Authors: Giorgos Tsamos

Title: THE DEVELOPMENT OF CULTURAL TOURISM IN GREECE: MAPPING OF TOURIST VISITATION AT CULTURAL HERITAGE SITES

Abstract

abstract

Culture is directly related to the development of a tourism area, as the phenomenon of tourism occurred in parallel with the human search for different cultures in order to contact the individual traveler  to a different lifestyle, music, customs, and different cultural and religious activities, gastronomy, history, art, etc.. The current relationship between culture and tourism is characterized by diversity. Cultural tourism offers opportunities for cultural experiences, supplying tours to the natural, artistic and spiritual heritage of a region and in today's artistic creation.

The paper’s purpose is to investigate the significance of cultural heritage tourism development in a host country, with a particular approach to the Greek case. Essentially, examines if and how can the cultural heritage of the Greek region to be the key-point  on the development of cultural tourism, and what is finally formed as Paradigm of Cultural Tourism in Greece and what features it has. In these context, the study attempts to mapping and analyzing the traffic in museums and archaeological sites, throughout the national territory. This selected variable is one of the most important parameters of cultural tourism in Greece and especially in island and tourist areas.

JEL: L83, Ζ10