Name: Nektaria Antoni

Course: Tourism Management (year 2)

Subject Title: Economics of Tourism
Assignment Title: Discuss the demand of Cultural Tourism in
Greece.

Lecturer name: Mr Katsos

Hand in date: 18 th
May 2010

Number of words: 1408

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 Contents
Introduction...................................................................................................................3
Tourism in Greece........................................................................................................3
Cultural Tourism...........................................................................................................4
Cultural Tourism in Greece...........................................................................................5
The Demand for Cultural Tourism in Greece...............................................................5
Conclusion....................................................................................................................6
References...................................................................................................................8

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Introduction
Greece has many resources to accommodate different types of tourism. The
demand in Cultural Tourism in Greece has been increasing in the past few years.
The aim of this essay is to talk about cultural tourism in Greece and what demand
there is for this particular market.

Tourism in Greece
Tourism is visiting a country other than your own and staying there for longer than
twenty four hours for many different reasons. For any country or location planning to
develop in the tourism sector it is important that they have many resources available
for different forms of tourism. This is a major advantage for a location as it gives it
the opportunity to expand in many ways and has a larger market. As a holiday
destination Greece is one of most the popular
in the world. The tourism industry in Greece is
growing over the years. With the industry
becoming more and more popular there is
bigger focus on it and in the development of the
available resources. Tourism influences
Greece as a country in many different ways.
(Κοκκώσης και Τςάρτας, 2001)

One of the main benefits of tourism in Greece

is to the economy. As many tourists are coming into the country especially in the
summer months the economy benefits greatly from this. Greece averages a16
million tourists each year contributing around 20% to the country’s GDP. Tourists
leave a lot of money in many different ways, hotels/accommodation, restaurants,
cafes, souvenir shops, museums and so on. (Smith, 2009)

Tourists visiting Greece play a big role in spreading the Greek Culture. Greece is a
country with the resources available in order to satisfy many different types of
tourists. The main group of tourists visiting Greece presently seem to be leisure
tourists. The main reason for this is the fact that Greece has many pleasant
locations for relaxation holidays with big holiday resorts clubs beaches and so on.

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However apart from leisure tourists Greece welcomes many other types of tourists.
Another popular type of tourists that visit Greece is Cultural / archaeological tourists.
Many people like to visit Greece in order to explore the modern Greek culture and
also to explore the ancient culture. Due to many sporting events taking place in the
Country many athletic fans also chose to visit Greece in order to watch these events.
(Smith, 2009) Tourism is a very important factor for Greece for many reasons.
The main reason Tourism is seen as an important factor is due to the amount it
contributes to the economy. With the correct use of the available resources and the
improvement of various resources more tourists will be attracted to Greece and
therefore there will be a larger contribution to the country’s economy. Another
Important benefit from tourism is the spread of the culture abroad. Many tourists
chose to take back various Greek products back with them to their home country this
means that the Greek culture is being globalised and of course this is very good for
the country. With a little more effort put into the tourism industry and in the ways
used to attract tourists the industry could grow a significant amount and this could
help the country’s economy very much. (www.gnto.gr)

Cultural Tourism
Cultural Tourism is a form of tourism that is associated with the destinations’ culture.
Culture includes many things such as religion, history, architecture, cuisine and even
fashion. Many people chose to visit countries in order to explore their culture and
learn from it. Cultural tourism is a form of tourism that has been increasing over the
past few years. People chose cultural tourism because they find it educational and
influential on their lives. Countries tend to promote cultural tourism because it is a
way of teaching others about their country and how they live. Cultural tourism has
many impacts on a country some negative others positive. The positive impacts is
that this way tourists learn about the destinations culture and sometimes pick up
parts of the culture and take them back to their home country and therefore people
learn more about the country. The negative impacts could be that acculturation
takes place and so the cultures combine together and this means that the
differences between the cultures are not so distinguished any more. (Ηγουμενάκης,
2000)

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Cultural Tourism in Greece
Historical traces going back centuries are engraved in every part of Greece. Traces
go back to the Prehistoric
and Archaic Periods,
unique works from
Classical, Hellenistic,
Medieval and Byzantine
monuments, creations
from folk art cultures,
traces from the passing
eons of other civilizations
and different religions that
coexist with current creations, constructions and modern works of art.
Greece is a great location for anyone wants cultural tourism, to explore art, history
and architecture. There are many ways for this to happen educational excursions,
theatrical productions, festivals, pilgrimages, visits to archaeological sites,
monuments and museums, excursions to study the natural environment, folk art and
culture are put together by various cultural tourism groups in Greece in order to be
able to promote cultural tourism and to give visitors options. (www.culture.gr)
The Ancient City of Athens is one of the most popular historical parts of Greece with
many tourists coming to Greece in order to visit the ancient monuments such as the
Acropolis, the ancient market and the sanctuary of Poseidon. However historical
places are not only found in Athens but in many parts of Greece for example, the
famous site of Delphi and the renowned earth, the site of Epidaurus, ancient
Olympia, the Knossos of Crete, colossus of Rhodes and many more. (www.gnto.gr)

The Demand for Cultural Tourism in Greece

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 In the past few year people
have been looking for new
methods of tourism other than
the most usual and most
popular leisure tourism. Many
people are starting to prefer to
combine holidays and
relaxation with new learning
experiences. As Greece is one
of the countries that offers the whole package it is becoming and more and popular
destination for Cultural tourism. This is because it makes up the combination of sun,
sea and sand but also has many historical places and is rich in culture. In fact the
new advertisement for Greece very much focuses on Cultural Tourism the Video clip
in under a minute captures many parts of the Greek Culture including the cuisine and
ancient ruins. This indicates that this particular market is becoming more and more
people are interested in this form of tourism and therefore the country it’s self is
promoting it to the public. (www.Eot .gr)

In the past few years it has been identified that peoples preferences in tourism have
began to change especially concerning Greece. Tourists tend to be more interested
in new forms of tourism that are more independent. For example Leisure tourism is
one of the most popular forms of tourism but is available in many destinations and
rarely differs whereas Cultural tourism is something different in every country and is
a whole new experience. Although in Greece there hasn’t always been a high
demand for this form of tourism mainly due to the lack of promotion lately the
demand has been rising and many promotional deals include Cultural Trips and
experiences. It is most likely that this form of tourism has become more popular in
Greece lately because it has been promoted more and potential tourists are
beginning to see what Greece has to offer. (Κοκκώσης και Τσαρτας, 2001)

Conclusion
In Conclusion there a high demand in Cultural tourism is beginning to form.
Although usually the interests in tourism are associated with the recourses the
location has in many cases and particularly with Greece the demand in the markets

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is more associated with the advertising and how the place is promoted. Over all
there is a growing demand in this sector and is mainly due to the promotion and the
new advertisement showing the public the culture Greece has to offer. It is also very
good for the nation for this form of Tourism to be promoted and become more
popular as it uses natural resources of the country and teaches foreign cultures all
about the Greek culture and it gives the Greeks the opportunity to tell their history
and develop less developed areas.

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References
 Ηγουμενάκης, Γ.Ν. (2007) Τουριστική Οικονομία. Αθήνα: Interbooks
 Ηγουμενάκης, Γ.N (2000) Τουρισμός και ανάπτυξη, Αθήνα: Interbooks
 Κοκκώσης και Τσάρτας(2001) Βιώσιμη τουριστική ανάπτυξη και περιβάλλον,
Αθήνα: Κριτική

 Cooper, C., Fletcher, J., Fyall, A., Gilbert,D. And Wanhill, s. 2005. Tourism

Principles and Practice. Harlow: Pearson.

 Foster, D., 1994. First Class : An Introduction to Travel and Tourism ,

McGraw-Hill International Editions : New York

 Gibson, R, 2002, International Business Communications, Oxford

 Smith, 2009, Exploring the socioeconomic effects of mass and sustainable

tourism in Greece, Northcentrual University
 Available at: www.gnto.gr (accessed on May 10th 2010)
 Available at: www.eot.gr (accessed on May 15th 2010)
 Available at: www.culture.gr (accessed on May 13th 2010)

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