Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challenges Dimitrios Buhalis School of Management

The grand strategy analysis is based on an examination of three general strat-egy models namely Porterrsquos generic strategies Gilbertrsquos proposition for lsquodiffer-entiation of the destinationrsquo and Poonrsquos analysis for lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo Agrand strategy is then proposed for both Greek tourism and SMTEs based oninference emerging from these three models Figure 1 illustrates the three maingeneric strategies proposed by Porter (1980 34ndash46) in order to lsquooutperform otherfirms in an industryrsquo overall cost leadership where the firm is required to minimiseits costs based on mass production and strict cost control of the main businessfunctions differentiation of products or services by lsquocreating something that isperceived industry-wide as being uniquersquo or focus on a lsquoparticular buyer groupsegment of the product line or geographical marketrsquo and achieve either cost leader-ship or product differentiation (Porter 1980 37ndash8)

Furthermore Gilbert (1984 1990) argues that destinations should differenti-ate their tourism products in order to be able to achieve a unique lsquotourist productbenefitrsquo which would enable them to establish their position in the internationaltourism market as well as to attract high spenders and loyal tourists Tourismdestinations therefore should attempt to achieve a lsquostatus arearsquo image ratherthan a lsquocommodity arearsquo one as illustrated in Figure 2 In the first case the desti-nation is heavily substitutable very sensitive to price and economic changeswhile consumers have a low awareness of any unique benefits or attributes of theregion Thus holidaymakers base their decision to visit the area merely on pricewhile the demand for the destination is incidental and destinations are unable toattract high spenders In contrast lsquostatus areasrsquo achieve intentional demand as aresult of the unique product attributes perceived by the tourism market Theseunique attributes may be genuine or imagined and thus a destination isregarded as irreplaceable increasing consumersrsquo loyalty and willingness to payGilbert (1990 24ndash5) asserts that destinations should attempt to become lsquostatusareasrsquo in order to improve their image loyalty and economic benefits

A third strategic approach is proposed by Poon (1987 1988 1989 1990 1993)based on the concept of lsquoflexible specialisationrsquo of the tourism business Inessence Poon examines the industry processes and proposes a strategy to enabletourism organisations to improve their competitiveness Poon argues that lsquoflexi-ble specialisationrsquo is a strategy of lsquopermanent innovationrsquo and lsquoceaseless changersquowhich provides for the lsquonew tourismrsquo This new tourism is flexible segmentedcustomised to the touristrsquos needs and diagonally integrated In contrast the oldtourism can be characterised as lsquomass standardised and rigidly packagedrsquo(Poon 1989 91ndash3)

466 Current Issues in Tourism

STRATEGIC ADVANTAGE

Perceived product uniqueness Cost advantage

TARGETMARKET

Industrywide Differentiation Cost Leadership

Particularsegmentsonly

Differentiation Focus Cost Focus

Figure 1 Porterrsquos three generic strategiesSource Porter 1980 39

The main sources of flexibility for service firms lie in the organisationmanagement marketing distribution and other forms of interaction andinterrelationships among guests hotels suppliers distributors What isimportant however is not each of these stand alone aspects but how theyare coupled to create competitive advantages and hence capabilities tomove with the market (Poon 1988 24)

Examination of these three main strategies illustrates that they share a similarbase Porterrsquos lsquodifferentiationrsquo Gilbertrsquos lsquostatus arearsquo and Poonrsquos lsquoflexiblespecialisationrsquo describe the attempt undertaken by firms and tourist destinationsto achieve value competitive advantages In contrast the lsquocost leadershiprsquo lsquocom-modity arearsquo and the lsquostandardisation or Fordism production modelrsquo describethe effort to achieve lsquocost competitive advantagersquo where destinations andSMTEs offer their products for less than their competitors In the first caseconsumers perceive the product as unique and are willing to pay a premiumwhile in the second case the decision is merely based on price Thus the classicalstrategic decision of lsquolow volume-high profit marginrsquo or lsquohigh volume-low profitmarginrsquo is the underlying concept of the two alternative strategies

Both Gilbert and Poon agree that destinations should aim to achieve lsquostatusarearsquo or niche orientation through differentiation in order to increase consumersatisfaction as well as to maximise the benefits for both regions and SMTEs As aresult Greek tourism and SMTEs need to focus towards the differentiation strat-egy define their niche markets and serve them accordingly This strategy isalready adopted in several resort areas such as Valencia in Spain where it isrecognised that the need for diversification and differentiation lsquohas now becomeessential owing to the level of competitiveness that has been attained (and can beforeseen) in the world tourist marketrsquo (Fayos-Sola 1992 49) Differentiation isalso particularly useful for insular destinations in microstates where a limitednumber of economic and financial resources are available (Wilkinson 1989 170)As most destinations consist of SMTEs networks there is an overlap betweentheir strategic orientations and therefore the above analysis is applicable to boththe Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Destinations implementing a lsquostatus arearsquo strategy can enhance the satisfac-tion of tourists as well as their competitiveness The formulation of unique and

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 467

CommodityArea

Statusarea

Willingness topay higher prices

StatusArea

Product attributes Product attributes

CommodityArea

Figure 2 Gilbertrsquos differentiation strategySource Adapted from Gilbert 1990 25

customised products by using flexibility and cooperation also increases touristsrsquowillingness to pay and wins their loyalty while it responds to the new tourismdemand trends However the proposed strategy should not be seen as an excusefor SMTEs and destinations not to attempt to improve their efficiency and mini-mise their production costs Although the unique service for touristsrsquo needs shouldbe their priority offering perceived value for money would determine theircompetitiveness in the marketplace As a result all Greek resorts and SMTEsshould assess their assets and strengths for serving specific target markets takingadvantage of their small size which facilitates flexibility and specialisation

It is quite apparent that the cost advantage strategy has to be avoided inmanagement of tourism destinations as regions need to preserve their scarceenvironmental and sociocultural resources and achieve sustainable develop-ment As cost advantage is based on mass production and consumption itassumes an unlimited production capacity which is inapplicable in the tourismindustry The inseparability of the tourism product determines that consumersshould be present at the time of product delivery and when combined with tour-ism seasonality it generates demand peaks which drain destinationsrsquo scarceenvironmental sociocultural resources The lsquohigh volume-low profit marginrsquostrategy has therefore harmful social and environmental impacts on destina-tions Destinations have maximum carrying capacities beyond which both thewelfare of local populations and the satisfaction of tourists are jeopardisedAlthough economic benefits can also be achieved by using the lsquocommodity arearsquoor the lsquostandard product modelrsquo it is argued that these approaches reduce tour-istsrsquo satisfaction and their willingness to pay and are opposed to the demandtrend towards individualisation

Unfortunately however some destinations can no longer be positioned asirreplaceable unique products due to their overdevelopment Tourism supplyhas exceeded the carrying capacity of these resorts and their product hasreached the saturation or decline phase of their life-cycle Several Spanish costasand some Greek resorts such as Benitses Kavos Faliraki Malia Hersonissos andNidri (Josephides 1994) have been overdeveloped to such an extent that only alsquohigh-volume low-profit marginrsquo strategy is feasible When resorts reach theirsaturation level only a lsquocost leadershiprsquo or lsquomass productionrsquo strategy can beproposed as they are unable to provide any specific lsquotourist product benefitrsquo Theattraction of the lower end of the market is inevitable and as a consequence thereare no alternative strategies The minimisation of further sociocultural and envi-ronmental damage as well as attempts to improve the surrounding environmentshould also be a primary objective of both tourism destinations and SMTEs in thiscase The ultimate aim should be to regenerate the resources of the area and torelaunch the tourism destination to attract specific markets which will be willing topay a higher price for the destination

Strategic directions objectives and tasks for Greek tourism and SMTEsTable 8 presents three pivotal strategic directions which are identified in order

to stimulate the competitiveness of both Greek tourism and SMTEs This sectionillustrates how the aforementioned grand strategy can be implemented for tour-ist destinations and SMTEs through a number of strategic directions objectivesand tasks as presented in Table 9

468 Current Issues in Tourism

Enhancing the satisfaction of tourists and delighting the customer are pivotalto ensuring the well-being of Greek destinations and SMTEs in the long term andthus the entire range of tourism service providers should aim to delight theirclients As a result of the tourism product integration consumer satisfactioncannot be achieved by independent businesses separately but by the entirenetwork of SMTEs in Greek destinations The improvement in services isperhaps the most important strategic objective Consistency of promises throughstandardisation of service delivery and implementation of a total qualitymanagement philosophy throughout the industry are essential strategic tasks forachieving this objective while flexibility in service delivery and improvementsin training are critical In line with the grand strategy the production oftailor-made tourism products should be ensured in order to satisfy the specificneeds of particular niches and the requirements of the emerging new tourismdemand Product augmentation would enable also the Greek tourism product toexceed the expectations of consumers and hence enhance their satisfaction Lifestyle segmentation would enable Greek tourism and SMTEs to design appropri-ate tourism products As tourist demand elasticity has increasingly becomedoubtful in recent years the price of the holiday is no longer considered to be themost important attribute in the decision-making process Consequently theGreek tourism industry should concentrate on providing value for money at allprice levels as well as offering at least whatever they have promised to theconsumer

Supporting the long-term competitiveness and profitability of Greek tour-ism and SMTEs is by far the most important strategic objective for the tourismindustry The first strategic objective for every SMTE has to be the increase inrevenue by maximising its occupancy or load factors and the rates it achievesThe lengthening of the operating season as well as the identification of newmarkets and the penetration into existing ones and the effective utilisation ofdistribution channels will contribute to this strategic direction Higher ratescan be achieved by targeting specialised and smaller tour operators attractingalternative types of tourists and expanding the distribution channels mix aswell as by attempting a certain degree of lsquodisintermediationrsquo by encouragingdirect sales to outgoing travel agencies or consumers Aggressive marketingand establishment of partnerships with other enterprises should be essentialfunctions of Greek tourism and SMTEs Motivation of lsquofront-of-housersquo employ-ees as salesmen and sale incentives would also increase average spending percustomer The use of CRSs and destination management systems may also bean appropriate method for achieving higher prices and better occupancy rates(Buhalis 1994) Finally yield management techniques should be utilised by alltypes of SMTEs to assist them in pricing and maximising revenue Cost control

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 469

Table 8 Pivotal strategic dimensions for Greek tourism

(1) Enhance the satisfaction of tourists and delight the customer(2) Strengthen the long-term profitability and competitiveness of Greek tourism and

SMTEs(3) Develop Greek destinations sustainably and ensure prosperity of host population

470 Current Issues in Tourism

Table 9 Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Strategic directions Strategic objectives Strategic tasks

1 Enhance the sat-isfaction of tour-ists and delightthe customer

11 Improvement of services a Standardisation of service de-livery

b Development of quality controlsystems

c Consistency of promisesd Improvements in operational

managemente Flexibility in services deliveryf Training and education im-

provementsg Smile and personal relation-

shipsh Augmentation of tourism

producti Total quality management

12 Specialisation of tourismproduct

a Niche marketingb Lifestyle targeting

13 Value for money a Quality at each price level

2 Strengthen thelong-term com-petitiveness andprofitability ofGreek tourismand SMTEs

21 Increase revenue a Increase tourist volumesb Target new markets and pene-

tration in existing marketsc Use yield managementd Expand distribution channel

mixe Aggressive marketingf Achieve high average spending

per customerg Select high-quality specialised

tour operatorsh Attract alternative types of

tourismi Use alternative distribution

channelsj Motivate front-of-house em-

ployees as salesmen

22 Cost control and rationalmanagement

a Standardise service deliveryb Increase productivityc Reduce labour costsd Rationalise supplies manage-

mente Educationtraining for manag-

ers and employeesf Use of new technologyg Integrate service delivery

within SMTEs

23 Human resources man-agement

a Internal marketingb Empowermentc Satisfactory salary and working

conditionsd Long-term relations with em-

ployeese Motivation and rewards

and rational management is the second strategic objective needed to increaseefficiency and profitability of both Greek destinations and SMTEs in the longterm Standardisation of the service delivery process and minimisation of thelabour cost through better operational management would be primary recom-mendations Managers and employees should improve their productivity andmarketing skills by intensive training In addition the rationalisation of supplymanagement and the use of new technology is expected to reduce operationalcosts Finally integration of service delivery enables SMTEs to provide comple-mentary services and achieve additional revenues without immense costs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 471

24 State and public tourismorganisation support

a Destination development andcontrol

b Incentives policies for improve-ment

c Attract European Union assis-tance

d Promotional activitye Provide financial resources

3 Develop Greekdestinationssustainably andensure prosper-ity of host popu-lation

31 Environmental protection a Carrying capacity identificationb Zoning system applicationc Architecture preservationd Installation of sewage treat-

ment systemse Reduction of noise pollutionf Natural supplies management

32 Infrastructure ameliora-tion

a Accessibility improvementsb Telecommunication improve-

mentsc Public facilities advancements

33 Transportation improve-ments

a Improvement of local timeta-bles

b Punctuality and reliabilityc Improvements of vehiclesd Flexibility to meet demand

needs

34 Economic integration a Integration with raw materialproduction

b Utilisation of local labour forcec Integration of tourism servicesd Diagonal integration of destina-

tionrsquos economy

35 Equitable return on re-sources utilised

a Establish mechanism forreinvestments

b Provide services for hostcommunity

c Invest in sustainability ofresources

d Ensure equity in distributionof wealth produced

Source Adapted from Buhalis 1991 83a

Table 9 (cont) Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Human resources management is crucial in the delivery process of tourismproducts The concept of lsquointernal marketingrsquo where employees are perceivedand treated as lsquointernal customersrsquo has to be utilised in order to ensure theirsatisfaction As Berry (1981 34) states lsquothe satisfaction of the needs and wants ofthe internal customers can upgrade their capacity for satisfying the needs andwants of their external customersrsquo and as a consequence it can contribute to thecompetitiveness and profitability of Greek tourism and SMTEs Satisfactorysalary and working conditions are prerequisites for the well-being of SMTEsrsquoemployees Long-term relationships between employees and SMTEs minimiseturnover enabling a better performance while they reduce recruitment andtraining costs Empowerment would enable employees to be involved in themanagement of SMTEs and authorise them to respond more efficiently toconsumer requests while contributing to their job satisfaction Finally thesupport of the GNTO is vital for the long-term survival of SMTEs Apart fromthe improvement in infrastructure the GNTO is expected to hold the strategicresponsibility of the destination as well as to regulate the competition in orderto enable smaller enterprises to survive Incentive policies need to reflect thespecific requirements of each resort and enable development or improvementof certain types of enterprises The GNTO is also instrumental in attractingassistance from European development funds while it should also coordinatethe majority of Greek tourism promotional activity A promotional mix whichmaximises the effectiveness of the communication message needs to be drawnwhile budgets need to be available at the time consumers go through their deci-sion-making process in order to influence their choice of destination Finally theneed for the public sector to provide affordable financial resources for SMTEs ishighlighted by the EU (EC 1993b 73)

The third strategic direction for Greek tourism and SMTEs should be thesustainable development of destinations and local areas not only for the hostpopulation but also because this is vital for both consumer satisfaction and theprofitability of SMTEs Although in most cases SMTEs are unable to incorporatethese types of strategic objectives and tasks on their own they can initiate aframework of necessary actions for sustainable destination developmentthrough their associations Environmental protection is naturally the mostimportant strategic objective as consumersrsquo environmental consciousness hasbeen raised recently Carrying capacity limits should be identified and strictregulations and guidelines for tourism development need to be drawn A zoningsystem should be implemented in order to locate tourism activities according tothe geographical morphology of the destination In addition natural resourcesmanagement is necessary as tourism demand may exhaust the resources andespecially the water supplies The installation of sewage treatment systems andthe reduction of noise pollution should be considered especially for resortswhich suffer the consequences of these problems In addition infrastructureamelioration must be one of the primary objectives as it is an essential prerequi-site for both consumersrsquo satisfaction and SMTEsrsquo development The improve-ment of accessibility public services as well as telecommunications facilities is acrucial factor Transportation is also significant in increasing both consumersatisfaction and profitability of SMTEs as it determines whether consumers canaccess the destination easily while it also provides the first impression to tour-

472 Current Issues in Tourism

ists Improvements of timetables and services reliability increasing transporta-tion capacity and an enhancement of the fleet in terms of speed cleanliness andleisure facilities are all required Furthermore greater flexibility is needed bytransportation operators in order to meet demand needs Economic integrationcan improve the economic and social benefits of tourism in the region and theefficiency of SMTEs Ultimately tourism should be utilised as the catalyst andmajor stimulant for regional development Tourism enterprises should makeevery effort to use local raw materials and labour in order to maximise the multi-plier effects within Greece Diagonal integration of destinationsrsquo economy can beachieved by rearranging the goods and service production in order to supportthe tourism industry demand and thus minimise imports Finally SMTEs andtourism organisations need to offer a fair return-on-resources utilised back to thehost community A mechanism should be established in order to reinvest part ofthe revenues in the sustainability of resources provide services for the hostcommunity such as education training health services and generally ensureequity in distribution of wealth produced from local resources As the privatesector cannot be expected to behave altruistically towards the host communitythe GNTO and other public-sector departments should probably utilise regula-tion and taxation for this purpose

Conclusion Greek Tourism Needs a Long Overdue Master Planand Comprehensive Policy

The emerging international tourism competition the hitherto mass tourismorientation of the industry the transformation of demand the development ofthe volume of tourists visiting the dependence upon intermediaries for thedistribution of the tourism product in the major target markets the lack of a widerange of managerial skills by Greek tourism entrepreneurs and the lack of acomprehensive tourism policy or Master Plan by the public sector has led thecompetitiveness of Greece tourism to decline This has several unfavourableimplications for the profitability of the private sector as well as numerous nega-tive economic sociocultural and environmental impacts for the host populationAs a result the return on resources utilised for the production of Greek tourismservices is inadequate and the sustainability of Greece as a major tourism desti-nation is rapidly becoming doubtful Based on a strategic analysis the paper illu-minates the strategic weaknesses and structural problems of both the private andpublic sectors and demonstrates that a rationalisation of the tourism industry isurgently required Consequently a grand strategy as well as a wide range of stra-tegic directions objectives and tasks are proposed for both Greece as an entityand its SMTEs Although no quantitative targets are set in this paper it isexpected that each destination will analyse its resources and adapt its strategicplanning accordingly

The GNTO is urged to rationalise its strategy and to draw up a Master Plan anda comprehensive strategy for the entire country and for each resort where a strategywould be adopted based on quantifiable objectives and tasks Extensive researchneeds to be undertaken by using credible measurement methodologies such asInput-Output models and multipliers analysis not only for the economic but alsofor the social cultural and environmental impacts (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Buhalis

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 473

amp Fletcher 1995) A holistic tourism management system is demanded to facilitatethe development and implementation of the tourism strategy through funds allo-cation and monitoring land use control and examination of tourism public- andprivate-sector practices A thorough examination of tourism impacts in eachregion would be a prerequisite for tourism planning as it will establish andprovide scientific backing to strategic targets Komilis (1994 71) explains thatalthough the various levels of planning (sectoral nationalEU spatial or regional)are not mutually exclusive but rather complementary the regional level planningis more suitable for drawing sustainable strategies especially for areas withdissimilar needs like the Greek destinations The regional planning should lsquocon-tribute to the maximisation of regional development benefits in a way that utilisesand mobilises the regional resource base realises regional inter-sectoral linkagesand is compatible with regional economic interests societal values and environ-mental assetsrsquo It should also take into consideration the uniqueness of insulareconomies as well as the cultural and environmental resources of each particularregion and the complexity of rural and urban functions The planning processshould encourage the complementarity and coexistence of economic activitiesrather than promote sectoral separation and single-sector developments In addi-tion it needs to improve the balance between regional self-sufficiency anddependence upon external inputs and finally it should promote integration withinthe European Union

The public sector has to play its long overdue role as regulator coordinatorinfrastructure provider and promoter of the destination while a multi-integrationof the tourism industry with all the involved bodies in the preparation distribu-tion and delivery of the tourism experience needs to be ensured (Wanhill 1993Hall 1994 Skoulas 1994 10 Stavrou 1988 46) The private sector also has an impor-tant role to play as it should improve the Greek tourism industry competitivenessby improving its managerial and labour force competencies enhancing the qualityof services designing appropriate marketing mixes to attract and satisfy targetmarkets and cooperating closely in order to achieve synergies and economies ofscale (Briassoulis 1993 300 Cooper amp Buhalis 1992) To reverse the vicious circleof decreasing quality is of critical importance for the Greek tourism industryBetter quality services would stimulate the competitiveness of the Greek tourismproduct strengthen its position in the international market provide principalswith distribution channel power enhance its customersrsquo willingness to pay andenable the industry to increase its prices improving the profitability at the microlevel and the economic impacts of tourism at the macrolevel Ultimately a diagonalintegration strategy for both Greek tourism and SMTEs should aim to delightconsumers enhance the long-term prosperity of SMTEs and improve the welfareof the host populations The Olympic Games in 2004 offer a unique opportunity toregenerate and rebrand Greek tourism a cause which the entire industry shouldchampion

The AuthorDimitrios Buhalis is Senior Lecturer and course leader MSc in tourism at theUniversity of Surrey He holds a BBA from the University of the Aegean as wellas an MSc and a PhD in tourism management from the University of Surrey Hisresearch interests focus on information systems and technology strategic

474 Current Issues in Tourism

management distribution channels of tourism destination management andplanning and destination integrated computer information reservation manage-ment systems

AcknowledgementsThe author would like to acknowledge Prof C Cooper and Prof J Fletcher for

their invaluable contribution to this research Financial support from the SurreyResearch Group ConTours Consultants as well as field research sponsorshipsby the University of Surrey the Greek National Tourism Organisation and theUniversity of the Aegean are gratefully appreciated

Note1 An earlier version of this paper was published as a monograph PlanningDevelop-

ment by the International Centre for Research and Studies in TourismAix-en-Provence France

CorrespondenceAny correspondence should be directed to Dr Dimitrios Buhalis Senior

Lecturer in Business Information Management SMSSS University of SurreyGuildford GU2 7XH UK (dbuhalissurreyacuk)

ReferencesApostolopoulos T (1990) New strategy of tourism development (in Greek) Tourism and

Economy (November) 228ndash38Berry C (1981) The employee as customer Journal of Retail Banking 3 33ndash40Boniface B and Cooper C (1994) The Geography of Travel and Tourism (2nd edn) London

HeinemannBriassoulis H (1993) Tourism in Greece In W Pompl and P Lavery (eds) Tourism in

Europe Structures and Developments (pp285ndash301) Oxford CAB InternationalBuckley P and Papadopoulos S (1986) Marketing Greek tourism The planning process

Tourism Management 7 86ndash100Buhalis D (1991) Strategic marketing and management for the small and medium

tourism enterprises in the periphery of the European Community A case study for theAegean islands in Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Buhalis D (1994) Information and telecommunications technologies as a strategic tool forsmall and medium tourism enterprises in the contemporary business environment InA Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 254ndash75)England J Wiley and Sons

Buhalis D (1995) The impact of information telecommunications technologies on tourismdistribution channels Implications for the small and medium sized tourismenterprisesrsquo strategic management and marketing PhD Dissertation University ofSurrey Guildford

Buhalis D (2000a) Marketing the competitive destination of the future TourismManagement (Special Issue ndash The Competitive Destination) 21 (1) 97ndash116

Buhalis D (2000b) (forthcoming) Athens Tourism-Travel Intelligence LondonBuhalis D (2000c) Relationships in the distribution channel of tourism Conflicts between

hoteliers and tour operators in the Mediterranean region Journal of InternationalHospitality Leisure and Tourism Adminstration 1 (1) 113ndash39

Buhalis D and Diamantis D (2001 forthcoming) Tourism development andsustainability on the Greek archipelagos In G Apostolopoulos and D Ioannides (eds)Tourism in the Mediterranean Routledge

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 475

Buhalis D and Fletcher J (1995) Environmental impacts on tourism destinations Aneconomic analysis In H Coccosis and P Nijkamp (eds) Sustainable Tourism Development(pp 3ndash25) London Avebury

Camison C Bigne E and Monfort VM (1994) The Spanish tourism industry Analysisof its strategies and the efficacy and achievements gained from them In A Seaton et al(eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 442ndash52) England JWiley and Sons

Castelberg-Koulma M (1991) Greek women and tourism Womenrsquos co-operatives as analternative form of organisation In N Redclift and T Sinclair (eds) Working WomenInternational Perspectives on Labour and Gender Ideology (pp 197ndash223) LondonRoutledge

Chitiris L (1991) Hotel Management (in Greek) Athens InterbooksCoccosis H and Parprairis A (1992) Assessing the interactions between environment

and tourism Case study of the island of Mykonos Paper presented in the IV WorldCongress of Regional Science International University of Balearic Islands Palma deMallorca 26ndash9 May

Conway H (1996) Greece Travel Weekly 1308 39ndash43Cooper C and Buhalis D (1992) Strategic management and marketing of small and

medium sized tourism enterprises in the Greek Aegean islands In R Teare D Adamsand S Messenger (eds) Managing Projects in Hospitality Organisations (pp 101ndash25)London Cassell

Daskalantonakis N (1994) Quality ndash The future of tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (3 July)D9

Divanis A (1994b) Tourism policy Left on its own luck (in Greek) XENIA (October)4ndash5

Donatos G and Zairis P (1991) Seasonality of foreign tourism in the Greek islands ofCrete Annals of Tourism Research 18 515ndash19

Douvitsas P (1994) Marketing Greece through British tour operators A futureperspective MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Drakatos C (1987) Seasonal concentration of tourism in Greece Annals of Tourism Research14 582ndash6

EC (1993a) Microeconomic Analysis of the Tourism Sector A study by the pH Group forEuropean Commission DGXXIII (September) Report XXIII30394-EN BrusselsEuropean Commission

EC (1993b) Growth competitiveness employment The challenges and ways forward intothe 21st century Bulletin of the European Communities Supplement 693 (White Paper)Luxembourg

Economist (1993) Last Chance Sisyphus A survey of Greece Economist (22 May) 2ndash22EIU (1986) Greece (pp 45ndash60) International tourist reports National Report No 3EIU (1990) Greece (pp 45ndash62) International tourist reports National Report No 4EIU (1993) Greece ndash Country Profile 1992ndash1993 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEIU (1994) Greece ndash Country Profile 1994ndash1995 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEpilogi (1994) Economic review ndash The Greek Economy 1994 (in Greek) AthensEuromonitor (1992) Tourism in Greece Market Research Europe (25 May) 51ndash63Fayos-Sola E (1992) A Strategic Outlook for Regional Tourism Policy The White Paper

on Valencian Tourism Tourism Management 13 45ndash9Fotis J (1992) Vacational lifestyle segmentation of tourists on the island of Rhodes

Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey GuildfordGilbert D (1984) The need for countries to differentiate their tourist product and how to

do so Seminar papers for Ministers of Tourism and Directors of National TouristOrganisations Tourism Managing for Results University of Surrey Guildford

Gilbert D (1990) Strategic marketing planning for national tourism Tourist Review 45 (1)18ndash27

GNTO (1985a) Survey of attributes of foreign tourists 1984ndash1985 (in Greek) Greek NationalStatistical Services Athens GNTO

476 Current Issues in Tourism

GNTO (1985b) EOT-Tourism rsquo85 Development ndash Participation ndash Quality of Life (in Greek)Greek National Statistical Services Athens GNTO

GNTO (1989a) Annual report 1988 ndash Forecast 89 Towards Quality Athens GNTOGNTO (1989b) The study of tourism promotion With special reference to the measures to

increase Japanese tourists to Greece Draft final report Japan InternationalCooperation Agency

GNTO (1993) Tourism towards the 2000 (in Greek) Greek National Tourism OrganisationAthens GNTO

Hall M (1994) Tourism and Politics Policy Power and Place J Wiley and SonsHorwath (annual) The Greek Hotel Industry (in Greek) Annual reports Pireus HorwathJenner P and Smith C (1993) Tourism in the Mediterranean Research report London

Economist Intelligence UnitJosephides N (1993) Environmental Concern ndash Whatrsquos In It for the Tourism Industry (pp 51ndash6)

Proceedings of the conference Tourism and the environment Challenges and choicesfor the 1990rsquos 16ndash17 November 1992 Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre LondonBrussels European Union

Josephides N (1994) Tourism analysis Presentation in Philoxenia international tourismexhibition Thessaloniki Greece

Josephides N (1995) A sorry state for beautiful Greece Travel Weekly 1261 (5 April)11Kalogeropoulou H (1993) Greece ndash Prospects for the tourism industry within the context

of the European Single Market of 1993 Tourism Review 48 (1) 2ndash4Kassimati K Thanopoulou M and Tsartas P (1994) Womenrsquos Employment in the

Tourist Sector Study of the Greek Labour Market and Identification of Future ProspectsDGV Equal Opportunities Unit Document V40994-EN European CommissionBrussels

Komilis P (1987) Spatial analysis of tourism in Greece (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planningand Economic Research

Komilis P (1992) The spatial structure of tourism and physical planning practices inGreece Paper presented in conference Tourism and environment Issues ofpolicyplanningmanagement 23ndash4 October University of the Aegean Dept ofEnvironment Lesvos

Komilis P (1993) Values in the Tourism Planning and Policy Making Process (pp 224ndash9)Proceedings of the conference Values and the environment 23ndash4 September GuildfordUniversity of Surrey

Komilis P (1994) Tourism and sustainable regional development In A Seaton et al (eds)Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 65ndash73) England JWiley andSons

Konsolas N and Zacharatos G (1993) Regionalization of tourism activity in GreeceProblems and policies In H Briassoulis and J Van der Straaten (eds) Tourism andEnvironment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 57ndash65) Dordrecht Kluer AcademicPublisher

Kousis M (1989) Tourism and the family in a rural Cretan community Annals of TourismResearch 16 318ndash32

Kriebardis S and Marmagiolis I (1990) Tourism Activity in Greece Problems and Perspectives(pp 45ndash54) (in Greek) Economic Report of Commercial Bank AprilndashJune AthensCommercial Bank

Ktenas S (1994) Hoteliers ask for 15 to 20 increases for 1995 (in Greek) TO BHMA (3July) D9

Ktenas S (1996) Crisis in Greek tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (7 April) D16Leontidou L (1991) Greece Prospects and contradictions of tourism in the 1980rsquos In AM

Williams and GJ Shaw (eds) Tourism and Economic Development Western EuropeanExperiences (2nd edn) (pp 94ndash106) London Belhaven Press

Logothetis M (1990) The Economy of Dodekanisos During 1988ndash1989 Developments andPerspectives (in Greek) Rhodes Regional association of municipalities of Dodekanisos

Logothetis M (1992) Touristiki Sigkiria (in Greek) Rhodes Institute of Tourist and HotelResearch

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 477

Loukissas P (1977) The impact of tourism on regional development A comparativeanalysis of the Greek islands PhD Dissertation Cornell University USA

Loukissas P (1982) Tourismrsquos regional development impacts A comparative analysis ofthe Greek islands Annals of Tourism Research 9 523ndash43

Marinos P (1983) Small island tourism-the case of Zakynthos in Greece TourismManagement 4 212ndash15

Moore R (1992) From shepherds to shopkeepers The development of tourism in a centralGreek town PhD Dissertation University of California at Berkeley USA

Moore R (1995) Gender and alcohol use in a Greek tourist town Annals of Tourism Research22 300ndash13

Mourdoukoutas P (1988) Seasonal employment seasonal unemployment andunemployment compensation The case of the tourism industry of the Greek islandsAmerican Journal of Economics and Sociology 47 315ndash29

NSSG (l983) Tourism Statistics 1981 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (l985) Tourism Statistics 1982ndash1983 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1987) Tourism Statistics 1984ndash1985 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1990) Tourism Statistics 1986ndash1987 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1993) Tourism Statistics 1988ndash1990 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceOECD (1992) Greece Tourism Policy and International Tourism in OECD Member Countries (pp

70ndash8) Paris OECDOttaway M (1992) Turtle power Sunday Times Travel and Style (28 June)Ottaway M (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 1 Sunday Times (17 January)

57ndash59Panagiotopoulou R (1990) The problem and perspectives of the European insular regions

(in Greek) Working paper University of the Aegean ChiosPapadimitris G (1988) Short run and long run prospects of the Greek tourism industry

PhD Dissertation University of Manchester ManchesterPapadopoulos S (1985) An economic analysis of foreign tourism in Greece An

examination of the growth and structure of foreign tourism to Greece 1960ndash1984 with aplanning model and marketing policy recommendations PhD Thesis University ofBradford Management Centre Bradford

Papadopoulos S (1987) Strategic marketing techniques in international tourismInternational Marketing Review (summer) 71ndash84

Papadopoulos S (1988a) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (1) 29ndash30

Papadopoulos S (1988b) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (2) 24ndash7

Papadopoulos S (1989) Greek marketing strategies in the Europe tourism market ServiceIndustries Journal 9 297ndash314

Papadopoulos S and Mirza H (1985) Foreign tourism in Greece An economic analysisTourism Management 6 125ndash37

Papandropoulos A (1995) The crisis in tourism is evident (in Greek) OikonomikosTachydromos (29 June) 26ndash8

Papanikos G (1999) The year 2004 olympic games and their influence upon the Greektourism (in Greek) ITEP (Research Institute for Tourism) Athens

Paulopoulos P (1999) The Size and Dynamics of the Tourism Sector (in Greek) ResearchInstitute for Tourism Athens

Peterson C (1990) Greece tackles overbuilding in tourism areas EnvironmentalConservation 17 166ndash8

Plevris V (1995) Alarm bells from the Hellenic Federation of Hotels (in Greek) XENIA128 (May) 6ndash7

Poon A (1987) Information technology and innovation in international tourism ndashimplications for the Caribbean tourism industry PhD thesis Science Policy ResearchUnit University of Sussex Brighton

Poon A (1988) Flexible specialisation and small size ndash the case of Caribbean tourism DRCDiscussion Paper 57 SPRU Brighton University of Sussex

478 Current Issues in Tourism

Poon A (1989) Competitive strategies for new tourism In C Cooper (ed) Progress inTourism Recreation and Hospitality Management (vol 1) (pp 91ndash102) London BelhavenPress

Poon A (1990) Flexible specialisation at small size The case of Caribbean tourism WorldDevelopment 18 109ndash23

Poon A (1993) Tourism Technology and Competitive Strategies Oxford CAB InternationalPorter M (1980) Competitive Strategy Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors

New York Free PressPorter M (1985) Competitive Advantage Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance New

York Free PressPorter M (1990) The Competitive Advantage of Nations New York Free PressPrurier E Sweeney A and Geen A (1993) Tourism and the environment The case of

Zakynthos Tourism Management 14 137ndash9Psoinos P (1994a) Research on the foreign touristsrsquo attributes in Greece (in Greek) Athens

Greek National Tourism OrganisationPsoinos P (1994b) Research on the attributes of foreigners who have never visited Greece (in

Greek) Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationRichter-Papaconstantinou C (1992) Tourism development of Rhodes Cahiers du Tourisme

(Serie B) 67 Aix en Provence Centre des Hautes Eacutetudes TouristiquesRomanos A (1998) Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites (in Greek) Athens

Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites SASETE (1993) Tourism Developments and problems (in Greek) Athens Association of Greek

Tourism EnterprisesSezer H and Harrison A (1994) Tourism in Greece and Turkey An economic view for

planners In A Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposiumpp74ndash84 England Wiley and Sons

Skoulas N (1985) Holidays and travel in the year 2035 ndash Contribution of the NationalTourist Organisation of Greece SDI Schriftey Wirtschafts und Unternehmenspolitik 40181ndash99

Skoulas N (1994) Quality improvement of tourism services (in Greek) Paper presentedin the conference Competitiveness of tourism enterprises ndash the role of quality 1 AprilHoliday Inn Athens Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises

Smith C and Jenner P (1995) Greece International Tourism Reports 3 5ndash21Stavrou S (1978) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Kos Island (in Greek) Research and

Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationStavrou S (1979) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Mykonos and Naxos Islands (in

Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1980) Research on Tourism Awareness on the Islands Kalymnos and Leros (in Greek)Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1984) Tourism Development in Greece during 1969ndash1982 (in Greek) Research andDevelopment Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986a) Research for the Characteristics of Foreign Tourist Demand in Greece in theYears 8485 (in Greek) Research Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1986b) Research on the Tourism Awareness on Paros Santorini Kythira Islands (inGreek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986c) Critical Review of Tourism Activity in the Years 8385 (in Greek) Researchand Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1988) Tourism in the Northern Aegean Islands Presentation of GNTO for the TourismDevelopment of the Periphery (in Greek) Proceedings of the first conference for thedevelopment of the Northern Aegean islands Homereum cultural centre Chios 11November Chios Periphery of Northern Aegean islands

Stavrou S (1989a) GNTO Presentation for the Tourism Development Possibilities for theSouthern Aegean Islands (in Greek) Conference for the development of Southern Aegean

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 479

islands Syros 30 September ndash 2 OctoberStavrou S (1989b) The Contribution of the Development Law 126282 in the Development of the

Country (in Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A5 Athens GreekNational Tourism Organisation

Stereopoulos N (1995) It is regarded ideal it became problematic (in Greek) OikonomikosTachidromos (21 December) 151ndash3

Touloupas P (1996) Greece as a tourist destination for the British tour operators Ananalysis from a marketing perspective in the particular context of the United KingdomMSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Tourismos ke Oikonomia (1993) 20 years 1973ndash1993 (in Greek) Special Issue AthensTourismos ke Oikonomia (1994) ICAP tourism enterprises Drastic reduction of loses in 1993

(in Greek) December 14ndash15Touristiki Agora (various issues) (Monthly tourism industry periodical in Greek) Business

Press AthensTruett D and Truett L (1987) The response of tourism to international economic

conditions Greece Mexico and Spain Journal of Developing Areas 21 177ndash90Tsartas P (1989) Socioeconomic Impacts of Tourism Development in Cyclades Region with Special

Reference on Ios and Serifos Islands During 1950ndash1980 (in Greek) Athens National Centrefor Social Research

Tsartas P (1992) Socioeconomic impacts of tourism on two Greek isles Annals of TourismResearch 19 516ndash33

Van Den Bergh J (1993) Tourism development and natural environment Aneconomicndashecological model for the Sporades islands In H Briassoulis and J Van DerStraaten (eds) Tourism and Environment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 67ndash83)Dordrecht Kluer Academic Publishers

Velissariou E (1991) Die Wirtschaftlichen Effekte des Tourismus Dargestell am Beispiel Kretas(The Economic Impacts of Tourism on Crete) PhD Dissertation University of MunichFrankfurt Peter Lang

Vernikos N (1987) The study of Mediterranean small islands Emerging theoreticalissues Ekistics 54 (323ndash4) 101ndash9

Wanhill S (1993) Government organisations In C Cooper J Fletcher D Gilbert and SWanhill (eds) Tourism Principle and Practice (pp 145ndash60) London Pitman

Wickens D (1994) Consumption of the authentic The hedonistic tourist in Greece In ASeaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 819ndash25)England JWiley and Sons

Wickens E (2000) Rethinking touristsrsquo experiences In M Robinson et al (eds) MotivationsBehaviour and Tourist Types (pp 455ndash72) Business Education Publishers Sunderland

Wickers D (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 2 Sunday Times 57ndash510Wilkinson PF (1989) Strategies for tourism in islands microstates Annals of Tourism

Research 16 153ndash77XENIA (various issues) (Monthly bulletin of the Greek Hotel Chamber in Greek) AthensZacharatos G (1984) Tourismus und Wirtschafts-Struktur Dargestellt am Beispiel

Griechenlands Europaische Hochschulschriften Reihex Band 7 Frankfurt am MainZacharatos G (1986) Tourism consumption (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planning and

Economic ResearchZacharatos G (1988) The simplistic empiricism Tourism policy and the time of crisis

(1992) (in Greek) Sychrona Themata 11 (May) 21ndash6Zacharatos G (1989) The problems and perspectives of tourism in Greece (in Greek) In H

Katsoulis T Giannitsis and P Kazakos (eds) Politics and Society Economy and ForeignRelationships (pp 273ndash89) Athens Papazisis

Zacharatos G (1993) The necessity of multimedia use in the tourism education in Greece(in Greek) Paper presented at the international conference Overcomingisolation-telematics and regional development University of the Aegean Chios 30April ndash 2 May

480 Current Issues in Tourism

Page 28: Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challengescore.ac.uk/download/pdf/101686.pdf · Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challenges Dimitrios Buhalis School of Management

The main sources of flexibility for service firms lie in the organisationmanagement marketing distribution and other forms of interaction andinterrelationships among guests hotels suppliers distributors What isimportant however is not each of these stand alone aspects but how theyare coupled to create competitive advantages and hence capabilities tomove with the market (Poon 1988 24)

Examination of these three main strategies illustrates that they share a similarbase Porterrsquos lsquodifferentiationrsquo Gilbertrsquos lsquostatus arearsquo and Poonrsquos lsquoflexiblespecialisationrsquo describe the attempt undertaken by firms and tourist destinationsto achieve value competitive advantages In contrast the lsquocost leadershiprsquo lsquocom-modity arearsquo and the lsquostandardisation or Fordism production modelrsquo describethe effort to achieve lsquocost competitive advantagersquo where destinations andSMTEs offer their products for less than their competitors In the first caseconsumers perceive the product as unique and are willing to pay a premiumwhile in the second case the decision is merely based on price Thus the classicalstrategic decision of lsquolow volume-high profit marginrsquo or lsquohigh volume-low profitmarginrsquo is the underlying concept of the two alternative strategies

Both Gilbert and Poon agree that destinations should aim to achieve lsquostatusarearsquo or niche orientation through differentiation in order to increase consumersatisfaction as well as to maximise the benefits for both regions and SMTEs As aresult Greek tourism and SMTEs need to focus towards the differentiation strat-egy define their niche markets and serve them accordingly This strategy isalready adopted in several resort areas such as Valencia in Spain where it isrecognised that the need for diversification and differentiation lsquohas now becomeessential owing to the level of competitiveness that has been attained (and can beforeseen) in the world tourist marketrsquo (Fayos-Sola 1992 49) Differentiation isalso particularly useful for insular destinations in microstates where a limitednumber of economic and financial resources are available (Wilkinson 1989 170)As most destinations consist of SMTEs networks there is an overlap betweentheir strategic orientations and therefore the above analysis is applicable to boththe Greek tourism industry and SMTEs

Destinations implementing a lsquostatus arearsquo strategy can enhance the satisfac-tion of tourists as well as their competitiveness The formulation of unique and

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 467

CommodityArea

Statusarea

Willingness topay higher prices

StatusArea

Product attributes Product attributes

CommodityArea

Figure 2 Gilbertrsquos differentiation strategySource Adapted from Gilbert 1990 25

customised products by using flexibility and cooperation also increases touristsrsquowillingness to pay and wins their loyalty while it responds to the new tourismdemand trends However the proposed strategy should not be seen as an excusefor SMTEs and destinations not to attempt to improve their efficiency and mini-mise their production costs Although the unique service for touristsrsquo needs shouldbe their priority offering perceived value for money would determine theircompetitiveness in the marketplace As a result all Greek resorts and SMTEsshould assess their assets and strengths for serving specific target markets takingadvantage of their small size which facilitates flexibility and specialisation

It is quite apparent that the cost advantage strategy has to be avoided inmanagement of tourism destinations as regions need to preserve their scarceenvironmental and sociocultural resources and achieve sustainable develop-ment As cost advantage is based on mass production and consumption itassumes an unlimited production capacity which is inapplicable in the tourismindustry The inseparability of the tourism product determines that consumersshould be present at the time of product delivery and when combined with tour-ism seasonality it generates demand peaks which drain destinationsrsquo scarceenvironmental sociocultural resources The lsquohigh volume-low profit marginrsquostrategy has therefore harmful social and environmental impacts on destina-tions Destinations have maximum carrying capacities beyond which both thewelfare of local populations and the satisfaction of tourists are jeopardisedAlthough economic benefits can also be achieved by using the lsquocommodity arearsquoor the lsquostandard product modelrsquo it is argued that these approaches reduce tour-istsrsquo satisfaction and their willingness to pay and are opposed to the demandtrend towards individualisation

Unfortunately however some destinations can no longer be positioned asirreplaceable unique products due to their overdevelopment Tourism supplyhas exceeded the carrying capacity of these resorts and their product hasreached the saturation or decline phase of their life-cycle Several Spanish costasand some Greek resorts such as Benitses Kavos Faliraki Malia Hersonissos andNidri (Josephides 1994) have been overdeveloped to such an extent that only alsquohigh-volume low-profit marginrsquo strategy is feasible When resorts reach theirsaturation level only a lsquocost leadershiprsquo or lsquomass productionrsquo strategy can beproposed as they are unable to provide any specific lsquotourist product benefitrsquo Theattraction of the lower end of the market is inevitable and as a consequence thereare no alternative strategies The minimisation of further sociocultural and envi-ronmental damage as well as attempts to improve the surrounding environmentshould also be a primary objective of both tourism destinations and SMTEs in thiscase The ultimate aim should be to regenerate the resources of the area and torelaunch the tourism destination to attract specific markets which will be willing topay a higher price for the destination

Strategic directions objectives and tasks for Greek tourism and SMTEsTable 8 presents three pivotal strategic directions which are identified in order

to stimulate the competitiveness of both Greek tourism and SMTEs This sectionillustrates how the aforementioned grand strategy can be implemented for tour-ist destinations and SMTEs through a number of strategic directions objectivesand tasks as presented in Table 9

468 Current Issues in Tourism

Enhancing the satisfaction of tourists and delighting the customer are pivotalto ensuring the well-being of Greek destinations and SMTEs in the long term andthus the entire range of tourism service providers should aim to delight theirclients As a result of the tourism product integration consumer satisfactioncannot be achieved by independent businesses separately but by the entirenetwork of SMTEs in Greek destinations The improvement in services isperhaps the most important strategic objective Consistency of promises throughstandardisation of service delivery and implementation of a total qualitymanagement philosophy throughout the industry are essential strategic tasks forachieving this objective while flexibility in service delivery and improvementsin training are critical In line with the grand strategy the production oftailor-made tourism products should be ensured in order to satisfy the specificneeds of particular niches and the requirements of the emerging new tourismdemand Product augmentation would enable also the Greek tourism product toexceed the expectations of consumers and hence enhance their satisfaction Lifestyle segmentation would enable Greek tourism and SMTEs to design appropri-ate tourism products As tourist demand elasticity has increasingly becomedoubtful in recent years the price of the holiday is no longer considered to be themost important attribute in the decision-making process Consequently theGreek tourism industry should concentrate on providing value for money at allprice levels as well as offering at least whatever they have promised to theconsumer

Supporting the long-term competitiveness and profitability of Greek tour-ism and SMTEs is by far the most important strategic objective for the tourismindustry The first strategic objective for every SMTE has to be the increase inrevenue by maximising its occupancy or load factors and the rates it achievesThe lengthening of the operating season as well as the identification of newmarkets and the penetration into existing ones and the effective utilisation ofdistribution channels will contribute to this strategic direction Higher ratescan be achieved by targeting specialised and smaller tour operators attractingalternative types of tourists and expanding the distribution channels mix aswell as by attempting a certain degree of lsquodisintermediationrsquo by encouragingdirect sales to outgoing travel agencies or consumers Aggressive marketingand establishment of partnerships with other enterprises should be essentialfunctions of Greek tourism and SMTEs Motivation of lsquofront-of-housersquo employ-ees as salesmen and sale incentives would also increase average spending percustomer The use of CRSs and destination management systems may also bean appropriate method for achieving higher prices and better occupancy rates(Buhalis 1994) Finally yield management techniques should be utilised by alltypes of SMTEs to assist them in pricing and maximising revenue Cost control

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 469

Table 8 Pivotal strategic dimensions for Greek tourism

(1) Enhance the satisfaction of tourists and delight the customer(2) Strengthen the long-term profitability and competitiveness of Greek tourism and

SMTEs(3) Develop Greek destinations sustainably and ensure prosperity of host population

470 Current Issues in Tourism

Table 9 Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Strategic directions Strategic objectives Strategic tasks

1 Enhance the sat-isfaction of tour-ists and delightthe customer

11 Improvement of services a Standardisation of service de-livery

b Development of quality controlsystems

c Consistency of promisesd Improvements in operational

managemente Flexibility in services deliveryf Training and education im-

provementsg Smile and personal relation-

shipsh Augmentation of tourism

producti Total quality management

12 Specialisation of tourismproduct

a Niche marketingb Lifestyle targeting

13 Value for money a Quality at each price level

2 Strengthen thelong-term com-petitiveness andprofitability ofGreek tourismand SMTEs

21 Increase revenue a Increase tourist volumesb Target new markets and pene-

tration in existing marketsc Use yield managementd Expand distribution channel

mixe Aggressive marketingf Achieve high average spending

per customerg Select high-quality specialised

tour operatorsh Attract alternative types of

tourismi Use alternative distribution

channelsj Motivate front-of-house em-

ployees as salesmen

22 Cost control and rationalmanagement

a Standardise service deliveryb Increase productivityc Reduce labour costsd Rationalise supplies manage-

mente Educationtraining for manag-

ers and employeesf Use of new technologyg Integrate service delivery

within SMTEs

23 Human resources man-agement

a Internal marketingb Empowermentc Satisfactory salary and working

conditionsd Long-term relations with em-

ployeese Motivation and rewards

and rational management is the second strategic objective needed to increaseefficiency and profitability of both Greek destinations and SMTEs in the longterm Standardisation of the service delivery process and minimisation of thelabour cost through better operational management would be primary recom-mendations Managers and employees should improve their productivity andmarketing skills by intensive training In addition the rationalisation of supplymanagement and the use of new technology is expected to reduce operationalcosts Finally integration of service delivery enables SMTEs to provide comple-mentary services and achieve additional revenues without immense costs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 471

24 State and public tourismorganisation support

a Destination development andcontrol

b Incentives policies for improve-ment

c Attract European Union assis-tance

d Promotional activitye Provide financial resources

3 Develop Greekdestinationssustainably andensure prosper-ity of host popu-lation

31 Environmental protection a Carrying capacity identificationb Zoning system applicationc Architecture preservationd Installation of sewage treat-

ment systemse Reduction of noise pollutionf Natural supplies management

32 Infrastructure ameliora-tion

a Accessibility improvementsb Telecommunication improve-

mentsc Public facilities advancements

33 Transportation improve-ments

a Improvement of local timeta-bles

b Punctuality and reliabilityc Improvements of vehiclesd Flexibility to meet demand

needs

34 Economic integration a Integration with raw materialproduction

b Utilisation of local labour forcec Integration of tourism servicesd Diagonal integration of destina-

tionrsquos economy

35 Equitable return on re-sources utilised

a Establish mechanism forreinvestments

b Provide services for hostcommunity

c Invest in sustainability ofresources

d Ensure equity in distributionof wealth produced

Source Adapted from Buhalis 1991 83a

Table 9 (cont) Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Human resources management is crucial in the delivery process of tourismproducts The concept of lsquointernal marketingrsquo where employees are perceivedand treated as lsquointernal customersrsquo has to be utilised in order to ensure theirsatisfaction As Berry (1981 34) states lsquothe satisfaction of the needs and wants ofthe internal customers can upgrade their capacity for satisfying the needs andwants of their external customersrsquo and as a consequence it can contribute to thecompetitiveness and profitability of Greek tourism and SMTEs Satisfactorysalary and working conditions are prerequisites for the well-being of SMTEsrsquoemployees Long-term relationships between employees and SMTEs minimiseturnover enabling a better performance while they reduce recruitment andtraining costs Empowerment would enable employees to be involved in themanagement of SMTEs and authorise them to respond more efficiently toconsumer requests while contributing to their job satisfaction Finally thesupport of the GNTO is vital for the long-term survival of SMTEs Apart fromthe improvement in infrastructure the GNTO is expected to hold the strategicresponsibility of the destination as well as to regulate the competition in orderto enable smaller enterprises to survive Incentive policies need to reflect thespecific requirements of each resort and enable development or improvementof certain types of enterprises The GNTO is also instrumental in attractingassistance from European development funds while it should also coordinatethe majority of Greek tourism promotional activity A promotional mix whichmaximises the effectiveness of the communication message needs to be drawnwhile budgets need to be available at the time consumers go through their deci-sion-making process in order to influence their choice of destination Finally theneed for the public sector to provide affordable financial resources for SMTEs ishighlighted by the EU (EC 1993b 73)

The third strategic direction for Greek tourism and SMTEs should be thesustainable development of destinations and local areas not only for the hostpopulation but also because this is vital for both consumer satisfaction and theprofitability of SMTEs Although in most cases SMTEs are unable to incorporatethese types of strategic objectives and tasks on their own they can initiate aframework of necessary actions for sustainable destination developmentthrough their associations Environmental protection is naturally the mostimportant strategic objective as consumersrsquo environmental consciousness hasbeen raised recently Carrying capacity limits should be identified and strictregulations and guidelines for tourism development need to be drawn A zoningsystem should be implemented in order to locate tourism activities according tothe geographical morphology of the destination In addition natural resourcesmanagement is necessary as tourism demand may exhaust the resources andespecially the water supplies The installation of sewage treatment systems andthe reduction of noise pollution should be considered especially for resortswhich suffer the consequences of these problems In addition infrastructureamelioration must be one of the primary objectives as it is an essential prerequi-site for both consumersrsquo satisfaction and SMTEsrsquo development The improve-ment of accessibility public services as well as telecommunications facilities is acrucial factor Transportation is also significant in increasing both consumersatisfaction and profitability of SMTEs as it determines whether consumers canaccess the destination easily while it also provides the first impression to tour-

472 Current Issues in Tourism

ists Improvements of timetables and services reliability increasing transporta-tion capacity and an enhancement of the fleet in terms of speed cleanliness andleisure facilities are all required Furthermore greater flexibility is needed bytransportation operators in order to meet demand needs Economic integrationcan improve the economic and social benefits of tourism in the region and theefficiency of SMTEs Ultimately tourism should be utilised as the catalyst andmajor stimulant for regional development Tourism enterprises should makeevery effort to use local raw materials and labour in order to maximise the multi-plier effects within Greece Diagonal integration of destinationsrsquo economy can beachieved by rearranging the goods and service production in order to supportthe tourism industry demand and thus minimise imports Finally SMTEs andtourism organisations need to offer a fair return-on-resources utilised back to thehost community A mechanism should be established in order to reinvest part ofthe revenues in the sustainability of resources provide services for the hostcommunity such as education training health services and generally ensureequity in distribution of wealth produced from local resources As the privatesector cannot be expected to behave altruistically towards the host communitythe GNTO and other public-sector departments should probably utilise regula-tion and taxation for this purpose

Conclusion Greek Tourism Needs a Long Overdue Master Planand Comprehensive Policy

The emerging international tourism competition the hitherto mass tourismorientation of the industry the transformation of demand the development ofthe volume of tourists visiting the dependence upon intermediaries for thedistribution of the tourism product in the major target markets the lack of a widerange of managerial skills by Greek tourism entrepreneurs and the lack of acomprehensive tourism policy or Master Plan by the public sector has led thecompetitiveness of Greece tourism to decline This has several unfavourableimplications for the profitability of the private sector as well as numerous nega-tive economic sociocultural and environmental impacts for the host populationAs a result the return on resources utilised for the production of Greek tourismservices is inadequate and the sustainability of Greece as a major tourism desti-nation is rapidly becoming doubtful Based on a strategic analysis the paper illu-minates the strategic weaknesses and structural problems of both the private andpublic sectors and demonstrates that a rationalisation of the tourism industry isurgently required Consequently a grand strategy as well as a wide range of stra-tegic directions objectives and tasks are proposed for both Greece as an entityand its SMTEs Although no quantitative targets are set in this paper it isexpected that each destination will analyse its resources and adapt its strategicplanning accordingly

The GNTO is urged to rationalise its strategy and to draw up a Master Plan anda comprehensive strategy for the entire country and for each resort where a strategywould be adopted based on quantifiable objectives and tasks Extensive researchneeds to be undertaken by using credible measurement methodologies such asInput-Output models and multipliers analysis not only for the economic but alsofor the social cultural and environmental impacts (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Buhalis

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 473

amp Fletcher 1995) A holistic tourism management system is demanded to facilitatethe development and implementation of the tourism strategy through funds allo-cation and monitoring land use control and examination of tourism public- andprivate-sector practices A thorough examination of tourism impacts in eachregion would be a prerequisite for tourism planning as it will establish andprovide scientific backing to strategic targets Komilis (1994 71) explains thatalthough the various levels of planning (sectoral nationalEU spatial or regional)are not mutually exclusive but rather complementary the regional level planningis more suitable for drawing sustainable strategies especially for areas withdissimilar needs like the Greek destinations The regional planning should lsquocon-tribute to the maximisation of regional development benefits in a way that utilisesand mobilises the regional resource base realises regional inter-sectoral linkagesand is compatible with regional economic interests societal values and environ-mental assetsrsquo It should also take into consideration the uniqueness of insulareconomies as well as the cultural and environmental resources of each particularregion and the complexity of rural and urban functions The planning processshould encourage the complementarity and coexistence of economic activitiesrather than promote sectoral separation and single-sector developments In addi-tion it needs to improve the balance between regional self-sufficiency anddependence upon external inputs and finally it should promote integration withinthe European Union

The public sector has to play its long overdue role as regulator coordinatorinfrastructure provider and promoter of the destination while a multi-integrationof the tourism industry with all the involved bodies in the preparation distribu-tion and delivery of the tourism experience needs to be ensured (Wanhill 1993Hall 1994 Skoulas 1994 10 Stavrou 1988 46) The private sector also has an impor-tant role to play as it should improve the Greek tourism industry competitivenessby improving its managerial and labour force competencies enhancing the qualityof services designing appropriate marketing mixes to attract and satisfy targetmarkets and cooperating closely in order to achieve synergies and economies ofscale (Briassoulis 1993 300 Cooper amp Buhalis 1992) To reverse the vicious circleof decreasing quality is of critical importance for the Greek tourism industryBetter quality services would stimulate the competitiveness of the Greek tourismproduct strengthen its position in the international market provide principalswith distribution channel power enhance its customersrsquo willingness to pay andenable the industry to increase its prices improving the profitability at the microlevel and the economic impacts of tourism at the macrolevel Ultimately a diagonalintegration strategy for both Greek tourism and SMTEs should aim to delightconsumers enhance the long-term prosperity of SMTEs and improve the welfareof the host populations The Olympic Games in 2004 offer a unique opportunity toregenerate and rebrand Greek tourism a cause which the entire industry shouldchampion

The AuthorDimitrios Buhalis is Senior Lecturer and course leader MSc in tourism at theUniversity of Surrey He holds a BBA from the University of the Aegean as wellas an MSc and a PhD in tourism management from the University of Surrey Hisresearch interests focus on information systems and technology strategic

474 Current Issues in Tourism

management distribution channels of tourism destination management andplanning and destination integrated computer information reservation manage-ment systems

AcknowledgementsThe author would like to acknowledge Prof C Cooper and Prof J Fletcher for

their invaluable contribution to this research Financial support from the SurreyResearch Group ConTours Consultants as well as field research sponsorshipsby the University of Surrey the Greek National Tourism Organisation and theUniversity of the Aegean are gratefully appreciated

Note1 An earlier version of this paper was published as a monograph PlanningDevelop-

ment by the International Centre for Research and Studies in TourismAix-en-Provence France

CorrespondenceAny correspondence should be directed to Dr Dimitrios Buhalis Senior

Lecturer in Business Information Management SMSSS University of SurreyGuildford GU2 7XH UK (dbuhalissurreyacuk)

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Economy (November) 228ndash38Berry C (1981) The employee as customer Journal of Retail Banking 3 33ndash40Boniface B and Cooper C (1994) The Geography of Travel and Tourism (2nd edn) London

HeinemannBriassoulis H (1993) Tourism in Greece In W Pompl and P Lavery (eds) Tourism in

Europe Structures and Developments (pp285ndash301) Oxford CAB InternationalBuckley P and Papadopoulos S (1986) Marketing Greek tourism The planning process

Tourism Management 7 86ndash100Buhalis D (1991) Strategic marketing and management for the small and medium

tourism enterprises in the periphery of the European Community A case study for theAegean islands in Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Buhalis D (1994) Information and telecommunications technologies as a strategic tool forsmall and medium tourism enterprises in the contemporary business environment InA Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 254ndash75)England J Wiley and Sons

Buhalis D (1995) The impact of information telecommunications technologies on tourismdistribution channels Implications for the small and medium sized tourismenterprisesrsquo strategic management and marketing PhD Dissertation University ofSurrey Guildford

Buhalis D (2000a) Marketing the competitive destination of the future TourismManagement (Special Issue ndash The Competitive Destination) 21 (1) 97ndash116

Buhalis D (2000b) (forthcoming) Athens Tourism-Travel Intelligence LondonBuhalis D (2000c) Relationships in the distribution channel of tourism Conflicts between

hoteliers and tour operators in the Mediterranean region Journal of InternationalHospitality Leisure and Tourism Adminstration 1 (1) 113ndash39

Buhalis D and Diamantis D (2001 forthcoming) Tourism development andsustainability on the Greek archipelagos In G Apostolopoulos and D Ioannides (eds)Tourism in the Mediterranean Routledge

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 475

Buhalis D and Fletcher J (1995) Environmental impacts on tourism destinations Aneconomic analysis In H Coccosis and P Nijkamp (eds) Sustainable Tourism Development(pp 3ndash25) London Avebury

Camison C Bigne E and Monfort VM (1994) The Spanish tourism industry Analysisof its strategies and the efficacy and achievements gained from them In A Seaton et al(eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 442ndash52) England JWiley and Sons

Castelberg-Koulma M (1991) Greek women and tourism Womenrsquos co-operatives as analternative form of organisation In N Redclift and T Sinclair (eds) Working WomenInternational Perspectives on Labour and Gender Ideology (pp 197ndash223) LondonRoutledge

Chitiris L (1991) Hotel Management (in Greek) Athens InterbooksCoccosis H and Parprairis A (1992) Assessing the interactions between environment

and tourism Case study of the island of Mykonos Paper presented in the IV WorldCongress of Regional Science International University of Balearic Islands Palma deMallorca 26ndash9 May

Conway H (1996) Greece Travel Weekly 1308 39ndash43Cooper C and Buhalis D (1992) Strategic management and marketing of small and

medium sized tourism enterprises in the Greek Aegean islands In R Teare D Adamsand S Messenger (eds) Managing Projects in Hospitality Organisations (pp 101ndash25)London Cassell

Daskalantonakis N (1994) Quality ndash The future of tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (3 July)D9

Divanis A (1994b) Tourism policy Left on its own luck (in Greek) XENIA (October)4ndash5

Donatos G and Zairis P (1991) Seasonality of foreign tourism in the Greek islands ofCrete Annals of Tourism Research 18 515ndash19

Douvitsas P (1994) Marketing Greece through British tour operators A futureperspective MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Drakatos C (1987) Seasonal concentration of tourism in Greece Annals of Tourism Research14 582ndash6

EC (1993a) Microeconomic Analysis of the Tourism Sector A study by the pH Group forEuropean Commission DGXXIII (September) Report XXIII30394-EN BrusselsEuropean Commission

EC (1993b) Growth competitiveness employment The challenges and ways forward intothe 21st century Bulletin of the European Communities Supplement 693 (White Paper)Luxembourg

Economist (1993) Last Chance Sisyphus A survey of Greece Economist (22 May) 2ndash22EIU (1986) Greece (pp 45ndash60) International tourist reports National Report No 3EIU (1990) Greece (pp 45ndash62) International tourist reports National Report No 4EIU (1993) Greece ndash Country Profile 1992ndash1993 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEIU (1994) Greece ndash Country Profile 1994ndash1995 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEpilogi (1994) Economic review ndash The Greek Economy 1994 (in Greek) AthensEuromonitor (1992) Tourism in Greece Market Research Europe (25 May) 51ndash63Fayos-Sola E (1992) A Strategic Outlook for Regional Tourism Policy The White Paper

on Valencian Tourism Tourism Management 13 45ndash9Fotis J (1992) Vacational lifestyle segmentation of tourists on the island of Rhodes

Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey GuildfordGilbert D (1984) The need for countries to differentiate their tourist product and how to

do so Seminar papers for Ministers of Tourism and Directors of National TouristOrganisations Tourism Managing for Results University of Surrey Guildford

Gilbert D (1990) Strategic marketing planning for national tourism Tourist Review 45 (1)18ndash27

GNTO (1985a) Survey of attributes of foreign tourists 1984ndash1985 (in Greek) Greek NationalStatistical Services Athens GNTO

476 Current Issues in Tourism

GNTO (1985b) EOT-Tourism rsquo85 Development ndash Participation ndash Quality of Life (in Greek)Greek National Statistical Services Athens GNTO

GNTO (1989a) Annual report 1988 ndash Forecast 89 Towards Quality Athens GNTOGNTO (1989b) The study of tourism promotion With special reference to the measures to

increase Japanese tourists to Greece Draft final report Japan InternationalCooperation Agency

GNTO (1993) Tourism towards the 2000 (in Greek) Greek National Tourism OrganisationAthens GNTO

Hall M (1994) Tourism and Politics Policy Power and Place J Wiley and SonsHorwath (annual) The Greek Hotel Industry (in Greek) Annual reports Pireus HorwathJenner P and Smith C (1993) Tourism in the Mediterranean Research report London

Economist Intelligence UnitJosephides N (1993) Environmental Concern ndash Whatrsquos In It for the Tourism Industry (pp 51ndash6)

Proceedings of the conference Tourism and the environment Challenges and choicesfor the 1990rsquos 16ndash17 November 1992 Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre LondonBrussels European Union

Josephides N (1994) Tourism analysis Presentation in Philoxenia international tourismexhibition Thessaloniki Greece

Josephides N (1995) A sorry state for beautiful Greece Travel Weekly 1261 (5 April)11Kalogeropoulou H (1993) Greece ndash Prospects for the tourism industry within the context

of the European Single Market of 1993 Tourism Review 48 (1) 2ndash4Kassimati K Thanopoulou M and Tsartas P (1994) Womenrsquos Employment in the

Tourist Sector Study of the Greek Labour Market and Identification of Future ProspectsDGV Equal Opportunities Unit Document V40994-EN European CommissionBrussels

Komilis P (1987) Spatial analysis of tourism in Greece (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planningand Economic Research

Komilis P (1992) The spatial structure of tourism and physical planning practices inGreece Paper presented in conference Tourism and environment Issues ofpolicyplanningmanagement 23ndash4 October University of the Aegean Dept ofEnvironment Lesvos

Komilis P (1993) Values in the Tourism Planning and Policy Making Process (pp 224ndash9)Proceedings of the conference Values and the environment 23ndash4 September GuildfordUniversity of Surrey

Komilis P (1994) Tourism and sustainable regional development In A Seaton et al (eds)Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 65ndash73) England JWiley andSons

Konsolas N and Zacharatos G (1993) Regionalization of tourism activity in GreeceProblems and policies In H Briassoulis and J Van der Straaten (eds) Tourism andEnvironment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 57ndash65) Dordrecht Kluer AcademicPublisher

Kousis M (1989) Tourism and the family in a rural Cretan community Annals of TourismResearch 16 318ndash32

Kriebardis S and Marmagiolis I (1990) Tourism Activity in Greece Problems and Perspectives(pp 45ndash54) (in Greek) Economic Report of Commercial Bank AprilndashJune AthensCommercial Bank

Ktenas S (1994) Hoteliers ask for 15 to 20 increases for 1995 (in Greek) TO BHMA (3July) D9

Ktenas S (1996) Crisis in Greek tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (7 April) D16Leontidou L (1991) Greece Prospects and contradictions of tourism in the 1980rsquos In AM

Williams and GJ Shaw (eds) Tourism and Economic Development Western EuropeanExperiences (2nd edn) (pp 94ndash106) London Belhaven Press

Logothetis M (1990) The Economy of Dodekanisos During 1988ndash1989 Developments andPerspectives (in Greek) Rhodes Regional association of municipalities of Dodekanisos

Logothetis M (1992) Touristiki Sigkiria (in Greek) Rhodes Institute of Tourist and HotelResearch

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 477

Loukissas P (1977) The impact of tourism on regional development A comparativeanalysis of the Greek islands PhD Dissertation Cornell University USA

Loukissas P (1982) Tourismrsquos regional development impacts A comparative analysis ofthe Greek islands Annals of Tourism Research 9 523ndash43

Marinos P (1983) Small island tourism-the case of Zakynthos in Greece TourismManagement 4 212ndash15

Moore R (1992) From shepherds to shopkeepers The development of tourism in a centralGreek town PhD Dissertation University of California at Berkeley USA

Moore R (1995) Gender and alcohol use in a Greek tourist town Annals of Tourism Research22 300ndash13

Mourdoukoutas P (1988) Seasonal employment seasonal unemployment andunemployment compensation The case of the tourism industry of the Greek islandsAmerican Journal of Economics and Sociology 47 315ndash29

NSSG (l983) Tourism Statistics 1981 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (l985) Tourism Statistics 1982ndash1983 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1987) Tourism Statistics 1984ndash1985 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1990) Tourism Statistics 1986ndash1987 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1993) Tourism Statistics 1988ndash1990 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceOECD (1992) Greece Tourism Policy and International Tourism in OECD Member Countries (pp

70ndash8) Paris OECDOttaway M (1992) Turtle power Sunday Times Travel and Style (28 June)Ottaway M (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 1 Sunday Times (17 January)

57ndash59Panagiotopoulou R (1990) The problem and perspectives of the European insular regions

(in Greek) Working paper University of the Aegean ChiosPapadimitris G (1988) Short run and long run prospects of the Greek tourism industry

PhD Dissertation University of Manchester ManchesterPapadopoulos S (1985) An economic analysis of foreign tourism in Greece An

examination of the growth and structure of foreign tourism to Greece 1960ndash1984 with aplanning model and marketing policy recommendations PhD Thesis University ofBradford Management Centre Bradford

Papadopoulos S (1987) Strategic marketing techniques in international tourismInternational Marketing Review (summer) 71ndash84

Papadopoulos S (1988a) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (1) 29ndash30

Papadopoulos S (1988b) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (2) 24ndash7

Papadopoulos S (1989) Greek marketing strategies in the Europe tourism market ServiceIndustries Journal 9 297ndash314

Papadopoulos S and Mirza H (1985) Foreign tourism in Greece An economic analysisTourism Management 6 125ndash37

Papandropoulos A (1995) The crisis in tourism is evident (in Greek) OikonomikosTachydromos (29 June) 26ndash8

Papanikos G (1999) The year 2004 olympic games and their influence upon the Greektourism (in Greek) ITEP (Research Institute for Tourism) Athens

Paulopoulos P (1999) The Size and Dynamics of the Tourism Sector (in Greek) ResearchInstitute for Tourism Athens

Peterson C (1990) Greece tackles overbuilding in tourism areas EnvironmentalConservation 17 166ndash8

Plevris V (1995) Alarm bells from the Hellenic Federation of Hotels (in Greek) XENIA128 (May) 6ndash7

Poon A (1987) Information technology and innovation in international tourism ndashimplications for the Caribbean tourism industry PhD thesis Science Policy ResearchUnit University of Sussex Brighton

Poon A (1988) Flexible specialisation and small size ndash the case of Caribbean tourism DRCDiscussion Paper 57 SPRU Brighton University of Sussex

478 Current Issues in Tourism

Poon A (1989) Competitive strategies for new tourism In C Cooper (ed) Progress inTourism Recreation and Hospitality Management (vol 1) (pp 91ndash102) London BelhavenPress

Poon A (1990) Flexible specialisation at small size The case of Caribbean tourism WorldDevelopment 18 109ndash23

Poon A (1993) Tourism Technology and Competitive Strategies Oxford CAB InternationalPorter M (1980) Competitive Strategy Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors

New York Free PressPorter M (1985) Competitive Advantage Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance New

York Free PressPorter M (1990) The Competitive Advantage of Nations New York Free PressPrurier E Sweeney A and Geen A (1993) Tourism and the environment The case of

Zakynthos Tourism Management 14 137ndash9Psoinos P (1994a) Research on the foreign touristsrsquo attributes in Greece (in Greek) Athens

Greek National Tourism OrganisationPsoinos P (1994b) Research on the attributes of foreigners who have never visited Greece (in

Greek) Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationRichter-Papaconstantinou C (1992) Tourism development of Rhodes Cahiers du Tourisme

(Serie B) 67 Aix en Provence Centre des Hautes Eacutetudes TouristiquesRomanos A (1998) Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites (in Greek) Athens

Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites SASETE (1993) Tourism Developments and problems (in Greek) Athens Association of Greek

Tourism EnterprisesSezer H and Harrison A (1994) Tourism in Greece and Turkey An economic view for

planners In A Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposiumpp74ndash84 England Wiley and Sons

Skoulas N (1985) Holidays and travel in the year 2035 ndash Contribution of the NationalTourist Organisation of Greece SDI Schriftey Wirtschafts und Unternehmenspolitik 40181ndash99

Skoulas N (1994) Quality improvement of tourism services (in Greek) Paper presentedin the conference Competitiveness of tourism enterprises ndash the role of quality 1 AprilHoliday Inn Athens Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises

Smith C and Jenner P (1995) Greece International Tourism Reports 3 5ndash21Stavrou S (1978) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Kos Island (in Greek) Research and

Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationStavrou S (1979) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Mykonos and Naxos Islands (in

Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1980) Research on Tourism Awareness on the Islands Kalymnos and Leros (in Greek)Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1984) Tourism Development in Greece during 1969ndash1982 (in Greek) Research andDevelopment Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986a) Research for the Characteristics of Foreign Tourist Demand in Greece in theYears 8485 (in Greek) Research Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1986b) Research on the Tourism Awareness on Paros Santorini Kythira Islands (inGreek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986c) Critical Review of Tourism Activity in the Years 8385 (in Greek) Researchand Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1988) Tourism in the Northern Aegean Islands Presentation of GNTO for the TourismDevelopment of the Periphery (in Greek) Proceedings of the first conference for thedevelopment of the Northern Aegean islands Homereum cultural centre Chios 11November Chios Periphery of Northern Aegean islands

Stavrou S (1989a) GNTO Presentation for the Tourism Development Possibilities for theSouthern Aegean Islands (in Greek) Conference for the development of Southern Aegean

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 479

islands Syros 30 September ndash 2 OctoberStavrou S (1989b) The Contribution of the Development Law 126282 in the Development of the

Country (in Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A5 Athens GreekNational Tourism Organisation

Stereopoulos N (1995) It is regarded ideal it became problematic (in Greek) OikonomikosTachidromos (21 December) 151ndash3

Touloupas P (1996) Greece as a tourist destination for the British tour operators Ananalysis from a marketing perspective in the particular context of the United KingdomMSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Tourismos ke Oikonomia (1993) 20 years 1973ndash1993 (in Greek) Special Issue AthensTourismos ke Oikonomia (1994) ICAP tourism enterprises Drastic reduction of loses in 1993

(in Greek) December 14ndash15Touristiki Agora (various issues) (Monthly tourism industry periodical in Greek) Business

Press AthensTruett D and Truett L (1987) The response of tourism to international economic

conditions Greece Mexico and Spain Journal of Developing Areas 21 177ndash90Tsartas P (1989) Socioeconomic Impacts of Tourism Development in Cyclades Region with Special

Reference on Ios and Serifos Islands During 1950ndash1980 (in Greek) Athens National Centrefor Social Research

Tsartas P (1992) Socioeconomic impacts of tourism on two Greek isles Annals of TourismResearch 19 516ndash33

Van Den Bergh J (1993) Tourism development and natural environment Aneconomicndashecological model for the Sporades islands In H Briassoulis and J Van DerStraaten (eds) Tourism and Environment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 67ndash83)Dordrecht Kluer Academic Publishers

Velissariou E (1991) Die Wirtschaftlichen Effekte des Tourismus Dargestell am Beispiel Kretas(The Economic Impacts of Tourism on Crete) PhD Dissertation University of MunichFrankfurt Peter Lang

Vernikos N (1987) The study of Mediterranean small islands Emerging theoreticalissues Ekistics 54 (323ndash4) 101ndash9

Wanhill S (1993) Government organisations In C Cooper J Fletcher D Gilbert and SWanhill (eds) Tourism Principle and Practice (pp 145ndash60) London Pitman

Wickens D (1994) Consumption of the authentic The hedonistic tourist in Greece In ASeaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 819ndash25)England JWiley and Sons

Wickens E (2000) Rethinking touristsrsquo experiences In M Robinson et al (eds) MotivationsBehaviour and Tourist Types (pp 455ndash72) Business Education Publishers Sunderland

Wickers D (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 2 Sunday Times 57ndash510Wilkinson PF (1989) Strategies for tourism in islands microstates Annals of Tourism

Research 16 153ndash77XENIA (various issues) (Monthly bulletin of the Greek Hotel Chamber in Greek) AthensZacharatos G (1984) Tourismus und Wirtschafts-Struktur Dargestellt am Beispiel

Griechenlands Europaische Hochschulschriften Reihex Band 7 Frankfurt am MainZacharatos G (1986) Tourism consumption (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planning and

Economic ResearchZacharatos G (1988) The simplistic empiricism Tourism policy and the time of crisis

(1992) (in Greek) Sychrona Themata 11 (May) 21ndash6Zacharatos G (1989) The problems and perspectives of tourism in Greece (in Greek) In H

Katsoulis T Giannitsis and P Kazakos (eds) Politics and Society Economy and ForeignRelationships (pp 273ndash89) Athens Papazisis

Zacharatos G (1993) The necessity of multimedia use in the tourism education in Greece(in Greek) Paper presented at the international conference Overcomingisolation-telematics and regional development University of the Aegean Chios 30April ndash 2 May

480 Current Issues in Tourism

Page 29: Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challengescore.ac.uk/download/pdf/101686.pdf · Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challenges Dimitrios Buhalis School of Management

customised products by using flexibility and cooperation also increases touristsrsquowillingness to pay and wins their loyalty while it responds to the new tourismdemand trends However the proposed strategy should not be seen as an excusefor SMTEs and destinations not to attempt to improve their efficiency and mini-mise their production costs Although the unique service for touristsrsquo needs shouldbe their priority offering perceived value for money would determine theircompetitiveness in the marketplace As a result all Greek resorts and SMTEsshould assess their assets and strengths for serving specific target markets takingadvantage of their small size which facilitates flexibility and specialisation

It is quite apparent that the cost advantage strategy has to be avoided inmanagement of tourism destinations as regions need to preserve their scarceenvironmental and sociocultural resources and achieve sustainable develop-ment As cost advantage is based on mass production and consumption itassumes an unlimited production capacity which is inapplicable in the tourismindustry The inseparability of the tourism product determines that consumersshould be present at the time of product delivery and when combined with tour-ism seasonality it generates demand peaks which drain destinationsrsquo scarceenvironmental sociocultural resources The lsquohigh volume-low profit marginrsquostrategy has therefore harmful social and environmental impacts on destina-tions Destinations have maximum carrying capacities beyond which both thewelfare of local populations and the satisfaction of tourists are jeopardisedAlthough economic benefits can also be achieved by using the lsquocommodity arearsquoor the lsquostandard product modelrsquo it is argued that these approaches reduce tour-istsrsquo satisfaction and their willingness to pay and are opposed to the demandtrend towards individualisation

Unfortunately however some destinations can no longer be positioned asirreplaceable unique products due to their overdevelopment Tourism supplyhas exceeded the carrying capacity of these resorts and their product hasreached the saturation or decline phase of their life-cycle Several Spanish costasand some Greek resorts such as Benitses Kavos Faliraki Malia Hersonissos andNidri (Josephides 1994) have been overdeveloped to such an extent that only alsquohigh-volume low-profit marginrsquo strategy is feasible When resorts reach theirsaturation level only a lsquocost leadershiprsquo or lsquomass productionrsquo strategy can beproposed as they are unable to provide any specific lsquotourist product benefitrsquo Theattraction of the lower end of the market is inevitable and as a consequence thereare no alternative strategies The minimisation of further sociocultural and envi-ronmental damage as well as attempts to improve the surrounding environmentshould also be a primary objective of both tourism destinations and SMTEs in thiscase The ultimate aim should be to regenerate the resources of the area and torelaunch the tourism destination to attract specific markets which will be willing topay a higher price for the destination

Strategic directions objectives and tasks for Greek tourism and SMTEsTable 8 presents three pivotal strategic directions which are identified in order

to stimulate the competitiveness of both Greek tourism and SMTEs This sectionillustrates how the aforementioned grand strategy can be implemented for tour-ist destinations and SMTEs through a number of strategic directions objectivesand tasks as presented in Table 9

468 Current Issues in Tourism

Enhancing the satisfaction of tourists and delighting the customer are pivotalto ensuring the well-being of Greek destinations and SMTEs in the long term andthus the entire range of tourism service providers should aim to delight theirclients As a result of the tourism product integration consumer satisfactioncannot be achieved by independent businesses separately but by the entirenetwork of SMTEs in Greek destinations The improvement in services isperhaps the most important strategic objective Consistency of promises throughstandardisation of service delivery and implementation of a total qualitymanagement philosophy throughout the industry are essential strategic tasks forachieving this objective while flexibility in service delivery and improvementsin training are critical In line with the grand strategy the production oftailor-made tourism products should be ensured in order to satisfy the specificneeds of particular niches and the requirements of the emerging new tourismdemand Product augmentation would enable also the Greek tourism product toexceed the expectations of consumers and hence enhance their satisfaction Lifestyle segmentation would enable Greek tourism and SMTEs to design appropri-ate tourism products As tourist demand elasticity has increasingly becomedoubtful in recent years the price of the holiday is no longer considered to be themost important attribute in the decision-making process Consequently theGreek tourism industry should concentrate on providing value for money at allprice levels as well as offering at least whatever they have promised to theconsumer

Supporting the long-term competitiveness and profitability of Greek tour-ism and SMTEs is by far the most important strategic objective for the tourismindustry The first strategic objective for every SMTE has to be the increase inrevenue by maximising its occupancy or load factors and the rates it achievesThe lengthening of the operating season as well as the identification of newmarkets and the penetration into existing ones and the effective utilisation ofdistribution channels will contribute to this strategic direction Higher ratescan be achieved by targeting specialised and smaller tour operators attractingalternative types of tourists and expanding the distribution channels mix aswell as by attempting a certain degree of lsquodisintermediationrsquo by encouragingdirect sales to outgoing travel agencies or consumers Aggressive marketingand establishment of partnerships with other enterprises should be essentialfunctions of Greek tourism and SMTEs Motivation of lsquofront-of-housersquo employ-ees as salesmen and sale incentives would also increase average spending percustomer The use of CRSs and destination management systems may also bean appropriate method for achieving higher prices and better occupancy rates(Buhalis 1994) Finally yield management techniques should be utilised by alltypes of SMTEs to assist them in pricing and maximising revenue Cost control

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 469

Table 8 Pivotal strategic dimensions for Greek tourism

(1) Enhance the satisfaction of tourists and delight the customer(2) Strengthen the long-term profitability and competitiveness of Greek tourism and

SMTEs(3) Develop Greek destinations sustainably and ensure prosperity of host population

470 Current Issues in Tourism

Table 9 Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Strategic directions Strategic objectives Strategic tasks

1 Enhance the sat-isfaction of tour-ists and delightthe customer

11 Improvement of services a Standardisation of service de-livery

b Development of quality controlsystems

c Consistency of promisesd Improvements in operational

managemente Flexibility in services deliveryf Training and education im-

provementsg Smile and personal relation-

shipsh Augmentation of tourism

producti Total quality management

12 Specialisation of tourismproduct

a Niche marketingb Lifestyle targeting

13 Value for money a Quality at each price level

2 Strengthen thelong-term com-petitiveness andprofitability ofGreek tourismand SMTEs

21 Increase revenue a Increase tourist volumesb Target new markets and pene-

tration in existing marketsc Use yield managementd Expand distribution channel

mixe Aggressive marketingf Achieve high average spending

per customerg Select high-quality specialised

tour operatorsh Attract alternative types of

tourismi Use alternative distribution

channelsj Motivate front-of-house em-

ployees as salesmen

22 Cost control and rationalmanagement

a Standardise service deliveryb Increase productivityc Reduce labour costsd Rationalise supplies manage-

mente Educationtraining for manag-

ers and employeesf Use of new technologyg Integrate service delivery

within SMTEs

23 Human resources man-agement

a Internal marketingb Empowermentc Satisfactory salary and working

conditionsd Long-term relations with em-

ployeese Motivation and rewards

and rational management is the second strategic objective needed to increaseefficiency and profitability of both Greek destinations and SMTEs in the longterm Standardisation of the service delivery process and minimisation of thelabour cost through better operational management would be primary recom-mendations Managers and employees should improve their productivity andmarketing skills by intensive training In addition the rationalisation of supplymanagement and the use of new technology is expected to reduce operationalcosts Finally integration of service delivery enables SMTEs to provide comple-mentary services and achieve additional revenues without immense costs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 471

24 State and public tourismorganisation support

a Destination development andcontrol

b Incentives policies for improve-ment

c Attract European Union assis-tance

d Promotional activitye Provide financial resources

3 Develop Greekdestinationssustainably andensure prosper-ity of host popu-lation

31 Environmental protection a Carrying capacity identificationb Zoning system applicationc Architecture preservationd Installation of sewage treat-

ment systemse Reduction of noise pollutionf Natural supplies management

32 Infrastructure ameliora-tion

a Accessibility improvementsb Telecommunication improve-

mentsc Public facilities advancements

33 Transportation improve-ments

a Improvement of local timeta-bles

b Punctuality and reliabilityc Improvements of vehiclesd Flexibility to meet demand

needs

34 Economic integration a Integration with raw materialproduction

b Utilisation of local labour forcec Integration of tourism servicesd Diagonal integration of destina-

tionrsquos economy

35 Equitable return on re-sources utilised

a Establish mechanism forreinvestments

b Provide services for hostcommunity

c Invest in sustainability ofresources

d Ensure equity in distributionof wealth produced

Source Adapted from Buhalis 1991 83a

Table 9 (cont) Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Human resources management is crucial in the delivery process of tourismproducts The concept of lsquointernal marketingrsquo where employees are perceivedand treated as lsquointernal customersrsquo has to be utilised in order to ensure theirsatisfaction As Berry (1981 34) states lsquothe satisfaction of the needs and wants ofthe internal customers can upgrade their capacity for satisfying the needs andwants of their external customersrsquo and as a consequence it can contribute to thecompetitiveness and profitability of Greek tourism and SMTEs Satisfactorysalary and working conditions are prerequisites for the well-being of SMTEsrsquoemployees Long-term relationships between employees and SMTEs minimiseturnover enabling a better performance while they reduce recruitment andtraining costs Empowerment would enable employees to be involved in themanagement of SMTEs and authorise them to respond more efficiently toconsumer requests while contributing to their job satisfaction Finally thesupport of the GNTO is vital for the long-term survival of SMTEs Apart fromthe improvement in infrastructure the GNTO is expected to hold the strategicresponsibility of the destination as well as to regulate the competition in orderto enable smaller enterprises to survive Incentive policies need to reflect thespecific requirements of each resort and enable development or improvementof certain types of enterprises The GNTO is also instrumental in attractingassistance from European development funds while it should also coordinatethe majority of Greek tourism promotional activity A promotional mix whichmaximises the effectiveness of the communication message needs to be drawnwhile budgets need to be available at the time consumers go through their deci-sion-making process in order to influence their choice of destination Finally theneed for the public sector to provide affordable financial resources for SMTEs ishighlighted by the EU (EC 1993b 73)

The third strategic direction for Greek tourism and SMTEs should be thesustainable development of destinations and local areas not only for the hostpopulation but also because this is vital for both consumer satisfaction and theprofitability of SMTEs Although in most cases SMTEs are unable to incorporatethese types of strategic objectives and tasks on their own they can initiate aframework of necessary actions for sustainable destination developmentthrough their associations Environmental protection is naturally the mostimportant strategic objective as consumersrsquo environmental consciousness hasbeen raised recently Carrying capacity limits should be identified and strictregulations and guidelines for tourism development need to be drawn A zoningsystem should be implemented in order to locate tourism activities according tothe geographical morphology of the destination In addition natural resourcesmanagement is necessary as tourism demand may exhaust the resources andespecially the water supplies The installation of sewage treatment systems andthe reduction of noise pollution should be considered especially for resortswhich suffer the consequences of these problems In addition infrastructureamelioration must be one of the primary objectives as it is an essential prerequi-site for both consumersrsquo satisfaction and SMTEsrsquo development The improve-ment of accessibility public services as well as telecommunications facilities is acrucial factor Transportation is also significant in increasing both consumersatisfaction and profitability of SMTEs as it determines whether consumers canaccess the destination easily while it also provides the first impression to tour-

472 Current Issues in Tourism

ists Improvements of timetables and services reliability increasing transporta-tion capacity and an enhancement of the fleet in terms of speed cleanliness andleisure facilities are all required Furthermore greater flexibility is needed bytransportation operators in order to meet demand needs Economic integrationcan improve the economic and social benefits of tourism in the region and theefficiency of SMTEs Ultimately tourism should be utilised as the catalyst andmajor stimulant for regional development Tourism enterprises should makeevery effort to use local raw materials and labour in order to maximise the multi-plier effects within Greece Diagonal integration of destinationsrsquo economy can beachieved by rearranging the goods and service production in order to supportthe tourism industry demand and thus minimise imports Finally SMTEs andtourism organisations need to offer a fair return-on-resources utilised back to thehost community A mechanism should be established in order to reinvest part ofthe revenues in the sustainability of resources provide services for the hostcommunity such as education training health services and generally ensureequity in distribution of wealth produced from local resources As the privatesector cannot be expected to behave altruistically towards the host communitythe GNTO and other public-sector departments should probably utilise regula-tion and taxation for this purpose

Conclusion Greek Tourism Needs a Long Overdue Master Planand Comprehensive Policy

The emerging international tourism competition the hitherto mass tourismorientation of the industry the transformation of demand the development ofthe volume of tourists visiting the dependence upon intermediaries for thedistribution of the tourism product in the major target markets the lack of a widerange of managerial skills by Greek tourism entrepreneurs and the lack of acomprehensive tourism policy or Master Plan by the public sector has led thecompetitiveness of Greece tourism to decline This has several unfavourableimplications for the profitability of the private sector as well as numerous nega-tive economic sociocultural and environmental impacts for the host populationAs a result the return on resources utilised for the production of Greek tourismservices is inadequate and the sustainability of Greece as a major tourism desti-nation is rapidly becoming doubtful Based on a strategic analysis the paper illu-minates the strategic weaknesses and structural problems of both the private andpublic sectors and demonstrates that a rationalisation of the tourism industry isurgently required Consequently a grand strategy as well as a wide range of stra-tegic directions objectives and tasks are proposed for both Greece as an entityand its SMTEs Although no quantitative targets are set in this paper it isexpected that each destination will analyse its resources and adapt its strategicplanning accordingly

The GNTO is urged to rationalise its strategy and to draw up a Master Plan anda comprehensive strategy for the entire country and for each resort where a strategywould be adopted based on quantifiable objectives and tasks Extensive researchneeds to be undertaken by using credible measurement methodologies such asInput-Output models and multipliers analysis not only for the economic but alsofor the social cultural and environmental impacts (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Buhalis

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 473

amp Fletcher 1995) A holistic tourism management system is demanded to facilitatethe development and implementation of the tourism strategy through funds allo-cation and monitoring land use control and examination of tourism public- andprivate-sector practices A thorough examination of tourism impacts in eachregion would be a prerequisite for tourism planning as it will establish andprovide scientific backing to strategic targets Komilis (1994 71) explains thatalthough the various levels of planning (sectoral nationalEU spatial or regional)are not mutually exclusive but rather complementary the regional level planningis more suitable for drawing sustainable strategies especially for areas withdissimilar needs like the Greek destinations The regional planning should lsquocon-tribute to the maximisation of regional development benefits in a way that utilisesand mobilises the regional resource base realises regional inter-sectoral linkagesand is compatible with regional economic interests societal values and environ-mental assetsrsquo It should also take into consideration the uniqueness of insulareconomies as well as the cultural and environmental resources of each particularregion and the complexity of rural and urban functions The planning processshould encourage the complementarity and coexistence of economic activitiesrather than promote sectoral separation and single-sector developments In addi-tion it needs to improve the balance between regional self-sufficiency anddependence upon external inputs and finally it should promote integration withinthe European Union

The public sector has to play its long overdue role as regulator coordinatorinfrastructure provider and promoter of the destination while a multi-integrationof the tourism industry with all the involved bodies in the preparation distribu-tion and delivery of the tourism experience needs to be ensured (Wanhill 1993Hall 1994 Skoulas 1994 10 Stavrou 1988 46) The private sector also has an impor-tant role to play as it should improve the Greek tourism industry competitivenessby improving its managerial and labour force competencies enhancing the qualityof services designing appropriate marketing mixes to attract and satisfy targetmarkets and cooperating closely in order to achieve synergies and economies ofscale (Briassoulis 1993 300 Cooper amp Buhalis 1992) To reverse the vicious circleof decreasing quality is of critical importance for the Greek tourism industryBetter quality services would stimulate the competitiveness of the Greek tourismproduct strengthen its position in the international market provide principalswith distribution channel power enhance its customersrsquo willingness to pay andenable the industry to increase its prices improving the profitability at the microlevel and the economic impacts of tourism at the macrolevel Ultimately a diagonalintegration strategy for both Greek tourism and SMTEs should aim to delightconsumers enhance the long-term prosperity of SMTEs and improve the welfareof the host populations The Olympic Games in 2004 offer a unique opportunity toregenerate and rebrand Greek tourism a cause which the entire industry shouldchampion

The AuthorDimitrios Buhalis is Senior Lecturer and course leader MSc in tourism at theUniversity of Surrey He holds a BBA from the University of the Aegean as wellas an MSc and a PhD in tourism management from the University of Surrey Hisresearch interests focus on information systems and technology strategic

474 Current Issues in Tourism

management distribution channels of tourism destination management andplanning and destination integrated computer information reservation manage-ment systems

AcknowledgementsThe author would like to acknowledge Prof C Cooper and Prof J Fletcher for

their invaluable contribution to this research Financial support from the SurreyResearch Group ConTours Consultants as well as field research sponsorshipsby the University of Surrey the Greek National Tourism Organisation and theUniversity of the Aegean are gratefully appreciated

Note1 An earlier version of this paper was published as a monograph PlanningDevelop-

ment by the International Centre for Research and Studies in TourismAix-en-Provence France

CorrespondenceAny correspondence should be directed to Dr Dimitrios Buhalis Senior

Lecturer in Business Information Management SMSSS University of SurreyGuildford GU2 7XH UK (dbuhalissurreyacuk)

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Economy (November) 228ndash38Berry C (1981) The employee as customer Journal of Retail Banking 3 33ndash40Boniface B and Cooper C (1994) The Geography of Travel and Tourism (2nd edn) London

HeinemannBriassoulis H (1993) Tourism in Greece In W Pompl and P Lavery (eds) Tourism in

Europe Structures and Developments (pp285ndash301) Oxford CAB InternationalBuckley P and Papadopoulos S (1986) Marketing Greek tourism The planning process

Tourism Management 7 86ndash100Buhalis D (1991) Strategic marketing and management for the small and medium

tourism enterprises in the periphery of the European Community A case study for theAegean islands in Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Buhalis D (1994) Information and telecommunications technologies as a strategic tool forsmall and medium tourism enterprises in the contemporary business environment InA Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 254ndash75)England J Wiley and Sons

Buhalis D (1995) The impact of information telecommunications technologies on tourismdistribution channels Implications for the small and medium sized tourismenterprisesrsquo strategic management and marketing PhD Dissertation University ofSurrey Guildford

Buhalis D (2000a) Marketing the competitive destination of the future TourismManagement (Special Issue ndash The Competitive Destination) 21 (1) 97ndash116

Buhalis D (2000b) (forthcoming) Athens Tourism-Travel Intelligence LondonBuhalis D (2000c) Relationships in the distribution channel of tourism Conflicts between

hoteliers and tour operators in the Mediterranean region Journal of InternationalHospitality Leisure and Tourism Adminstration 1 (1) 113ndash39

Buhalis D and Diamantis D (2001 forthcoming) Tourism development andsustainability on the Greek archipelagos In G Apostolopoulos and D Ioannides (eds)Tourism in the Mediterranean Routledge

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 475

Buhalis D and Fletcher J (1995) Environmental impacts on tourism destinations Aneconomic analysis In H Coccosis and P Nijkamp (eds) Sustainable Tourism Development(pp 3ndash25) London Avebury

Camison C Bigne E and Monfort VM (1994) The Spanish tourism industry Analysisof its strategies and the efficacy and achievements gained from them In A Seaton et al(eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 442ndash52) England JWiley and Sons

Castelberg-Koulma M (1991) Greek women and tourism Womenrsquos co-operatives as analternative form of organisation In N Redclift and T Sinclair (eds) Working WomenInternational Perspectives on Labour and Gender Ideology (pp 197ndash223) LondonRoutledge

Chitiris L (1991) Hotel Management (in Greek) Athens InterbooksCoccosis H and Parprairis A (1992) Assessing the interactions between environment

and tourism Case study of the island of Mykonos Paper presented in the IV WorldCongress of Regional Science International University of Balearic Islands Palma deMallorca 26ndash9 May

Conway H (1996) Greece Travel Weekly 1308 39ndash43Cooper C and Buhalis D (1992) Strategic management and marketing of small and

medium sized tourism enterprises in the Greek Aegean islands In R Teare D Adamsand S Messenger (eds) Managing Projects in Hospitality Organisations (pp 101ndash25)London Cassell

Daskalantonakis N (1994) Quality ndash The future of tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (3 July)D9

Divanis A (1994b) Tourism policy Left on its own luck (in Greek) XENIA (October)4ndash5

Donatos G and Zairis P (1991) Seasonality of foreign tourism in the Greek islands ofCrete Annals of Tourism Research 18 515ndash19

Douvitsas P (1994) Marketing Greece through British tour operators A futureperspective MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Drakatos C (1987) Seasonal concentration of tourism in Greece Annals of Tourism Research14 582ndash6

EC (1993a) Microeconomic Analysis of the Tourism Sector A study by the pH Group forEuropean Commission DGXXIII (September) Report XXIII30394-EN BrusselsEuropean Commission

EC (1993b) Growth competitiveness employment The challenges and ways forward intothe 21st century Bulletin of the European Communities Supplement 693 (White Paper)Luxembourg

Economist (1993) Last Chance Sisyphus A survey of Greece Economist (22 May) 2ndash22EIU (1986) Greece (pp 45ndash60) International tourist reports National Report No 3EIU (1990) Greece (pp 45ndash62) International tourist reports National Report No 4EIU (1993) Greece ndash Country Profile 1992ndash1993 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEIU (1994) Greece ndash Country Profile 1994ndash1995 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEpilogi (1994) Economic review ndash The Greek Economy 1994 (in Greek) AthensEuromonitor (1992) Tourism in Greece Market Research Europe (25 May) 51ndash63Fayos-Sola E (1992) A Strategic Outlook for Regional Tourism Policy The White Paper

on Valencian Tourism Tourism Management 13 45ndash9Fotis J (1992) Vacational lifestyle segmentation of tourists on the island of Rhodes

Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey GuildfordGilbert D (1984) The need for countries to differentiate their tourist product and how to

do so Seminar papers for Ministers of Tourism and Directors of National TouristOrganisations Tourism Managing for Results University of Surrey Guildford

Gilbert D (1990) Strategic marketing planning for national tourism Tourist Review 45 (1)18ndash27

GNTO (1985a) Survey of attributes of foreign tourists 1984ndash1985 (in Greek) Greek NationalStatistical Services Athens GNTO

476 Current Issues in Tourism

GNTO (1985b) EOT-Tourism rsquo85 Development ndash Participation ndash Quality of Life (in Greek)Greek National Statistical Services Athens GNTO

GNTO (1989a) Annual report 1988 ndash Forecast 89 Towards Quality Athens GNTOGNTO (1989b) The study of tourism promotion With special reference to the measures to

increase Japanese tourists to Greece Draft final report Japan InternationalCooperation Agency

GNTO (1993) Tourism towards the 2000 (in Greek) Greek National Tourism OrganisationAthens GNTO

Hall M (1994) Tourism and Politics Policy Power and Place J Wiley and SonsHorwath (annual) The Greek Hotel Industry (in Greek) Annual reports Pireus HorwathJenner P and Smith C (1993) Tourism in the Mediterranean Research report London

Economist Intelligence UnitJosephides N (1993) Environmental Concern ndash Whatrsquos In It for the Tourism Industry (pp 51ndash6)

Proceedings of the conference Tourism and the environment Challenges and choicesfor the 1990rsquos 16ndash17 November 1992 Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre LondonBrussels European Union

Josephides N (1994) Tourism analysis Presentation in Philoxenia international tourismexhibition Thessaloniki Greece

Josephides N (1995) A sorry state for beautiful Greece Travel Weekly 1261 (5 April)11Kalogeropoulou H (1993) Greece ndash Prospects for the tourism industry within the context

of the European Single Market of 1993 Tourism Review 48 (1) 2ndash4Kassimati K Thanopoulou M and Tsartas P (1994) Womenrsquos Employment in the

Tourist Sector Study of the Greek Labour Market and Identification of Future ProspectsDGV Equal Opportunities Unit Document V40994-EN European CommissionBrussels

Komilis P (1987) Spatial analysis of tourism in Greece (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planningand Economic Research

Komilis P (1992) The spatial structure of tourism and physical planning practices inGreece Paper presented in conference Tourism and environment Issues ofpolicyplanningmanagement 23ndash4 October University of the Aegean Dept ofEnvironment Lesvos

Komilis P (1993) Values in the Tourism Planning and Policy Making Process (pp 224ndash9)Proceedings of the conference Values and the environment 23ndash4 September GuildfordUniversity of Surrey

Komilis P (1994) Tourism and sustainable regional development In A Seaton et al (eds)Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 65ndash73) England JWiley andSons

Konsolas N and Zacharatos G (1993) Regionalization of tourism activity in GreeceProblems and policies In H Briassoulis and J Van der Straaten (eds) Tourism andEnvironment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 57ndash65) Dordrecht Kluer AcademicPublisher

Kousis M (1989) Tourism and the family in a rural Cretan community Annals of TourismResearch 16 318ndash32

Kriebardis S and Marmagiolis I (1990) Tourism Activity in Greece Problems and Perspectives(pp 45ndash54) (in Greek) Economic Report of Commercial Bank AprilndashJune AthensCommercial Bank

Ktenas S (1994) Hoteliers ask for 15 to 20 increases for 1995 (in Greek) TO BHMA (3July) D9

Ktenas S (1996) Crisis in Greek tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (7 April) D16Leontidou L (1991) Greece Prospects and contradictions of tourism in the 1980rsquos In AM

Williams and GJ Shaw (eds) Tourism and Economic Development Western EuropeanExperiences (2nd edn) (pp 94ndash106) London Belhaven Press

Logothetis M (1990) The Economy of Dodekanisos During 1988ndash1989 Developments andPerspectives (in Greek) Rhodes Regional association of municipalities of Dodekanisos

Logothetis M (1992) Touristiki Sigkiria (in Greek) Rhodes Institute of Tourist and HotelResearch

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 477

Loukissas P (1977) The impact of tourism on regional development A comparativeanalysis of the Greek islands PhD Dissertation Cornell University USA

Loukissas P (1982) Tourismrsquos regional development impacts A comparative analysis ofthe Greek islands Annals of Tourism Research 9 523ndash43

Marinos P (1983) Small island tourism-the case of Zakynthos in Greece TourismManagement 4 212ndash15

Moore R (1992) From shepherds to shopkeepers The development of tourism in a centralGreek town PhD Dissertation University of California at Berkeley USA

Moore R (1995) Gender and alcohol use in a Greek tourist town Annals of Tourism Research22 300ndash13

Mourdoukoutas P (1988) Seasonal employment seasonal unemployment andunemployment compensation The case of the tourism industry of the Greek islandsAmerican Journal of Economics and Sociology 47 315ndash29

NSSG (l983) Tourism Statistics 1981 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (l985) Tourism Statistics 1982ndash1983 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1987) Tourism Statistics 1984ndash1985 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1990) Tourism Statistics 1986ndash1987 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1993) Tourism Statistics 1988ndash1990 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceOECD (1992) Greece Tourism Policy and International Tourism in OECD Member Countries (pp

70ndash8) Paris OECDOttaway M (1992) Turtle power Sunday Times Travel and Style (28 June)Ottaway M (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 1 Sunday Times (17 January)

57ndash59Panagiotopoulou R (1990) The problem and perspectives of the European insular regions

(in Greek) Working paper University of the Aegean ChiosPapadimitris G (1988) Short run and long run prospects of the Greek tourism industry

PhD Dissertation University of Manchester ManchesterPapadopoulos S (1985) An economic analysis of foreign tourism in Greece An

examination of the growth and structure of foreign tourism to Greece 1960ndash1984 with aplanning model and marketing policy recommendations PhD Thesis University ofBradford Management Centre Bradford

Papadopoulos S (1987) Strategic marketing techniques in international tourismInternational Marketing Review (summer) 71ndash84

Papadopoulos S (1988a) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (1) 29ndash30

Papadopoulos S (1988b) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (2) 24ndash7

Papadopoulos S (1989) Greek marketing strategies in the Europe tourism market ServiceIndustries Journal 9 297ndash314

Papadopoulos S and Mirza H (1985) Foreign tourism in Greece An economic analysisTourism Management 6 125ndash37

Papandropoulos A (1995) The crisis in tourism is evident (in Greek) OikonomikosTachydromos (29 June) 26ndash8

Papanikos G (1999) The year 2004 olympic games and their influence upon the Greektourism (in Greek) ITEP (Research Institute for Tourism) Athens

Paulopoulos P (1999) The Size and Dynamics of the Tourism Sector (in Greek) ResearchInstitute for Tourism Athens

Peterson C (1990) Greece tackles overbuilding in tourism areas EnvironmentalConservation 17 166ndash8

Plevris V (1995) Alarm bells from the Hellenic Federation of Hotels (in Greek) XENIA128 (May) 6ndash7

Poon A (1987) Information technology and innovation in international tourism ndashimplications for the Caribbean tourism industry PhD thesis Science Policy ResearchUnit University of Sussex Brighton

Poon A (1988) Flexible specialisation and small size ndash the case of Caribbean tourism DRCDiscussion Paper 57 SPRU Brighton University of Sussex

478 Current Issues in Tourism

Poon A (1989) Competitive strategies for new tourism In C Cooper (ed) Progress inTourism Recreation and Hospitality Management (vol 1) (pp 91ndash102) London BelhavenPress

Poon A (1990) Flexible specialisation at small size The case of Caribbean tourism WorldDevelopment 18 109ndash23

Poon A (1993) Tourism Technology and Competitive Strategies Oxford CAB InternationalPorter M (1980) Competitive Strategy Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors

New York Free PressPorter M (1985) Competitive Advantage Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance New

York Free PressPorter M (1990) The Competitive Advantage of Nations New York Free PressPrurier E Sweeney A and Geen A (1993) Tourism and the environment The case of

Zakynthos Tourism Management 14 137ndash9Psoinos P (1994a) Research on the foreign touristsrsquo attributes in Greece (in Greek) Athens

Greek National Tourism OrganisationPsoinos P (1994b) Research on the attributes of foreigners who have never visited Greece (in

Greek) Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationRichter-Papaconstantinou C (1992) Tourism development of Rhodes Cahiers du Tourisme

(Serie B) 67 Aix en Provence Centre des Hautes Eacutetudes TouristiquesRomanos A (1998) Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites (in Greek) Athens

Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites SASETE (1993) Tourism Developments and problems (in Greek) Athens Association of Greek

Tourism EnterprisesSezer H and Harrison A (1994) Tourism in Greece and Turkey An economic view for

planners In A Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposiumpp74ndash84 England Wiley and Sons

Skoulas N (1985) Holidays and travel in the year 2035 ndash Contribution of the NationalTourist Organisation of Greece SDI Schriftey Wirtschafts und Unternehmenspolitik 40181ndash99

Skoulas N (1994) Quality improvement of tourism services (in Greek) Paper presentedin the conference Competitiveness of tourism enterprises ndash the role of quality 1 AprilHoliday Inn Athens Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises

Smith C and Jenner P (1995) Greece International Tourism Reports 3 5ndash21Stavrou S (1978) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Kos Island (in Greek) Research and

Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationStavrou S (1979) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Mykonos and Naxos Islands (in

Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1980) Research on Tourism Awareness on the Islands Kalymnos and Leros (in Greek)Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1984) Tourism Development in Greece during 1969ndash1982 (in Greek) Research andDevelopment Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986a) Research for the Characteristics of Foreign Tourist Demand in Greece in theYears 8485 (in Greek) Research Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1986b) Research on the Tourism Awareness on Paros Santorini Kythira Islands (inGreek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986c) Critical Review of Tourism Activity in the Years 8385 (in Greek) Researchand Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1988) Tourism in the Northern Aegean Islands Presentation of GNTO for the TourismDevelopment of the Periphery (in Greek) Proceedings of the first conference for thedevelopment of the Northern Aegean islands Homereum cultural centre Chios 11November Chios Periphery of Northern Aegean islands

Stavrou S (1989a) GNTO Presentation for the Tourism Development Possibilities for theSouthern Aegean Islands (in Greek) Conference for the development of Southern Aegean

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 479

islands Syros 30 September ndash 2 OctoberStavrou S (1989b) The Contribution of the Development Law 126282 in the Development of the

Country (in Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A5 Athens GreekNational Tourism Organisation

Stereopoulos N (1995) It is regarded ideal it became problematic (in Greek) OikonomikosTachidromos (21 December) 151ndash3

Touloupas P (1996) Greece as a tourist destination for the British tour operators Ananalysis from a marketing perspective in the particular context of the United KingdomMSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Tourismos ke Oikonomia (1993) 20 years 1973ndash1993 (in Greek) Special Issue AthensTourismos ke Oikonomia (1994) ICAP tourism enterprises Drastic reduction of loses in 1993

(in Greek) December 14ndash15Touristiki Agora (various issues) (Monthly tourism industry periodical in Greek) Business

Press AthensTruett D and Truett L (1987) The response of tourism to international economic

conditions Greece Mexico and Spain Journal of Developing Areas 21 177ndash90Tsartas P (1989) Socioeconomic Impacts of Tourism Development in Cyclades Region with Special

Reference on Ios and Serifos Islands During 1950ndash1980 (in Greek) Athens National Centrefor Social Research

Tsartas P (1992) Socioeconomic impacts of tourism on two Greek isles Annals of TourismResearch 19 516ndash33

Van Den Bergh J (1993) Tourism development and natural environment Aneconomicndashecological model for the Sporades islands In H Briassoulis and J Van DerStraaten (eds) Tourism and Environment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 67ndash83)Dordrecht Kluer Academic Publishers

Velissariou E (1991) Die Wirtschaftlichen Effekte des Tourismus Dargestell am Beispiel Kretas(The Economic Impacts of Tourism on Crete) PhD Dissertation University of MunichFrankfurt Peter Lang

Vernikos N (1987) The study of Mediterranean small islands Emerging theoreticalissues Ekistics 54 (323ndash4) 101ndash9

Wanhill S (1993) Government organisations In C Cooper J Fletcher D Gilbert and SWanhill (eds) Tourism Principle and Practice (pp 145ndash60) London Pitman

Wickens D (1994) Consumption of the authentic The hedonistic tourist in Greece In ASeaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 819ndash25)England JWiley and Sons

Wickens E (2000) Rethinking touristsrsquo experiences In M Robinson et al (eds) MotivationsBehaviour and Tourist Types (pp 455ndash72) Business Education Publishers Sunderland

Wickers D (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 2 Sunday Times 57ndash510Wilkinson PF (1989) Strategies for tourism in islands microstates Annals of Tourism

Research 16 153ndash77XENIA (various issues) (Monthly bulletin of the Greek Hotel Chamber in Greek) AthensZacharatos G (1984) Tourismus und Wirtschafts-Struktur Dargestellt am Beispiel

Griechenlands Europaische Hochschulschriften Reihex Band 7 Frankfurt am MainZacharatos G (1986) Tourism consumption (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planning and

Economic ResearchZacharatos G (1988) The simplistic empiricism Tourism policy and the time of crisis

(1992) (in Greek) Sychrona Themata 11 (May) 21ndash6Zacharatos G (1989) The problems and perspectives of tourism in Greece (in Greek) In H

Katsoulis T Giannitsis and P Kazakos (eds) Politics and Society Economy and ForeignRelationships (pp 273ndash89) Athens Papazisis

Zacharatos G (1993) The necessity of multimedia use in the tourism education in Greece(in Greek) Paper presented at the international conference Overcomingisolation-telematics and regional development University of the Aegean Chios 30April ndash 2 May

480 Current Issues in Tourism

Page 30: Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challengescore.ac.uk/download/pdf/101686.pdf · Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challenges Dimitrios Buhalis School of Management

Enhancing the satisfaction of tourists and delighting the customer are pivotalto ensuring the well-being of Greek destinations and SMTEs in the long term andthus the entire range of tourism service providers should aim to delight theirclients As a result of the tourism product integration consumer satisfactioncannot be achieved by independent businesses separately but by the entirenetwork of SMTEs in Greek destinations The improvement in services isperhaps the most important strategic objective Consistency of promises throughstandardisation of service delivery and implementation of a total qualitymanagement philosophy throughout the industry are essential strategic tasks forachieving this objective while flexibility in service delivery and improvementsin training are critical In line with the grand strategy the production oftailor-made tourism products should be ensured in order to satisfy the specificneeds of particular niches and the requirements of the emerging new tourismdemand Product augmentation would enable also the Greek tourism product toexceed the expectations of consumers and hence enhance their satisfaction Lifestyle segmentation would enable Greek tourism and SMTEs to design appropri-ate tourism products As tourist demand elasticity has increasingly becomedoubtful in recent years the price of the holiday is no longer considered to be themost important attribute in the decision-making process Consequently theGreek tourism industry should concentrate on providing value for money at allprice levels as well as offering at least whatever they have promised to theconsumer

Supporting the long-term competitiveness and profitability of Greek tour-ism and SMTEs is by far the most important strategic objective for the tourismindustry The first strategic objective for every SMTE has to be the increase inrevenue by maximising its occupancy or load factors and the rates it achievesThe lengthening of the operating season as well as the identification of newmarkets and the penetration into existing ones and the effective utilisation ofdistribution channels will contribute to this strategic direction Higher ratescan be achieved by targeting specialised and smaller tour operators attractingalternative types of tourists and expanding the distribution channels mix aswell as by attempting a certain degree of lsquodisintermediationrsquo by encouragingdirect sales to outgoing travel agencies or consumers Aggressive marketingand establishment of partnerships with other enterprises should be essentialfunctions of Greek tourism and SMTEs Motivation of lsquofront-of-housersquo employ-ees as salesmen and sale incentives would also increase average spending percustomer The use of CRSs and destination management systems may also bean appropriate method for achieving higher prices and better occupancy rates(Buhalis 1994) Finally yield management techniques should be utilised by alltypes of SMTEs to assist them in pricing and maximising revenue Cost control

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 469

Table 8 Pivotal strategic dimensions for Greek tourism

(1) Enhance the satisfaction of tourists and delight the customer(2) Strengthen the long-term profitability and competitiveness of Greek tourism and

SMTEs(3) Develop Greek destinations sustainably and ensure prosperity of host population

470 Current Issues in Tourism

Table 9 Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Strategic directions Strategic objectives Strategic tasks

1 Enhance the sat-isfaction of tour-ists and delightthe customer

11 Improvement of services a Standardisation of service de-livery

b Development of quality controlsystems

c Consistency of promisesd Improvements in operational

managemente Flexibility in services deliveryf Training and education im-

provementsg Smile and personal relation-

shipsh Augmentation of tourism

producti Total quality management

12 Specialisation of tourismproduct

a Niche marketingb Lifestyle targeting

13 Value for money a Quality at each price level

2 Strengthen thelong-term com-petitiveness andprofitability ofGreek tourismand SMTEs

21 Increase revenue a Increase tourist volumesb Target new markets and pene-

tration in existing marketsc Use yield managementd Expand distribution channel

mixe Aggressive marketingf Achieve high average spending

per customerg Select high-quality specialised

tour operatorsh Attract alternative types of

tourismi Use alternative distribution

channelsj Motivate front-of-house em-

ployees as salesmen

22 Cost control and rationalmanagement

a Standardise service deliveryb Increase productivityc Reduce labour costsd Rationalise supplies manage-

mente Educationtraining for manag-

ers and employeesf Use of new technologyg Integrate service delivery

within SMTEs

23 Human resources man-agement

a Internal marketingb Empowermentc Satisfactory salary and working

conditionsd Long-term relations with em-

ployeese Motivation and rewards

and rational management is the second strategic objective needed to increaseefficiency and profitability of both Greek destinations and SMTEs in the longterm Standardisation of the service delivery process and minimisation of thelabour cost through better operational management would be primary recom-mendations Managers and employees should improve their productivity andmarketing skills by intensive training In addition the rationalisation of supplymanagement and the use of new technology is expected to reduce operationalcosts Finally integration of service delivery enables SMTEs to provide comple-mentary services and achieve additional revenues without immense costs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 471

24 State and public tourismorganisation support

a Destination development andcontrol

b Incentives policies for improve-ment

c Attract European Union assis-tance

d Promotional activitye Provide financial resources

3 Develop Greekdestinationssustainably andensure prosper-ity of host popu-lation

31 Environmental protection a Carrying capacity identificationb Zoning system applicationc Architecture preservationd Installation of sewage treat-

ment systemse Reduction of noise pollutionf Natural supplies management

32 Infrastructure ameliora-tion

a Accessibility improvementsb Telecommunication improve-

mentsc Public facilities advancements

33 Transportation improve-ments

a Improvement of local timeta-bles

b Punctuality and reliabilityc Improvements of vehiclesd Flexibility to meet demand

needs

34 Economic integration a Integration with raw materialproduction

b Utilisation of local labour forcec Integration of tourism servicesd Diagonal integration of destina-

tionrsquos economy

35 Equitable return on re-sources utilised

a Establish mechanism forreinvestments

b Provide services for hostcommunity

c Invest in sustainability ofresources

d Ensure equity in distributionof wealth produced

Source Adapted from Buhalis 1991 83a

Table 9 (cont) Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Human resources management is crucial in the delivery process of tourismproducts The concept of lsquointernal marketingrsquo where employees are perceivedand treated as lsquointernal customersrsquo has to be utilised in order to ensure theirsatisfaction As Berry (1981 34) states lsquothe satisfaction of the needs and wants ofthe internal customers can upgrade their capacity for satisfying the needs andwants of their external customersrsquo and as a consequence it can contribute to thecompetitiveness and profitability of Greek tourism and SMTEs Satisfactorysalary and working conditions are prerequisites for the well-being of SMTEsrsquoemployees Long-term relationships between employees and SMTEs minimiseturnover enabling a better performance while they reduce recruitment andtraining costs Empowerment would enable employees to be involved in themanagement of SMTEs and authorise them to respond more efficiently toconsumer requests while contributing to their job satisfaction Finally thesupport of the GNTO is vital for the long-term survival of SMTEs Apart fromthe improvement in infrastructure the GNTO is expected to hold the strategicresponsibility of the destination as well as to regulate the competition in orderto enable smaller enterprises to survive Incentive policies need to reflect thespecific requirements of each resort and enable development or improvementof certain types of enterprises The GNTO is also instrumental in attractingassistance from European development funds while it should also coordinatethe majority of Greek tourism promotional activity A promotional mix whichmaximises the effectiveness of the communication message needs to be drawnwhile budgets need to be available at the time consumers go through their deci-sion-making process in order to influence their choice of destination Finally theneed for the public sector to provide affordable financial resources for SMTEs ishighlighted by the EU (EC 1993b 73)

The third strategic direction for Greek tourism and SMTEs should be thesustainable development of destinations and local areas not only for the hostpopulation but also because this is vital for both consumer satisfaction and theprofitability of SMTEs Although in most cases SMTEs are unable to incorporatethese types of strategic objectives and tasks on their own they can initiate aframework of necessary actions for sustainable destination developmentthrough their associations Environmental protection is naturally the mostimportant strategic objective as consumersrsquo environmental consciousness hasbeen raised recently Carrying capacity limits should be identified and strictregulations and guidelines for tourism development need to be drawn A zoningsystem should be implemented in order to locate tourism activities according tothe geographical morphology of the destination In addition natural resourcesmanagement is necessary as tourism demand may exhaust the resources andespecially the water supplies The installation of sewage treatment systems andthe reduction of noise pollution should be considered especially for resortswhich suffer the consequences of these problems In addition infrastructureamelioration must be one of the primary objectives as it is an essential prerequi-site for both consumersrsquo satisfaction and SMTEsrsquo development The improve-ment of accessibility public services as well as telecommunications facilities is acrucial factor Transportation is also significant in increasing both consumersatisfaction and profitability of SMTEs as it determines whether consumers canaccess the destination easily while it also provides the first impression to tour-

472 Current Issues in Tourism

ists Improvements of timetables and services reliability increasing transporta-tion capacity and an enhancement of the fleet in terms of speed cleanliness andleisure facilities are all required Furthermore greater flexibility is needed bytransportation operators in order to meet demand needs Economic integrationcan improve the economic and social benefits of tourism in the region and theefficiency of SMTEs Ultimately tourism should be utilised as the catalyst andmajor stimulant for regional development Tourism enterprises should makeevery effort to use local raw materials and labour in order to maximise the multi-plier effects within Greece Diagonal integration of destinationsrsquo economy can beachieved by rearranging the goods and service production in order to supportthe tourism industry demand and thus minimise imports Finally SMTEs andtourism organisations need to offer a fair return-on-resources utilised back to thehost community A mechanism should be established in order to reinvest part ofthe revenues in the sustainability of resources provide services for the hostcommunity such as education training health services and generally ensureequity in distribution of wealth produced from local resources As the privatesector cannot be expected to behave altruistically towards the host communitythe GNTO and other public-sector departments should probably utilise regula-tion and taxation for this purpose

Conclusion Greek Tourism Needs a Long Overdue Master Planand Comprehensive Policy

The emerging international tourism competition the hitherto mass tourismorientation of the industry the transformation of demand the development ofthe volume of tourists visiting the dependence upon intermediaries for thedistribution of the tourism product in the major target markets the lack of a widerange of managerial skills by Greek tourism entrepreneurs and the lack of acomprehensive tourism policy or Master Plan by the public sector has led thecompetitiveness of Greece tourism to decline This has several unfavourableimplications for the profitability of the private sector as well as numerous nega-tive economic sociocultural and environmental impacts for the host populationAs a result the return on resources utilised for the production of Greek tourismservices is inadequate and the sustainability of Greece as a major tourism desti-nation is rapidly becoming doubtful Based on a strategic analysis the paper illu-minates the strategic weaknesses and structural problems of both the private andpublic sectors and demonstrates that a rationalisation of the tourism industry isurgently required Consequently a grand strategy as well as a wide range of stra-tegic directions objectives and tasks are proposed for both Greece as an entityand its SMTEs Although no quantitative targets are set in this paper it isexpected that each destination will analyse its resources and adapt its strategicplanning accordingly

The GNTO is urged to rationalise its strategy and to draw up a Master Plan anda comprehensive strategy for the entire country and for each resort where a strategywould be adopted based on quantifiable objectives and tasks Extensive researchneeds to be undertaken by using credible measurement methodologies such asInput-Output models and multipliers analysis not only for the economic but alsofor the social cultural and environmental impacts (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Buhalis

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 473

amp Fletcher 1995) A holistic tourism management system is demanded to facilitatethe development and implementation of the tourism strategy through funds allo-cation and monitoring land use control and examination of tourism public- andprivate-sector practices A thorough examination of tourism impacts in eachregion would be a prerequisite for tourism planning as it will establish andprovide scientific backing to strategic targets Komilis (1994 71) explains thatalthough the various levels of planning (sectoral nationalEU spatial or regional)are not mutually exclusive but rather complementary the regional level planningis more suitable for drawing sustainable strategies especially for areas withdissimilar needs like the Greek destinations The regional planning should lsquocon-tribute to the maximisation of regional development benefits in a way that utilisesand mobilises the regional resource base realises regional inter-sectoral linkagesand is compatible with regional economic interests societal values and environ-mental assetsrsquo It should also take into consideration the uniqueness of insulareconomies as well as the cultural and environmental resources of each particularregion and the complexity of rural and urban functions The planning processshould encourage the complementarity and coexistence of economic activitiesrather than promote sectoral separation and single-sector developments In addi-tion it needs to improve the balance between regional self-sufficiency anddependence upon external inputs and finally it should promote integration withinthe European Union

The public sector has to play its long overdue role as regulator coordinatorinfrastructure provider and promoter of the destination while a multi-integrationof the tourism industry with all the involved bodies in the preparation distribu-tion and delivery of the tourism experience needs to be ensured (Wanhill 1993Hall 1994 Skoulas 1994 10 Stavrou 1988 46) The private sector also has an impor-tant role to play as it should improve the Greek tourism industry competitivenessby improving its managerial and labour force competencies enhancing the qualityof services designing appropriate marketing mixes to attract and satisfy targetmarkets and cooperating closely in order to achieve synergies and economies ofscale (Briassoulis 1993 300 Cooper amp Buhalis 1992) To reverse the vicious circleof decreasing quality is of critical importance for the Greek tourism industryBetter quality services would stimulate the competitiveness of the Greek tourismproduct strengthen its position in the international market provide principalswith distribution channel power enhance its customersrsquo willingness to pay andenable the industry to increase its prices improving the profitability at the microlevel and the economic impacts of tourism at the macrolevel Ultimately a diagonalintegration strategy for both Greek tourism and SMTEs should aim to delightconsumers enhance the long-term prosperity of SMTEs and improve the welfareof the host populations The Olympic Games in 2004 offer a unique opportunity toregenerate and rebrand Greek tourism a cause which the entire industry shouldchampion

The AuthorDimitrios Buhalis is Senior Lecturer and course leader MSc in tourism at theUniversity of Surrey He holds a BBA from the University of the Aegean as wellas an MSc and a PhD in tourism management from the University of Surrey Hisresearch interests focus on information systems and technology strategic

474 Current Issues in Tourism

management distribution channels of tourism destination management andplanning and destination integrated computer information reservation manage-ment systems

AcknowledgementsThe author would like to acknowledge Prof C Cooper and Prof J Fletcher for

their invaluable contribution to this research Financial support from the SurreyResearch Group ConTours Consultants as well as field research sponsorshipsby the University of Surrey the Greek National Tourism Organisation and theUniversity of the Aegean are gratefully appreciated

Note1 An earlier version of this paper was published as a monograph PlanningDevelop-

ment by the International Centre for Research and Studies in TourismAix-en-Provence France

CorrespondenceAny correspondence should be directed to Dr Dimitrios Buhalis Senior

Lecturer in Business Information Management SMSSS University of SurreyGuildford GU2 7XH UK (dbuhalissurreyacuk)

ReferencesApostolopoulos T (1990) New strategy of tourism development (in Greek) Tourism and

Economy (November) 228ndash38Berry C (1981) The employee as customer Journal of Retail Banking 3 33ndash40Boniface B and Cooper C (1994) The Geography of Travel and Tourism (2nd edn) London

HeinemannBriassoulis H (1993) Tourism in Greece In W Pompl and P Lavery (eds) Tourism in

Europe Structures and Developments (pp285ndash301) Oxford CAB InternationalBuckley P and Papadopoulos S (1986) Marketing Greek tourism The planning process

Tourism Management 7 86ndash100Buhalis D (1991) Strategic marketing and management for the small and medium

tourism enterprises in the periphery of the European Community A case study for theAegean islands in Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Buhalis D (1994) Information and telecommunications technologies as a strategic tool forsmall and medium tourism enterprises in the contemporary business environment InA Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 254ndash75)England J Wiley and Sons

Buhalis D (1995) The impact of information telecommunications technologies on tourismdistribution channels Implications for the small and medium sized tourismenterprisesrsquo strategic management and marketing PhD Dissertation University ofSurrey Guildford

Buhalis D (2000a) Marketing the competitive destination of the future TourismManagement (Special Issue ndash The Competitive Destination) 21 (1) 97ndash116

Buhalis D (2000b) (forthcoming) Athens Tourism-Travel Intelligence LondonBuhalis D (2000c) Relationships in the distribution channel of tourism Conflicts between

hoteliers and tour operators in the Mediterranean region Journal of InternationalHospitality Leisure and Tourism Adminstration 1 (1) 113ndash39

Buhalis D and Diamantis D (2001 forthcoming) Tourism development andsustainability on the Greek archipelagos In G Apostolopoulos and D Ioannides (eds)Tourism in the Mediterranean Routledge

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 475

Buhalis D and Fletcher J (1995) Environmental impacts on tourism destinations Aneconomic analysis In H Coccosis and P Nijkamp (eds) Sustainable Tourism Development(pp 3ndash25) London Avebury

Camison C Bigne E and Monfort VM (1994) The Spanish tourism industry Analysisof its strategies and the efficacy and achievements gained from them In A Seaton et al(eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 442ndash52) England JWiley and Sons

Castelberg-Koulma M (1991) Greek women and tourism Womenrsquos co-operatives as analternative form of organisation In N Redclift and T Sinclair (eds) Working WomenInternational Perspectives on Labour and Gender Ideology (pp 197ndash223) LondonRoutledge

Chitiris L (1991) Hotel Management (in Greek) Athens InterbooksCoccosis H and Parprairis A (1992) Assessing the interactions between environment

and tourism Case study of the island of Mykonos Paper presented in the IV WorldCongress of Regional Science International University of Balearic Islands Palma deMallorca 26ndash9 May

Conway H (1996) Greece Travel Weekly 1308 39ndash43Cooper C and Buhalis D (1992) Strategic management and marketing of small and

medium sized tourism enterprises in the Greek Aegean islands In R Teare D Adamsand S Messenger (eds) Managing Projects in Hospitality Organisations (pp 101ndash25)London Cassell

Daskalantonakis N (1994) Quality ndash The future of tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (3 July)D9

Divanis A (1994b) Tourism policy Left on its own luck (in Greek) XENIA (October)4ndash5

Donatos G and Zairis P (1991) Seasonality of foreign tourism in the Greek islands ofCrete Annals of Tourism Research 18 515ndash19

Douvitsas P (1994) Marketing Greece through British tour operators A futureperspective MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Drakatos C (1987) Seasonal concentration of tourism in Greece Annals of Tourism Research14 582ndash6

EC (1993a) Microeconomic Analysis of the Tourism Sector A study by the pH Group forEuropean Commission DGXXIII (September) Report XXIII30394-EN BrusselsEuropean Commission

EC (1993b) Growth competitiveness employment The challenges and ways forward intothe 21st century Bulletin of the European Communities Supplement 693 (White Paper)Luxembourg

Economist (1993) Last Chance Sisyphus A survey of Greece Economist (22 May) 2ndash22EIU (1986) Greece (pp 45ndash60) International tourist reports National Report No 3EIU (1990) Greece (pp 45ndash62) International tourist reports National Report No 4EIU (1993) Greece ndash Country Profile 1992ndash1993 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEIU (1994) Greece ndash Country Profile 1994ndash1995 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEpilogi (1994) Economic review ndash The Greek Economy 1994 (in Greek) AthensEuromonitor (1992) Tourism in Greece Market Research Europe (25 May) 51ndash63Fayos-Sola E (1992) A Strategic Outlook for Regional Tourism Policy The White Paper

on Valencian Tourism Tourism Management 13 45ndash9Fotis J (1992) Vacational lifestyle segmentation of tourists on the island of Rhodes

Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey GuildfordGilbert D (1984) The need for countries to differentiate their tourist product and how to

do so Seminar papers for Ministers of Tourism and Directors of National TouristOrganisations Tourism Managing for Results University of Surrey Guildford

Gilbert D (1990) Strategic marketing planning for national tourism Tourist Review 45 (1)18ndash27

GNTO (1985a) Survey of attributes of foreign tourists 1984ndash1985 (in Greek) Greek NationalStatistical Services Athens GNTO

476 Current Issues in Tourism

GNTO (1985b) EOT-Tourism rsquo85 Development ndash Participation ndash Quality of Life (in Greek)Greek National Statistical Services Athens GNTO

GNTO (1989a) Annual report 1988 ndash Forecast 89 Towards Quality Athens GNTOGNTO (1989b) The study of tourism promotion With special reference to the measures to

increase Japanese tourists to Greece Draft final report Japan InternationalCooperation Agency

GNTO (1993) Tourism towards the 2000 (in Greek) Greek National Tourism OrganisationAthens GNTO

Hall M (1994) Tourism and Politics Policy Power and Place J Wiley and SonsHorwath (annual) The Greek Hotel Industry (in Greek) Annual reports Pireus HorwathJenner P and Smith C (1993) Tourism in the Mediterranean Research report London

Economist Intelligence UnitJosephides N (1993) Environmental Concern ndash Whatrsquos In It for the Tourism Industry (pp 51ndash6)

Proceedings of the conference Tourism and the environment Challenges and choicesfor the 1990rsquos 16ndash17 November 1992 Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre LondonBrussels European Union

Josephides N (1994) Tourism analysis Presentation in Philoxenia international tourismexhibition Thessaloniki Greece

Josephides N (1995) A sorry state for beautiful Greece Travel Weekly 1261 (5 April)11Kalogeropoulou H (1993) Greece ndash Prospects for the tourism industry within the context

of the European Single Market of 1993 Tourism Review 48 (1) 2ndash4Kassimati K Thanopoulou M and Tsartas P (1994) Womenrsquos Employment in the

Tourist Sector Study of the Greek Labour Market and Identification of Future ProspectsDGV Equal Opportunities Unit Document V40994-EN European CommissionBrussels

Komilis P (1987) Spatial analysis of tourism in Greece (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planningand Economic Research

Komilis P (1992) The spatial structure of tourism and physical planning practices inGreece Paper presented in conference Tourism and environment Issues ofpolicyplanningmanagement 23ndash4 October University of the Aegean Dept ofEnvironment Lesvos

Komilis P (1993) Values in the Tourism Planning and Policy Making Process (pp 224ndash9)Proceedings of the conference Values and the environment 23ndash4 September GuildfordUniversity of Surrey

Komilis P (1994) Tourism and sustainable regional development In A Seaton et al (eds)Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 65ndash73) England JWiley andSons

Konsolas N and Zacharatos G (1993) Regionalization of tourism activity in GreeceProblems and policies In H Briassoulis and J Van der Straaten (eds) Tourism andEnvironment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 57ndash65) Dordrecht Kluer AcademicPublisher

Kousis M (1989) Tourism and the family in a rural Cretan community Annals of TourismResearch 16 318ndash32

Kriebardis S and Marmagiolis I (1990) Tourism Activity in Greece Problems and Perspectives(pp 45ndash54) (in Greek) Economic Report of Commercial Bank AprilndashJune AthensCommercial Bank

Ktenas S (1994) Hoteliers ask for 15 to 20 increases for 1995 (in Greek) TO BHMA (3July) D9

Ktenas S (1996) Crisis in Greek tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (7 April) D16Leontidou L (1991) Greece Prospects and contradictions of tourism in the 1980rsquos In AM

Williams and GJ Shaw (eds) Tourism and Economic Development Western EuropeanExperiences (2nd edn) (pp 94ndash106) London Belhaven Press

Logothetis M (1990) The Economy of Dodekanisos During 1988ndash1989 Developments andPerspectives (in Greek) Rhodes Regional association of municipalities of Dodekanisos

Logothetis M (1992) Touristiki Sigkiria (in Greek) Rhodes Institute of Tourist and HotelResearch

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 477

Loukissas P (1977) The impact of tourism on regional development A comparativeanalysis of the Greek islands PhD Dissertation Cornell University USA

Loukissas P (1982) Tourismrsquos regional development impacts A comparative analysis ofthe Greek islands Annals of Tourism Research 9 523ndash43

Marinos P (1983) Small island tourism-the case of Zakynthos in Greece TourismManagement 4 212ndash15

Moore R (1992) From shepherds to shopkeepers The development of tourism in a centralGreek town PhD Dissertation University of California at Berkeley USA

Moore R (1995) Gender and alcohol use in a Greek tourist town Annals of Tourism Research22 300ndash13

Mourdoukoutas P (1988) Seasonal employment seasonal unemployment andunemployment compensation The case of the tourism industry of the Greek islandsAmerican Journal of Economics and Sociology 47 315ndash29

NSSG (l983) Tourism Statistics 1981 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (l985) Tourism Statistics 1982ndash1983 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1987) Tourism Statistics 1984ndash1985 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1990) Tourism Statistics 1986ndash1987 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1993) Tourism Statistics 1988ndash1990 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceOECD (1992) Greece Tourism Policy and International Tourism in OECD Member Countries (pp

70ndash8) Paris OECDOttaway M (1992) Turtle power Sunday Times Travel and Style (28 June)Ottaway M (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 1 Sunday Times (17 January)

57ndash59Panagiotopoulou R (1990) The problem and perspectives of the European insular regions

(in Greek) Working paper University of the Aegean ChiosPapadimitris G (1988) Short run and long run prospects of the Greek tourism industry

PhD Dissertation University of Manchester ManchesterPapadopoulos S (1985) An economic analysis of foreign tourism in Greece An

examination of the growth and structure of foreign tourism to Greece 1960ndash1984 with aplanning model and marketing policy recommendations PhD Thesis University ofBradford Management Centre Bradford

Papadopoulos S (1987) Strategic marketing techniques in international tourismInternational Marketing Review (summer) 71ndash84

Papadopoulos S (1988a) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (1) 29ndash30

Papadopoulos S (1988b) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (2) 24ndash7

Papadopoulos S (1989) Greek marketing strategies in the Europe tourism market ServiceIndustries Journal 9 297ndash314

Papadopoulos S and Mirza H (1985) Foreign tourism in Greece An economic analysisTourism Management 6 125ndash37

Papandropoulos A (1995) The crisis in tourism is evident (in Greek) OikonomikosTachydromos (29 June) 26ndash8

Papanikos G (1999) The year 2004 olympic games and their influence upon the Greektourism (in Greek) ITEP (Research Institute for Tourism) Athens

Paulopoulos P (1999) The Size and Dynamics of the Tourism Sector (in Greek) ResearchInstitute for Tourism Athens

Peterson C (1990) Greece tackles overbuilding in tourism areas EnvironmentalConservation 17 166ndash8

Plevris V (1995) Alarm bells from the Hellenic Federation of Hotels (in Greek) XENIA128 (May) 6ndash7

Poon A (1987) Information technology and innovation in international tourism ndashimplications for the Caribbean tourism industry PhD thesis Science Policy ResearchUnit University of Sussex Brighton

Poon A (1988) Flexible specialisation and small size ndash the case of Caribbean tourism DRCDiscussion Paper 57 SPRU Brighton University of Sussex

478 Current Issues in Tourism

Poon A (1989) Competitive strategies for new tourism In C Cooper (ed) Progress inTourism Recreation and Hospitality Management (vol 1) (pp 91ndash102) London BelhavenPress

Poon A (1990) Flexible specialisation at small size The case of Caribbean tourism WorldDevelopment 18 109ndash23

Poon A (1993) Tourism Technology and Competitive Strategies Oxford CAB InternationalPorter M (1980) Competitive Strategy Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors

New York Free PressPorter M (1985) Competitive Advantage Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance New

York Free PressPorter M (1990) The Competitive Advantage of Nations New York Free PressPrurier E Sweeney A and Geen A (1993) Tourism and the environment The case of

Zakynthos Tourism Management 14 137ndash9Psoinos P (1994a) Research on the foreign touristsrsquo attributes in Greece (in Greek) Athens

Greek National Tourism OrganisationPsoinos P (1994b) Research on the attributes of foreigners who have never visited Greece (in

Greek) Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationRichter-Papaconstantinou C (1992) Tourism development of Rhodes Cahiers du Tourisme

(Serie B) 67 Aix en Provence Centre des Hautes Eacutetudes TouristiquesRomanos A (1998) Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites (in Greek) Athens

Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites SASETE (1993) Tourism Developments and problems (in Greek) Athens Association of Greek

Tourism EnterprisesSezer H and Harrison A (1994) Tourism in Greece and Turkey An economic view for

planners In A Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposiumpp74ndash84 England Wiley and Sons

Skoulas N (1985) Holidays and travel in the year 2035 ndash Contribution of the NationalTourist Organisation of Greece SDI Schriftey Wirtschafts und Unternehmenspolitik 40181ndash99

Skoulas N (1994) Quality improvement of tourism services (in Greek) Paper presentedin the conference Competitiveness of tourism enterprises ndash the role of quality 1 AprilHoliday Inn Athens Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises

Smith C and Jenner P (1995) Greece International Tourism Reports 3 5ndash21Stavrou S (1978) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Kos Island (in Greek) Research and

Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationStavrou S (1979) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Mykonos and Naxos Islands (in

Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1980) Research on Tourism Awareness on the Islands Kalymnos and Leros (in Greek)Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1984) Tourism Development in Greece during 1969ndash1982 (in Greek) Research andDevelopment Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986a) Research for the Characteristics of Foreign Tourist Demand in Greece in theYears 8485 (in Greek) Research Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1986b) Research on the Tourism Awareness on Paros Santorini Kythira Islands (inGreek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986c) Critical Review of Tourism Activity in the Years 8385 (in Greek) Researchand Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1988) Tourism in the Northern Aegean Islands Presentation of GNTO for the TourismDevelopment of the Periphery (in Greek) Proceedings of the first conference for thedevelopment of the Northern Aegean islands Homereum cultural centre Chios 11November Chios Periphery of Northern Aegean islands

Stavrou S (1989a) GNTO Presentation for the Tourism Development Possibilities for theSouthern Aegean Islands (in Greek) Conference for the development of Southern Aegean

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 479

islands Syros 30 September ndash 2 OctoberStavrou S (1989b) The Contribution of the Development Law 126282 in the Development of the

Country (in Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A5 Athens GreekNational Tourism Organisation

Stereopoulos N (1995) It is regarded ideal it became problematic (in Greek) OikonomikosTachidromos (21 December) 151ndash3

Touloupas P (1996) Greece as a tourist destination for the British tour operators Ananalysis from a marketing perspective in the particular context of the United KingdomMSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Tourismos ke Oikonomia (1993) 20 years 1973ndash1993 (in Greek) Special Issue AthensTourismos ke Oikonomia (1994) ICAP tourism enterprises Drastic reduction of loses in 1993

(in Greek) December 14ndash15Touristiki Agora (various issues) (Monthly tourism industry periodical in Greek) Business

Press AthensTruett D and Truett L (1987) The response of tourism to international economic

conditions Greece Mexico and Spain Journal of Developing Areas 21 177ndash90Tsartas P (1989) Socioeconomic Impacts of Tourism Development in Cyclades Region with Special

Reference on Ios and Serifos Islands During 1950ndash1980 (in Greek) Athens National Centrefor Social Research

Tsartas P (1992) Socioeconomic impacts of tourism on two Greek isles Annals of TourismResearch 19 516ndash33

Van Den Bergh J (1993) Tourism development and natural environment Aneconomicndashecological model for the Sporades islands In H Briassoulis and J Van DerStraaten (eds) Tourism and Environment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 67ndash83)Dordrecht Kluer Academic Publishers

Velissariou E (1991) Die Wirtschaftlichen Effekte des Tourismus Dargestell am Beispiel Kretas(The Economic Impacts of Tourism on Crete) PhD Dissertation University of MunichFrankfurt Peter Lang

Vernikos N (1987) The study of Mediterranean small islands Emerging theoreticalissues Ekistics 54 (323ndash4) 101ndash9

Wanhill S (1993) Government organisations In C Cooper J Fletcher D Gilbert and SWanhill (eds) Tourism Principle and Practice (pp 145ndash60) London Pitman

Wickens D (1994) Consumption of the authentic The hedonistic tourist in Greece In ASeaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 819ndash25)England JWiley and Sons

Wickens E (2000) Rethinking touristsrsquo experiences In M Robinson et al (eds) MotivationsBehaviour and Tourist Types (pp 455ndash72) Business Education Publishers Sunderland

Wickers D (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 2 Sunday Times 57ndash510Wilkinson PF (1989) Strategies for tourism in islands microstates Annals of Tourism

Research 16 153ndash77XENIA (various issues) (Monthly bulletin of the Greek Hotel Chamber in Greek) AthensZacharatos G (1984) Tourismus und Wirtschafts-Struktur Dargestellt am Beispiel

Griechenlands Europaische Hochschulschriften Reihex Band 7 Frankfurt am MainZacharatos G (1986) Tourism consumption (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planning and

Economic ResearchZacharatos G (1988) The simplistic empiricism Tourism policy and the time of crisis

(1992) (in Greek) Sychrona Themata 11 (May) 21ndash6Zacharatos G (1989) The problems and perspectives of tourism in Greece (in Greek) In H

Katsoulis T Giannitsis and P Kazakos (eds) Politics and Society Economy and ForeignRelationships (pp 273ndash89) Athens Papazisis

Zacharatos G (1993) The necessity of multimedia use in the tourism education in Greece(in Greek) Paper presented at the international conference Overcomingisolation-telematics and regional development University of the Aegean Chios 30April ndash 2 May

480 Current Issues in Tourism

Page 31: Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challengescore.ac.uk/download/pdf/101686.pdf · Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challenges Dimitrios Buhalis School of Management

470 Current Issues in Tourism

Table 9 Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Strategic directions Strategic objectives Strategic tasks

1 Enhance the sat-isfaction of tour-ists and delightthe customer

11 Improvement of services a Standardisation of service de-livery

b Development of quality controlsystems

c Consistency of promisesd Improvements in operational

managemente Flexibility in services deliveryf Training and education im-

provementsg Smile and personal relation-

shipsh Augmentation of tourism

producti Total quality management

12 Specialisation of tourismproduct

a Niche marketingb Lifestyle targeting

13 Value for money a Quality at each price level

2 Strengthen thelong-term com-petitiveness andprofitability ofGreek tourismand SMTEs

21 Increase revenue a Increase tourist volumesb Target new markets and pene-

tration in existing marketsc Use yield managementd Expand distribution channel

mixe Aggressive marketingf Achieve high average spending

per customerg Select high-quality specialised

tour operatorsh Attract alternative types of

tourismi Use alternative distribution

channelsj Motivate front-of-house em-

ployees as salesmen

22 Cost control and rationalmanagement

a Standardise service deliveryb Increase productivityc Reduce labour costsd Rationalise supplies manage-

mente Educationtraining for manag-

ers and employeesf Use of new technologyg Integrate service delivery

within SMTEs

23 Human resources man-agement

a Internal marketingb Empowermentc Satisfactory salary and working

conditionsd Long-term relations with em-

ployeese Motivation and rewards

and rational management is the second strategic objective needed to increaseefficiency and profitability of both Greek destinations and SMTEs in the longterm Standardisation of the service delivery process and minimisation of thelabour cost through better operational management would be primary recom-mendations Managers and employees should improve their productivity andmarketing skills by intensive training In addition the rationalisation of supplymanagement and the use of new technology is expected to reduce operationalcosts Finally integration of service delivery enables SMTEs to provide comple-mentary services and achieve additional revenues without immense costs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 471

24 State and public tourismorganisation support

a Destination development andcontrol

b Incentives policies for improve-ment

c Attract European Union assis-tance

d Promotional activitye Provide financial resources

3 Develop Greekdestinationssustainably andensure prosper-ity of host popu-lation

31 Environmental protection a Carrying capacity identificationb Zoning system applicationc Architecture preservationd Installation of sewage treat-

ment systemse Reduction of noise pollutionf Natural supplies management

32 Infrastructure ameliora-tion

a Accessibility improvementsb Telecommunication improve-

mentsc Public facilities advancements

33 Transportation improve-ments

a Improvement of local timeta-bles

b Punctuality and reliabilityc Improvements of vehiclesd Flexibility to meet demand

needs

34 Economic integration a Integration with raw materialproduction

b Utilisation of local labour forcec Integration of tourism servicesd Diagonal integration of destina-

tionrsquos economy

35 Equitable return on re-sources utilised

a Establish mechanism forreinvestments

b Provide services for hostcommunity

c Invest in sustainability ofresources

d Ensure equity in distributionof wealth produced

Source Adapted from Buhalis 1991 83a

Table 9 (cont) Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Human resources management is crucial in the delivery process of tourismproducts The concept of lsquointernal marketingrsquo where employees are perceivedand treated as lsquointernal customersrsquo has to be utilised in order to ensure theirsatisfaction As Berry (1981 34) states lsquothe satisfaction of the needs and wants ofthe internal customers can upgrade their capacity for satisfying the needs andwants of their external customersrsquo and as a consequence it can contribute to thecompetitiveness and profitability of Greek tourism and SMTEs Satisfactorysalary and working conditions are prerequisites for the well-being of SMTEsrsquoemployees Long-term relationships between employees and SMTEs minimiseturnover enabling a better performance while they reduce recruitment andtraining costs Empowerment would enable employees to be involved in themanagement of SMTEs and authorise them to respond more efficiently toconsumer requests while contributing to their job satisfaction Finally thesupport of the GNTO is vital for the long-term survival of SMTEs Apart fromthe improvement in infrastructure the GNTO is expected to hold the strategicresponsibility of the destination as well as to regulate the competition in orderto enable smaller enterprises to survive Incentive policies need to reflect thespecific requirements of each resort and enable development or improvementof certain types of enterprises The GNTO is also instrumental in attractingassistance from European development funds while it should also coordinatethe majority of Greek tourism promotional activity A promotional mix whichmaximises the effectiveness of the communication message needs to be drawnwhile budgets need to be available at the time consumers go through their deci-sion-making process in order to influence their choice of destination Finally theneed for the public sector to provide affordable financial resources for SMTEs ishighlighted by the EU (EC 1993b 73)

The third strategic direction for Greek tourism and SMTEs should be thesustainable development of destinations and local areas not only for the hostpopulation but also because this is vital for both consumer satisfaction and theprofitability of SMTEs Although in most cases SMTEs are unable to incorporatethese types of strategic objectives and tasks on their own they can initiate aframework of necessary actions for sustainable destination developmentthrough their associations Environmental protection is naturally the mostimportant strategic objective as consumersrsquo environmental consciousness hasbeen raised recently Carrying capacity limits should be identified and strictregulations and guidelines for tourism development need to be drawn A zoningsystem should be implemented in order to locate tourism activities according tothe geographical morphology of the destination In addition natural resourcesmanagement is necessary as tourism demand may exhaust the resources andespecially the water supplies The installation of sewage treatment systems andthe reduction of noise pollution should be considered especially for resortswhich suffer the consequences of these problems In addition infrastructureamelioration must be one of the primary objectives as it is an essential prerequi-site for both consumersrsquo satisfaction and SMTEsrsquo development The improve-ment of accessibility public services as well as telecommunications facilities is acrucial factor Transportation is also significant in increasing both consumersatisfaction and profitability of SMTEs as it determines whether consumers canaccess the destination easily while it also provides the first impression to tour-

472 Current Issues in Tourism

ists Improvements of timetables and services reliability increasing transporta-tion capacity and an enhancement of the fleet in terms of speed cleanliness andleisure facilities are all required Furthermore greater flexibility is needed bytransportation operators in order to meet demand needs Economic integrationcan improve the economic and social benefits of tourism in the region and theefficiency of SMTEs Ultimately tourism should be utilised as the catalyst andmajor stimulant for regional development Tourism enterprises should makeevery effort to use local raw materials and labour in order to maximise the multi-plier effects within Greece Diagonal integration of destinationsrsquo economy can beachieved by rearranging the goods and service production in order to supportthe tourism industry demand and thus minimise imports Finally SMTEs andtourism organisations need to offer a fair return-on-resources utilised back to thehost community A mechanism should be established in order to reinvest part ofthe revenues in the sustainability of resources provide services for the hostcommunity such as education training health services and generally ensureequity in distribution of wealth produced from local resources As the privatesector cannot be expected to behave altruistically towards the host communitythe GNTO and other public-sector departments should probably utilise regula-tion and taxation for this purpose

Conclusion Greek Tourism Needs a Long Overdue Master Planand Comprehensive Policy

The emerging international tourism competition the hitherto mass tourismorientation of the industry the transformation of demand the development ofthe volume of tourists visiting the dependence upon intermediaries for thedistribution of the tourism product in the major target markets the lack of a widerange of managerial skills by Greek tourism entrepreneurs and the lack of acomprehensive tourism policy or Master Plan by the public sector has led thecompetitiveness of Greece tourism to decline This has several unfavourableimplications for the profitability of the private sector as well as numerous nega-tive economic sociocultural and environmental impacts for the host populationAs a result the return on resources utilised for the production of Greek tourismservices is inadequate and the sustainability of Greece as a major tourism desti-nation is rapidly becoming doubtful Based on a strategic analysis the paper illu-minates the strategic weaknesses and structural problems of both the private andpublic sectors and demonstrates that a rationalisation of the tourism industry isurgently required Consequently a grand strategy as well as a wide range of stra-tegic directions objectives and tasks are proposed for both Greece as an entityand its SMTEs Although no quantitative targets are set in this paper it isexpected that each destination will analyse its resources and adapt its strategicplanning accordingly

The GNTO is urged to rationalise its strategy and to draw up a Master Plan anda comprehensive strategy for the entire country and for each resort where a strategywould be adopted based on quantifiable objectives and tasks Extensive researchneeds to be undertaken by using credible measurement methodologies such asInput-Output models and multipliers analysis not only for the economic but alsofor the social cultural and environmental impacts (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Buhalis

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 473

amp Fletcher 1995) A holistic tourism management system is demanded to facilitatethe development and implementation of the tourism strategy through funds allo-cation and monitoring land use control and examination of tourism public- andprivate-sector practices A thorough examination of tourism impacts in eachregion would be a prerequisite for tourism planning as it will establish andprovide scientific backing to strategic targets Komilis (1994 71) explains thatalthough the various levels of planning (sectoral nationalEU spatial or regional)are not mutually exclusive but rather complementary the regional level planningis more suitable for drawing sustainable strategies especially for areas withdissimilar needs like the Greek destinations The regional planning should lsquocon-tribute to the maximisation of regional development benefits in a way that utilisesand mobilises the regional resource base realises regional inter-sectoral linkagesand is compatible with regional economic interests societal values and environ-mental assetsrsquo It should also take into consideration the uniqueness of insulareconomies as well as the cultural and environmental resources of each particularregion and the complexity of rural and urban functions The planning processshould encourage the complementarity and coexistence of economic activitiesrather than promote sectoral separation and single-sector developments In addi-tion it needs to improve the balance between regional self-sufficiency anddependence upon external inputs and finally it should promote integration withinthe European Union

The public sector has to play its long overdue role as regulator coordinatorinfrastructure provider and promoter of the destination while a multi-integrationof the tourism industry with all the involved bodies in the preparation distribu-tion and delivery of the tourism experience needs to be ensured (Wanhill 1993Hall 1994 Skoulas 1994 10 Stavrou 1988 46) The private sector also has an impor-tant role to play as it should improve the Greek tourism industry competitivenessby improving its managerial and labour force competencies enhancing the qualityof services designing appropriate marketing mixes to attract and satisfy targetmarkets and cooperating closely in order to achieve synergies and economies ofscale (Briassoulis 1993 300 Cooper amp Buhalis 1992) To reverse the vicious circleof decreasing quality is of critical importance for the Greek tourism industryBetter quality services would stimulate the competitiveness of the Greek tourismproduct strengthen its position in the international market provide principalswith distribution channel power enhance its customersrsquo willingness to pay andenable the industry to increase its prices improving the profitability at the microlevel and the economic impacts of tourism at the macrolevel Ultimately a diagonalintegration strategy for both Greek tourism and SMTEs should aim to delightconsumers enhance the long-term prosperity of SMTEs and improve the welfareof the host populations The Olympic Games in 2004 offer a unique opportunity toregenerate and rebrand Greek tourism a cause which the entire industry shouldchampion

The AuthorDimitrios Buhalis is Senior Lecturer and course leader MSc in tourism at theUniversity of Surrey He holds a BBA from the University of the Aegean as wellas an MSc and a PhD in tourism management from the University of Surrey Hisresearch interests focus on information systems and technology strategic

474 Current Issues in Tourism

management distribution channels of tourism destination management andplanning and destination integrated computer information reservation manage-ment systems

AcknowledgementsThe author would like to acknowledge Prof C Cooper and Prof J Fletcher for

their invaluable contribution to this research Financial support from the SurreyResearch Group ConTours Consultants as well as field research sponsorshipsby the University of Surrey the Greek National Tourism Organisation and theUniversity of the Aegean are gratefully appreciated

Note1 An earlier version of this paper was published as a monograph PlanningDevelop-

ment by the International Centre for Research and Studies in TourismAix-en-Provence France

CorrespondenceAny correspondence should be directed to Dr Dimitrios Buhalis Senior

Lecturer in Business Information Management SMSSS University of SurreyGuildford GU2 7XH UK (dbuhalissurreyacuk)

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Economy (November) 228ndash38Berry C (1981) The employee as customer Journal of Retail Banking 3 33ndash40Boniface B and Cooper C (1994) The Geography of Travel and Tourism (2nd edn) London

HeinemannBriassoulis H (1993) Tourism in Greece In W Pompl and P Lavery (eds) Tourism in

Europe Structures and Developments (pp285ndash301) Oxford CAB InternationalBuckley P and Papadopoulos S (1986) Marketing Greek tourism The planning process

Tourism Management 7 86ndash100Buhalis D (1991) Strategic marketing and management for the small and medium

tourism enterprises in the periphery of the European Community A case study for theAegean islands in Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Buhalis D (1994) Information and telecommunications technologies as a strategic tool forsmall and medium tourism enterprises in the contemporary business environment InA Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 254ndash75)England J Wiley and Sons

Buhalis D (1995) The impact of information telecommunications technologies on tourismdistribution channels Implications for the small and medium sized tourismenterprisesrsquo strategic management and marketing PhD Dissertation University ofSurrey Guildford

Buhalis D (2000a) Marketing the competitive destination of the future TourismManagement (Special Issue ndash The Competitive Destination) 21 (1) 97ndash116

Buhalis D (2000b) (forthcoming) Athens Tourism-Travel Intelligence LondonBuhalis D (2000c) Relationships in the distribution channel of tourism Conflicts between

hoteliers and tour operators in the Mediterranean region Journal of InternationalHospitality Leisure and Tourism Adminstration 1 (1) 113ndash39

Buhalis D and Diamantis D (2001 forthcoming) Tourism development andsustainability on the Greek archipelagos In G Apostolopoulos and D Ioannides (eds)Tourism in the Mediterranean Routledge

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 475

Buhalis D and Fletcher J (1995) Environmental impacts on tourism destinations Aneconomic analysis In H Coccosis and P Nijkamp (eds) Sustainable Tourism Development(pp 3ndash25) London Avebury

Camison C Bigne E and Monfort VM (1994) The Spanish tourism industry Analysisof its strategies and the efficacy and achievements gained from them In A Seaton et al(eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 442ndash52) England JWiley and Sons

Castelberg-Koulma M (1991) Greek women and tourism Womenrsquos co-operatives as analternative form of organisation In N Redclift and T Sinclair (eds) Working WomenInternational Perspectives on Labour and Gender Ideology (pp 197ndash223) LondonRoutledge

Chitiris L (1991) Hotel Management (in Greek) Athens InterbooksCoccosis H and Parprairis A (1992) Assessing the interactions between environment

and tourism Case study of the island of Mykonos Paper presented in the IV WorldCongress of Regional Science International University of Balearic Islands Palma deMallorca 26ndash9 May

Conway H (1996) Greece Travel Weekly 1308 39ndash43Cooper C and Buhalis D (1992) Strategic management and marketing of small and

medium sized tourism enterprises in the Greek Aegean islands In R Teare D Adamsand S Messenger (eds) Managing Projects in Hospitality Organisations (pp 101ndash25)London Cassell

Daskalantonakis N (1994) Quality ndash The future of tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (3 July)D9

Divanis A (1994b) Tourism policy Left on its own luck (in Greek) XENIA (October)4ndash5

Donatos G and Zairis P (1991) Seasonality of foreign tourism in the Greek islands ofCrete Annals of Tourism Research 18 515ndash19

Douvitsas P (1994) Marketing Greece through British tour operators A futureperspective MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Drakatos C (1987) Seasonal concentration of tourism in Greece Annals of Tourism Research14 582ndash6

EC (1993a) Microeconomic Analysis of the Tourism Sector A study by the pH Group forEuropean Commission DGXXIII (September) Report XXIII30394-EN BrusselsEuropean Commission

EC (1993b) Growth competitiveness employment The challenges and ways forward intothe 21st century Bulletin of the European Communities Supplement 693 (White Paper)Luxembourg

Economist (1993) Last Chance Sisyphus A survey of Greece Economist (22 May) 2ndash22EIU (1986) Greece (pp 45ndash60) International tourist reports National Report No 3EIU (1990) Greece (pp 45ndash62) International tourist reports National Report No 4EIU (1993) Greece ndash Country Profile 1992ndash1993 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEIU (1994) Greece ndash Country Profile 1994ndash1995 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEpilogi (1994) Economic review ndash The Greek Economy 1994 (in Greek) AthensEuromonitor (1992) Tourism in Greece Market Research Europe (25 May) 51ndash63Fayos-Sola E (1992) A Strategic Outlook for Regional Tourism Policy The White Paper

on Valencian Tourism Tourism Management 13 45ndash9Fotis J (1992) Vacational lifestyle segmentation of tourists on the island of Rhodes

Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey GuildfordGilbert D (1984) The need for countries to differentiate their tourist product and how to

do so Seminar papers for Ministers of Tourism and Directors of National TouristOrganisations Tourism Managing for Results University of Surrey Guildford

Gilbert D (1990) Strategic marketing planning for national tourism Tourist Review 45 (1)18ndash27

GNTO (1985a) Survey of attributes of foreign tourists 1984ndash1985 (in Greek) Greek NationalStatistical Services Athens GNTO

476 Current Issues in Tourism

GNTO (1985b) EOT-Tourism rsquo85 Development ndash Participation ndash Quality of Life (in Greek)Greek National Statistical Services Athens GNTO

GNTO (1989a) Annual report 1988 ndash Forecast 89 Towards Quality Athens GNTOGNTO (1989b) The study of tourism promotion With special reference to the measures to

increase Japanese tourists to Greece Draft final report Japan InternationalCooperation Agency

GNTO (1993) Tourism towards the 2000 (in Greek) Greek National Tourism OrganisationAthens GNTO

Hall M (1994) Tourism and Politics Policy Power and Place J Wiley and SonsHorwath (annual) The Greek Hotel Industry (in Greek) Annual reports Pireus HorwathJenner P and Smith C (1993) Tourism in the Mediterranean Research report London

Economist Intelligence UnitJosephides N (1993) Environmental Concern ndash Whatrsquos In It for the Tourism Industry (pp 51ndash6)

Proceedings of the conference Tourism and the environment Challenges and choicesfor the 1990rsquos 16ndash17 November 1992 Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre LondonBrussels European Union

Josephides N (1994) Tourism analysis Presentation in Philoxenia international tourismexhibition Thessaloniki Greece

Josephides N (1995) A sorry state for beautiful Greece Travel Weekly 1261 (5 April)11Kalogeropoulou H (1993) Greece ndash Prospects for the tourism industry within the context

of the European Single Market of 1993 Tourism Review 48 (1) 2ndash4Kassimati K Thanopoulou M and Tsartas P (1994) Womenrsquos Employment in the

Tourist Sector Study of the Greek Labour Market and Identification of Future ProspectsDGV Equal Opportunities Unit Document V40994-EN European CommissionBrussels

Komilis P (1987) Spatial analysis of tourism in Greece (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planningand Economic Research

Komilis P (1992) The spatial structure of tourism and physical planning practices inGreece Paper presented in conference Tourism and environment Issues ofpolicyplanningmanagement 23ndash4 October University of the Aegean Dept ofEnvironment Lesvos

Komilis P (1993) Values in the Tourism Planning and Policy Making Process (pp 224ndash9)Proceedings of the conference Values and the environment 23ndash4 September GuildfordUniversity of Surrey

Komilis P (1994) Tourism and sustainable regional development In A Seaton et al (eds)Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 65ndash73) England JWiley andSons

Konsolas N and Zacharatos G (1993) Regionalization of tourism activity in GreeceProblems and policies In H Briassoulis and J Van der Straaten (eds) Tourism andEnvironment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 57ndash65) Dordrecht Kluer AcademicPublisher

Kousis M (1989) Tourism and the family in a rural Cretan community Annals of TourismResearch 16 318ndash32

Kriebardis S and Marmagiolis I (1990) Tourism Activity in Greece Problems and Perspectives(pp 45ndash54) (in Greek) Economic Report of Commercial Bank AprilndashJune AthensCommercial Bank

Ktenas S (1994) Hoteliers ask for 15 to 20 increases for 1995 (in Greek) TO BHMA (3July) D9

Ktenas S (1996) Crisis in Greek tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (7 April) D16Leontidou L (1991) Greece Prospects and contradictions of tourism in the 1980rsquos In AM

Williams and GJ Shaw (eds) Tourism and Economic Development Western EuropeanExperiences (2nd edn) (pp 94ndash106) London Belhaven Press

Logothetis M (1990) The Economy of Dodekanisos During 1988ndash1989 Developments andPerspectives (in Greek) Rhodes Regional association of municipalities of Dodekanisos

Logothetis M (1992) Touristiki Sigkiria (in Greek) Rhodes Institute of Tourist and HotelResearch

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 477

Loukissas P (1977) The impact of tourism on regional development A comparativeanalysis of the Greek islands PhD Dissertation Cornell University USA

Loukissas P (1982) Tourismrsquos regional development impacts A comparative analysis ofthe Greek islands Annals of Tourism Research 9 523ndash43

Marinos P (1983) Small island tourism-the case of Zakynthos in Greece TourismManagement 4 212ndash15

Moore R (1992) From shepherds to shopkeepers The development of tourism in a centralGreek town PhD Dissertation University of California at Berkeley USA

Moore R (1995) Gender and alcohol use in a Greek tourist town Annals of Tourism Research22 300ndash13

Mourdoukoutas P (1988) Seasonal employment seasonal unemployment andunemployment compensation The case of the tourism industry of the Greek islandsAmerican Journal of Economics and Sociology 47 315ndash29

NSSG (l983) Tourism Statistics 1981 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (l985) Tourism Statistics 1982ndash1983 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1987) Tourism Statistics 1984ndash1985 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1990) Tourism Statistics 1986ndash1987 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1993) Tourism Statistics 1988ndash1990 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceOECD (1992) Greece Tourism Policy and International Tourism in OECD Member Countries (pp

70ndash8) Paris OECDOttaway M (1992) Turtle power Sunday Times Travel and Style (28 June)Ottaway M (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 1 Sunday Times (17 January)

57ndash59Panagiotopoulou R (1990) The problem and perspectives of the European insular regions

(in Greek) Working paper University of the Aegean ChiosPapadimitris G (1988) Short run and long run prospects of the Greek tourism industry

PhD Dissertation University of Manchester ManchesterPapadopoulos S (1985) An economic analysis of foreign tourism in Greece An

examination of the growth and structure of foreign tourism to Greece 1960ndash1984 with aplanning model and marketing policy recommendations PhD Thesis University ofBradford Management Centre Bradford

Papadopoulos S (1987) Strategic marketing techniques in international tourismInternational Marketing Review (summer) 71ndash84

Papadopoulos S (1988a) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (1) 29ndash30

Papadopoulos S (1988b) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (2) 24ndash7

Papadopoulos S (1989) Greek marketing strategies in the Europe tourism market ServiceIndustries Journal 9 297ndash314

Papadopoulos S and Mirza H (1985) Foreign tourism in Greece An economic analysisTourism Management 6 125ndash37

Papandropoulos A (1995) The crisis in tourism is evident (in Greek) OikonomikosTachydromos (29 June) 26ndash8

Papanikos G (1999) The year 2004 olympic games and their influence upon the Greektourism (in Greek) ITEP (Research Institute for Tourism) Athens

Paulopoulos P (1999) The Size and Dynamics of the Tourism Sector (in Greek) ResearchInstitute for Tourism Athens

Peterson C (1990) Greece tackles overbuilding in tourism areas EnvironmentalConservation 17 166ndash8

Plevris V (1995) Alarm bells from the Hellenic Federation of Hotels (in Greek) XENIA128 (May) 6ndash7

Poon A (1987) Information technology and innovation in international tourism ndashimplications for the Caribbean tourism industry PhD thesis Science Policy ResearchUnit University of Sussex Brighton

Poon A (1988) Flexible specialisation and small size ndash the case of Caribbean tourism DRCDiscussion Paper 57 SPRU Brighton University of Sussex

478 Current Issues in Tourism

Poon A (1989) Competitive strategies for new tourism In C Cooper (ed) Progress inTourism Recreation and Hospitality Management (vol 1) (pp 91ndash102) London BelhavenPress

Poon A (1990) Flexible specialisation at small size The case of Caribbean tourism WorldDevelopment 18 109ndash23

Poon A (1993) Tourism Technology and Competitive Strategies Oxford CAB InternationalPorter M (1980) Competitive Strategy Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors

New York Free PressPorter M (1985) Competitive Advantage Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance New

York Free PressPorter M (1990) The Competitive Advantage of Nations New York Free PressPrurier E Sweeney A and Geen A (1993) Tourism and the environment The case of

Zakynthos Tourism Management 14 137ndash9Psoinos P (1994a) Research on the foreign touristsrsquo attributes in Greece (in Greek) Athens

Greek National Tourism OrganisationPsoinos P (1994b) Research on the attributes of foreigners who have never visited Greece (in

Greek) Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationRichter-Papaconstantinou C (1992) Tourism development of Rhodes Cahiers du Tourisme

(Serie B) 67 Aix en Provence Centre des Hautes Eacutetudes TouristiquesRomanos A (1998) Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites (in Greek) Athens

Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites SASETE (1993) Tourism Developments and problems (in Greek) Athens Association of Greek

Tourism EnterprisesSezer H and Harrison A (1994) Tourism in Greece and Turkey An economic view for

planners In A Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposiumpp74ndash84 England Wiley and Sons

Skoulas N (1985) Holidays and travel in the year 2035 ndash Contribution of the NationalTourist Organisation of Greece SDI Schriftey Wirtschafts und Unternehmenspolitik 40181ndash99

Skoulas N (1994) Quality improvement of tourism services (in Greek) Paper presentedin the conference Competitiveness of tourism enterprises ndash the role of quality 1 AprilHoliday Inn Athens Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises

Smith C and Jenner P (1995) Greece International Tourism Reports 3 5ndash21Stavrou S (1978) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Kos Island (in Greek) Research and

Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationStavrou S (1979) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Mykonos and Naxos Islands (in

Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1980) Research on Tourism Awareness on the Islands Kalymnos and Leros (in Greek)Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1984) Tourism Development in Greece during 1969ndash1982 (in Greek) Research andDevelopment Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986a) Research for the Characteristics of Foreign Tourist Demand in Greece in theYears 8485 (in Greek) Research Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1986b) Research on the Tourism Awareness on Paros Santorini Kythira Islands (inGreek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986c) Critical Review of Tourism Activity in the Years 8385 (in Greek) Researchand Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1988) Tourism in the Northern Aegean Islands Presentation of GNTO for the TourismDevelopment of the Periphery (in Greek) Proceedings of the first conference for thedevelopment of the Northern Aegean islands Homereum cultural centre Chios 11November Chios Periphery of Northern Aegean islands

Stavrou S (1989a) GNTO Presentation for the Tourism Development Possibilities for theSouthern Aegean Islands (in Greek) Conference for the development of Southern Aegean

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 479

islands Syros 30 September ndash 2 OctoberStavrou S (1989b) The Contribution of the Development Law 126282 in the Development of the

Country (in Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A5 Athens GreekNational Tourism Organisation

Stereopoulos N (1995) It is regarded ideal it became problematic (in Greek) OikonomikosTachidromos (21 December) 151ndash3

Touloupas P (1996) Greece as a tourist destination for the British tour operators Ananalysis from a marketing perspective in the particular context of the United KingdomMSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Tourismos ke Oikonomia (1993) 20 years 1973ndash1993 (in Greek) Special Issue AthensTourismos ke Oikonomia (1994) ICAP tourism enterprises Drastic reduction of loses in 1993

(in Greek) December 14ndash15Touristiki Agora (various issues) (Monthly tourism industry periodical in Greek) Business

Press AthensTruett D and Truett L (1987) The response of tourism to international economic

conditions Greece Mexico and Spain Journal of Developing Areas 21 177ndash90Tsartas P (1989) Socioeconomic Impacts of Tourism Development in Cyclades Region with Special

Reference on Ios and Serifos Islands During 1950ndash1980 (in Greek) Athens National Centrefor Social Research

Tsartas P (1992) Socioeconomic impacts of tourism on two Greek isles Annals of TourismResearch 19 516ndash33

Van Den Bergh J (1993) Tourism development and natural environment Aneconomicndashecological model for the Sporades islands In H Briassoulis and J Van DerStraaten (eds) Tourism and Environment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 67ndash83)Dordrecht Kluer Academic Publishers

Velissariou E (1991) Die Wirtschaftlichen Effekte des Tourismus Dargestell am Beispiel Kretas(The Economic Impacts of Tourism on Crete) PhD Dissertation University of MunichFrankfurt Peter Lang

Vernikos N (1987) The study of Mediterranean small islands Emerging theoreticalissues Ekistics 54 (323ndash4) 101ndash9

Wanhill S (1993) Government organisations In C Cooper J Fletcher D Gilbert and SWanhill (eds) Tourism Principle and Practice (pp 145ndash60) London Pitman

Wickens D (1994) Consumption of the authentic The hedonistic tourist in Greece In ASeaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 819ndash25)England JWiley and Sons

Wickens E (2000) Rethinking touristsrsquo experiences In M Robinson et al (eds) MotivationsBehaviour and Tourist Types (pp 455ndash72) Business Education Publishers Sunderland

Wickers D (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 2 Sunday Times 57ndash510Wilkinson PF (1989) Strategies for tourism in islands microstates Annals of Tourism

Research 16 153ndash77XENIA (various issues) (Monthly bulletin of the Greek Hotel Chamber in Greek) AthensZacharatos G (1984) Tourismus und Wirtschafts-Struktur Dargestellt am Beispiel

Griechenlands Europaische Hochschulschriften Reihex Band 7 Frankfurt am MainZacharatos G (1986) Tourism consumption (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planning and

Economic ResearchZacharatos G (1988) The simplistic empiricism Tourism policy and the time of crisis

(1992) (in Greek) Sychrona Themata 11 (May) 21ndash6Zacharatos G (1989) The problems and perspectives of tourism in Greece (in Greek) In H

Katsoulis T Giannitsis and P Kazakos (eds) Politics and Society Economy and ForeignRelationships (pp 273ndash89) Athens Papazisis

Zacharatos G (1993) The necessity of multimedia use in the tourism education in Greece(in Greek) Paper presented at the international conference Overcomingisolation-telematics and regional development University of the Aegean Chios 30April ndash 2 May

480 Current Issues in Tourism

Page 32: Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challengescore.ac.uk/download/pdf/101686.pdf · Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challenges Dimitrios Buhalis School of Management

and rational management is the second strategic objective needed to increaseefficiency and profitability of both Greek destinations and SMTEs in the longterm Standardisation of the service delivery process and minimisation of thelabour cost through better operational management would be primary recom-mendations Managers and employees should improve their productivity andmarketing skills by intensive training In addition the rationalisation of supplymanagement and the use of new technology is expected to reduce operationalcosts Finally integration of service delivery enables SMTEs to provide comple-mentary services and achieve additional revenues without immense costs

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 471

24 State and public tourismorganisation support

a Destination development andcontrol

b Incentives policies for improve-ment

c Attract European Union assis-tance

d Promotional activitye Provide financial resources

3 Develop Greekdestinationssustainably andensure prosper-ity of host popu-lation

31 Environmental protection a Carrying capacity identificationb Zoning system applicationc Architecture preservationd Installation of sewage treat-

ment systemse Reduction of noise pollutionf Natural supplies management

32 Infrastructure ameliora-tion

a Accessibility improvementsb Telecommunication improve-

mentsc Public facilities advancements

33 Transportation improve-ments

a Improvement of local timeta-bles

b Punctuality and reliabilityc Improvements of vehiclesd Flexibility to meet demand

needs

34 Economic integration a Integration with raw materialproduction

b Utilisation of local labour forcec Integration of tourism servicesd Diagonal integration of destina-

tionrsquos economy

35 Equitable return on re-sources utilised

a Establish mechanism forreinvestments

b Provide services for hostcommunity

c Invest in sustainability ofresources

d Ensure equity in distributionof wealth produced

Source Adapted from Buhalis 1991 83a

Table 9 (cont) Strategic directions objectives and tasks for SMTEs and destinations

Human resources management is crucial in the delivery process of tourismproducts The concept of lsquointernal marketingrsquo where employees are perceivedand treated as lsquointernal customersrsquo has to be utilised in order to ensure theirsatisfaction As Berry (1981 34) states lsquothe satisfaction of the needs and wants ofthe internal customers can upgrade their capacity for satisfying the needs andwants of their external customersrsquo and as a consequence it can contribute to thecompetitiveness and profitability of Greek tourism and SMTEs Satisfactorysalary and working conditions are prerequisites for the well-being of SMTEsrsquoemployees Long-term relationships between employees and SMTEs minimiseturnover enabling a better performance while they reduce recruitment andtraining costs Empowerment would enable employees to be involved in themanagement of SMTEs and authorise them to respond more efficiently toconsumer requests while contributing to their job satisfaction Finally thesupport of the GNTO is vital for the long-term survival of SMTEs Apart fromthe improvement in infrastructure the GNTO is expected to hold the strategicresponsibility of the destination as well as to regulate the competition in orderto enable smaller enterprises to survive Incentive policies need to reflect thespecific requirements of each resort and enable development or improvementof certain types of enterprises The GNTO is also instrumental in attractingassistance from European development funds while it should also coordinatethe majority of Greek tourism promotional activity A promotional mix whichmaximises the effectiveness of the communication message needs to be drawnwhile budgets need to be available at the time consumers go through their deci-sion-making process in order to influence their choice of destination Finally theneed for the public sector to provide affordable financial resources for SMTEs ishighlighted by the EU (EC 1993b 73)

The third strategic direction for Greek tourism and SMTEs should be thesustainable development of destinations and local areas not only for the hostpopulation but also because this is vital for both consumer satisfaction and theprofitability of SMTEs Although in most cases SMTEs are unable to incorporatethese types of strategic objectives and tasks on their own they can initiate aframework of necessary actions for sustainable destination developmentthrough their associations Environmental protection is naturally the mostimportant strategic objective as consumersrsquo environmental consciousness hasbeen raised recently Carrying capacity limits should be identified and strictregulations and guidelines for tourism development need to be drawn A zoningsystem should be implemented in order to locate tourism activities according tothe geographical morphology of the destination In addition natural resourcesmanagement is necessary as tourism demand may exhaust the resources andespecially the water supplies The installation of sewage treatment systems andthe reduction of noise pollution should be considered especially for resortswhich suffer the consequences of these problems In addition infrastructureamelioration must be one of the primary objectives as it is an essential prerequi-site for both consumersrsquo satisfaction and SMTEsrsquo development The improve-ment of accessibility public services as well as telecommunications facilities is acrucial factor Transportation is also significant in increasing both consumersatisfaction and profitability of SMTEs as it determines whether consumers canaccess the destination easily while it also provides the first impression to tour-

472 Current Issues in Tourism

ists Improvements of timetables and services reliability increasing transporta-tion capacity and an enhancement of the fleet in terms of speed cleanliness andleisure facilities are all required Furthermore greater flexibility is needed bytransportation operators in order to meet demand needs Economic integrationcan improve the economic and social benefits of tourism in the region and theefficiency of SMTEs Ultimately tourism should be utilised as the catalyst andmajor stimulant for regional development Tourism enterprises should makeevery effort to use local raw materials and labour in order to maximise the multi-plier effects within Greece Diagonal integration of destinationsrsquo economy can beachieved by rearranging the goods and service production in order to supportthe tourism industry demand and thus minimise imports Finally SMTEs andtourism organisations need to offer a fair return-on-resources utilised back to thehost community A mechanism should be established in order to reinvest part ofthe revenues in the sustainability of resources provide services for the hostcommunity such as education training health services and generally ensureequity in distribution of wealth produced from local resources As the privatesector cannot be expected to behave altruistically towards the host communitythe GNTO and other public-sector departments should probably utilise regula-tion and taxation for this purpose

Conclusion Greek Tourism Needs a Long Overdue Master Planand Comprehensive Policy

The emerging international tourism competition the hitherto mass tourismorientation of the industry the transformation of demand the development ofthe volume of tourists visiting the dependence upon intermediaries for thedistribution of the tourism product in the major target markets the lack of a widerange of managerial skills by Greek tourism entrepreneurs and the lack of acomprehensive tourism policy or Master Plan by the public sector has led thecompetitiveness of Greece tourism to decline This has several unfavourableimplications for the profitability of the private sector as well as numerous nega-tive economic sociocultural and environmental impacts for the host populationAs a result the return on resources utilised for the production of Greek tourismservices is inadequate and the sustainability of Greece as a major tourism desti-nation is rapidly becoming doubtful Based on a strategic analysis the paper illu-minates the strategic weaknesses and structural problems of both the private andpublic sectors and demonstrates that a rationalisation of the tourism industry isurgently required Consequently a grand strategy as well as a wide range of stra-tegic directions objectives and tasks are proposed for both Greece as an entityand its SMTEs Although no quantitative targets are set in this paper it isexpected that each destination will analyse its resources and adapt its strategicplanning accordingly

The GNTO is urged to rationalise its strategy and to draw up a Master Plan anda comprehensive strategy for the entire country and for each resort where a strategywould be adopted based on quantifiable objectives and tasks Extensive researchneeds to be undertaken by using credible measurement methodologies such asInput-Output models and multipliers analysis not only for the economic but alsofor the social cultural and environmental impacts (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Buhalis

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 473

amp Fletcher 1995) A holistic tourism management system is demanded to facilitatethe development and implementation of the tourism strategy through funds allo-cation and monitoring land use control and examination of tourism public- andprivate-sector practices A thorough examination of tourism impacts in eachregion would be a prerequisite for tourism planning as it will establish andprovide scientific backing to strategic targets Komilis (1994 71) explains thatalthough the various levels of planning (sectoral nationalEU spatial or regional)are not mutually exclusive but rather complementary the regional level planningis more suitable for drawing sustainable strategies especially for areas withdissimilar needs like the Greek destinations The regional planning should lsquocon-tribute to the maximisation of regional development benefits in a way that utilisesand mobilises the regional resource base realises regional inter-sectoral linkagesand is compatible with regional economic interests societal values and environ-mental assetsrsquo It should also take into consideration the uniqueness of insulareconomies as well as the cultural and environmental resources of each particularregion and the complexity of rural and urban functions The planning processshould encourage the complementarity and coexistence of economic activitiesrather than promote sectoral separation and single-sector developments In addi-tion it needs to improve the balance between regional self-sufficiency anddependence upon external inputs and finally it should promote integration withinthe European Union

The public sector has to play its long overdue role as regulator coordinatorinfrastructure provider and promoter of the destination while a multi-integrationof the tourism industry with all the involved bodies in the preparation distribu-tion and delivery of the tourism experience needs to be ensured (Wanhill 1993Hall 1994 Skoulas 1994 10 Stavrou 1988 46) The private sector also has an impor-tant role to play as it should improve the Greek tourism industry competitivenessby improving its managerial and labour force competencies enhancing the qualityof services designing appropriate marketing mixes to attract and satisfy targetmarkets and cooperating closely in order to achieve synergies and economies ofscale (Briassoulis 1993 300 Cooper amp Buhalis 1992) To reverse the vicious circleof decreasing quality is of critical importance for the Greek tourism industryBetter quality services would stimulate the competitiveness of the Greek tourismproduct strengthen its position in the international market provide principalswith distribution channel power enhance its customersrsquo willingness to pay andenable the industry to increase its prices improving the profitability at the microlevel and the economic impacts of tourism at the macrolevel Ultimately a diagonalintegration strategy for both Greek tourism and SMTEs should aim to delightconsumers enhance the long-term prosperity of SMTEs and improve the welfareof the host populations The Olympic Games in 2004 offer a unique opportunity toregenerate and rebrand Greek tourism a cause which the entire industry shouldchampion

The AuthorDimitrios Buhalis is Senior Lecturer and course leader MSc in tourism at theUniversity of Surrey He holds a BBA from the University of the Aegean as wellas an MSc and a PhD in tourism management from the University of Surrey Hisresearch interests focus on information systems and technology strategic

474 Current Issues in Tourism

management distribution channels of tourism destination management andplanning and destination integrated computer information reservation manage-ment systems

AcknowledgementsThe author would like to acknowledge Prof C Cooper and Prof J Fletcher for

their invaluable contribution to this research Financial support from the SurreyResearch Group ConTours Consultants as well as field research sponsorshipsby the University of Surrey the Greek National Tourism Organisation and theUniversity of the Aegean are gratefully appreciated

Note1 An earlier version of this paper was published as a monograph PlanningDevelop-

ment by the International Centre for Research and Studies in TourismAix-en-Provence France

CorrespondenceAny correspondence should be directed to Dr Dimitrios Buhalis Senior

Lecturer in Business Information Management SMSSS University of SurreyGuildford GU2 7XH UK (dbuhalissurreyacuk)

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Economy (November) 228ndash38Berry C (1981) The employee as customer Journal of Retail Banking 3 33ndash40Boniface B and Cooper C (1994) The Geography of Travel and Tourism (2nd edn) London

HeinemannBriassoulis H (1993) Tourism in Greece In W Pompl and P Lavery (eds) Tourism in

Europe Structures and Developments (pp285ndash301) Oxford CAB InternationalBuckley P and Papadopoulos S (1986) Marketing Greek tourism The planning process

Tourism Management 7 86ndash100Buhalis D (1991) Strategic marketing and management for the small and medium

tourism enterprises in the periphery of the European Community A case study for theAegean islands in Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Buhalis D (1994) Information and telecommunications technologies as a strategic tool forsmall and medium tourism enterprises in the contemporary business environment InA Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 254ndash75)England J Wiley and Sons

Buhalis D (1995) The impact of information telecommunications technologies on tourismdistribution channels Implications for the small and medium sized tourismenterprisesrsquo strategic management and marketing PhD Dissertation University ofSurrey Guildford

Buhalis D (2000a) Marketing the competitive destination of the future TourismManagement (Special Issue ndash The Competitive Destination) 21 (1) 97ndash116

Buhalis D (2000b) (forthcoming) Athens Tourism-Travel Intelligence LondonBuhalis D (2000c) Relationships in the distribution channel of tourism Conflicts between

hoteliers and tour operators in the Mediterranean region Journal of InternationalHospitality Leisure and Tourism Adminstration 1 (1) 113ndash39

Buhalis D and Diamantis D (2001 forthcoming) Tourism development andsustainability on the Greek archipelagos In G Apostolopoulos and D Ioannides (eds)Tourism in the Mediterranean Routledge

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 475

Buhalis D and Fletcher J (1995) Environmental impacts on tourism destinations Aneconomic analysis In H Coccosis and P Nijkamp (eds) Sustainable Tourism Development(pp 3ndash25) London Avebury

Camison C Bigne E and Monfort VM (1994) The Spanish tourism industry Analysisof its strategies and the efficacy and achievements gained from them In A Seaton et al(eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 442ndash52) England JWiley and Sons

Castelberg-Koulma M (1991) Greek women and tourism Womenrsquos co-operatives as analternative form of organisation In N Redclift and T Sinclair (eds) Working WomenInternational Perspectives on Labour and Gender Ideology (pp 197ndash223) LondonRoutledge

Chitiris L (1991) Hotel Management (in Greek) Athens InterbooksCoccosis H and Parprairis A (1992) Assessing the interactions between environment

and tourism Case study of the island of Mykonos Paper presented in the IV WorldCongress of Regional Science International University of Balearic Islands Palma deMallorca 26ndash9 May

Conway H (1996) Greece Travel Weekly 1308 39ndash43Cooper C and Buhalis D (1992) Strategic management and marketing of small and

medium sized tourism enterprises in the Greek Aegean islands In R Teare D Adamsand S Messenger (eds) Managing Projects in Hospitality Organisations (pp 101ndash25)London Cassell

Daskalantonakis N (1994) Quality ndash The future of tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (3 July)D9

Divanis A (1994b) Tourism policy Left on its own luck (in Greek) XENIA (October)4ndash5

Donatos G and Zairis P (1991) Seasonality of foreign tourism in the Greek islands ofCrete Annals of Tourism Research 18 515ndash19

Douvitsas P (1994) Marketing Greece through British tour operators A futureperspective MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Drakatos C (1987) Seasonal concentration of tourism in Greece Annals of Tourism Research14 582ndash6

EC (1993a) Microeconomic Analysis of the Tourism Sector A study by the pH Group forEuropean Commission DGXXIII (September) Report XXIII30394-EN BrusselsEuropean Commission

EC (1993b) Growth competitiveness employment The challenges and ways forward intothe 21st century Bulletin of the European Communities Supplement 693 (White Paper)Luxembourg

Economist (1993) Last Chance Sisyphus A survey of Greece Economist (22 May) 2ndash22EIU (1986) Greece (pp 45ndash60) International tourist reports National Report No 3EIU (1990) Greece (pp 45ndash62) International tourist reports National Report No 4EIU (1993) Greece ndash Country Profile 1992ndash1993 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEIU (1994) Greece ndash Country Profile 1994ndash1995 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEpilogi (1994) Economic review ndash The Greek Economy 1994 (in Greek) AthensEuromonitor (1992) Tourism in Greece Market Research Europe (25 May) 51ndash63Fayos-Sola E (1992) A Strategic Outlook for Regional Tourism Policy The White Paper

on Valencian Tourism Tourism Management 13 45ndash9Fotis J (1992) Vacational lifestyle segmentation of tourists on the island of Rhodes

Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey GuildfordGilbert D (1984) The need for countries to differentiate their tourist product and how to

do so Seminar papers for Ministers of Tourism and Directors of National TouristOrganisations Tourism Managing for Results University of Surrey Guildford

Gilbert D (1990) Strategic marketing planning for national tourism Tourist Review 45 (1)18ndash27

GNTO (1985a) Survey of attributes of foreign tourists 1984ndash1985 (in Greek) Greek NationalStatistical Services Athens GNTO

476 Current Issues in Tourism

GNTO (1985b) EOT-Tourism rsquo85 Development ndash Participation ndash Quality of Life (in Greek)Greek National Statistical Services Athens GNTO

GNTO (1989a) Annual report 1988 ndash Forecast 89 Towards Quality Athens GNTOGNTO (1989b) The study of tourism promotion With special reference to the measures to

increase Japanese tourists to Greece Draft final report Japan InternationalCooperation Agency

GNTO (1993) Tourism towards the 2000 (in Greek) Greek National Tourism OrganisationAthens GNTO

Hall M (1994) Tourism and Politics Policy Power and Place J Wiley and SonsHorwath (annual) The Greek Hotel Industry (in Greek) Annual reports Pireus HorwathJenner P and Smith C (1993) Tourism in the Mediterranean Research report London

Economist Intelligence UnitJosephides N (1993) Environmental Concern ndash Whatrsquos In It for the Tourism Industry (pp 51ndash6)

Proceedings of the conference Tourism and the environment Challenges and choicesfor the 1990rsquos 16ndash17 November 1992 Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre LondonBrussels European Union

Josephides N (1994) Tourism analysis Presentation in Philoxenia international tourismexhibition Thessaloniki Greece

Josephides N (1995) A sorry state for beautiful Greece Travel Weekly 1261 (5 April)11Kalogeropoulou H (1993) Greece ndash Prospects for the tourism industry within the context

of the European Single Market of 1993 Tourism Review 48 (1) 2ndash4Kassimati K Thanopoulou M and Tsartas P (1994) Womenrsquos Employment in the

Tourist Sector Study of the Greek Labour Market and Identification of Future ProspectsDGV Equal Opportunities Unit Document V40994-EN European CommissionBrussels

Komilis P (1987) Spatial analysis of tourism in Greece (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planningand Economic Research

Komilis P (1992) The spatial structure of tourism and physical planning practices inGreece Paper presented in conference Tourism and environment Issues ofpolicyplanningmanagement 23ndash4 October University of the Aegean Dept ofEnvironment Lesvos

Komilis P (1993) Values in the Tourism Planning and Policy Making Process (pp 224ndash9)Proceedings of the conference Values and the environment 23ndash4 September GuildfordUniversity of Surrey

Komilis P (1994) Tourism and sustainable regional development In A Seaton et al (eds)Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 65ndash73) England JWiley andSons

Konsolas N and Zacharatos G (1993) Regionalization of tourism activity in GreeceProblems and policies In H Briassoulis and J Van der Straaten (eds) Tourism andEnvironment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 57ndash65) Dordrecht Kluer AcademicPublisher

Kousis M (1989) Tourism and the family in a rural Cretan community Annals of TourismResearch 16 318ndash32

Kriebardis S and Marmagiolis I (1990) Tourism Activity in Greece Problems and Perspectives(pp 45ndash54) (in Greek) Economic Report of Commercial Bank AprilndashJune AthensCommercial Bank

Ktenas S (1994) Hoteliers ask for 15 to 20 increases for 1995 (in Greek) TO BHMA (3July) D9

Ktenas S (1996) Crisis in Greek tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (7 April) D16Leontidou L (1991) Greece Prospects and contradictions of tourism in the 1980rsquos In AM

Williams and GJ Shaw (eds) Tourism and Economic Development Western EuropeanExperiences (2nd edn) (pp 94ndash106) London Belhaven Press

Logothetis M (1990) The Economy of Dodekanisos During 1988ndash1989 Developments andPerspectives (in Greek) Rhodes Regional association of municipalities of Dodekanisos

Logothetis M (1992) Touristiki Sigkiria (in Greek) Rhodes Institute of Tourist and HotelResearch

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 477

Loukissas P (1977) The impact of tourism on regional development A comparativeanalysis of the Greek islands PhD Dissertation Cornell University USA

Loukissas P (1982) Tourismrsquos regional development impacts A comparative analysis ofthe Greek islands Annals of Tourism Research 9 523ndash43

Marinos P (1983) Small island tourism-the case of Zakynthos in Greece TourismManagement 4 212ndash15

Moore R (1992) From shepherds to shopkeepers The development of tourism in a centralGreek town PhD Dissertation University of California at Berkeley USA

Moore R (1995) Gender and alcohol use in a Greek tourist town Annals of Tourism Research22 300ndash13

Mourdoukoutas P (1988) Seasonal employment seasonal unemployment andunemployment compensation The case of the tourism industry of the Greek islandsAmerican Journal of Economics and Sociology 47 315ndash29

NSSG (l983) Tourism Statistics 1981 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (l985) Tourism Statistics 1982ndash1983 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1987) Tourism Statistics 1984ndash1985 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1990) Tourism Statistics 1986ndash1987 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1993) Tourism Statistics 1988ndash1990 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceOECD (1992) Greece Tourism Policy and International Tourism in OECD Member Countries (pp

70ndash8) Paris OECDOttaway M (1992) Turtle power Sunday Times Travel and Style (28 June)Ottaway M (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 1 Sunday Times (17 January)

57ndash59Panagiotopoulou R (1990) The problem and perspectives of the European insular regions

(in Greek) Working paper University of the Aegean ChiosPapadimitris G (1988) Short run and long run prospects of the Greek tourism industry

PhD Dissertation University of Manchester ManchesterPapadopoulos S (1985) An economic analysis of foreign tourism in Greece An

examination of the growth and structure of foreign tourism to Greece 1960ndash1984 with aplanning model and marketing policy recommendations PhD Thesis University ofBradford Management Centre Bradford

Papadopoulos S (1987) Strategic marketing techniques in international tourismInternational Marketing Review (summer) 71ndash84

Papadopoulos S (1988a) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (1) 29ndash30

Papadopoulos S (1988b) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (2) 24ndash7

Papadopoulos S (1989) Greek marketing strategies in the Europe tourism market ServiceIndustries Journal 9 297ndash314

Papadopoulos S and Mirza H (1985) Foreign tourism in Greece An economic analysisTourism Management 6 125ndash37

Papandropoulos A (1995) The crisis in tourism is evident (in Greek) OikonomikosTachydromos (29 June) 26ndash8

Papanikos G (1999) The year 2004 olympic games and their influence upon the Greektourism (in Greek) ITEP (Research Institute for Tourism) Athens

Paulopoulos P (1999) The Size and Dynamics of the Tourism Sector (in Greek) ResearchInstitute for Tourism Athens

Peterson C (1990) Greece tackles overbuilding in tourism areas EnvironmentalConservation 17 166ndash8

Plevris V (1995) Alarm bells from the Hellenic Federation of Hotels (in Greek) XENIA128 (May) 6ndash7

Poon A (1987) Information technology and innovation in international tourism ndashimplications for the Caribbean tourism industry PhD thesis Science Policy ResearchUnit University of Sussex Brighton

Poon A (1988) Flexible specialisation and small size ndash the case of Caribbean tourism DRCDiscussion Paper 57 SPRU Brighton University of Sussex

478 Current Issues in Tourism

Poon A (1989) Competitive strategies for new tourism In C Cooper (ed) Progress inTourism Recreation and Hospitality Management (vol 1) (pp 91ndash102) London BelhavenPress

Poon A (1990) Flexible specialisation at small size The case of Caribbean tourism WorldDevelopment 18 109ndash23

Poon A (1993) Tourism Technology and Competitive Strategies Oxford CAB InternationalPorter M (1980) Competitive Strategy Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors

New York Free PressPorter M (1985) Competitive Advantage Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance New

York Free PressPorter M (1990) The Competitive Advantage of Nations New York Free PressPrurier E Sweeney A and Geen A (1993) Tourism and the environment The case of

Zakynthos Tourism Management 14 137ndash9Psoinos P (1994a) Research on the foreign touristsrsquo attributes in Greece (in Greek) Athens

Greek National Tourism OrganisationPsoinos P (1994b) Research on the attributes of foreigners who have never visited Greece (in

Greek) Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationRichter-Papaconstantinou C (1992) Tourism development of Rhodes Cahiers du Tourisme

(Serie B) 67 Aix en Provence Centre des Hautes Eacutetudes TouristiquesRomanos A (1998) Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites (in Greek) Athens

Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites SASETE (1993) Tourism Developments and problems (in Greek) Athens Association of Greek

Tourism EnterprisesSezer H and Harrison A (1994) Tourism in Greece and Turkey An economic view for

planners In A Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposiumpp74ndash84 England Wiley and Sons

Skoulas N (1985) Holidays and travel in the year 2035 ndash Contribution of the NationalTourist Organisation of Greece SDI Schriftey Wirtschafts und Unternehmenspolitik 40181ndash99

Skoulas N (1994) Quality improvement of tourism services (in Greek) Paper presentedin the conference Competitiveness of tourism enterprises ndash the role of quality 1 AprilHoliday Inn Athens Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises

Smith C and Jenner P (1995) Greece International Tourism Reports 3 5ndash21Stavrou S (1978) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Kos Island (in Greek) Research and

Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationStavrou S (1979) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Mykonos and Naxos Islands (in

Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1980) Research on Tourism Awareness on the Islands Kalymnos and Leros (in Greek)Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1984) Tourism Development in Greece during 1969ndash1982 (in Greek) Research andDevelopment Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986a) Research for the Characteristics of Foreign Tourist Demand in Greece in theYears 8485 (in Greek) Research Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1986b) Research on the Tourism Awareness on Paros Santorini Kythira Islands (inGreek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986c) Critical Review of Tourism Activity in the Years 8385 (in Greek) Researchand Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1988) Tourism in the Northern Aegean Islands Presentation of GNTO for the TourismDevelopment of the Periphery (in Greek) Proceedings of the first conference for thedevelopment of the Northern Aegean islands Homereum cultural centre Chios 11November Chios Periphery of Northern Aegean islands

Stavrou S (1989a) GNTO Presentation for the Tourism Development Possibilities for theSouthern Aegean Islands (in Greek) Conference for the development of Southern Aegean

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 479

islands Syros 30 September ndash 2 OctoberStavrou S (1989b) The Contribution of the Development Law 126282 in the Development of the

Country (in Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A5 Athens GreekNational Tourism Organisation

Stereopoulos N (1995) It is regarded ideal it became problematic (in Greek) OikonomikosTachidromos (21 December) 151ndash3

Touloupas P (1996) Greece as a tourist destination for the British tour operators Ananalysis from a marketing perspective in the particular context of the United KingdomMSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Tourismos ke Oikonomia (1993) 20 years 1973ndash1993 (in Greek) Special Issue AthensTourismos ke Oikonomia (1994) ICAP tourism enterprises Drastic reduction of loses in 1993

(in Greek) December 14ndash15Touristiki Agora (various issues) (Monthly tourism industry periodical in Greek) Business

Press AthensTruett D and Truett L (1987) The response of tourism to international economic

conditions Greece Mexico and Spain Journal of Developing Areas 21 177ndash90Tsartas P (1989) Socioeconomic Impacts of Tourism Development in Cyclades Region with Special

Reference on Ios and Serifos Islands During 1950ndash1980 (in Greek) Athens National Centrefor Social Research

Tsartas P (1992) Socioeconomic impacts of tourism on two Greek isles Annals of TourismResearch 19 516ndash33

Van Den Bergh J (1993) Tourism development and natural environment Aneconomicndashecological model for the Sporades islands In H Briassoulis and J Van DerStraaten (eds) Tourism and Environment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 67ndash83)Dordrecht Kluer Academic Publishers

Velissariou E (1991) Die Wirtschaftlichen Effekte des Tourismus Dargestell am Beispiel Kretas(The Economic Impacts of Tourism on Crete) PhD Dissertation University of MunichFrankfurt Peter Lang

Vernikos N (1987) The study of Mediterranean small islands Emerging theoreticalissues Ekistics 54 (323ndash4) 101ndash9

Wanhill S (1993) Government organisations In C Cooper J Fletcher D Gilbert and SWanhill (eds) Tourism Principle and Practice (pp 145ndash60) London Pitman

Wickens D (1994) Consumption of the authentic The hedonistic tourist in Greece In ASeaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 819ndash25)England JWiley and Sons

Wickens E (2000) Rethinking touristsrsquo experiences In M Robinson et al (eds) MotivationsBehaviour and Tourist Types (pp 455ndash72) Business Education Publishers Sunderland

Wickers D (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 2 Sunday Times 57ndash510Wilkinson PF (1989) Strategies for tourism in islands microstates Annals of Tourism

Research 16 153ndash77XENIA (various issues) (Monthly bulletin of the Greek Hotel Chamber in Greek) AthensZacharatos G (1984) Tourismus und Wirtschafts-Struktur Dargestellt am Beispiel

Griechenlands Europaische Hochschulschriften Reihex Band 7 Frankfurt am MainZacharatos G (1986) Tourism consumption (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planning and

Economic ResearchZacharatos G (1988) The simplistic empiricism Tourism policy and the time of crisis

(1992) (in Greek) Sychrona Themata 11 (May) 21ndash6Zacharatos G (1989) The problems and perspectives of tourism in Greece (in Greek) In H

Katsoulis T Giannitsis and P Kazakos (eds) Politics and Society Economy and ForeignRelationships (pp 273ndash89) Athens Papazisis

Zacharatos G (1993) The necessity of multimedia use in the tourism education in Greece(in Greek) Paper presented at the international conference Overcomingisolation-telematics and regional development University of the Aegean Chios 30April ndash 2 May

480 Current Issues in Tourism

Page 33: Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challengescore.ac.uk/download/pdf/101686.pdf · Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challenges Dimitrios Buhalis School of Management

Human resources management is crucial in the delivery process of tourismproducts The concept of lsquointernal marketingrsquo where employees are perceivedand treated as lsquointernal customersrsquo has to be utilised in order to ensure theirsatisfaction As Berry (1981 34) states lsquothe satisfaction of the needs and wants ofthe internal customers can upgrade their capacity for satisfying the needs andwants of their external customersrsquo and as a consequence it can contribute to thecompetitiveness and profitability of Greek tourism and SMTEs Satisfactorysalary and working conditions are prerequisites for the well-being of SMTEsrsquoemployees Long-term relationships between employees and SMTEs minimiseturnover enabling a better performance while they reduce recruitment andtraining costs Empowerment would enable employees to be involved in themanagement of SMTEs and authorise them to respond more efficiently toconsumer requests while contributing to their job satisfaction Finally thesupport of the GNTO is vital for the long-term survival of SMTEs Apart fromthe improvement in infrastructure the GNTO is expected to hold the strategicresponsibility of the destination as well as to regulate the competition in orderto enable smaller enterprises to survive Incentive policies need to reflect thespecific requirements of each resort and enable development or improvementof certain types of enterprises The GNTO is also instrumental in attractingassistance from European development funds while it should also coordinatethe majority of Greek tourism promotional activity A promotional mix whichmaximises the effectiveness of the communication message needs to be drawnwhile budgets need to be available at the time consumers go through their deci-sion-making process in order to influence their choice of destination Finally theneed for the public sector to provide affordable financial resources for SMTEs ishighlighted by the EU (EC 1993b 73)

The third strategic direction for Greek tourism and SMTEs should be thesustainable development of destinations and local areas not only for the hostpopulation but also because this is vital for both consumer satisfaction and theprofitability of SMTEs Although in most cases SMTEs are unable to incorporatethese types of strategic objectives and tasks on their own they can initiate aframework of necessary actions for sustainable destination developmentthrough their associations Environmental protection is naturally the mostimportant strategic objective as consumersrsquo environmental consciousness hasbeen raised recently Carrying capacity limits should be identified and strictregulations and guidelines for tourism development need to be drawn A zoningsystem should be implemented in order to locate tourism activities according tothe geographical morphology of the destination In addition natural resourcesmanagement is necessary as tourism demand may exhaust the resources andespecially the water supplies The installation of sewage treatment systems andthe reduction of noise pollution should be considered especially for resortswhich suffer the consequences of these problems In addition infrastructureamelioration must be one of the primary objectives as it is an essential prerequi-site for both consumersrsquo satisfaction and SMTEsrsquo development The improve-ment of accessibility public services as well as telecommunications facilities is acrucial factor Transportation is also significant in increasing both consumersatisfaction and profitability of SMTEs as it determines whether consumers canaccess the destination easily while it also provides the first impression to tour-

472 Current Issues in Tourism

ists Improvements of timetables and services reliability increasing transporta-tion capacity and an enhancement of the fleet in terms of speed cleanliness andleisure facilities are all required Furthermore greater flexibility is needed bytransportation operators in order to meet demand needs Economic integrationcan improve the economic and social benefits of tourism in the region and theefficiency of SMTEs Ultimately tourism should be utilised as the catalyst andmajor stimulant for regional development Tourism enterprises should makeevery effort to use local raw materials and labour in order to maximise the multi-plier effects within Greece Diagonal integration of destinationsrsquo economy can beachieved by rearranging the goods and service production in order to supportthe tourism industry demand and thus minimise imports Finally SMTEs andtourism organisations need to offer a fair return-on-resources utilised back to thehost community A mechanism should be established in order to reinvest part ofthe revenues in the sustainability of resources provide services for the hostcommunity such as education training health services and generally ensureequity in distribution of wealth produced from local resources As the privatesector cannot be expected to behave altruistically towards the host communitythe GNTO and other public-sector departments should probably utilise regula-tion and taxation for this purpose

Conclusion Greek Tourism Needs a Long Overdue Master Planand Comprehensive Policy

The emerging international tourism competition the hitherto mass tourismorientation of the industry the transformation of demand the development ofthe volume of tourists visiting the dependence upon intermediaries for thedistribution of the tourism product in the major target markets the lack of a widerange of managerial skills by Greek tourism entrepreneurs and the lack of acomprehensive tourism policy or Master Plan by the public sector has led thecompetitiveness of Greece tourism to decline This has several unfavourableimplications for the profitability of the private sector as well as numerous nega-tive economic sociocultural and environmental impacts for the host populationAs a result the return on resources utilised for the production of Greek tourismservices is inadequate and the sustainability of Greece as a major tourism desti-nation is rapidly becoming doubtful Based on a strategic analysis the paper illu-minates the strategic weaknesses and structural problems of both the private andpublic sectors and demonstrates that a rationalisation of the tourism industry isurgently required Consequently a grand strategy as well as a wide range of stra-tegic directions objectives and tasks are proposed for both Greece as an entityand its SMTEs Although no quantitative targets are set in this paper it isexpected that each destination will analyse its resources and adapt its strategicplanning accordingly

The GNTO is urged to rationalise its strategy and to draw up a Master Plan anda comprehensive strategy for the entire country and for each resort where a strategywould be adopted based on quantifiable objectives and tasks Extensive researchneeds to be undertaken by using credible measurement methodologies such asInput-Output models and multipliers analysis not only for the economic but alsofor the social cultural and environmental impacts (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Buhalis

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 473

amp Fletcher 1995) A holistic tourism management system is demanded to facilitatethe development and implementation of the tourism strategy through funds allo-cation and monitoring land use control and examination of tourism public- andprivate-sector practices A thorough examination of tourism impacts in eachregion would be a prerequisite for tourism planning as it will establish andprovide scientific backing to strategic targets Komilis (1994 71) explains thatalthough the various levels of planning (sectoral nationalEU spatial or regional)are not mutually exclusive but rather complementary the regional level planningis more suitable for drawing sustainable strategies especially for areas withdissimilar needs like the Greek destinations The regional planning should lsquocon-tribute to the maximisation of regional development benefits in a way that utilisesand mobilises the regional resource base realises regional inter-sectoral linkagesand is compatible with regional economic interests societal values and environ-mental assetsrsquo It should also take into consideration the uniqueness of insulareconomies as well as the cultural and environmental resources of each particularregion and the complexity of rural and urban functions The planning processshould encourage the complementarity and coexistence of economic activitiesrather than promote sectoral separation and single-sector developments In addi-tion it needs to improve the balance between regional self-sufficiency anddependence upon external inputs and finally it should promote integration withinthe European Union

The public sector has to play its long overdue role as regulator coordinatorinfrastructure provider and promoter of the destination while a multi-integrationof the tourism industry with all the involved bodies in the preparation distribu-tion and delivery of the tourism experience needs to be ensured (Wanhill 1993Hall 1994 Skoulas 1994 10 Stavrou 1988 46) The private sector also has an impor-tant role to play as it should improve the Greek tourism industry competitivenessby improving its managerial and labour force competencies enhancing the qualityof services designing appropriate marketing mixes to attract and satisfy targetmarkets and cooperating closely in order to achieve synergies and economies ofscale (Briassoulis 1993 300 Cooper amp Buhalis 1992) To reverse the vicious circleof decreasing quality is of critical importance for the Greek tourism industryBetter quality services would stimulate the competitiveness of the Greek tourismproduct strengthen its position in the international market provide principalswith distribution channel power enhance its customersrsquo willingness to pay andenable the industry to increase its prices improving the profitability at the microlevel and the economic impacts of tourism at the macrolevel Ultimately a diagonalintegration strategy for both Greek tourism and SMTEs should aim to delightconsumers enhance the long-term prosperity of SMTEs and improve the welfareof the host populations The Olympic Games in 2004 offer a unique opportunity toregenerate and rebrand Greek tourism a cause which the entire industry shouldchampion

The AuthorDimitrios Buhalis is Senior Lecturer and course leader MSc in tourism at theUniversity of Surrey He holds a BBA from the University of the Aegean as wellas an MSc and a PhD in tourism management from the University of Surrey Hisresearch interests focus on information systems and technology strategic

474 Current Issues in Tourism

management distribution channels of tourism destination management andplanning and destination integrated computer information reservation manage-ment systems

AcknowledgementsThe author would like to acknowledge Prof C Cooper and Prof J Fletcher for

their invaluable contribution to this research Financial support from the SurreyResearch Group ConTours Consultants as well as field research sponsorshipsby the University of Surrey the Greek National Tourism Organisation and theUniversity of the Aegean are gratefully appreciated

Note1 An earlier version of this paper was published as a monograph PlanningDevelop-

ment by the International Centre for Research and Studies in TourismAix-en-Provence France

CorrespondenceAny correspondence should be directed to Dr Dimitrios Buhalis Senior

Lecturer in Business Information Management SMSSS University of SurreyGuildford GU2 7XH UK (dbuhalissurreyacuk)

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Economy (November) 228ndash38Berry C (1981) The employee as customer Journal of Retail Banking 3 33ndash40Boniface B and Cooper C (1994) The Geography of Travel and Tourism (2nd edn) London

HeinemannBriassoulis H (1993) Tourism in Greece In W Pompl and P Lavery (eds) Tourism in

Europe Structures and Developments (pp285ndash301) Oxford CAB InternationalBuckley P and Papadopoulos S (1986) Marketing Greek tourism The planning process

Tourism Management 7 86ndash100Buhalis D (1991) Strategic marketing and management for the small and medium

tourism enterprises in the periphery of the European Community A case study for theAegean islands in Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Buhalis D (1994) Information and telecommunications technologies as a strategic tool forsmall and medium tourism enterprises in the contemporary business environment InA Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 254ndash75)England J Wiley and Sons

Buhalis D (1995) The impact of information telecommunications technologies on tourismdistribution channels Implications for the small and medium sized tourismenterprisesrsquo strategic management and marketing PhD Dissertation University ofSurrey Guildford

Buhalis D (2000a) Marketing the competitive destination of the future TourismManagement (Special Issue ndash The Competitive Destination) 21 (1) 97ndash116

Buhalis D (2000b) (forthcoming) Athens Tourism-Travel Intelligence LondonBuhalis D (2000c) Relationships in the distribution channel of tourism Conflicts between

hoteliers and tour operators in the Mediterranean region Journal of InternationalHospitality Leisure and Tourism Adminstration 1 (1) 113ndash39

Buhalis D and Diamantis D (2001 forthcoming) Tourism development andsustainability on the Greek archipelagos In G Apostolopoulos and D Ioannides (eds)Tourism in the Mediterranean Routledge

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 475

Buhalis D and Fletcher J (1995) Environmental impacts on tourism destinations Aneconomic analysis In H Coccosis and P Nijkamp (eds) Sustainable Tourism Development(pp 3ndash25) London Avebury

Camison C Bigne E and Monfort VM (1994) The Spanish tourism industry Analysisof its strategies and the efficacy and achievements gained from them In A Seaton et al(eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 442ndash52) England JWiley and Sons

Castelberg-Koulma M (1991) Greek women and tourism Womenrsquos co-operatives as analternative form of organisation In N Redclift and T Sinclair (eds) Working WomenInternational Perspectives on Labour and Gender Ideology (pp 197ndash223) LondonRoutledge

Chitiris L (1991) Hotel Management (in Greek) Athens InterbooksCoccosis H and Parprairis A (1992) Assessing the interactions between environment

and tourism Case study of the island of Mykonos Paper presented in the IV WorldCongress of Regional Science International University of Balearic Islands Palma deMallorca 26ndash9 May

Conway H (1996) Greece Travel Weekly 1308 39ndash43Cooper C and Buhalis D (1992) Strategic management and marketing of small and

medium sized tourism enterprises in the Greek Aegean islands In R Teare D Adamsand S Messenger (eds) Managing Projects in Hospitality Organisations (pp 101ndash25)London Cassell

Daskalantonakis N (1994) Quality ndash The future of tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (3 July)D9

Divanis A (1994b) Tourism policy Left on its own luck (in Greek) XENIA (October)4ndash5

Donatos G and Zairis P (1991) Seasonality of foreign tourism in the Greek islands ofCrete Annals of Tourism Research 18 515ndash19

Douvitsas P (1994) Marketing Greece through British tour operators A futureperspective MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Drakatos C (1987) Seasonal concentration of tourism in Greece Annals of Tourism Research14 582ndash6

EC (1993a) Microeconomic Analysis of the Tourism Sector A study by the pH Group forEuropean Commission DGXXIII (September) Report XXIII30394-EN BrusselsEuropean Commission

EC (1993b) Growth competitiveness employment The challenges and ways forward intothe 21st century Bulletin of the European Communities Supplement 693 (White Paper)Luxembourg

Economist (1993) Last Chance Sisyphus A survey of Greece Economist (22 May) 2ndash22EIU (1986) Greece (pp 45ndash60) International tourist reports National Report No 3EIU (1990) Greece (pp 45ndash62) International tourist reports National Report No 4EIU (1993) Greece ndash Country Profile 1992ndash1993 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEIU (1994) Greece ndash Country Profile 1994ndash1995 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEpilogi (1994) Economic review ndash The Greek Economy 1994 (in Greek) AthensEuromonitor (1992) Tourism in Greece Market Research Europe (25 May) 51ndash63Fayos-Sola E (1992) A Strategic Outlook for Regional Tourism Policy The White Paper

on Valencian Tourism Tourism Management 13 45ndash9Fotis J (1992) Vacational lifestyle segmentation of tourists on the island of Rhodes

Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey GuildfordGilbert D (1984) The need for countries to differentiate their tourist product and how to

do so Seminar papers for Ministers of Tourism and Directors of National TouristOrganisations Tourism Managing for Results University of Surrey Guildford

Gilbert D (1990) Strategic marketing planning for national tourism Tourist Review 45 (1)18ndash27

GNTO (1985a) Survey of attributes of foreign tourists 1984ndash1985 (in Greek) Greek NationalStatistical Services Athens GNTO

476 Current Issues in Tourism

GNTO (1985b) EOT-Tourism rsquo85 Development ndash Participation ndash Quality of Life (in Greek)Greek National Statistical Services Athens GNTO

GNTO (1989a) Annual report 1988 ndash Forecast 89 Towards Quality Athens GNTOGNTO (1989b) The study of tourism promotion With special reference to the measures to

increase Japanese tourists to Greece Draft final report Japan InternationalCooperation Agency

GNTO (1993) Tourism towards the 2000 (in Greek) Greek National Tourism OrganisationAthens GNTO

Hall M (1994) Tourism and Politics Policy Power and Place J Wiley and SonsHorwath (annual) The Greek Hotel Industry (in Greek) Annual reports Pireus HorwathJenner P and Smith C (1993) Tourism in the Mediterranean Research report London

Economist Intelligence UnitJosephides N (1993) Environmental Concern ndash Whatrsquos In It for the Tourism Industry (pp 51ndash6)

Proceedings of the conference Tourism and the environment Challenges and choicesfor the 1990rsquos 16ndash17 November 1992 Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre LondonBrussels European Union

Josephides N (1994) Tourism analysis Presentation in Philoxenia international tourismexhibition Thessaloniki Greece

Josephides N (1995) A sorry state for beautiful Greece Travel Weekly 1261 (5 April)11Kalogeropoulou H (1993) Greece ndash Prospects for the tourism industry within the context

of the European Single Market of 1993 Tourism Review 48 (1) 2ndash4Kassimati K Thanopoulou M and Tsartas P (1994) Womenrsquos Employment in the

Tourist Sector Study of the Greek Labour Market and Identification of Future ProspectsDGV Equal Opportunities Unit Document V40994-EN European CommissionBrussels

Komilis P (1987) Spatial analysis of tourism in Greece (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planningand Economic Research

Komilis P (1992) The spatial structure of tourism and physical planning practices inGreece Paper presented in conference Tourism and environment Issues ofpolicyplanningmanagement 23ndash4 October University of the Aegean Dept ofEnvironment Lesvos

Komilis P (1993) Values in the Tourism Planning and Policy Making Process (pp 224ndash9)Proceedings of the conference Values and the environment 23ndash4 September GuildfordUniversity of Surrey

Komilis P (1994) Tourism and sustainable regional development In A Seaton et al (eds)Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 65ndash73) England JWiley andSons

Konsolas N and Zacharatos G (1993) Regionalization of tourism activity in GreeceProblems and policies In H Briassoulis and J Van der Straaten (eds) Tourism andEnvironment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 57ndash65) Dordrecht Kluer AcademicPublisher

Kousis M (1989) Tourism and the family in a rural Cretan community Annals of TourismResearch 16 318ndash32

Kriebardis S and Marmagiolis I (1990) Tourism Activity in Greece Problems and Perspectives(pp 45ndash54) (in Greek) Economic Report of Commercial Bank AprilndashJune AthensCommercial Bank

Ktenas S (1994) Hoteliers ask for 15 to 20 increases for 1995 (in Greek) TO BHMA (3July) D9

Ktenas S (1996) Crisis in Greek tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (7 April) D16Leontidou L (1991) Greece Prospects and contradictions of tourism in the 1980rsquos In AM

Williams and GJ Shaw (eds) Tourism and Economic Development Western EuropeanExperiences (2nd edn) (pp 94ndash106) London Belhaven Press

Logothetis M (1990) The Economy of Dodekanisos During 1988ndash1989 Developments andPerspectives (in Greek) Rhodes Regional association of municipalities of Dodekanisos

Logothetis M (1992) Touristiki Sigkiria (in Greek) Rhodes Institute of Tourist and HotelResearch

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 477

Loukissas P (1977) The impact of tourism on regional development A comparativeanalysis of the Greek islands PhD Dissertation Cornell University USA

Loukissas P (1982) Tourismrsquos regional development impacts A comparative analysis ofthe Greek islands Annals of Tourism Research 9 523ndash43

Marinos P (1983) Small island tourism-the case of Zakynthos in Greece TourismManagement 4 212ndash15

Moore R (1992) From shepherds to shopkeepers The development of tourism in a centralGreek town PhD Dissertation University of California at Berkeley USA

Moore R (1995) Gender and alcohol use in a Greek tourist town Annals of Tourism Research22 300ndash13

Mourdoukoutas P (1988) Seasonal employment seasonal unemployment andunemployment compensation The case of the tourism industry of the Greek islandsAmerican Journal of Economics and Sociology 47 315ndash29

NSSG (l983) Tourism Statistics 1981 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (l985) Tourism Statistics 1982ndash1983 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1987) Tourism Statistics 1984ndash1985 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1990) Tourism Statistics 1986ndash1987 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1993) Tourism Statistics 1988ndash1990 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceOECD (1992) Greece Tourism Policy and International Tourism in OECD Member Countries (pp

70ndash8) Paris OECDOttaway M (1992) Turtle power Sunday Times Travel and Style (28 June)Ottaway M (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 1 Sunday Times (17 January)

57ndash59Panagiotopoulou R (1990) The problem and perspectives of the European insular regions

(in Greek) Working paper University of the Aegean ChiosPapadimitris G (1988) Short run and long run prospects of the Greek tourism industry

PhD Dissertation University of Manchester ManchesterPapadopoulos S (1985) An economic analysis of foreign tourism in Greece An

examination of the growth and structure of foreign tourism to Greece 1960ndash1984 with aplanning model and marketing policy recommendations PhD Thesis University ofBradford Management Centre Bradford

Papadopoulos S (1987) Strategic marketing techniques in international tourismInternational Marketing Review (summer) 71ndash84

Papadopoulos S (1988a) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (1) 29ndash30

Papadopoulos S (1988b) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (2) 24ndash7

Papadopoulos S (1989) Greek marketing strategies in the Europe tourism market ServiceIndustries Journal 9 297ndash314

Papadopoulos S and Mirza H (1985) Foreign tourism in Greece An economic analysisTourism Management 6 125ndash37

Papandropoulos A (1995) The crisis in tourism is evident (in Greek) OikonomikosTachydromos (29 June) 26ndash8

Papanikos G (1999) The year 2004 olympic games and their influence upon the Greektourism (in Greek) ITEP (Research Institute for Tourism) Athens

Paulopoulos P (1999) The Size and Dynamics of the Tourism Sector (in Greek) ResearchInstitute for Tourism Athens

Peterson C (1990) Greece tackles overbuilding in tourism areas EnvironmentalConservation 17 166ndash8

Plevris V (1995) Alarm bells from the Hellenic Federation of Hotels (in Greek) XENIA128 (May) 6ndash7

Poon A (1987) Information technology and innovation in international tourism ndashimplications for the Caribbean tourism industry PhD thesis Science Policy ResearchUnit University of Sussex Brighton

Poon A (1988) Flexible specialisation and small size ndash the case of Caribbean tourism DRCDiscussion Paper 57 SPRU Brighton University of Sussex

478 Current Issues in Tourism

Poon A (1989) Competitive strategies for new tourism In C Cooper (ed) Progress inTourism Recreation and Hospitality Management (vol 1) (pp 91ndash102) London BelhavenPress

Poon A (1990) Flexible specialisation at small size The case of Caribbean tourism WorldDevelopment 18 109ndash23

Poon A (1993) Tourism Technology and Competitive Strategies Oxford CAB InternationalPorter M (1980) Competitive Strategy Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors

New York Free PressPorter M (1985) Competitive Advantage Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance New

York Free PressPorter M (1990) The Competitive Advantage of Nations New York Free PressPrurier E Sweeney A and Geen A (1993) Tourism and the environment The case of

Zakynthos Tourism Management 14 137ndash9Psoinos P (1994a) Research on the foreign touristsrsquo attributes in Greece (in Greek) Athens

Greek National Tourism OrganisationPsoinos P (1994b) Research on the attributes of foreigners who have never visited Greece (in

Greek) Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationRichter-Papaconstantinou C (1992) Tourism development of Rhodes Cahiers du Tourisme

(Serie B) 67 Aix en Provence Centre des Hautes Eacutetudes TouristiquesRomanos A (1998) Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites (in Greek) Athens

Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites SASETE (1993) Tourism Developments and problems (in Greek) Athens Association of Greek

Tourism EnterprisesSezer H and Harrison A (1994) Tourism in Greece and Turkey An economic view for

planners In A Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposiumpp74ndash84 England Wiley and Sons

Skoulas N (1985) Holidays and travel in the year 2035 ndash Contribution of the NationalTourist Organisation of Greece SDI Schriftey Wirtschafts und Unternehmenspolitik 40181ndash99

Skoulas N (1994) Quality improvement of tourism services (in Greek) Paper presentedin the conference Competitiveness of tourism enterprises ndash the role of quality 1 AprilHoliday Inn Athens Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises

Smith C and Jenner P (1995) Greece International Tourism Reports 3 5ndash21Stavrou S (1978) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Kos Island (in Greek) Research and

Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationStavrou S (1979) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Mykonos and Naxos Islands (in

Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1980) Research on Tourism Awareness on the Islands Kalymnos and Leros (in Greek)Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1984) Tourism Development in Greece during 1969ndash1982 (in Greek) Research andDevelopment Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986a) Research for the Characteristics of Foreign Tourist Demand in Greece in theYears 8485 (in Greek) Research Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1986b) Research on the Tourism Awareness on Paros Santorini Kythira Islands (inGreek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986c) Critical Review of Tourism Activity in the Years 8385 (in Greek) Researchand Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1988) Tourism in the Northern Aegean Islands Presentation of GNTO for the TourismDevelopment of the Periphery (in Greek) Proceedings of the first conference for thedevelopment of the Northern Aegean islands Homereum cultural centre Chios 11November Chios Periphery of Northern Aegean islands

Stavrou S (1989a) GNTO Presentation for the Tourism Development Possibilities for theSouthern Aegean Islands (in Greek) Conference for the development of Southern Aegean

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 479

islands Syros 30 September ndash 2 OctoberStavrou S (1989b) The Contribution of the Development Law 126282 in the Development of the

Country (in Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A5 Athens GreekNational Tourism Organisation

Stereopoulos N (1995) It is regarded ideal it became problematic (in Greek) OikonomikosTachidromos (21 December) 151ndash3

Touloupas P (1996) Greece as a tourist destination for the British tour operators Ananalysis from a marketing perspective in the particular context of the United KingdomMSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Tourismos ke Oikonomia (1993) 20 years 1973ndash1993 (in Greek) Special Issue AthensTourismos ke Oikonomia (1994) ICAP tourism enterprises Drastic reduction of loses in 1993

(in Greek) December 14ndash15Touristiki Agora (various issues) (Monthly tourism industry periodical in Greek) Business

Press AthensTruett D and Truett L (1987) The response of tourism to international economic

conditions Greece Mexico and Spain Journal of Developing Areas 21 177ndash90Tsartas P (1989) Socioeconomic Impacts of Tourism Development in Cyclades Region with Special

Reference on Ios and Serifos Islands During 1950ndash1980 (in Greek) Athens National Centrefor Social Research

Tsartas P (1992) Socioeconomic impacts of tourism on two Greek isles Annals of TourismResearch 19 516ndash33

Van Den Bergh J (1993) Tourism development and natural environment Aneconomicndashecological model for the Sporades islands In H Briassoulis and J Van DerStraaten (eds) Tourism and Environment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 67ndash83)Dordrecht Kluer Academic Publishers

Velissariou E (1991) Die Wirtschaftlichen Effekte des Tourismus Dargestell am Beispiel Kretas(The Economic Impacts of Tourism on Crete) PhD Dissertation University of MunichFrankfurt Peter Lang

Vernikos N (1987) The study of Mediterranean small islands Emerging theoreticalissues Ekistics 54 (323ndash4) 101ndash9

Wanhill S (1993) Government organisations In C Cooper J Fletcher D Gilbert and SWanhill (eds) Tourism Principle and Practice (pp 145ndash60) London Pitman

Wickens D (1994) Consumption of the authentic The hedonistic tourist in Greece In ASeaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 819ndash25)England JWiley and Sons

Wickens E (2000) Rethinking touristsrsquo experiences In M Robinson et al (eds) MotivationsBehaviour and Tourist Types (pp 455ndash72) Business Education Publishers Sunderland

Wickers D (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 2 Sunday Times 57ndash510Wilkinson PF (1989) Strategies for tourism in islands microstates Annals of Tourism

Research 16 153ndash77XENIA (various issues) (Monthly bulletin of the Greek Hotel Chamber in Greek) AthensZacharatos G (1984) Tourismus und Wirtschafts-Struktur Dargestellt am Beispiel

Griechenlands Europaische Hochschulschriften Reihex Band 7 Frankfurt am MainZacharatos G (1986) Tourism consumption (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planning and

Economic ResearchZacharatos G (1988) The simplistic empiricism Tourism policy and the time of crisis

(1992) (in Greek) Sychrona Themata 11 (May) 21ndash6Zacharatos G (1989) The problems and perspectives of tourism in Greece (in Greek) In H

Katsoulis T Giannitsis and P Kazakos (eds) Politics and Society Economy and ForeignRelationships (pp 273ndash89) Athens Papazisis

Zacharatos G (1993) The necessity of multimedia use in the tourism education in Greece(in Greek) Paper presented at the international conference Overcomingisolation-telematics and regional development University of the Aegean Chios 30April ndash 2 May

480 Current Issues in Tourism

Page 34: Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challengescore.ac.uk/download/pdf/101686.pdf · Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challenges Dimitrios Buhalis School of Management

ists Improvements of timetables and services reliability increasing transporta-tion capacity and an enhancement of the fleet in terms of speed cleanliness andleisure facilities are all required Furthermore greater flexibility is needed bytransportation operators in order to meet demand needs Economic integrationcan improve the economic and social benefits of tourism in the region and theefficiency of SMTEs Ultimately tourism should be utilised as the catalyst andmajor stimulant for regional development Tourism enterprises should makeevery effort to use local raw materials and labour in order to maximise the multi-plier effects within Greece Diagonal integration of destinationsrsquo economy can beachieved by rearranging the goods and service production in order to supportthe tourism industry demand and thus minimise imports Finally SMTEs andtourism organisations need to offer a fair return-on-resources utilised back to thehost community A mechanism should be established in order to reinvest part ofthe revenues in the sustainability of resources provide services for the hostcommunity such as education training health services and generally ensureequity in distribution of wealth produced from local resources As the privatesector cannot be expected to behave altruistically towards the host communitythe GNTO and other public-sector departments should probably utilise regula-tion and taxation for this purpose

Conclusion Greek Tourism Needs a Long Overdue Master Planand Comprehensive Policy

The emerging international tourism competition the hitherto mass tourismorientation of the industry the transformation of demand the development ofthe volume of tourists visiting the dependence upon intermediaries for thedistribution of the tourism product in the major target markets the lack of a widerange of managerial skills by Greek tourism entrepreneurs and the lack of acomprehensive tourism policy or Master Plan by the public sector has led thecompetitiveness of Greece tourism to decline This has several unfavourableimplications for the profitability of the private sector as well as numerous nega-tive economic sociocultural and environmental impacts for the host populationAs a result the return on resources utilised for the production of Greek tourismservices is inadequate and the sustainability of Greece as a major tourism desti-nation is rapidly becoming doubtful Based on a strategic analysis the paper illu-minates the strategic weaknesses and structural problems of both the private andpublic sectors and demonstrates that a rationalisation of the tourism industry isurgently required Consequently a grand strategy as well as a wide range of stra-tegic directions objectives and tasks are proposed for both Greece as an entityand its SMTEs Although no quantitative targets are set in this paper it isexpected that each destination will analyse its resources and adapt its strategicplanning accordingly

The GNTO is urged to rationalise its strategy and to draw up a Master Plan anda comprehensive strategy for the entire country and for each resort where a strategywould be adopted based on quantifiable objectives and tasks Extensive researchneeds to be undertaken by using credible measurement methodologies such asInput-Output models and multipliers analysis not only for the economic but alsofor the social cultural and environmental impacts (Zacharatos 1988 1989 Buhalis

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 473

amp Fletcher 1995) A holistic tourism management system is demanded to facilitatethe development and implementation of the tourism strategy through funds allo-cation and monitoring land use control and examination of tourism public- andprivate-sector practices A thorough examination of tourism impacts in eachregion would be a prerequisite for tourism planning as it will establish andprovide scientific backing to strategic targets Komilis (1994 71) explains thatalthough the various levels of planning (sectoral nationalEU spatial or regional)are not mutually exclusive but rather complementary the regional level planningis more suitable for drawing sustainable strategies especially for areas withdissimilar needs like the Greek destinations The regional planning should lsquocon-tribute to the maximisation of regional development benefits in a way that utilisesand mobilises the regional resource base realises regional inter-sectoral linkagesand is compatible with regional economic interests societal values and environ-mental assetsrsquo It should also take into consideration the uniqueness of insulareconomies as well as the cultural and environmental resources of each particularregion and the complexity of rural and urban functions The planning processshould encourage the complementarity and coexistence of economic activitiesrather than promote sectoral separation and single-sector developments In addi-tion it needs to improve the balance between regional self-sufficiency anddependence upon external inputs and finally it should promote integration withinthe European Union

The public sector has to play its long overdue role as regulator coordinatorinfrastructure provider and promoter of the destination while a multi-integrationof the tourism industry with all the involved bodies in the preparation distribu-tion and delivery of the tourism experience needs to be ensured (Wanhill 1993Hall 1994 Skoulas 1994 10 Stavrou 1988 46) The private sector also has an impor-tant role to play as it should improve the Greek tourism industry competitivenessby improving its managerial and labour force competencies enhancing the qualityof services designing appropriate marketing mixes to attract and satisfy targetmarkets and cooperating closely in order to achieve synergies and economies ofscale (Briassoulis 1993 300 Cooper amp Buhalis 1992) To reverse the vicious circleof decreasing quality is of critical importance for the Greek tourism industryBetter quality services would stimulate the competitiveness of the Greek tourismproduct strengthen its position in the international market provide principalswith distribution channel power enhance its customersrsquo willingness to pay andenable the industry to increase its prices improving the profitability at the microlevel and the economic impacts of tourism at the macrolevel Ultimately a diagonalintegration strategy for both Greek tourism and SMTEs should aim to delightconsumers enhance the long-term prosperity of SMTEs and improve the welfareof the host populations The Olympic Games in 2004 offer a unique opportunity toregenerate and rebrand Greek tourism a cause which the entire industry shouldchampion

The AuthorDimitrios Buhalis is Senior Lecturer and course leader MSc in tourism at theUniversity of Surrey He holds a BBA from the University of the Aegean as wellas an MSc and a PhD in tourism management from the University of Surrey Hisresearch interests focus on information systems and technology strategic

474 Current Issues in Tourism

management distribution channels of tourism destination management andplanning and destination integrated computer information reservation manage-ment systems

AcknowledgementsThe author would like to acknowledge Prof C Cooper and Prof J Fletcher for

their invaluable contribution to this research Financial support from the SurreyResearch Group ConTours Consultants as well as field research sponsorshipsby the University of Surrey the Greek National Tourism Organisation and theUniversity of the Aegean are gratefully appreciated

Note1 An earlier version of this paper was published as a monograph PlanningDevelop-

ment by the International Centre for Research and Studies in TourismAix-en-Provence France

CorrespondenceAny correspondence should be directed to Dr Dimitrios Buhalis Senior

Lecturer in Business Information Management SMSSS University of SurreyGuildford GU2 7XH UK (dbuhalissurreyacuk)

ReferencesApostolopoulos T (1990) New strategy of tourism development (in Greek) Tourism and

Economy (November) 228ndash38Berry C (1981) The employee as customer Journal of Retail Banking 3 33ndash40Boniface B and Cooper C (1994) The Geography of Travel and Tourism (2nd edn) London

HeinemannBriassoulis H (1993) Tourism in Greece In W Pompl and P Lavery (eds) Tourism in

Europe Structures and Developments (pp285ndash301) Oxford CAB InternationalBuckley P and Papadopoulos S (1986) Marketing Greek tourism The planning process

Tourism Management 7 86ndash100Buhalis D (1991) Strategic marketing and management for the small and medium

tourism enterprises in the periphery of the European Community A case study for theAegean islands in Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Buhalis D (1994) Information and telecommunications technologies as a strategic tool forsmall and medium tourism enterprises in the contemporary business environment InA Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 254ndash75)England J Wiley and Sons

Buhalis D (1995) The impact of information telecommunications technologies on tourismdistribution channels Implications for the small and medium sized tourismenterprisesrsquo strategic management and marketing PhD Dissertation University ofSurrey Guildford

Buhalis D (2000a) Marketing the competitive destination of the future TourismManagement (Special Issue ndash The Competitive Destination) 21 (1) 97ndash116

Buhalis D (2000b) (forthcoming) Athens Tourism-Travel Intelligence LondonBuhalis D (2000c) Relationships in the distribution channel of tourism Conflicts between

hoteliers and tour operators in the Mediterranean region Journal of InternationalHospitality Leisure and Tourism Adminstration 1 (1) 113ndash39

Buhalis D and Diamantis D (2001 forthcoming) Tourism development andsustainability on the Greek archipelagos In G Apostolopoulos and D Ioannides (eds)Tourism in the Mediterranean Routledge

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 475

Buhalis D and Fletcher J (1995) Environmental impacts on tourism destinations Aneconomic analysis In H Coccosis and P Nijkamp (eds) Sustainable Tourism Development(pp 3ndash25) London Avebury

Camison C Bigne E and Monfort VM (1994) The Spanish tourism industry Analysisof its strategies and the efficacy and achievements gained from them In A Seaton et al(eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 442ndash52) England JWiley and Sons

Castelberg-Koulma M (1991) Greek women and tourism Womenrsquos co-operatives as analternative form of organisation In N Redclift and T Sinclair (eds) Working WomenInternational Perspectives on Labour and Gender Ideology (pp 197ndash223) LondonRoutledge

Chitiris L (1991) Hotel Management (in Greek) Athens InterbooksCoccosis H and Parprairis A (1992) Assessing the interactions between environment

and tourism Case study of the island of Mykonos Paper presented in the IV WorldCongress of Regional Science International University of Balearic Islands Palma deMallorca 26ndash9 May

Conway H (1996) Greece Travel Weekly 1308 39ndash43Cooper C and Buhalis D (1992) Strategic management and marketing of small and

medium sized tourism enterprises in the Greek Aegean islands In R Teare D Adamsand S Messenger (eds) Managing Projects in Hospitality Organisations (pp 101ndash25)London Cassell

Daskalantonakis N (1994) Quality ndash The future of tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (3 July)D9

Divanis A (1994b) Tourism policy Left on its own luck (in Greek) XENIA (October)4ndash5

Donatos G and Zairis P (1991) Seasonality of foreign tourism in the Greek islands ofCrete Annals of Tourism Research 18 515ndash19

Douvitsas P (1994) Marketing Greece through British tour operators A futureperspective MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Drakatos C (1987) Seasonal concentration of tourism in Greece Annals of Tourism Research14 582ndash6

EC (1993a) Microeconomic Analysis of the Tourism Sector A study by the pH Group forEuropean Commission DGXXIII (September) Report XXIII30394-EN BrusselsEuropean Commission

EC (1993b) Growth competitiveness employment The challenges and ways forward intothe 21st century Bulletin of the European Communities Supplement 693 (White Paper)Luxembourg

Economist (1993) Last Chance Sisyphus A survey of Greece Economist (22 May) 2ndash22EIU (1986) Greece (pp 45ndash60) International tourist reports National Report No 3EIU (1990) Greece (pp 45ndash62) International tourist reports National Report No 4EIU (1993) Greece ndash Country Profile 1992ndash1993 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEIU (1994) Greece ndash Country Profile 1994ndash1995 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEpilogi (1994) Economic review ndash The Greek Economy 1994 (in Greek) AthensEuromonitor (1992) Tourism in Greece Market Research Europe (25 May) 51ndash63Fayos-Sola E (1992) A Strategic Outlook for Regional Tourism Policy The White Paper

on Valencian Tourism Tourism Management 13 45ndash9Fotis J (1992) Vacational lifestyle segmentation of tourists on the island of Rhodes

Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey GuildfordGilbert D (1984) The need for countries to differentiate their tourist product and how to

do so Seminar papers for Ministers of Tourism and Directors of National TouristOrganisations Tourism Managing for Results University of Surrey Guildford

Gilbert D (1990) Strategic marketing planning for national tourism Tourist Review 45 (1)18ndash27

GNTO (1985a) Survey of attributes of foreign tourists 1984ndash1985 (in Greek) Greek NationalStatistical Services Athens GNTO

476 Current Issues in Tourism

GNTO (1985b) EOT-Tourism rsquo85 Development ndash Participation ndash Quality of Life (in Greek)Greek National Statistical Services Athens GNTO

GNTO (1989a) Annual report 1988 ndash Forecast 89 Towards Quality Athens GNTOGNTO (1989b) The study of tourism promotion With special reference to the measures to

increase Japanese tourists to Greece Draft final report Japan InternationalCooperation Agency

GNTO (1993) Tourism towards the 2000 (in Greek) Greek National Tourism OrganisationAthens GNTO

Hall M (1994) Tourism and Politics Policy Power and Place J Wiley and SonsHorwath (annual) The Greek Hotel Industry (in Greek) Annual reports Pireus HorwathJenner P and Smith C (1993) Tourism in the Mediterranean Research report London

Economist Intelligence UnitJosephides N (1993) Environmental Concern ndash Whatrsquos In It for the Tourism Industry (pp 51ndash6)

Proceedings of the conference Tourism and the environment Challenges and choicesfor the 1990rsquos 16ndash17 November 1992 Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre LondonBrussels European Union

Josephides N (1994) Tourism analysis Presentation in Philoxenia international tourismexhibition Thessaloniki Greece

Josephides N (1995) A sorry state for beautiful Greece Travel Weekly 1261 (5 April)11Kalogeropoulou H (1993) Greece ndash Prospects for the tourism industry within the context

of the European Single Market of 1993 Tourism Review 48 (1) 2ndash4Kassimati K Thanopoulou M and Tsartas P (1994) Womenrsquos Employment in the

Tourist Sector Study of the Greek Labour Market and Identification of Future ProspectsDGV Equal Opportunities Unit Document V40994-EN European CommissionBrussels

Komilis P (1987) Spatial analysis of tourism in Greece (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planningand Economic Research

Komilis P (1992) The spatial structure of tourism and physical planning practices inGreece Paper presented in conference Tourism and environment Issues ofpolicyplanningmanagement 23ndash4 October University of the Aegean Dept ofEnvironment Lesvos

Komilis P (1993) Values in the Tourism Planning and Policy Making Process (pp 224ndash9)Proceedings of the conference Values and the environment 23ndash4 September GuildfordUniversity of Surrey

Komilis P (1994) Tourism and sustainable regional development In A Seaton et al (eds)Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 65ndash73) England JWiley andSons

Konsolas N and Zacharatos G (1993) Regionalization of tourism activity in GreeceProblems and policies In H Briassoulis and J Van der Straaten (eds) Tourism andEnvironment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 57ndash65) Dordrecht Kluer AcademicPublisher

Kousis M (1989) Tourism and the family in a rural Cretan community Annals of TourismResearch 16 318ndash32

Kriebardis S and Marmagiolis I (1990) Tourism Activity in Greece Problems and Perspectives(pp 45ndash54) (in Greek) Economic Report of Commercial Bank AprilndashJune AthensCommercial Bank

Ktenas S (1994) Hoteliers ask for 15 to 20 increases for 1995 (in Greek) TO BHMA (3July) D9

Ktenas S (1996) Crisis in Greek tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (7 April) D16Leontidou L (1991) Greece Prospects and contradictions of tourism in the 1980rsquos In AM

Williams and GJ Shaw (eds) Tourism and Economic Development Western EuropeanExperiences (2nd edn) (pp 94ndash106) London Belhaven Press

Logothetis M (1990) The Economy of Dodekanisos During 1988ndash1989 Developments andPerspectives (in Greek) Rhodes Regional association of municipalities of Dodekanisos

Logothetis M (1992) Touristiki Sigkiria (in Greek) Rhodes Institute of Tourist and HotelResearch

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 477

Loukissas P (1977) The impact of tourism on regional development A comparativeanalysis of the Greek islands PhD Dissertation Cornell University USA

Loukissas P (1982) Tourismrsquos regional development impacts A comparative analysis ofthe Greek islands Annals of Tourism Research 9 523ndash43

Marinos P (1983) Small island tourism-the case of Zakynthos in Greece TourismManagement 4 212ndash15

Moore R (1992) From shepherds to shopkeepers The development of tourism in a centralGreek town PhD Dissertation University of California at Berkeley USA

Moore R (1995) Gender and alcohol use in a Greek tourist town Annals of Tourism Research22 300ndash13

Mourdoukoutas P (1988) Seasonal employment seasonal unemployment andunemployment compensation The case of the tourism industry of the Greek islandsAmerican Journal of Economics and Sociology 47 315ndash29

NSSG (l983) Tourism Statistics 1981 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (l985) Tourism Statistics 1982ndash1983 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1987) Tourism Statistics 1984ndash1985 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1990) Tourism Statistics 1986ndash1987 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1993) Tourism Statistics 1988ndash1990 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceOECD (1992) Greece Tourism Policy and International Tourism in OECD Member Countries (pp

70ndash8) Paris OECDOttaway M (1992) Turtle power Sunday Times Travel and Style (28 June)Ottaway M (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 1 Sunday Times (17 January)

57ndash59Panagiotopoulou R (1990) The problem and perspectives of the European insular regions

(in Greek) Working paper University of the Aegean ChiosPapadimitris G (1988) Short run and long run prospects of the Greek tourism industry

PhD Dissertation University of Manchester ManchesterPapadopoulos S (1985) An economic analysis of foreign tourism in Greece An

examination of the growth and structure of foreign tourism to Greece 1960ndash1984 with aplanning model and marketing policy recommendations PhD Thesis University ofBradford Management Centre Bradford

Papadopoulos S (1987) Strategic marketing techniques in international tourismInternational Marketing Review (summer) 71ndash84

Papadopoulos S (1988a) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (1) 29ndash30

Papadopoulos S (1988b) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (2) 24ndash7

Papadopoulos S (1989) Greek marketing strategies in the Europe tourism market ServiceIndustries Journal 9 297ndash314

Papadopoulos S and Mirza H (1985) Foreign tourism in Greece An economic analysisTourism Management 6 125ndash37

Papandropoulos A (1995) The crisis in tourism is evident (in Greek) OikonomikosTachydromos (29 June) 26ndash8

Papanikos G (1999) The year 2004 olympic games and their influence upon the Greektourism (in Greek) ITEP (Research Institute for Tourism) Athens

Paulopoulos P (1999) The Size and Dynamics of the Tourism Sector (in Greek) ResearchInstitute for Tourism Athens

Peterson C (1990) Greece tackles overbuilding in tourism areas EnvironmentalConservation 17 166ndash8

Plevris V (1995) Alarm bells from the Hellenic Federation of Hotels (in Greek) XENIA128 (May) 6ndash7

Poon A (1987) Information technology and innovation in international tourism ndashimplications for the Caribbean tourism industry PhD thesis Science Policy ResearchUnit University of Sussex Brighton

Poon A (1988) Flexible specialisation and small size ndash the case of Caribbean tourism DRCDiscussion Paper 57 SPRU Brighton University of Sussex

478 Current Issues in Tourism

Poon A (1989) Competitive strategies for new tourism In C Cooper (ed) Progress inTourism Recreation and Hospitality Management (vol 1) (pp 91ndash102) London BelhavenPress

Poon A (1990) Flexible specialisation at small size The case of Caribbean tourism WorldDevelopment 18 109ndash23

Poon A (1993) Tourism Technology and Competitive Strategies Oxford CAB InternationalPorter M (1980) Competitive Strategy Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors

New York Free PressPorter M (1985) Competitive Advantage Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance New

York Free PressPorter M (1990) The Competitive Advantage of Nations New York Free PressPrurier E Sweeney A and Geen A (1993) Tourism and the environment The case of

Zakynthos Tourism Management 14 137ndash9Psoinos P (1994a) Research on the foreign touristsrsquo attributes in Greece (in Greek) Athens

Greek National Tourism OrganisationPsoinos P (1994b) Research on the attributes of foreigners who have never visited Greece (in

Greek) Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationRichter-Papaconstantinou C (1992) Tourism development of Rhodes Cahiers du Tourisme

(Serie B) 67 Aix en Provence Centre des Hautes Eacutetudes TouristiquesRomanos A (1998) Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites (in Greek) Athens

Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites SASETE (1993) Tourism Developments and problems (in Greek) Athens Association of Greek

Tourism EnterprisesSezer H and Harrison A (1994) Tourism in Greece and Turkey An economic view for

planners In A Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposiumpp74ndash84 England Wiley and Sons

Skoulas N (1985) Holidays and travel in the year 2035 ndash Contribution of the NationalTourist Organisation of Greece SDI Schriftey Wirtschafts und Unternehmenspolitik 40181ndash99

Skoulas N (1994) Quality improvement of tourism services (in Greek) Paper presentedin the conference Competitiveness of tourism enterprises ndash the role of quality 1 AprilHoliday Inn Athens Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises

Smith C and Jenner P (1995) Greece International Tourism Reports 3 5ndash21Stavrou S (1978) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Kos Island (in Greek) Research and

Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationStavrou S (1979) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Mykonos and Naxos Islands (in

Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1980) Research on Tourism Awareness on the Islands Kalymnos and Leros (in Greek)Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1984) Tourism Development in Greece during 1969ndash1982 (in Greek) Research andDevelopment Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986a) Research for the Characteristics of Foreign Tourist Demand in Greece in theYears 8485 (in Greek) Research Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1986b) Research on the Tourism Awareness on Paros Santorini Kythira Islands (inGreek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986c) Critical Review of Tourism Activity in the Years 8385 (in Greek) Researchand Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1988) Tourism in the Northern Aegean Islands Presentation of GNTO for the TourismDevelopment of the Periphery (in Greek) Proceedings of the first conference for thedevelopment of the Northern Aegean islands Homereum cultural centre Chios 11November Chios Periphery of Northern Aegean islands

Stavrou S (1989a) GNTO Presentation for the Tourism Development Possibilities for theSouthern Aegean Islands (in Greek) Conference for the development of Southern Aegean

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 479

islands Syros 30 September ndash 2 OctoberStavrou S (1989b) The Contribution of the Development Law 126282 in the Development of the

Country (in Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A5 Athens GreekNational Tourism Organisation

Stereopoulos N (1995) It is regarded ideal it became problematic (in Greek) OikonomikosTachidromos (21 December) 151ndash3

Touloupas P (1996) Greece as a tourist destination for the British tour operators Ananalysis from a marketing perspective in the particular context of the United KingdomMSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Tourismos ke Oikonomia (1993) 20 years 1973ndash1993 (in Greek) Special Issue AthensTourismos ke Oikonomia (1994) ICAP tourism enterprises Drastic reduction of loses in 1993

(in Greek) December 14ndash15Touristiki Agora (various issues) (Monthly tourism industry periodical in Greek) Business

Press AthensTruett D and Truett L (1987) The response of tourism to international economic

conditions Greece Mexico and Spain Journal of Developing Areas 21 177ndash90Tsartas P (1989) Socioeconomic Impacts of Tourism Development in Cyclades Region with Special

Reference on Ios and Serifos Islands During 1950ndash1980 (in Greek) Athens National Centrefor Social Research

Tsartas P (1992) Socioeconomic impacts of tourism on two Greek isles Annals of TourismResearch 19 516ndash33

Van Den Bergh J (1993) Tourism development and natural environment Aneconomicndashecological model for the Sporades islands In H Briassoulis and J Van DerStraaten (eds) Tourism and Environment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 67ndash83)Dordrecht Kluer Academic Publishers

Velissariou E (1991) Die Wirtschaftlichen Effekte des Tourismus Dargestell am Beispiel Kretas(The Economic Impacts of Tourism on Crete) PhD Dissertation University of MunichFrankfurt Peter Lang

Vernikos N (1987) The study of Mediterranean small islands Emerging theoreticalissues Ekistics 54 (323ndash4) 101ndash9

Wanhill S (1993) Government organisations In C Cooper J Fletcher D Gilbert and SWanhill (eds) Tourism Principle and Practice (pp 145ndash60) London Pitman

Wickens D (1994) Consumption of the authentic The hedonistic tourist in Greece In ASeaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 819ndash25)England JWiley and Sons

Wickens E (2000) Rethinking touristsrsquo experiences In M Robinson et al (eds) MotivationsBehaviour and Tourist Types (pp 455ndash72) Business Education Publishers Sunderland

Wickers D (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 2 Sunday Times 57ndash510Wilkinson PF (1989) Strategies for tourism in islands microstates Annals of Tourism

Research 16 153ndash77XENIA (various issues) (Monthly bulletin of the Greek Hotel Chamber in Greek) AthensZacharatos G (1984) Tourismus und Wirtschafts-Struktur Dargestellt am Beispiel

Griechenlands Europaische Hochschulschriften Reihex Band 7 Frankfurt am MainZacharatos G (1986) Tourism consumption (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planning and

Economic ResearchZacharatos G (1988) The simplistic empiricism Tourism policy and the time of crisis

(1992) (in Greek) Sychrona Themata 11 (May) 21ndash6Zacharatos G (1989) The problems and perspectives of tourism in Greece (in Greek) In H

Katsoulis T Giannitsis and P Kazakos (eds) Politics and Society Economy and ForeignRelationships (pp 273ndash89) Athens Papazisis

Zacharatos G (1993) The necessity of multimedia use in the tourism education in Greece(in Greek) Paper presented at the international conference Overcomingisolation-telematics and regional development University of the Aegean Chios 30April ndash 2 May

480 Current Issues in Tourism

Page 35: Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challengescore.ac.uk/download/pdf/101686.pdf · Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challenges Dimitrios Buhalis School of Management

amp Fletcher 1995) A holistic tourism management system is demanded to facilitatethe development and implementation of the tourism strategy through funds allo-cation and monitoring land use control and examination of tourism public- andprivate-sector practices A thorough examination of tourism impacts in eachregion would be a prerequisite for tourism planning as it will establish andprovide scientific backing to strategic targets Komilis (1994 71) explains thatalthough the various levels of planning (sectoral nationalEU spatial or regional)are not mutually exclusive but rather complementary the regional level planningis more suitable for drawing sustainable strategies especially for areas withdissimilar needs like the Greek destinations The regional planning should lsquocon-tribute to the maximisation of regional development benefits in a way that utilisesand mobilises the regional resource base realises regional inter-sectoral linkagesand is compatible with regional economic interests societal values and environ-mental assetsrsquo It should also take into consideration the uniqueness of insulareconomies as well as the cultural and environmental resources of each particularregion and the complexity of rural and urban functions The planning processshould encourage the complementarity and coexistence of economic activitiesrather than promote sectoral separation and single-sector developments In addi-tion it needs to improve the balance between regional self-sufficiency anddependence upon external inputs and finally it should promote integration withinthe European Union

The public sector has to play its long overdue role as regulator coordinatorinfrastructure provider and promoter of the destination while a multi-integrationof the tourism industry with all the involved bodies in the preparation distribu-tion and delivery of the tourism experience needs to be ensured (Wanhill 1993Hall 1994 Skoulas 1994 10 Stavrou 1988 46) The private sector also has an impor-tant role to play as it should improve the Greek tourism industry competitivenessby improving its managerial and labour force competencies enhancing the qualityof services designing appropriate marketing mixes to attract and satisfy targetmarkets and cooperating closely in order to achieve synergies and economies ofscale (Briassoulis 1993 300 Cooper amp Buhalis 1992) To reverse the vicious circleof decreasing quality is of critical importance for the Greek tourism industryBetter quality services would stimulate the competitiveness of the Greek tourismproduct strengthen its position in the international market provide principalswith distribution channel power enhance its customersrsquo willingness to pay andenable the industry to increase its prices improving the profitability at the microlevel and the economic impacts of tourism at the macrolevel Ultimately a diagonalintegration strategy for both Greek tourism and SMTEs should aim to delightconsumers enhance the long-term prosperity of SMTEs and improve the welfareof the host populations The Olympic Games in 2004 offer a unique opportunity toregenerate and rebrand Greek tourism a cause which the entire industry shouldchampion

The AuthorDimitrios Buhalis is Senior Lecturer and course leader MSc in tourism at theUniversity of Surrey He holds a BBA from the University of the Aegean as wellas an MSc and a PhD in tourism management from the University of Surrey Hisresearch interests focus on information systems and technology strategic

474 Current Issues in Tourism

management distribution channels of tourism destination management andplanning and destination integrated computer information reservation manage-ment systems

AcknowledgementsThe author would like to acknowledge Prof C Cooper and Prof J Fletcher for

their invaluable contribution to this research Financial support from the SurreyResearch Group ConTours Consultants as well as field research sponsorshipsby the University of Surrey the Greek National Tourism Organisation and theUniversity of the Aegean are gratefully appreciated

Note1 An earlier version of this paper was published as a monograph PlanningDevelop-

ment by the International Centre for Research and Studies in TourismAix-en-Provence France

CorrespondenceAny correspondence should be directed to Dr Dimitrios Buhalis Senior

Lecturer in Business Information Management SMSSS University of SurreyGuildford GU2 7XH UK (dbuhalissurreyacuk)

ReferencesApostolopoulos T (1990) New strategy of tourism development (in Greek) Tourism and

Economy (November) 228ndash38Berry C (1981) The employee as customer Journal of Retail Banking 3 33ndash40Boniface B and Cooper C (1994) The Geography of Travel and Tourism (2nd edn) London

HeinemannBriassoulis H (1993) Tourism in Greece In W Pompl and P Lavery (eds) Tourism in

Europe Structures and Developments (pp285ndash301) Oxford CAB InternationalBuckley P and Papadopoulos S (1986) Marketing Greek tourism The planning process

Tourism Management 7 86ndash100Buhalis D (1991) Strategic marketing and management for the small and medium

tourism enterprises in the periphery of the European Community A case study for theAegean islands in Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Buhalis D (1994) Information and telecommunications technologies as a strategic tool forsmall and medium tourism enterprises in the contemporary business environment InA Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 254ndash75)England J Wiley and Sons

Buhalis D (1995) The impact of information telecommunications technologies on tourismdistribution channels Implications for the small and medium sized tourismenterprisesrsquo strategic management and marketing PhD Dissertation University ofSurrey Guildford

Buhalis D (2000a) Marketing the competitive destination of the future TourismManagement (Special Issue ndash The Competitive Destination) 21 (1) 97ndash116

Buhalis D (2000b) (forthcoming) Athens Tourism-Travel Intelligence LondonBuhalis D (2000c) Relationships in the distribution channel of tourism Conflicts between

hoteliers and tour operators in the Mediterranean region Journal of InternationalHospitality Leisure and Tourism Adminstration 1 (1) 113ndash39

Buhalis D and Diamantis D (2001 forthcoming) Tourism development andsustainability on the Greek archipelagos In G Apostolopoulos and D Ioannides (eds)Tourism in the Mediterranean Routledge

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 475

Buhalis D and Fletcher J (1995) Environmental impacts on tourism destinations Aneconomic analysis In H Coccosis and P Nijkamp (eds) Sustainable Tourism Development(pp 3ndash25) London Avebury

Camison C Bigne E and Monfort VM (1994) The Spanish tourism industry Analysisof its strategies and the efficacy and achievements gained from them In A Seaton et al(eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 442ndash52) England JWiley and Sons

Castelberg-Koulma M (1991) Greek women and tourism Womenrsquos co-operatives as analternative form of organisation In N Redclift and T Sinclair (eds) Working WomenInternational Perspectives on Labour and Gender Ideology (pp 197ndash223) LondonRoutledge

Chitiris L (1991) Hotel Management (in Greek) Athens InterbooksCoccosis H and Parprairis A (1992) Assessing the interactions between environment

and tourism Case study of the island of Mykonos Paper presented in the IV WorldCongress of Regional Science International University of Balearic Islands Palma deMallorca 26ndash9 May

Conway H (1996) Greece Travel Weekly 1308 39ndash43Cooper C and Buhalis D (1992) Strategic management and marketing of small and

medium sized tourism enterprises in the Greek Aegean islands In R Teare D Adamsand S Messenger (eds) Managing Projects in Hospitality Organisations (pp 101ndash25)London Cassell

Daskalantonakis N (1994) Quality ndash The future of tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (3 July)D9

Divanis A (1994b) Tourism policy Left on its own luck (in Greek) XENIA (October)4ndash5

Donatos G and Zairis P (1991) Seasonality of foreign tourism in the Greek islands ofCrete Annals of Tourism Research 18 515ndash19

Douvitsas P (1994) Marketing Greece through British tour operators A futureperspective MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Drakatos C (1987) Seasonal concentration of tourism in Greece Annals of Tourism Research14 582ndash6

EC (1993a) Microeconomic Analysis of the Tourism Sector A study by the pH Group forEuropean Commission DGXXIII (September) Report XXIII30394-EN BrusselsEuropean Commission

EC (1993b) Growth competitiveness employment The challenges and ways forward intothe 21st century Bulletin of the European Communities Supplement 693 (White Paper)Luxembourg

Economist (1993) Last Chance Sisyphus A survey of Greece Economist (22 May) 2ndash22EIU (1986) Greece (pp 45ndash60) International tourist reports National Report No 3EIU (1990) Greece (pp 45ndash62) International tourist reports National Report No 4EIU (1993) Greece ndash Country Profile 1992ndash1993 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEIU (1994) Greece ndash Country Profile 1994ndash1995 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEpilogi (1994) Economic review ndash The Greek Economy 1994 (in Greek) AthensEuromonitor (1992) Tourism in Greece Market Research Europe (25 May) 51ndash63Fayos-Sola E (1992) A Strategic Outlook for Regional Tourism Policy The White Paper

on Valencian Tourism Tourism Management 13 45ndash9Fotis J (1992) Vacational lifestyle segmentation of tourists on the island of Rhodes

Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey GuildfordGilbert D (1984) The need for countries to differentiate their tourist product and how to

do so Seminar papers for Ministers of Tourism and Directors of National TouristOrganisations Tourism Managing for Results University of Surrey Guildford

Gilbert D (1990) Strategic marketing planning for national tourism Tourist Review 45 (1)18ndash27

GNTO (1985a) Survey of attributes of foreign tourists 1984ndash1985 (in Greek) Greek NationalStatistical Services Athens GNTO

476 Current Issues in Tourism

GNTO (1985b) EOT-Tourism rsquo85 Development ndash Participation ndash Quality of Life (in Greek)Greek National Statistical Services Athens GNTO

GNTO (1989a) Annual report 1988 ndash Forecast 89 Towards Quality Athens GNTOGNTO (1989b) The study of tourism promotion With special reference to the measures to

increase Japanese tourists to Greece Draft final report Japan InternationalCooperation Agency

GNTO (1993) Tourism towards the 2000 (in Greek) Greek National Tourism OrganisationAthens GNTO

Hall M (1994) Tourism and Politics Policy Power and Place J Wiley and SonsHorwath (annual) The Greek Hotel Industry (in Greek) Annual reports Pireus HorwathJenner P and Smith C (1993) Tourism in the Mediterranean Research report London

Economist Intelligence UnitJosephides N (1993) Environmental Concern ndash Whatrsquos In It for the Tourism Industry (pp 51ndash6)

Proceedings of the conference Tourism and the environment Challenges and choicesfor the 1990rsquos 16ndash17 November 1992 Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre LondonBrussels European Union

Josephides N (1994) Tourism analysis Presentation in Philoxenia international tourismexhibition Thessaloniki Greece

Josephides N (1995) A sorry state for beautiful Greece Travel Weekly 1261 (5 April)11Kalogeropoulou H (1993) Greece ndash Prospects for the tourism industry within the context

of the European Single Market of 1993 Tourism Review 48 (1) 2ndash4Kassimati K Thanopoulou M and Tsartas P (1994) Womenrsquos Employment in the

Tourist Sector Study of the Greek Labour Market and Identification of Future ProspectsDGV Equal Opportunities Unit Document V40994-EN European CommissionBrussels

Komilis P (1987) Spatial analysis of tourism in Greece (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planningand Economic Research

Komilis P (1992) The spatial structure of tourism and physical planning practices inGreece Paper presented in conference Tourism and environment Issues ofpolicyplanningmanagement 23ndash4 October University of the Aegean Dept ofEnvironment Lesvos

Komilis P (1993) Values in the Tourism Planning and Policy Making Process (pp 224ndash9)Proceedings of the conference Values and the environment 23ndash4 September GuildfordUniversity of Surrey

Komilis P (1994) Tourism and sustainable regional development In A Seaton et al (eds)Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 65ndash73) England JWiley andSons

Konsolas N and Zacharatos G (1993) Regionalization of tourism activity in GreeceProblems and policies In H Briassoulis and J Van der Straaten (eds) Tourism andEnvironment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 57ndash65) Dordrecht Kluer AcademicPublisher

Kousis M (1989) Tourism and the family in a rural Cretan community Annals of TourismResearch 16 318ndash32

Kriebardis S and Marmagiolis I (1990) Tourism Activity in Greece Problems and Perspectives(pp 45ndash54) (in Greek) Economic Report of Commercial Bank AprilndashJune AthensCommercial Bank

Ktenas S (1994) Hoteliers ask for 15 to 20 increases for 1995 (in Greek) TO BHMA (3July) D9

Ktenas S (1996) Crisis in Greek tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (7 April) D16Leontidou L (1991) Greece Prospects and contradictions of tourism in the 1980rsquos In AM

Williams and GJ Shaw (eds) Tourism and Economic Development Western EuropeanExperiences (2nd edn) (pp 94ndash106) London Belhaven Press

Logothetis M (1990) The Economy of Dodekanisos During 1988ndash1989 Developments andPerspectives (in Greek) Rhodes Regional association of municipalities of Dodekanisos

Logothetis M (1992) Touristiki Sigkiria (in Greek) Rhodes Institute of Tourist and HotelResearch

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 477

Loukissas P (1977) The impact of tourism on regional development A comparativeanalysis of the Greek islands PhD Dissertation Cornell University USA

Loukissas P (1982) Tourismrsquos regional development impacts A comparative analysis ofthe Greek islands Annals of Tourism Research 9 523ndash43

Marinos P (1983) Small island tourism-the case of Zakynthos in Greece TourismManagement 4 212ndash15

Moore R (1992) From shepherds to shopkeepers The development of tourism in a centralGreek town PhD Dissertation University of California at Berkeley USA

Moore R (1995) Gender and alcohol use in a Greek tourist town Annals of Tourism Research22 300ndash13

Mourdoukoutas P (1988) Seasonal employment seasonal unemployment andunemployment compensation The case of the tourism industry of the Greek islandsAmerican Journal of Economics and Sociology 47 315ndash29

NSSG (l983) Tourism Statistics 1981 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (l985) Tourism Statistics 1982ndash1983 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1987) Tourism Statistics 1984ndash1985 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1990) Tourism Statistics 1986ndash1987 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1993) Tourism Statistics 1988ndash1990 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceOECD (1992) Greece Tourism Policy and International Tourism in OECD Member Countries (pp

70ndash8) Paris OECDOttaway M (1992) Turtle power Sunday Times Travel and Style (28 June)Ottaway M (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 1 Sunday Times (17 January)

57ndash59Panagiotopoulou R (1990) The problem and perspectives of the European insular regions

(in Greek) Working paper University of the Aegean ChiosPapadimitris G (1988) Short run and long run prospects of the Greek tourism industry

PhD Dissertation University of Manchester ManchesterPapadopoulos S (1985) An economic analysis of foreign tourism in Greece An

examination of the growth and structure of foreign tourism to Greece 1960ndash1984 with aplanning model and marketing policy recommendations PhD Thesis University ofBradford Management Centre Bradford

Papadopoulos S (1987) Strategic marketing techniques in international tourismInternational Marketing Review (summer) 71ndash84

Papadopoulos S (1988a) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (1) 29ndash30

Papadopoulos S (1988b) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (2) 24ndash7

Papadopoulos S (1989) Greek marketing strategies in the Europe tourism market ServiceIndustries Journal 9 297ndash314

Papadopoulos S and Mirza H (1985) Foreign tourism in Greece An economic analysisTourism Management 6 125ndash37

Papandropoulos A (1995) The crisis in tourism is evident (in Greek) OikonomikosTachydromos (29 June) 26ndash8

Papanikos G (1999) The year 2004 olympic games and their influence upon the Greektourism (in Greek) ITEP (Research Institute for Tourism) Athens

Paulopoulos P (1999) The Size and Dynamics of the Tourism Sector (in Greek) ResearchInstitute for Tourism Athens

Peterson C (1990) Greece tackles overbuilding in tourism areas EnvironmentalConservation 17 166ndash8

Plevris V (1995) Alarm bells from the Hellenic Federation of Hotels (in Greek) XENIA128 (May) 6ndash7

Poon A (1987) Information technology and innovation in international tourism ndashimplications for the Caribbean tourism industry PhD thesis Science Policy ResearchUnit University of Sussex Brighton

Poon A (1988) Flexible specialisation and small size ndash the case of Caribbean tourism DRCDiscussion Paper 57 SPRU Brighton University of Sussex

478 Current Issues in Tourism

Poon A (1989) Competitive strategies for new tourism In C Cooper (ed) Progress inTourism Recreation and Hospitality Management (vol 1) (pp 91ndash102) London BelhavenPress

Poon A (1990) Flexible specialisation at small size The case of Caribbean tourism WorldDevelopment 18 109ndash23

Poon A (1993) Tourism Technology and Competitive Strategies Oxford CAB InternationalPorter M (1980) Competitive Strategy Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors

New York Free PressPorter M (1985) Competitive Advantage Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance New

York Free PressPorter M (1990) The Competitive Advantage of Nations New York Free PressPrurier E Sweeney A and Geen A (1993) Tourism and the environment The case of

Zakynthos Tourism Management 14 137ndash9Psoinos P (1994a) Research on the foreign touristsrsquo attributes in Greece (in Greek) Athens

Greek National Tourism OrganisationPsoinos P (1994b) Research on the attributes of foreigners who have never visited Greece (in

Greek) Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationRichter-Papaconstantinou C (1992) Tourism development of Rhodes Cahiers du Tourisme

(Serie B) 67 Aix en Provence Centre des Hautes Eacutetudes TouristiquesRomanos A (1998) Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites (in Greek) Athens

Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites SASETE (1993) Tourism Developments and problems (in Greek) Athens Association of Greek

Tourism EnterprisesSezer H and Harrison A (1994) Tourism in Greece and Turkey An economic view for

planners In A Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposiumpp74ndash84 England Wiley and Sons

Skoulas N (1985) Holidays and travel in the year 2035 ndash Contribution of the NationalTourist Organisation of Greece SDI Schriftey Wirtschafts und Unternehmenspolitik 40181ndash99

Skoulas N (1994) Quality improvement of tourism services (in Greek) Paper presentedin the conference Competitiveness of tourism enterprises ndash the role of quality 1 AprilHoliday Inn Athens Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises

Smith C and Jenner P (1995) Greece International Tourism Reports 3 5ndash21Stavrou S (1978) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Kos Island (in Greek) Research and

Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationStavrou S (1979) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Mykonos and Naxos Islands (in

Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1980) Research on Tourism Awareness on the Islands Kalymnos and Leros (in Greek)Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1984) Tourism Development in Greece during 1969ndash1982 (in Greek) Research andDevelopment Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986a) Research for the Characteristics of Foreign Tourist Demand in Greece in theYears 8485 (in Greek) Research Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1986b) Research on the Tourism Awareness on Paros Santorini Kythira Islands (inGreek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986c) Critical Review of Tourism Activity in the Years 8385 (in Greek) Researchand Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1988) Tourism in the Northern Aegean Islands Presentation of GNTO for the TourismDevelopment of the Periphery (in Greek) Proceedings of the first conference for thedevelopment of the Northern Aegean islands Homereum cultural centre Chios 11November Chios Periphery of Northern Aegean islands

Stavrou S (1989a) GNTO Presentation for the Tourism Development Possibilities for theSouthern Aegean Islands (in Greek) Conference for the development of Southern Aegean

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 479

islands Syros 30 September ndash 2 OctoberStavrou S (1989b) The Contribution of the Development Law 126282 in the Development of the

Country (in Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A5 Athens GreekNational Tourism Organisation

Stereopoulos N (1995) It is regarded ideal it became problematic (in Greek) OikonomikosTachidromos (21 December) 151ndash3

Touloupas P (1996) Greece as a tourist destination for the British tour operators Ananalysis from a marketing perspective in the particular context of the United KingdomMSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Tourismos ke Oikonomia (1993) 20 years 1973ndash1993 (in Greek) Special Issue AthensTourismos ke Oikonomia (1994) ICAP tourism enterprises Drastic reduction of loses in 1993

(in Greek) December 14ndash15Touristiki Agora (various issues) (Monthly tourism industry periodical in Greek) Business

Press AthensTruett D and Truett L (1987) The response of tourism to international economic

conditions Greece Mexico and Spain Journal of Developing Areas 21 177ndash90Tsartas P (1989) Socioeconomic Impacts of Tourism Development in Cyclades Region with Special

Reference on Ios and Serifos Islands During 1950ndash1980 (in Greek) Athens National Centrefor Social Research

Tsartas P (1992) Socioeconomic impacts of tourism on two Greek isles Annals of TourismResearch 19 516ndash33

Van Den Bergh J (1993) Tourism development and natural environment Aneconomicndashecological model for the Sporades islands In H Briassoulis and J Van DerStraaten (eds) Tourism and Environment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 67ndash83)Dordrecht Kluer Academic Publishers

Velissariou E (1991) Die Wirtschaftlichen Effekte des Tourismus Dargestell am Beispiel Kretas(The Economic Impacts of Tourism on Crete) PhD Dissertation University of MunichFrankfurt Peter Lang

Vernikos N (1987) The study of Mediterranean small islands Emerging theoreticalissues Ekistics 54 (323ndash4) 101ndash9

Wanhill S (1993) Government organisations In C Cooper J Fletcher D Gilbert and SWanhill (eds) Tourism Principle and Practice (pp 145ndash60) London Pitman

Wickens D (1994) Consumption of the authentic The hedonistic tourist in Greece In ASeaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 819ndash25)England JWiley and Sons

Wickens E (2000) Rethinking touristsrsquo experiences In M Robinson et al (eds) MotivationsBehaviour and Tourist Types (pp 455ndash72) Business Education Publishers Sunderland

Wickers D (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 2 Sunday Times 57ndash510Wilkinson PF (1989) Strategies for tourism in islands microstates Annals of Tourism

Research 16 153ndash77XENIA (various issues) (Monthly bulletin of the Greek Hotel Chamber in Greek) AthensZacharatos G (1984) Tourismus und Wirtschafts-Struktur Dargestellt am Beispiel

Griechenlands Europaische Hochschulschriften Reihex Band 7 Frankfurt am MainZacharatos G (1986) Tourism consumption (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planning and

Economic ResearchZacharatos G (1988) The simplistic empiricism Tourism policy and the time of crisis

(1992) (in Greek) Sychrona Themata 11 (May) 21ndash6Zacharatos G (1989) The problems and perspectives of tourism in Greece (in Greek) In H

Katsoulis T Giannitsis and P Kazakos (eds) Politics and Society Economy and ForeignRelationships (pp 273ndash89) Athens Papazisis

Zacharatos G (1993) The necessity of multimedia use in the tourism education in Greece(in Greek) Paper presented at the international conference Overcomingisolation-telematics and regional development University of the Aegean Chios 30April ndash 2 May

480 Current Issues in Tourism

Page 36: Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challengescore.ac.uk/download/pdf/101686.pdf · Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challenges Dimitrios Buhalis School of Management

management distribution channels of tourism destination management andplanning and destination integrated computer information reservation manage-ment systems

AcknowledgementsThe author would like to acknowledge Prof C Cooper and Prof J Fletcher for

their invaluable contribution to this research Financial support from the SurreyResearch Group ConTours Consultants as well as field research sponsorshipsby the University of Surrey the Greek National Tourism Organisation and theUniversity of the Aegean are gratefully appreciated

Note1 An earlier version of this paper was published as a monograph PlanningDevelop-

ment by the International Centre for Research and Studies in TourismAix-en-Provence France

CorrespondenceAny correspondence should be directed to Dr Dimitrios Buhalis Senior

Lecturer in Business Information Management SMSSS University of SurreyGuildford GU2 7XH UK (dbuhalissurreyacuk)

ReferencesApostolopoulos T (1990) New strategy of tourism development (in Greek) Tourism and

Economy (November) 228ndash38Berry C (1981) The employee as customer Journal of Retail Banking 3 33ndash40Boniface B and Cooper C (1994) The Geography of Travel and Tourism (2nd edn) London

HeinemannBriassoulis H (1993) Tourism in Greece In W Pompl and P Lavery (eds) Tourism in

Europe Structures and Developments (pp285ndash301) Oxford CAB InternationalBuckley P and Papadopoulos S (1986) Marketing Greek tourism The planning process

Tourism Management 7 86ndash100Buhalis D (1991) Strategic marketing and management for the small and medium

tourism enterprises in the periphery of the European Community A case study for theAegean islands in Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Buhalis D (1994) Information and telecommunications technologies as a strategic tool forsmall and medium tourism enterprises in the contemporary business environment InA Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 254ndash75)England J Wiley and Sons

Buhalis D (1995) The impact of information telecommunications technologies on tourismdistribution channels Implications for the small and medium sized tourismenterprisesrsquo strategic management and marketing PhD Dissertation University ofSurrey Guildford

Buhalis D (2000a) Marketing the competitive destination of the future TourismManagement (Special Issue ndash The Competitive Destination) 21 (1) 97ndash116

Buhalis D (2000b) (forthcoming) Athens Tourism-Travel Intelligence LondonBuhalis D (2000c) Relationships in the distribution channel of tourism Conflicts between

hoteliers and tour operators in the Mediterranean region Journal of InternationalHospitality Leisure and Tourism Adminstration 1 (1) 113ndash39

Buhalis D and Diamantis D (2001 forthcoming) Tourism development andsustainability on the Greek archipelagos In G Apostolopoulos and D Ioannides (eds)Tourism in the Mediterranean Routledge

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 475

Buhalis D and Fletcher J (1995) Environmental impacts on tourism destinations Aneconomic analysis In H Coccosis and P Nijkamp (eds) Sustainable Tourism Development(pp 3ndash25) London Avebury

Camison C Bigne E and Monfort VM (1994) The Spanish tourism industry Analysisof its strategies and the efficacy and achievements gained from them In A Seaton et al(eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 442ndash52) England JWiley and Sons

Castelberg-Koulma M (1991) Greek women and tourism Womenrsquos co-operatives as analternative form of organisation In N Redclift and T Sinclair (eds) Working WomenInternational Perspectives on Labour and Gender Ideology (pp 197ndash223) LondonRoutledge

Chitiris L (1991) Hotel Management (in Greek) Athens InterbooksCoccosis H and Parprairis A (1992) Assessing the interactions between environment

and tourism Case study of the island of Mykonos Paper presented in the IV WorldCongress of Regional Science International University of Balearic Islands Palma deMallorca 26ndash9 May

Conway H (1996) Greece Travel Weekly 1308 39ndash43Cooper C and Buhalis D (1992) Strategic management and marketing of small and

medium sized tourism enterprises in the Greek Aegean islands In R Teare D Adamsand S Messenger (eds) Managing Projects in Hospitality Organisations (pp 101ndash25)London Cassell

Daskalantonakis N (1994) Quality ndash The future of tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (3 July)D9

Divanis A (1994b) Tourism policy Left on its own luck (in Greek) XENIA (October)4ndash5

Donatos G and Zairis P (1991) Seasonality of foreign tourism in the Greek islands ofCrete Annals of Tourism Research 18 515ndash19

Douvitsas P (1994) Marketing Greece through British tour operators A futureperspective MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Drakatos C (1987) Seasonal concentration of tourism in Greece Annals of Tourism Research14 582ndash6

EC (1993a) Microeconomic Analysis of the Tourism Sector A study by the pH Group forEuropean Commission DGXXIII (September) Report XXIII30394-EN BrusselsEuropean Commission

EC (1993b) Growth competitiveness employment The challenges and ways forward intothe 21st century Bulletin of the European Communities Supplement 693 (White Paper)Luxembourg

Economist (1993) Last Chance Sisyphus A survey of Greece Economist (22 May) 2ndash22EIU (1986) Greece (pp 45ndash60) International tourist reports National Report No 3EIU (1990) Greece (pp 45ndash62) International tourist reports National Report No 4EIU (1993) Greece ndash Country Profile 1992ndash1993 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEIU (1994) Greece ndash Country Profile 1994ndash1995 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEpilogi (1994) Economic review ndash The Greek Economy 1994 (in Greek) AthensEuromonitor (1992) Tourism in Greece Market Research Europe (25 May) 51ndash63Fayos-Sola E (1992) A Strategic Outlook for Regional Tourism Policy The White Paper

on Valencian Tourism Tourism Management 13 45ndash9Fotis J (1992) Vacational lifestyle segmentation of tourists on the island of Rhodes

Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey GuildfordGilbert D (1984) The need for countries to differentiate their tourist product and how to

do so Seminar papers for Ministers of Tourism and Directors of National TouristOrganisations Tourism Managing for Results University of Surrey Guildford

Gilbert D (1990) Strategic marketing planning for national tourism Tourist Review 45 (1)18ndash27

GNTO (1985a) Survey of attributes of foreign tourists 1984ndash1985 (in Greek) Greek NationalStatistical Services Athens GNTO

476 Current Issues in Tourism

GNTO (1985b) EOT-Tourism rsquo85 Development ndash Participation ndash Quality of Life (in Greek)Greek National Statistical Services Athens GNTO

GNTO (1989a) Annual report 1988 ndash Forecast 89 Towards Quality Athens GNTOGNTO (1989b) The study of tourism promotion With special reference to the measures to

increase Japanese tourists to Greece Draft final report Japan InternationalCooperation Agency

GNTO (1993) Tourism towards the 2000 (in Greek) Greek National Tourism OrganisationAthens GNTO

Hall M (1994) Tourism and Politics Policy Power and Place J Wiley and SonsHorwath (annual) The Greek Hotel Industry (in Greek) Annual reports Pireus HorwathJenner P and Smith C (1993) Tourism in the Mediterranean Research report London

Economist Intelligence UnitJosephides N (1993) Environmental Concern ndash Whatrsquos In It for the Tourism Industry (pp 51ndash6)

Proceedings of the conference Tourism and the environment Challenges and choicesfor the 1990rsquos 16ndash17 November 1992 Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre LondonBrussels European Union

Josephides N (1994) Tourism analysis Presentation in Philoxenia international tourismexhibition Thessaloniki Greece

Josephides N (1995) A sorry state for beautiful Greece Travel Weekly 1261 (5 April)11Kalogeropoulou H (1993) Greece ndash Prospects for the tourism industry within the context

of the European Single Market of 1993 Tourism Review 48 (1) 2ndash4Kassimati K Thanopoulou M and Tsartas P (1994) Womenrsquos Employment in the

Tourist Sector Study of the Greek Labour Market and Identification of Future ProspectsDGV Equal Opportunities Unit Document V40994-EN European CommissionBrussels

Komilis P (1987) Spatial analysis of tourism in Greece (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planningand Economic Research

Komilis P (1992) The spatial structure of tourism and physical planning practices inGreece Paper presented in conference Tourism and environment Issues ofpolicyplanningmanagement 23ndash4 October University of the Aegean Dept ofEnvironment Lesvos

Komilis P (1993) Values in the Tourism Planning and Policy Making Process (pp 224ndash9)Proceedings of the conference Values and the environment 23ndash4 September GuildfordUniversity of Surrey

Komilis P (1994) Tourism and sustainable regional development In A Seaton et al (eds)Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 65ndash73) England JWiley andSons

Konsolas N and Zacharatos G (1993) Regionalization of tourism activity in GreeceProblems and policies In H Briassoulis and J Van der Straaten (eds) Tourism andEnvironment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 57ndash65) Dordrecht Kluer AcademicPublisher

Kousis M (1989) Tourism and the family in a rural Cretan community Annals of TourismResearch 16 318ndash32

Kriebardis S and Marmagiolis I (1990) Tourism Activity in Greece Problems and Perspectives(pp 45ndash54) (in Greek) Economic Report of Commercial Bank AprilndashJune AthensCommercial Bank

Ktenas S (1994) Hoteliers ask for 15 to 20 increases for 1995 (in Greek) TO BHMA (3July) D9

Ktenas S (1996) Crisis in Greek tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (7 April) D16Leontidou L (1991) Greece Prospects and contradictions of tourism in the 1980rsquos In AM

Williams and GJ Shaw (eds) Tourism and Economic Development Western EuropeanExperiences (2nd edn) (pp 94ndash106) London Belhaven Press

Logothetis M (1990) The Economy of Dodekanisos During 1988ndash1989 Developments andPerspectives (in Greek) Rhodes Regional association of municipalities of Dodekanisos

Logothetis M (1992) Touristiki Sigkiria (in Greek) Rhodes Institute of Tourist and HotelResearch

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 477

Loukissas P (1977) The impact of tourism on regional development A comparativeanalysis of the Greek islands PhD Dissertation Cornell University USA

Loukissas P (1982) Tourismrsquos regional development impacts A comparative analysis ofthe Greek islands Annals of Tourism Research 9 523ndash43

Marinos P (1983) Small island tourism-the case of Zakynthos in Greece TourismManagement 4 212ndash15

Moore R (1992) From shepherds to shopkeepers The development of tourism in a centralGreek town PhD Dissertation University of California at Berkeley USA

Moore R (1995) Gender and alcohol use in a Greek tourist town Annals of Tourism Research22 300ndash13

Mourdoukoutas P (1988) Seasonal employment seasonal unemployment andunemployment compensation The case of the tourism industry of the Greek islandsAmerican Journal of Economics and Sociology 47 315ndash29

NSSG (l983) Tourism Statistics 1981 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (l985) Tourism Statistics 1982ndash1983 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1987) Tourism Statistics 1984ndash1985 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1990) Tourism Statistics 1986ndash1987 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1993) Tourism Statistics 1988ndash1990 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceOECD (1992) Greece Tourism Policy and International Tourism in OECD Member Countries (pp

70ndash8) Paris OECDOttaway M (1992) Turtle power Sunday Times Travel and Style (28 June)Ottaway M (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 1 Sunday Times (17 January)

57ndash59Panagiotopoulou R (1990) The problem and perspectives of the European insular regions

(in Greek) Working paper University of the Aegean ChiosPapadimitris G (1988) Short run and long run prospects of the Greek tourism industry

PhD Dissertation University of Manchester ManchesterPapadopoulos S (1985) An economic analysis of foreign tourism in Greece An

examination of the growth and structure of foreign tourism to Greece 1960ndash1984 with aplanning model and marketing policy recommendations PhD Thesis University ofBradford Management Centre Bradford

Papadopoulos S (1987) Strategic marketing techniques in international tourismInternational Marketing Review (summer) 71ndash84

Papadopoulos S (1988a) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (1) 29ndash30

Papadopoulos S (1988b) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (2) 24ndash7

Papadopoulos S (1989) Greek marketing strategies in the Europe tourism market ServiceIndustries Journal 9 297ndash314

Papadopoulos S and Mirza H (1985) Foreign tourism in Greece An economic analysisTourism Management 6 125ndash37

Papandropoulos A (1995) The crisis in tourism is evident (in Greek) OikonomikosTachydromos (29 June) 26ndash8

Papanikos G (1999) The year 2004 olympic games and their influence upon the Greektourism (in Greek) ITEP (Research Institute for Tourism) Athens

Paulopoulos P (1999) The Size and Dynamics of the Tourism Sector (in Greek) ResearchInstitute for Tourism Athens

Peterson C (1990) Greece tackles overbuilding in tourism areas EnvironmentalConservation 17 166ndash8

Plevris V (1995) Alarm bells from the Hellenic Federation of Hotels (in Greek) XENIA128 (May) 6ndash7

Poon A (1987) Information technology and innovation in international tourism ndashimplications for the Caribbean tourism industry PhD thesis Science Policy ResearchUnit University of Sussex Brighton

Poon A (1988) Flexible specialisation and small size ndash the case of Caribbean tourism DRCDiscussion Paper 57 SPRU Brighton University of Sussex

478 Current Issues in Tourism

Poon A (1989) Competitive strategies for new tourism In C Cooper (ed) Progress inTourism Recreation and Hospitality Management (vol 1) (pp 91ndash102) London BelhavenPress

Poon A (1990) Flexible specialisation at small size The case of Caribbean tourism WorldDevelopment 18 109ndash23

Poon A (1993) Tourism Technology and Competitive Strategies Oxford CAB InternationalPorter M (1980) Competitive Strategy Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors

New York Free PressPorter M (1985) Competitive Advantage Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance New

York Free PressPorter M (1990) The Competitive Advantage of Nations New York Free PressPrurier E Sweeney A and Geen A (1993) Tourism and the environment The case of

Zakynthos Tourism Management 14 137ndash9Psoinos P (1994a) Research on the foreign touristsrsquo attributes in Greece (in Greek) Athens

Greek National Tourism OrganisationPsoinos P (1994b) Research on the attributes of foreigners who have never visited Greece (in

Greek) Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationRichter-Papaconstantinou C (1992) Tourism development of Rhodes Cahiers du Tourisme

(Serie B) 67 Aix en Provence Centre des Hautes Eacutetudes TouristiquesRomanos A (1998) Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites (in Greek) Athens

Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites SASETE (1993) Tourism Developments and problems (in Greek) Athens Association of Greek

Tourism EnterprisesSezer H and Harrison A (1994) Tourism in Greece and Turkey An economic view for

planners In A Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposiumpp74ndash84 England Wiley and Sons

Skoulas N (1985) Holidays and travel in the year 2035 ndash Contribution of the NationalTourist Organisation of Greece SDI Schriftey Wirtschafts und Unternehmenspolitik 40181ndash99

Skoulas N (1994) Quality improvement of tourism services (in Greek) Paper presentedin the conference Competitiveness of tourism enterprises ndash the role of quality 1 AprilHoliday Inn Athens Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises

Smith C and Jenner P (1995) Greece International Tourism Reports 3 5ndash21Stavrou S (1978) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Kos Island (in Greek) Research and

Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationStavrou S (1979) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Mykonos and Naxos Islands (in

Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1980) Research on Tourism Awareness on the Islands Kalymnos and Leros (in Greek)Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1984) Tourism Development in Greece during 1969ndash1982 (in Greek) Research andDevelopment Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986a) Research for the Characteristics of Foreign Tourist Demand in Greece in theYears 8485 (in Greek) Research Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1986b) Research on the Tourism Awareness on Paros Santorini Kythira Islands (inGreek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986c) Critical Review of Tourism Activity in the Years 8385 (in Greek) Researchand Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1988) Tourism in the Northern Aegean Islands Presentation of GNTO for the TourismDevelopment of the Periphery (in Greek) Proceedings of the first conference for thedevelopment of the Northern Aegean islands Homereum cultural centre Chios 11November Chios Periphery of Northern Aegean islands

Stavrou S (1989a) GNTO Presentation for the Tourism Development Possibilities for theSouthern Aegean Islands (in Greek) Conference for the development of Southern Aegean

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 479

islands Syros 30 September ndash 2 OctoberStavrou S (1989b) The Contribution of the Development Law 126282 in the Development of the

Country (in Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A5 Athens GreekNational Tourism Organisation

Stereopoulos N (1995) It is regarded ideal it became problematic (in Greek) OikonomikosTachidromos (21 December) 151ndash3

Touloupas P (1996) Greece as a tourist destination for the British tour operators Ananalysis from a marketing perspective in the particular context of the United KingdomMSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Tourismos ke Oikonomia (1993) 20 years 1973ndash1993 (in Greek) Special Issue AthensTourismos ke Oikonomia (1994) ICAP tourism enterprises Drastic reduction of loses in 1993

(in Greek) December 14ndash15Touristiki Agora (various issues) (Monthly tourism industry periodical in Greek) Business

Press AthensTruett D and Truett L (1987) The response of tourism to international economic

conditions Greece Mexico and Spain Journal of Developing Areas 21 177ndash90Tsartas P (1989) Socioeconomic Impacts of Tourism Development in Cyclades Region with Special

Reference on Ios and Serifos Islands During 1950ndash1980 (in Greek) Athens National Centrefor Social Research

Tsartas P (1992) Socioeconomic impacts of tourism on two Greek isles Annals of TourismResearch 19 516ndash33

Van Den Bergh J (1993) Tourism development and natural environment Aneconomicndashecological model for the Sporades islands In H Briassoulis and J Van DerStraaten (eds) Tourism and Environment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 67ndash83)Dordrecht Kluer Academic Publishers

Velissariou E (1991) Die Wirtschaftlichen Effekte des Tourismus Dargestell am Beispiel Kretas(The Economic Impacts of Tourism on Crete) PhD Dissertation University of MunichFrankfurt Peter Lang

Vernikos N (1987) The study of Mediterranean small islands Emerging theoreticalissues Ekistics 54 (323ndash4) 101ndash9

Wanhill S (1993) Government organisations In C Cooper J Fletcher D Gilbert and SWanhill (eds) Tourism Principle and Practice (pp 145ndash60) London Pitman

Wickens D (1994) Consumption of the authentic The hedonistic tourist in Greece In ASeaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 819ndash25)England JWiley and Sons

Wickens E (2000) Rethinking touristsrsquo experiences In M Robinson et al (eds) MotivationsBehaviour and Tourist Types (pp 455ndash72) Business Education Publishers Sunderland

Wickers D (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 2 Sunday Times 57ndash510Wilkinson PF (1989) Strategies for tourism in islands microstates Annals of Tourism

Research 16 153ndash77XENIA (various issues) (Monthly bulletin of the Greek Hotel Chamber in Greek) AthensZacharatos G (1984) Tourismus und Wirtschafts-Struktur Dargestellt am Beispiel

Griechenlands Europaische Hochschulschriften Reihex Band 7 Frankfurt am MainZacharatos G (1986) Tourism consumption (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planning and

Economic ResearchZacharatos G (1988) The simplistic empiricism Tourism policy and the time of crisis

(1992) (in Greek) Sychrona Themata 11 (May) 21ndash6Zacharatos G (1989) The problems and perspectives of tourism in Greece (in Greek) In H

Katsoulis T Giannitsis and P Kazakos (eds) Politics and Society Economy and ForeignRelationships (pp 273ndash89) Athens Papazisis

Zacharatos G (1993) The necessity of multimedia use in the tourism education in Greece(in Greek) Paper presented at the international conference Overcomingisolation-telematics and regional development University of the Aegean Chios 30April ndash 2 May

480 Current Issues in Tourism

Page 37: Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challengescore.ac.uk/download/pdf/101686.pdf · Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challenges Dimitrios Buhalis School of Management

Buhalis D and Fletcher J (1995) Environmental impacts on tourism destinations Aneconomic analysis In H Coccosis and P Nijkamp (eds) Sustainable Tourism Development(pp 3ndash25) London Avebury

Camison C Bigne E and Monfort VM (1994) The Spanish tourism industry Analysisof its strategies and the efficacy and achievements gained from them In A Seaton et al(eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 442ndash52) England JWiley and Sons

Castelberg-Koulma M (1991) Greek women and tourism Womenrsquos co-operatives as analternative form of organisation In N Redclift and T Sinclair (eds) Working WomenInternational Perspectives on Labour and Gender Ideology (pp 197ndash223) LondonRoutledge

Chitiris L (1991) Hotel Management (in Greek) Athens InterbooksCoccosis H and Parprairis A (1992) Assessing the interactions between environment

and tourism Case study of the island of Mykonos Paper presented in the IV WorldCongress of Regional Science International University of Balearic Islands Palma deMallorca 26ndash9 May

Conway H (1996) Greece Travel Weekly 1308 39ndash43Cooper C and Buhalis D (1992) Strategic management and marketing of small and

medium sized tourism enterprises in the Greek Aegean islands In R Teare D Adamsand S Messenger (eds) Managing Projects in Hospitality Organisations (pp 101ndash25)London Cassell

Daskalantonakis N (1994) Quality ndash The future of tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (3 July)D9

Divanis A (1994b) Tourism policy Left on its own luck (in Greek) XENIA (October)4ndash5

Donatos G and Zairis P (1991) Seasonality of foreign tourism in the Greek islands ofCrete Annals of Tourism Research 18 515ndash19

Douvitsas P (1994) Marketing Greece through British tour operators A futureperspective MSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Drakatos C (1987) Seasonal concentration of tourism in Greece Annals of Tourism Research14 582ndash6

EC (1993a) Microeconomic Analysis of the Tourism Sector A study by the pH Group forEuropean Commission DGXXIII (September) Report XXIII30394-EN BrusselsEuropean Commission

EC (1993b) Growth competitiveness employment The challenges and ways forward intothe 21st century Bulletin of the European Communities Supplement 693 (White Paper)Luxembourg

Economist (1993) Last Chance Sisyphus A survey of Greece Economist (22 May) 2ndash22EIU (1986) Greece (pp 45ndash60) International tourist reports National Report No 3EIU (1990) Greece (pp 45ndash62) International tourist reports National Report No 4EIU (1993) Greece ndash Country Profile 1992ndash1993 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEIU (1994) Greece ndash Country Profile 1994ndash1995 Annual Survey of Political and Economic

Background London Economist Intelligence UnitEpilogi (1994) Economic review ndash The Greek Economy 1994 (in Greek) AthensEuromonitor (1992) Tourism in Greece Market Research Europe (25 May) 51ndash63Fayos-Sola E (1992) A Strategic Outlook for Regional Tourism Policy The White Paper

on Valencian Tourism Tourism Management 13 45ndash9Fotis J (1992) Vacational lifestyle segmentation of tourists on the island of Rhodes

Greece MSc Dissertation University of Surrey GuildfordGilbert D (1984) The need for countries to differentiate their tourist product and how to

do so Seminar papers for Ministers of Tourism and Directors of National TouristOrganisations Tourism Managing for Results University of Surrey Guildford

Gilbert D (1990) Strategic marketing planning for national tourism Tourist Review 45 (1)18ndash27

GNTO (1985a) Survey of attributes of foreign tourists 1984ndash1985 (in Greek) Greek NationalStatistical Services Athens GNTO

476 Current Issues in Tourism

GNTO (1985b) EOT-Tourism rsquo85 Development ndash Participation ndash Quality of Life (in Greek)Greek National Statistical Services Athens GNTO

GNTO (1989a) Annual report 1988 ndash Forecast 89 Towards Quality Athens GNTOGNTO (1989b) The study of tourism promotion With special reference to the measures to

increase Japanese tourists to Greece Draft final report Japan InternationalCooperation Agency

GNTO (1993) Tourism towards the 2000 (in Greek) Greek National Tourism OrganisationAthens GNTO

Hall M (1994) Tourism and Politics Policy Power and Place J Wiley and SonsHorwath (annual) The Greek Hotel Industry (in Greek) Annual reports Pireus HorwathJenner P and Smith C (1993) Tourism in the Mediterranean Research report London

Economist Intelligence UnitJosephides N (1993) Environmental Concern ndash Whatrsquos In It for the Tourism Industry (pp 51ndash6)

Proceedings of the conference Tourism and the environment Challenges and choicesfor the 1990rsquos 16ndash17 November 1992 Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre LondonBrussels European Union

Josephides N (1994) Tourism analysis Presentation in Philoxenia international tourismexhibition Thessaloniki Greece

Josephides N (1995) A sorry state for beautiful Greece Travel Weekly 1261 (5 April)11Kalogeropoulou H (1993) Greece ndash Prospects for the tourism industry within the context

of the European Single Market of 1993 Tourism Review 48 (1) 2ndash4Kassimati K Thanopoulou M and Tsartas P (1994) Womenrsquos Employment in the

Tourist Sector Study of the Greek Labour Market and Identification of Future ProspectsDGV Equal Opportunities Unit Document V40994-EN European CommissionBrussels

Komilis P (1987) Spatial analysis of tourism in Greece (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planningand Economic Research

Komilis P (1992) The spatial structure of tourism and physical planning practices inGreece Paper presented in conference Tourism and environment Issues ofpolicyplanningmanagement 23ndash4 October University of the Aegean Dept ofEnvironment Lesvos

Komilis P (1993) Values in the Tourism Planning and Policy Making Process (pp 224ndash9)Proceedings of the conference Values and the environment 23ndash4 September GuildfordUniversity of Surrey

Komilis P (1994) Tourism and sustainable regional development In A Seaton et al (eds)Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 65ndash73) England JWiley andSons

Konsolas N and Zacharatos G (1993) Regionalization of tourism activity in GreeceProblems and policies In H Briassoulis and J Van der Straaten (eds) Tourism andEnvironment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 57ndash65) Dordrecht Kluer AcademicPublisher

Kousis M (1989) Tourism and the family in a rural Cretan community Annals of TourismResearch 16 318ndash32

Kriebardis S and Marmagiolis I (1990) Tourism Activity in Greece Problems and Perspectives(pp 45ndash54) (in Greek) Economic Report of Commercial Bank AprilndashJune AthensCommercial Bank

Ktenas S (1994) Hoteliers ask for 15 to 20 increases for 1995 (in Greek) TO BHMA (3July) D9

Ktenas S (1996) Crisis in Greek tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (7 April) D16Leontidou L (1991) Greece Prospects and contradictions of tourism in the 1980rsquos In AM

Williams and GJ Shaw (eds) Tourism and Economic Development Western EuropeanExperiences (2nd edn) (pp 94ndash106) London Belhaven Press

Logothetis M (1990) The Economy of Dodekanisos During 1988ndash1989 Developments andPerspectives (in Greek) Rhodes Regional association of municipalities of Dodekanisos

Logothetis M (1992) Touristiki Sigkiria (in Greek) Rhodes Institute of Tourist and HotelResearch

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 477

Loukissas P (1977) The impact of tourism on regional development A comparativeanalysis of the Greek islands PhD Dissertation Cornell University USA

Loukissas P (1982) Tourismrsquos regional development impacts A comparative analysis ofthe Greek islands Annals of Tourism Research 9 523ndash43

Marinos P (1983) Small island tourism-the case of Zakynthos in Greece TourismManagement 4 212ndash15

Moore R (1992) From shepherds to shopkeepers The development of tourism in a centralGreek town PhD Dissertation University of California at Berkeley USA

Moore R (1995) Gender and alcohol use in a Greek tourist town Annals of Tourism Research22 300ndash13

Mourdoukoutas P (1988) Seasonal employment seasonal unemployment andunemployment compensation The case of the tourism industry of the Greek islandsAmerican Journal of Economics and Sociology 47 315ndash29

NSSG (l983) Tourism Statistics 1981 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (l985) Tourism Statistics 1982ndash1983 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1987) Tourism Statistics 1984ndash1985 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1990) Tourism Statistics 1986ndash1987 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1993) Tourism Statistics 1988ndash1990 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceOECD (1992) Greece Tourism Policy and International Tourism in OECD Member Countries (pp

70ndash8) Paris OECDOttaway M (1992) Turtle power Sunday Times Travel and Style (28 June)Ottaway M (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 1 Sunday Times (17 January)

57ndash59Panagiotopoulou R (1990) The problem and perspectives of the European insular regions

(in Greek) Working paper University of the Aegean ChiosPapadimitris G (1988) Short run and long run prospects of the Greek tourism industry

PhD Dissertation University of Manchester ManchesterPapadopoulos S (1985) An economic analysis of foreign tourism in Greece An

examination of the growth and structure of foreign tourism to Greece 1960ndash1984 with aplanning model and marketing policy recommendations PhD Thesis University ofBradford Management Centre Bradford

Papadopoulos S (1987) Strategic marketing techniques in international tourismInternational Marketing Review (summer) 71ndash84

Papadopoulos S (1988a) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (1) 29ndash30

Papadopoulos S (1988b) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (2) 24ndash7

Papadopoulos S (1989) Greek marketing strategies in the Europe tourism market ServiceIndustries Journal 9 297ndash314

Papadopoulos S and Mirza H (1985) Foreign tourism in Greece An economic analysisTourism Management 6 125ndash37

Papandropoulos A (1995) The crisis in tourism is evident (in Greek) OikonomikosTachydromos (29 June) 26ndash8

Papanikos G (1999) The year 2004 olympic games and their influence upon the Greektourism (in Greek) ITEP (Research Institute for Tourism) Athens

Paulopoulos P (1999) The Size and Dynamics of the Tourism Sector (in Greek) ResearchInstitute for Tourism Athens

Peterson C (1990) Greece tackles overbuilding in tourism areas EnvironmentalConservation 17 166ndash8

Plevris V (1995) Alarm bells from the Hellenic Federation of Hotels (in Greek) XENIA128 (May) 6ndash7

Poon A (1987) Information technology and innovation in international tourism ndashimplications for the Caribbean tourism industry PhD thesis Science Policy ResearchUnit University of Sussex Brighton

Poon A (1988) Flexible specialisation and small size ndash the case of Caribbean tourism DRCDiscussion Paper 57 SPRU Brighton University of Sussex

478 Current Issues in Tourism

Poon A (1989) Competitive strategies for new tourism In C Cooper (ed) Progress inTourism Recreation and Hospitality Management (vol 1) (pp 91ndash102) London BelhavenPress

Poon A (1990) Flexible specialisation at small size The case of Caribbean tourism WorldDevelopment 18 109ndash23

Poon A (1993) Tourism Technology and Competitive Strategies Oxford CAB InternationalPorter M (1980) Competitive Strategy Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors

New York Free PressPorter M (1985) Competitive Advantage Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance New

York Free PressPorter M (1990) The Competitive Advantage of Nations New York Free PressPrurier E Sweeney A and Geen A (1993) Tourism and the environment The case of

Zakynthos Tourism Management 14 137ndash9Psoinos P (1994a) Research on the foreign touristsrsquo attributes in Greece (in Greek) Athens

Greek National Tourism OrganisationPsoinos P (1994b) Research on the attributes of foreigners who have never visited Greece (in

Greek) Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationRichter-Papaconstantinou C (1992) Tourism development of Rhodes Cahiers du Tourisme

(Serie B) 67 Aix en Provence Centre des Hautes Eacutetudes TouristiquesRomanos A (1998) Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites (in Greek) Athens

Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites SASETE (1993) Tourism Developments and problems (in Greek) Athens Association of Greek

Tourism EnterprisesSezer H and Harrison A (1994) Tourism in Greece and Turkey An economic view for

planners In A Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposiumpp74ndash84 England Wiley and Sons

Skoulas N (1985) Holidays and travel in the year 2035 ndash Contribution of the NationalTourist Organisation of Greece SDI Schriftey Wirtschafts und Unternehmenspolitik 40181ndash99

Skoulas N (1994) Quality improvement of tourism services (in Greek) Paper presentedin the conference Competitiveness of tourism enterprises ndash the role of quality 1 AprilHoliday Inn Athens Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises

Smith C and Jenner P (1995) Greece International Tourism Reports 3 5ndash21Stavrou S (1978) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Kos Island (in Greek) Research and

Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationStavrou S (1979) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Mykonos and Naxos Islands (in

Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1980) Research on Tourism Awareness on the Islands Kalymnos and Leros (in Greek)Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1984) Tourism Development in Greece during 1969ndash1982 (in Greek) Research andDevelopment Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986a) Research for the Characteristics of Foreign Tourist Demand in Greece in theYears 8485 (in Greek) Research Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1986b) Research on the Tourism Awareness on Paros Santorini Kythira Islands (inGreek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986c) Critical Review of Tourism Activity in the Years 8385 (in Greek) Researchand Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1988) Tourism in the Northern Aegean Islands Presentation of GNTO for the TourismDevelopment of the Periphery (in Greek) Proceedings of the first conference for thedevelopment of the Northern Aegean islands Homereum cultural centre Chios 11November Chios Periphery of Northern Aegean islands

Stavrou S (1989a) GNTO Presentation for the Tourism Development Possibilities for theSouthern Aegean Islands (in Greek) Conference for the development of Southern Aegean

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 479

islands Syros 30 September ndash 2 OctoberStavrou S (1989b) The Contribution of the Development Law 126282 in the Development of the

Country (in Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A5 Athens GreekNational Tourism Organisation

Stereopoulos N (1995) It is regarded ideal it became problematic (in Greek) OikonomikosTachidromos (21 December) 151ndash3

Touloupas P (1996) Greece as a tourist destination for the British tour operators Ananalysis from a marketing perspective in the particular context of the United KingdomMSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Tourismos ke Oikonomia (1993) 20 years 1973ndash1993 (in Greek) Special Issue AthensTourismos ke Oikonomia (1994) ICAP tourism enterprises Drastic reduction of loses in 1993

(in Greek) December 14ndash15Touristiki Agora (various issues) (Monthly tourism industry periodical in Greek) Business

Press AthensTruett D and Truett L (1987) The response of tourism to international economic

conditions Greece Mexico and Spain Journal of Developing Areas 21 177ndash90Tsartas P (1989) Socioeconomic Impacts of Tourism Development in Cyclades Region with Special

Reference on Ios and Serifos Islands During 1950ndash1980 (in Greek) Athens National Centrefor Social Research

Tsartas P (1992) Socioeconomic impacts of tourism on two Greek isles Annals of TourismResearch 19 516ndash33

Van Den Bergh J (1993) Tourism development and natural environment Aneconomicndashecological model for the Sporades islands In H Briassoulis and J Van DerStraaten (eds) Tourism and Environment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 67ndash83)Dordrecht Kluer Academic Publishers

Velissariou E (1991) Die Wirtschaftlichen Effekte des Tourismus Dargestell am Beispiel Kretas(The Economic Impacts of Tourism on Crete) PhD Dissertation University of MunichFrankfurt Peter Lang

Vernikos N (1987) The study of Mediterranean small islands Emerging theoreticalissues Ekistics 54 (323ndash4) 101ndash9

Wanhill S (1993) Government organisations In C Cooper J Fletcher D Gilbert and SWanhill (eds) Tourism Principle and Practice (pp 145ndash60) London Pitman

Wickens D (1994) Consumption of the authentic The hedonistic tourist in Greece In ASeaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 819ndash25)England JWiley and Sons

Wickens E (2000) Rethinking touristsrsquo experiences In M Robinson et al (eds) MotivationsBehaviour and Tourist Types (pp 455ndash72) Business Education Publishers Sunderland

Wickers D (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 2 Sunday Times 57ndash510Wilkinson PF (1989) Strategies for tourism in islands microstates Annals of Tourism

Research 16 153ndash77XENIA (various issues) (Monthly bulletin of the Greek Hotel Chamber in Greek) AthensZacharatos G (1984) Tourismus und Wirtschafts-Struktur Dargestellt am Beispiel

Griechenlands Europaische Hochschulschriften Reihex Band 7 Frankfurt am MainZacharatos G (1986) Tourism consumption (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planning and

Economic ResearchZacharatos G (1988) The simplistic empiricism Tourism policy and the time of crisis

(1992) (in Greek) Sychrona Themata 11 (May) 21ndash6Zacharatos G (1989) The problems and perspectives of tourism in Greece (in Greek) In H

Katsoulis T Giannitsis and P Kazakos (eds) Politics and Society Economy and ForeignRelationships (pp 273ndash89) Athens Papazisis

Zacharatos G (1993) The necessity of multimedia use in the tourism education in Greece(in Greek) Paper presented at the international conference Overcomingisolation-telematics and regional development University of the Aegean Chios 30April ndash 2 May

480 Current Issues in Tourism

Page 38: Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challengescore.ac.uk/download/pdf/101686.pdf · Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challenges Dimitrios Buhalis School of Management

GNTO (1985b) EOT-Tourism rsquo85 Development ndash Participation ndash Quality of Life (in Greek)Greek National Statistical Services Athens GNTO

GNTO (1989a) Annual report 1988 ndash Forecast 89 Towards Quality Athens GNTOGNTO (1989b) The study of tourism promotion With special reference to the measures to

increase Japanese tourists to Greece Draft final report Japan InternationalCooperation Agency

GNTO (1993) Tourism towards the 2000 (in Greek) Greek National Tourism OrganisationAthens GNTO

Hall M (1994) Tourism and Politics Policy Power and Place J Wiley and SonsHorwath (annual) The Greek Hotel Industry (in Greek) Annual reports Pireus HorwathJenner P and Smith C (1993) Tourism in the Mediterranean Research report London

Economist Intelligence UnitJosephides N (1993) Environmental Concern ndash Whatrsquos In It for the Tourism Industry (pp 51ndash6)

Proceedings of the conference Tourism and the environment Challenges and choicesfor the 1990rsquos 16ndash17 November 1992 Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre LondonBrussels European Union

Josephides N (1994) Tourism analysis Presentation in Philoxenia international tourismexhibition Thessaloniki Greece

Josephides N (1995) A sorry state for beautiful Greece Travel Weekly 1261 (5 April)11Kalogeropoulou H (1993) Greece ndash Prospects for the tourism industry within the context

of the European Single Market of 1993 Tourism Review 48 (1) 2ndash4Kassimati K Thanopoulou M and Tsartas P (1994) Womenrsquos Employment in the

Tourist Sector Study of the Greek Labour Market and Identification of Future ProspectsDGV Equal Opportunities Unit Document V40994-EN European CommissionBrussels

Komilis P (1987) Spatial analysis of tourism in Greece (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planningand Economic Research

Komilis P (1992) The spatial structure of tourism and physical planning practices inGreece Paper presented in conference Tourism and environment Issues ofpolicyplanningmanagement 23ndash4 October University of the Aegean Dept ofEnvironment Lesvos

Komilis P (1993) Values in the Tourism Planning and Policy Making Process (pp 224ndash9)Proceedings of the conference Values and the environment 23ndash4 September GuildfordUniversity of Surrey

Komilis P (1994) Tourism and sustainable regional development In A Seaton et al (eds)Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 65ndash73) England JWiley andSons

Konsolas N and Zacharatos G (1993) Regionalization of tourism activity in GreeceProblems and policies In H Briassoulis and J Van der Straaten (eds) Tourism andEnvironment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 57ndash65) Dordrecht Kluer AcademicPublisher

Kousis M (1989) Tourism and the family in a rural Cretan community Annals of TourismResearch 16 318ndash32

Kriebardis S and Marmagiolis I (1990) Tourism Activity in Greece Problems and Perspectives(pp 45ndash54) (in Greek) Economic Report of Commercial Bank AprilndashJune AthensCommercial Bank

Ktenas S (1994) Hoteliers ask for 15 to 20 increases for 1995 (in Greek) TO BHMA (3July) D9

Ktenas S (1996) Crisis in Greek tourism (in Greek) TO BHMA (7 April) D16Leontidou L (1991) Greece Prospects and contradictions of tourism in the 1980rsquos In AM

Williams and GJ Shaw (eds) Tourism and Economic Development Western EuropeanExperiences (2nd edn) (pp 94ndash106) London Belhaven Press

Logothetis M (1990) The Economy of Dodekanisos During 1988ndash1989 Developments andPerspectives (in Greek) Rhodes Regional association of municipalities of Dodekanisos

Logothetis M (1992) Touristiki Sigkiria (in Greek) Rhodes Institute of Tourist and HotelResearch

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 477

Loukissas P (1977) The impact of tourism on regional development A comparativeanalysis of the Greek islands PhD Dissertation Cornell University USA

Loukissas P (1982) Tourismrsquos regional development impacts A comparative analysis ofthe Greek islands Annals of Tourism Research 9 523ndash43

Marinos P (1983) Small island tourism-the case of Zakynthos in Greece TourismManagement 4 212ndash15

Moore R (1992) From shepherds to shopkeepers The development of tourism in a centralGreek town PhD Dissertation University of California at Berkeley USA

Moore R (1995) Gender and alcohol use in a Greek tourist town Annals of Tourism Research22 300ndash13

Mourdoukoutas P (1988) Seasonal employment seasonal unemployment andunemployment compensation The case of the tourism industry of the Greek islandsAmerican Journal of Economics and Sociology 47 315ndash29

NSSG (l983) Tourism Statistics 1981 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (l985) Tourism Statistics 1982ndash1983 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1987) Tourism Statistics 1984ndash1985 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1990) Tourism Statistics 1986ndash1987 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1993) Tourism Statistics 1988ndash1990 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceOECD (1992) Greece Tourism Policy and International Tourism in OECD Member Countries (pp

70ndash8) Paris OECDOttaway M (1992) Turtle power Sunday Times Travel and Style (28 June)Ottaway M (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 1 Sunday Times (17 January)

57ndash59Panagiotopoulou R (1990) The problem and perspectives of the European insular regions

(in Greek) Working paper University of the Aegean ChiosPapadimitris G (1988) Short run and long run prospects of the Greek tourism industry

PhD Dissertation University of Manchester ManchesterPapadopoulos S (1985) An economic analysis of foreign tourism in Greece An

examination of the growth and structure of foreign tourism to Greece 1960ndash1984 with aplanning model and marketing policy recommendations PhD Thesis University ofBradford Management Centre Bradford

Papadopoulos S (1987) Strategic marketing techniques in international tourismInternational Marketing Review (summer) 71ndash84

Papadopoulos S (1988a) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (1) 29ndash30

Papadopoulos S (1988b) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (2) 24ndash7

Papadopoulos S (1989) Greek marketing strategies in the Europe tourism market ServiceIndustries Journal 9 297ndash314

Papadopoulos S and Mirza H (1985) Foreign tourism in Greece An economic analysisTourism Management 6 125ndash37

Papandropoulos A (1995) The crisis in tourism is evident (in Greek) OikonomikosTachydromos (29 June) 26ndash8

Papanikos G (1999) The year 2004 olympic games and their influence upon the Greektourism (in Greek) ITEP (Research Institute for Tourism) Athens

Paulopoulos P (1999) The Size and Dynamics of the Tourism Sector (in Greek) ResearchInstitute for Tourism Athens

Peterson C (1990) Greece tackles overbuilding in tourism areas EnvironmentalConservation 17 166ndash8

Plevris V (1995) Alarm bells from the Hellenic Federation of Hotels (in Greek) XENIA128 (May) 6ndash7

Poon A (1987) Information technology and innovation in international tourism ndashimplications for the Caribbean tourism industry PhD thesis Science Policy ResearchUnit University of Sussex Brighton

Poon A (1988) Flexible specialisation and small size ndash the case of Caribbean tourism DRCDiscussion Paper 57 SPRU Brighton University of Sussex

478 Current Issues in Tourism

Poon A (1989) Competitive strategies for new tourism In C Cooper (ed) Progress inTourism Recreation and Hospitality Management (vol 1) (pp 91ndash102) London BelhavenPress

Poon A (1990) Flexible specialisation at small size The case of Caribbean tourism WorldDevelopment 18 109ndash23

Poon A (1993) Tourism Technology and Competitive Strategies Oxford CAB InternationalPorter M (1980) Competitive Strategy Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors

New York Free PressPorter M (1985) Competitive Advantage Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance New

York Free PressPorter M (1990) The Competitive Advantage of Nations New York Free PressPrurier E Sweeney A and Geen A (1993) Tourism and the environment The case of

Zakynthos Tourism Management 14 137ndash9Psoinos P (1994a) Research on the foreign touristsrsquo attributes in Greece (in Greek) Athens

Greek National Tourism OrganisationPsoinos P (1994b) Research on the attributes of foreigners who have never visited Greece (in

Greek) Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationRichter-Papaconstantinou C (1992) Tourism development of Rhodes Cahiers du Tourisme

(Serie B) 67 Aix en Provence Centre des Hautes Eacutetudes TouristiquesRomanos A (1998) Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites (in Greek) Athens

Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites SASETE (1993) Tourism Developments and problems (in Greek) Athens Association of Greek

Tourism EnterprisesSezer H and Harrison A (1994) Tourism in Greece and Turkey An economic view for

planners In A Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposiumpp74ndash84 England Wiley and Sons

Skoulas N (1985) Holidays and travel in the year 2035 ndash Contribution of the NationalTourist Organisation of Greece SDI Schriftey Wirtschafts und Unternehmenspolitik 40181ndash99

Skoulas N (1994) Quality improvement of tourism services (in Greek) Paper presentedin the conference Competitiveness of tourism enterprises ndash the role of quality 1 AprilHoliday Inn Athens Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises

Smith C and Jenner P (1995) Greece International Tourism Reports 3 5ndash21Stavrou S (1978) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Kos Island (in Greek) Research and

Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationStavrou S (1979) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Mykonos and Naxos Islands (in

Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1980) Research on Tourism Awareness on the Islands Kalymnos and Leros (in Greek)Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1984) Tourism Development in Greece during 1969ndash1982 (in Greek) Research andDevelopment Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986a) Research for the Characteristics of Foreign Tourist Demand in Greece in theYears 8485 (in Greek) Research Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1986b) Research on the Tourism Awareness on Paros Santorini Kythira Islands (inGreek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986c) Critical Review of Tourism Activity in the Years 8385 (in Greek) Researchand Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1988) Tourism in the Northern Aegean Islands Presentation of GNTO for the TourismDevelopment of the Periphery (in Greek) Proceedings of the first conference for thedevelopment of the Northern Aegean islands Homereum cultural centre Chios 11November Chios Periphery of Northern Aegean islands

Stavrou S (1989a) GNTO Presentation for the Tourism Development Possibilities for theSouthern Aegean Islands (in Greek) Conference for the development of Southern Aegean

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 479

islands Syros 30 September ndash 2 OctoberStavrou S (1989b) The Contribution of the Development Law 126282 in the Development of the

Country (in Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A5 Athens GreekNational Tourism Organisation

Stereopoulos N (1995) It is regarded ideal it became problematic (in Greek) OikonomikosTachidromos (21 December) 151ndash3

Touloupas P (1996) Greece as a tourist destination for the British tour operators Ananalysis from a marketing perspective in the particular context of the United KingdomMSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Tourismos ke Oikonomia (1993) 20 years 1973ndash1993 (in Greek) Special Issue AthensTourismos ke Oikonomia (1994) ICAP tourism enterprises Drastic reduction of loses in 1993

(in Greek) December 14ndash15Touristiki Agora (various issues) (Monthly tourism industry periodical in Greek) Business

Press AthensTruett D and Truett L (1987) The response of tourism to international economic

conditions Greece Mexico and Spain Journal of Developing Areas 21 177ndash90Tsartas P (1989) Socioeconomic Impacts of Tourism Development in Cyclades Region with Special

Reference on Ios and Serifos Islands During 1950ndash1980 (in Greek) Athens National Centrefor Social Research

Tsartas P (1992) Socioeconomic impacts of tourism on two Greek isles Annals of TourismResearch 19 516ndash33

Van Den Bergh J (1993) Tourism development and natural environment Aneconomicndashecological model for the Sporades islands In H Briassoulis and J Van DerStraaten (eds) Tourism and Environment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 67ndash83)Dordrecht Kluer Academic Publishers

Velissariou E (1991) Die Wirtschaftlichen Effekte des Tourismus Dargestell am Beispiel Kretas(The Economic Impacts of Tourism on Crete) PhD Dissertation University of MunichFrankfurt Peter Lang

Vernikos N (1987) The study of Mediterranean small islands Emerging theoreticalissues Ekistics 54 (323ndash4) 101ndash9

Wanhill S (1993) Government organisations In C Cooper J Fletcher D Gilbert and SWanhill (eds) Tourism Principle and Practice (pp 145ndash60) London Pitman

Wickens D (1994) Consumption of the authentic The hedonistic tourist in Greece In ASeaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 819ndash25)England JWiley and Sons

Wickens E (2000) Rethinking touristsrsquo experiences In M Robinson et al (eds) MotivationsBehaviour and Tourist Types (pp 455ndash72) Business Education Publishers Sunderland

Wickers D (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 2 Sunday Times 57ndash510Wilkinson PF (1989) Strategies for tourism in islands microstates Annals of Tourism

Research 16 153ndash77XENIA (various issues) (Monthly bulletin of the Greek Hotel Chamber in Greek) AthensZacharatos G (1984) Tourismus und Wirtschafts-Struktur Dargestellt am Beispiel

Griechenlands Europaische Hochschulschriften Reihex Band 7 Frankfurt am MainZacharatos G (1986) Tourism consumption (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planning and

Economic ResearchZacharatos G (1988) The simplistic empiricism Tourism policy and the time of crisis

(1992) (in Greek) Sychrona Themata 11 (May) 21ndash6Zacharatos G (1989) The problems and perspectives of tourism in Greece (in Greek) In H

Katsoulis T Giannitsis and P Kazakos (eds) Politics and Society Economy and ForeignRelationships (pp 273ndash89) Athens Papazisis

Zacharatos G (1993) The necessity of multimedia use in the tourism education in Greece(in Greek) Paper presented at the international conference Overcomingisolation-telematics and regional development University of the Aegean Chios 30April ndash 2 May

480 Current Issues in Tourism

Page 39: Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challengescore.ac.uk/download/pdf/101686.pdf · Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challenges Dimitrios Buhalis School of Management

Loukissas P (1977) The impact of tourism on regional development A comparativeanalysis of the Greek islands PhD Dissertation Cornell University USA

Loukissas P (1982) Tourismrsquos regional development impacts A comparative analysis ofthe Greek islands Annals of Tourism Research 9 523ndash43

Marinos P (1983) Small island tourism-the case of Zakynthos in Greece TourismManagement 4 212ndash15

Moore R (1992) From shepherds to shopkeepers The development of tourism in a centralGreek town PhD Dissertation University of California at Berkeley USA

Moore R (1995) Gender and alcohol use in a Greek tourist town Annals of Tourism Research22 300ndash13

Mourdoukoutas P (1988) Seasonal employment seasonal unemployment andunemployment compensation The case of the tourism industry of the Greek islandsAmerican Journal of Economics and Sociology 47 315ndash29

NSSG (l983) Tourism Statistics 1981 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (l985) Tourism Statistics 1982ndash1983 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1987) Tourism Statistics 1984ndash1985 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1990) Tourism Statistics 1986ndash1987 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceNSSG (1993) Tourism Statistics 1988ndash1990 Athens National Statistic Service of GreeceOECD (1992) Greece Tourism Policy and International Tourism in OECD Member Countries (pp

70ndash8) Paris OECDOttaway M (1992) Turtle power Sunday Times Travel and Style (28 June)Ottaway M (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 1 Sunday Times (17 January)

57ndash59Panagiotopoulou R (1990) The problem and perspectives of the European insular regions

(in Greek) Working paper University of the Aegean ChiosPapadimitris G (1988) Short run and long run prospects of the Greek tourism industry

PhD Dissertation University of Manchester ManchesterPapadopoulos S (1985) An economic analysis of foreign tourism in Greece An

examination of the growth and structure of foreign tourism to Greece 1960ndash1984 with aplanning model and marketing policy recommendations PhD Thesis University ofBradford Management Centre Bradford

Papadopoulos S (1987) Strategic marketing techniques in international tourismInternational Marketing Review (summer) 71ndash84

Papadopoulos S (1988a) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (1) 29ndash30

Papadopoulos S (1988b) An examination of non-economic factors related to tourism inGreece Tourism Review 43 (2) 24ndash7

Papadopoulos S (1989) Greek marketing strategies in the Europe tourism market ServiceIndustries Journal 9 297ndash314

Papadopoulos S and Mirza H (1985) Foreign tourism in Greece An economic analysisTourism Management 6 125ndash37

Papandropoulos A (1995) The crisis in tourism is evident (in Greek) OikonomikosTachydromos (29 June) 26ndash8

Papanikos G (1999) The year 2004 olympic games and their influence upon the Greektourism (in Greek) ITEP (Research Institute for Tourism) Athens

Paulopoulos P (1999) The Size and Dynamics of the Tourism Sector (in Greek) ResearchInstitute for Tourism Athens

Peterson C (1990) Greece tackles overbuilding in tourism areas EnvironmentalConservation 17 166ndash8

Plevris V (1995) Alarm bells from the Hellenic Federation of Hotels (in Greek) XENIA128 (May) 6ndash7

Poon A (1987) Information technology and innovation in international tourism ndashimplications for the Caribbean tourism industry PhD thesis Science Policy ResearchUnit University of Sussex Brighton

Poon A (1988) Flexible specialisation and small size ndash the case of Caribbean tourism DRCDiscussion Paper 57 SPRU Brighton University of Sussex

478 Current Issues in Tourism

Poon A (1989) Competitive strategies for new tourism In C Cooper (ed) Progress inTourism Recreation and Hospitality Management (vol 1) (pp 91ndash102) London BelhavenPress

Poon A (1990) Flexible specialisation at small size The case of Caribbean tourism WorldDevelopment 18 109ndash23

Poon A (1993) Tourism Technology and Competitive Strategies Oxford CAB InternationalPorter M (1980) Competitive Strategy Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors

New York Free PressPorter M (1985) Competitive Advantage Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance New

York Free PressPorter M (1990) The Competitive Advantage of Nations New York Free PressPrurier E Sweeney A and Geen A (1993) Tourism and the environment The case of

Zakynthos Tourism Management 14 137ndash9Psoinos P (1994a) Research on the foreign touristsrsquo attributes in Greece (in Greek) Athens

Greek National Tourism OrganisationPsoinos P (1994b) Research on the attributes of foreigners who have never visited Greece (in

Greek) Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationRichter-Papaconstantinou C (1992) Tourism development of Rhodes Cahiers du Tourisme

(Serie B) 67 Aix en Provence Centre des Hautes Eacutetudes TouristiquesRomanos A (1998) Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites (in Greek) Athens

Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites SASETE (1993) Tourism Developments and problems (in Greek) Athens Association of Greek

Tourism EnterprisesSezer H and Harrison A (1994) Tourism in Greece and Turkey An economic view for

planners In A Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposiumpp74ndash84 England Wiley and Sons

Skoulas N (1985) Holidays and travel in the year 2035 ndash Contribution of the NationalTourist Organisation of Greece SDI Schriftey Wirtschafts und Unternehmenspolitik 40181ndash99

Skoulas N (1994) Quality improvement of tourism services (in Greek) Paper presentedin the conference Competitiveness of tourism enterprises ndash the role of quality 1 AprilHoliday Inn Athens Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises

Smith C and Jenner P (1995) Greece International Tourism Reports 3 5ndash21Stavrou S (1978) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Kos Island (in Greek) Research and

Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationStavrou S (1979) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Mykonos and Naxos Islands (in

Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1980) Research on Tourism Awareness on the Islands Kalymnos and Leros (in Greek)Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1984) Tourism Development in Greece during 1969ndash1982 (in Greek) Research andDevelopment Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986a) Research for the Characteristics of Foreign Tourist Demand in Greece in theYears 8485 (in Greek) Research Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1986b) Research on the Tourism Awareness on Paros Santorini Kythira Islands (inGreek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986c) Critical Review of Tourism Activity in the Years 8385 (in Greek) Researchand Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1988) Tourism in the Northern Aegean Islands Presentation of GNTO for the TourismDevelopment of the Periphery (in Greek) Proceedings of the first conference for thedevelopment of the Northern Aegean islands Homereum cultural centre Chios 11November Chios Periphery of Northern Aegean islands

Stavrou S (1989a) GNTO Presentation for the Tourism Development Possibilities for theSouthern Aegean Islands (in Greek) Conference for the development of Southern Aegean

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 479

islands Syros 30 September ndash 2 OctoberStavrou S (1989b) The Contribution of the Development Law 126282 in the Development of the

Country (in Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A5 Athens GreekNational Tourism Organisation

Stereopoulos N (1995) It is regarded ideal it became problematic (in Greek) OikonomikosTachidromos (21 December) 151ndash3

Touloupas P (1996) Greece as a tourist destination for the British tour operators Ananalysis from a marketing perspective in the particular context of the United KingdomMSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Tourismos ke Oikonomia (1993) 20 years 1973ndash1993 (in Greek) Special Issue AthensTourismos ke Oikonomia (1994) ICAP tourism enterprises Drastic reduction of loses in 1993

(in Greek) December 14ndash15Touristiki Agora (various issues) (Monthly tourism industry periodical in Greek) Business

Press AthensTruett D and Truett L (1987) The response of tourism to international economic

conditions Greece Mexico and Spain Journal of Developing Areas 21 177ndash90Tsartas P (1989) Socioeconomic Impacts of Tourism Development in Cyclades Region with Special

Reference on Ios and Serifos Islands During 1950ndash1980 (in Greek) Athens National Centrefor Social Research

Tsartas P (1992) Socioeconomic impacts of tourism on two Greek isles Annals of TourismResearch 19 516ndash33

Van Den Bergh J (1993) Tourism development and natural environment Aneconomicndashecological model for the Sporades islands In H Briassoulis and J Van DerStraaten (eds) Tourism and Environment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 67ndash83)Dordrecht Kluer Academic Publishers

Velissariou E (1991) Die Wirtschaftlichen Effekte des Tourismus Dargestell am Beispiel Kretas(The Economic Impacts of Tourism on Crete) PhD Dissertation University of MunichFrankfurt Peter Lang

Vernikos N (1987) The study of Mediterranean small islands Emerging theoreticalissues Ekistics 54 (323ndash4) 101ndash9

Wanhill S (1993) Government organisations In C Cooper J Fletcher D Gilbert and SWanhill (eds) Tourism Principle and Practice (pp 145ndash60) London Pitman

Wickens D (1994) Consumption of the authentic The hedonistic tourist in Greece In ASeaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 819ndash25)England JWiley and Sons

Wickens E (2000) Rethinking touristsrsquo experiences In M Robinson et al (eds) MotivationsBehaviour and Tourist Types (pp 455ndash72) Business Education Publishers Sunderland

Wickers D (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 2 Sunday Times 57ndash510Wilkinson PF (1989) Strategies for tourism in islands microstates Annals of Tourism

Research 16 153ndash77XENIA (various issues) (Monthly bulletin of the Greek Hotel Chamber in Greek) AthensZacharatos G (1984) Tourismus und Wirtschafts-Struktur Dargestellt am Beispiel

Griechenlands Europaische Hochschulschriften Reihex Band 7 Frankfurt am MainZacharatos G (1986) Tourism consumption (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planning and

Economic ResearchZacharatos G (1988) The simplistic empiricism Tourism policy and the time of crisis

(1992) (in Greek) Sychrona Themata 11 (May) 21ndash6Zacharatos G (1989) The problems and perspectives of tourism in Greece (in Greek) In H

Katsoulis T Giannitsis and P Kazakos (eds) Politics and Society Economy and ForeignRelationships (pp 273ndash89) Athens Papazisis

Zacharatos G (1993) The necessity of multimedia use in the tourism education in Greece(in Greek) Paper presented at the international conference Overcomingisolation-telematics and regional development University of the Aegean Chios 30April ndash 2 May

480 Current Issues in Tourism

Page 40: Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challengescore.ac.uk/download/pdf/101686.pdf · Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challenges Dimitrios Buhalis School of Management

Poon A (1989) Competitive strategies for new tourism In C Cooper (ed) Progress inTourism Recreation and Hospitality Management (vol 1) (pp 91ndash102) London BelhavenPress

Poon A (1990) Flexible specialisation at small size The case of Caribbean tourism WorldDevelopment 18 109ndash23

Poon A (1993) Tourism Technology and Competitive Strategies Oxford CAB InternationalPorter M (1980) Competitive Strategy Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors

New York Free PressPorter M (1985) Competitive Advantage Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance New

York Free PressPorter M (1990) The Competitive Advantage of Nations New York Free PressPrurier E Sweeney A and Geen A (1993) Tourism and the environment The case of

Zakynthos Tourism Management 14 137ndash9Psoinos P (1994a) Research on the foreign touristsrsquo attributes in Greece (in Greek) Athens

Greek National Tourism OrganisationPsoinos P (1994b) Research on the attributes of foreigners who have never visited Greece (in

Greek) Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationRichter-Papaconstantinou C (1992) Tourism development of Rhodes Cahiers du Tourisme

(Serie B) 67 Aix en Provence Centre des Hautes Eacutetudes TouristiquesRomanos A (1998) Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites (in Greek) Athens

Unification of Athens Archaeological Sites SASETE (1993) Tourism Developments and problems (in Greek) Athens Association of Greek

Tourism EnterprisesSezer H and Harrison A (1994) Tourism in Greece and Turkey An economic view for

planners In A Seaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposiumpp74ndash84 England Wiley and Sons

Skoulas N (1985) Holidays and travel in the year 2035 ndash Contribution of the NationalTourist Organisation of Greece SDI Schriftey Wirtschafts und Unternehmenspolitik 40181ndash99

Skoulas N (1994) Quality improvement of tourism services (in Greek) Paper presentedin the conference Competitiveness of tourism enterprises ndash the role of quality 1 AprilHoliday Inn Athens Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises

Smith C and Jenner P (1995) Greece International Tourism Reports 3 5ndash21Stavrou S (1978) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Kos Island (in Greek) Research and

Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism OrganisationStavrou S (1979) Research of Tourism Social Acceptance in Mykonos and Naxos Islands (in

Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1980) Research on Tourism Awareness on the Islands Kalymnos and Leros (in Greek)Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1984) Tourism Development in Greece during 1969ndash1982 (in Greek) Research andDevelopment Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986a) Research for the Characteristics of Foreign Tourist Demand in Greece in theYears 8485 (in Greek) Research Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National TourismOrganisation

Stavrou S (1986b) Research on the Tourism Awareness on Paros Santorini Kythira Islands (inGreek) Research and Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek NationalTourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1986c) Critical Review of Tourism Activity in the Years 8385 (in Greek) Researchand Development Division Dept A1 Athens Greek National Tourism Organisation

Stavrou S (1988) Tourism in the Northern Aegean Islands Presentation of GNTO for the TourismDevelopment of the Periphery (in Greek) Proceedings of the first conference for thedevelopment of the Northern Aegean islands Homereum cultural centre Chios 11November Chios Periphery of Northern Aegean islands

Stavrou S (1989a) GNTO Presentation for the Tourism Development Possibilities for theSouthern Aegean Islands (in Greek) Conference for the development of Southern Aegean

Tourism in Greece Strategic Analysis and Challenges 479

islands Syros 30 September ndash 2 OctoberStavrou S (1989b) The Contribution of the Development Law 126282 in the Development of the

Country (in Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A5 Athens GreekNational Tourism Organisation

Stereopoulos N (1995) It is regarded ideal it became problematic (in Greek) OikonomikosTachidromos (21 December) 151ndash3

Touloupas P (1996) Greece as a tourist destination for the British tour operators Ananalysis from a marketing perspective in the particular context of the United KingdomMSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Tourismos ke Oikonomia (1993) 20 years 1973ndash1993 (in Greek) Special Issue AthensTourismos ke Oikonomia (1994) ICAP tourism enterprises Drastic reduction of loses in 1993

(in Greek) December 14ndash15Touristiki Agora (various issues) (Monthly tourism industry periodical in Greek) Business

Press AthensTruett D and Truett L (1987) The response of tourism to international economic

conditions Greece Mexico and Spain Journal of Developing Areas 21 177ndash90Tsartas P (1989) Socioeconomic Impacts of Tourism Development in Cyclades Region with Special

Reference on Ios and Serifos Islands During 1950ndash1980 (in Greek) Athens National Centrefor Social Research

Tsartas P (1992) Socioeconomic impacts of tourism on two Greek isles Annals of TourismResearch 19 516ndash33

Van Den Bergh J (1993) Tourism development and natural environment Aneconomicndashecological model for the Sporades islands In H Briassoulis and J Van DerStraaten (eds) Tourism and Environment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 67ndash83)Dordrecht Kluer Academic Publishers

Velissariou E (1991) Die Wirtschaftlichen Effekte des Tourismus Dargestell am Beispiel Kretas(The Economic Impacts of Tourism on Crete) PhD Dissertation University of MunichFrankfurt Peter Lang

Vernikos N (1987) The study of Mediterranean small islands Emerging theoreticalissues Ekistics 54 (323ndash4) 101ndash9

Wanhill S (1993) Government organisations In C Cooper J Fletcher D Gilbert and SWanhill (eds) Tourism Principle and Practice (pp 145ndash60) London Pitman

Wickens D (1994) Consumption of the authentic The hedonistic tourist in Greece In ASeaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 819ndash25)England JWiley and Sons

Wickens E (2000) Rethinking touristsrsquo experiences In M Robinson et al (eds) MotivationsBehaviour and Tourist Types (pp 455ndash72) Business Education Publishers Sunderland

Wickers D (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 2 Sunday Times 57ndash510Wilkinson PF (1989) Strategies for tourism in islands microstates Annals of Tourism

Research 16 153ndash77XENIA (various issues) (Monthly bulletin of the Greek Hotel Chamber in Greek) AthensZacharatos G (1984) Tourismus und Wirtschafts-Struktur Dargestellt am Beispiel

Griechenlands Europaische Hochschulschriften Reihex Band 7 Frankfurt am MainZacharatos G (1986) Tourism consumption (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planning and

Economic ResearchZacharatos G (1988) The simplistic empiricism Tourism policy and the time of crisis

(1992) (in Greek) Sychrona Themata 11 (May) 21ndash6Zacharatos G (1989) The problems and perspectives of tourism in Greece (in Greek) In H

Katsoulis T Giannitsis and P Kazakos (eds) Politics and Society Economy and ForeignRelationships (pp 273ndash89) Athens Papazisis

Zacharatos G (1993) The necessity of multimedia use in the tourism education in Greece(in Greek) Paper presented at the international conference Overcomingisolation-telematics and regional development University of the Aegean Chios 30April ndash 2 May

480 Current Issues in Tourism

Page 41: Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challengescore.ac.uk/download/pdf/101686.pdf · Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challenges Dimitrios Buhalis School of Management

islands Syros 30 September ndash 2 OctoberStavrou S (1989b) The Contribution of the Development Law 126282 in the Development of the

Country (in Greek) Research and Development Division Dept A5 Athens GreekNational Tourism Organisation

Stereopoulos N (1995) It is regarded ideal it became problematic (in Greek) OikonomikosTachidromos (21 December) 151ndash3

Touloupas P (1996) Greece as a tourist destination for the British tour operators Ananalysis from a marketing perspective in the particular context of the United KingdomMSc Dissertation University of Surrey Guildford

Tourismos ke Oikonomia (1993) 20 years 1973ndash1993 (in Greek) Special Issue AthensTourismos ke Oikonomia (1994) ICAP tourism enterprises Drastic reduction of loses in 1993

(in Greek) December 14ndash15Touristiki Agora (various issues) (Monthly tourism industry periodical in Greek) Business

Press AthensTruett D and Truett L (1987) The response of tourism to international economic

conditions Greece Mexico and Spain Journal of Developing Areas 21 177ndash90Tsartas P (1989) Socioeconomic Impacts of Tourism Development in Cyclades Region with Special

Reference on Ios and Serifos Islands During 1950ndash1980 (in Greek) Athens National Centrefor Social Research

Tsartas P (1992) Socioeconomic impacts of tourism on two Greek isles Annals of TourismResearch 19 516ndash33

Van Den Bergh J (1993) Tourism development and natural environment Aneconomicndashecological model for the Sporades islands In H Briassoulis and J Van DerStraaten (eds) Tourism and Environment Regional Economic and Policy Issues (pp 67ndash83)Dordrecht Kluer Academic Publishers

Velissariou E (1991) Die Wirtschaftlichen Effekte des Tourismus Dargestell am Beispiel Kretas(The Economic Impacts of Tourism on Crete) PhD Dissertation University of MunichFrankfurt Peter Lang

Vernikos N (1987) The study of Mediterranean small islands Emerging theoreticalissues Ekistics 54 (323ndash4) 101ndash9

Wanhill S (1993) Government organisations In C Cooper J Fletcher D Gilbert and SWanhill (eds) Tourism Principle and Practice (pp 145ndash60) London Pitman

Wickens D (1994) Consumption of the authentic The hedonistic tourist in Greece In ASeaton et al (eds) Tourism ndash The State of the Art The Strathclyde Symposium (pp 819ndash25)England JWiley and Sons

Wickens E (2000) Rethinking touristsrsquo experiences In M Robinson et al (eds) MotivationsBehaviour and Tourist Types (pp 455ndash72) Business Education Publishers Sunderland

Wickers D (1993) Greece The ultimate island guide ndash Part 2 Sunday Times 57ndash510Wilkinson PF (1989) Strategies for tourism in islands microstates Annals of Tourism

Research 16 153ndash77XENIA (various issues) (Monthly bulletin of the Greek Hotel Chamber in Greek) AthensZacharatos G (1984) Tourismus und Wirtschafts-Struktur Dargestellt am Beispiel

Griechenlands Europaische Hochschulschriften Reihex Band 7 Frankfurt am MainZacharatos G (1986) Tourism consumption (in Greek) Athens Centre of Planning and

Economic ResearchZacharatos G (1988) The simplistic empiricism Tourism policy and the time of crisis

(1992) (in Greek) Sychrona Themata 11 (May) 21ndash6Zacharatos G (1989) The problems and perspectives of tourism in Greece (in Greek) In H

Katsoulis T Giannitsis and P Kazakos (eds) Politics and Society Economy and ForeignRelationships (pp 273ndash89) Athens Papazisis

Zacharatos G (1993) The necessity of multimedia use in the tourism education in Greece(in Greek) Paper presented at the international conference Overcomingisolation-telematics and regional development University of the Aegean Chios 30April ndash 2 May

480 Current Issues in Tourism