The Economic University of Athens Athens. Greece ... - Springer Link

TOURIST DEVEWPMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL PR0TECl10N IN GREECE

GEORGE CHIOl1S

The Economic University of Athens Athens. Greece HARRY COCCOSSIS

Universiry of the Aegean Greece

1. Introduction This chapter intends to highlight some of the basic policy issues relating to the role of tourism in national and regional development with a particular focus on the strong interrelationships

between tourism policies and the environment. The problems of the environment are examined in the context of national development and the development prospects of regions. The basic question revolves around the role of tourism in Mediterranean countries and panicularly in certain regions which are sensitive to tourism and at the same lime sensitive to the preservation of their natural resources and their environmental quality. To illustrate the issues involved in the context of tourist development and environmental protection, the experience of Greece and some of its regions will be used as an example. Special reference is made to the role of the European Community (EC) and international cooperation. The chapter explores the role of tourism in economic development in Greece, the role of tourism in regional development, the relationship between tourism development and environmental problems, future prospects and problems and discusses some of the basic policy issues involved. This presentation is to some extent limited by the lack of a consistem national and tourism policy in Greece, recem political and policy changes and the overall lack of an effective planning framework. 2. The Role or Tourism in Economic Development in Greece Tourism is an imponam sector of the economy of those countries which do nol have significant margins for development in other alternative sectors or those which are endowed with rich and easily developable tourist resources. A rich cultural heritage and long tradition in hospitality, a unique natural and built environment and a comfortable climate constitute the major factors which made Greece a significam tourist attraction pole in the Mediterranean. Following the Second World War, the development of the national economy was based on the construction activity and H. Briassoulis et al. (eds.), Tourism and the Environment © Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 1992

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was not outward looking or export oriented. Tourism and transfer payments became the main foreign exchange sectors. Therefore, tourism's impacts on the Greek economy, society and the environment were significant. The growing importance of tourism is reflected in the structure of the economy, particularly in the share of tourism in the Gross National Product. In terms of GDP, tourist receipts represent more than 7% of the total, rendering tourism one of the largest sectors. Some 215,000 people are employed in tourist services while an additional 120,000 are considered to depend (indirectly) on tourism as well, representing about 7.2 % of total employment. Recent estimates raise the total number of people employed in 1990 in the broader tourist sector to 480,000. In 1988, total tourist receipts exceeded US$ 3.8 billion (ECU 3.2 billion) contributing substantially (almost SO%) to the foreign exchange balance of the country. In 1988, the average per capita expenditure was US$ 466.8. The above figures include the -invisibles- such as income from cruising, yachting, purchases through credit cards or prepurchases of drachmas by tour operators but do not include income from the -informal- sector of rented rooms, a small percentage (unofficially estimated to 40%) of which is reported as income. The dependence of the Greek economy on tourism demonstrates its vulnerability to external factors and fluctuations in the international tourist demand and underlines the necessity for proper organization and longterm efficiency of the sector. Early tourism policy (in the 19S05 and 1%Os) focused on the attraction of a larger share of the international tourist market through the expansion of services and increase of accommodations. As the sector was just beginning to develop, it became necessary for the state to assume a leading role. New model hotels were built and managed by the National Tourism Organization of Greece (NTOG). At a later stage (mid-1960s to mid-19705), the state introduced financial incentives for private investments in new hotel construction and other forms of facilities (camping, bungalows, etc.) to meet the growing demand for tourist accommodation and allowed the use of rental rooms (subject to special licensing) in small coastal settlements to supplement hotel accommodations and offer some additional income to local families. An important characteristic of this period as well as the following and most recent period was the shift of the weight of public investments vis-a-vis private investments from a 1/ 1.S to 1/8 Oater 1/10) ratio. In the early 19805, tourism policy favoured, through an incentives scheme, the development of small and medium size usually family-oriented tourist enterprises as a measure for the development of rural areas and as a counterweight to large-scale tourist installations in order to spread the benefits of tourism to a wider base of the population. Complementary forms of tourism such as -social tourism-, tourism for the young, etc. were sought to dampen the effects of the fluctuations of the international tourist demand. An important characteristic of the development of tourism in Greece throughout this period is its failure to develop linkages to other sectors of the economy and especially agriculture or industry (Le. the small handicraft activities), linkages which could be important for the development of certain regions, particularly the islands. The growth of tourist arrivals has kept a fast pace (over 10% annually since the mid-I%Os) particularly in the 19705. In the last decade, average annual growth has been of the order of S.3%, exceeding 8 million arrivals in 1987. In 1989, more than 8.5 million tourists visited Greece, most of them coming from European countries (83 %) especially Germany, Greal Britain and Scandinavia. In the last two years, the average annual growth rate has dropped to approximately 2.S% as a result of the emergence of competition from tourism receiving areas in the Far East, the Pacific and the Carribean, and economic crises in -home" countries.

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According to a special 1984 survey of the Greek National Tourism Organization, 71 % of all visitors to Greece are highly educated, mostly scientists, educators, administrators and students. Over one third of all tourists are between 26 and 40, one third between 16 and 25 and only 2.7% are over 65 years old. By far, the majority of all visitors arrive by air transport to Greece aJthough a growing number is arriving by private means such as car or yacht. Over 62 % of aJl arrivals from EEC countries and over 45% from aJl other European countries are realized through charter flights. Limitations of the capacity of the transport system such as air sealing capacity in international and domestic flights and lack of direct connections with the major tourist receiving areas of the country are among the factors influencing the reduced growth rate of arrivals in recent years. In 1989 foreign visitors represented over 75% of a total of over 44 million in terms of overnight stay. According to the special survey of NTOG, the average length of stay in Greece is 14 days. Over 60% of all visitors stay in hotels, 8% in campings, 7% in rented rooms, 4% in relatives or friends and 3% in speciallullury resorts. A total of 423 ,790 licensed hotel beds and additional 220,000 in rented rooms were available in 1989 while a number of camping sites of a total capacity of over 75000 persons complement the country's tourist accommodations. LUllury and A class accommodations represent over 25% of the total accommodations provided. A particular problem in terms of accommodations is the large number of non-licensed facilities which evade official controls and taxes. The need to achieve high levels of tourist attractiveness and the increasing competitition in the world tourist mark.et have prompted a reQrientation of tourism policy towards an upgrading of the quality of services (NTOG, 1989) in order to m;u;imize tourism's beneficial effects on the national economy. Marketing has been an important tool to this direction as well as the introduction of a number of institutional Changes whose aim is to improve policy making for tourism. Examples include the upgrading of the National Tourism Organization to a Ministry of Tourism and the introduction of time-sharing schemes. The recent change in administration has boosted even further this policy reorientation and shifted the emphasis to a greater reliance on private initiatives in tourism. It is considered that tourism will be a significant sector for economic recovery through the creation of new employment and the attraction of additional foreign exchange but also for promoting environmental protection. The basic goal will be upgrading the quality of tourism in Greece. Tools for the attainment of this goai would include: • strict rules for the protection of the environment, • legislation to provide safeguards for visitors, • financial incentives for regional development, • training programmes for those employed in the tourist sector. National efforts to improve the quality of tourism services offered involve the following measures: • adequate infrastructure (roads, ports, airports, etc.), • high standard accommodation facilities, • limits to the creation of accommodation in the low category facilities, • legalization and control of non-licensed facilities, • encouragement of luxury hotel facilities with supporting recreation and conference facilities, • creation of special tourist infrastructure (marinas, ski resorts, spas, etc) . Recent changes in the investment schemes provide for substantial tax reductions and increased amortization rates for the development of marinas, golf courses and convention facilities. Also provisions are made for the highest levels of grants to be available for the development or expansion of luxury hotels or facilities for medical, sport related or winter tourism.

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The necessity to develop a coherent tourism policy becomes more pronounced. due to the limited opportunities which are available to develop significant alternative activities in agriculture or industry. This is particularly so in the case of most of the regions of Greece for which tourism retains a significant role, except for the regions of Athens and Thessaloniki and maybe a few others.

3. Tourism and Regional Development

As tourist assets are not uniformly distributed over the geographical space and as accessibility varies from place to place. the spatial distribution of tourism has been concentrated in a few poles or zones although some dispersion is evident in the past few years. Accessibility and the concentration of tourist services, and, to a lesser extent, attractiveness and employment in

tourism, seem to be the most important factors for the spatial differentiation of tourist demand (Komilis, 1986). Furthermore, the spatial preferences and travel patterns of various nationalities differ significantly. For example, British tourists concentrate in Kerkyra (80%), Dutch in Kriti, Dodecanese and Athina, Scandinavians in the Dodecanese while others are more dispersed, as for example the Italians. Regionally differentiated incentives were designed to stimulate the development of tourist facilities in less favoured areas through higher grants and interest rate subsidies. Athens and Thessaloniki are normally excluded from these incentives schemes; peripheral border regions acquire the highest incentives, while the rest of the country is divided in two other categories of zones, those near Athina and Thessaloniki and the rest of the country. In the early period of tourism expansion (late 1960s and early 19705), a few tourist poles attracted the largest share of tourists and new tourist development, mainly Athina (as a major historic site, as a central node in the national transport network and as the major international gate to Greece) and the islands of Rhodos, Kerkyra and northern Kriti. In the last decade or so, as the number of tourists expanded, more distant locations were integrated in the visit and travel patterns of Greek and foreign visitors and tourism became more dispersed. However, three regions Attiki, South Aegean (mainly Rhodos) and Kriti: still represent 55.4% of the total hotel accommodation of the country and almost 71.24% of total foreign overnight stays. Recent trends suggest, however, a clear preference of visitors for new regions at the expense of the established poles of attraction. The islands of the Northern Aegean (i.e. Samos), the Dodecanese (except Cos and Rhodos), the south of Kriti and the west of Peloponissos are among the regions which seem to benefit Ihe most from tourism in recent years. Kriti, the Aegean and the Ionian islands have experienced in the late seventies and early eighties the fastest pace in terms of new tourist accommodations. Athina is still the major gate of entry for tourists although its share is declining in the past decade or so as regional international airports developed with direct links to several European cities which are centers of international and organized tourism. Tourism development in some regions meets special problems due to internal and external factors and deficiencies. For example, a particular problem of tourism in some of the regions is the lack of entrepreneurs and appropriately trained personnel which has affected the level and quality of tourism development. In some areas, tourism development relies mostly on small. usually family-based, firms which lack Ihe resources and organizational ability to market their services and deal with organized tour operators abroad . Other areas lack the ability to offer high qual ity services due to the lack of basic infrastructure such as sewage.


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Tour operators are also responsible, to some extent, for encouraging the low quality services provided in some areas. Their acquisition of charter airline services in the 1970s and strong competition for booking the flights, often at the expense of other costs, have generated demand for cheaper and lower quality accommodations which, coupled with the lack of regulatory intervention by the state, led to a substantial increase in the provision of lower quality tourist installations. The new guidelines for regional tourism policy place emphasis on increased efficiency in the touristically developed areas through better organization of the services supplied and improvements in infrastructure and on the development of a system of effective control and provision of adequate infrastructure for areas which experience rapid tourism development. The new development law (1.. 1892190) which was passed recently provides for grants from 40 to 55% of the productive investment for most areas except Athina and Thessaloniki and special bonuses for modernization of existing accommodations and for the conversion or repair of listed protected or traditional buildings into hotel accommodations. 4. Tourism Development and Environmental Problems The relationship between tourism and environmental quality is characterized by dynamic feedback mechanisms (DECO, 1978). Tourism is attracted to high environmental quality and amenity areas. The increased number of visitors and accommodations often degrades the quality of the environment and threatens the natural resources and assets and, thus, tourism is affected in a negative way from a low-quality environment. This is particularly so for areas like Greece which attract tourists because of their natural and man-made assets and resources. As environmental effects are highly localized, it is difficult to generalize about the impacts of tourism on the environment. Among the most characteristic examples of impacts on the natural environment from tourism observed in Greece are: • Aesthetic impacts on the natural landscape and cityscape from the large size and scale of some individual tourist facilities particularly those of the earlier periods. Landscape alterations from infrastructure projects have a significant impact. • Indirect effects from the associated urban development and the lack of local plans for the physical organization and guidance of such development. • Risks to natural habitats and resources from uncontrolled tourism development due to the general problems of ineffective land use and urban development controls. In some cases, special measures have been taken designating areas under protection and strict urban development control such as the case of the sea turtles in Zalc.ynthos or as special protection areas in the case of the Monk Seal marine park in the Sporades islands. • Pollution from wastes such as garbage or untreated sewage discharges in the sea, not necessarily from large scale facilities as all licensed tourist facilities are obliged to provide treatment facilities as well, but mostly from smaller scale developments where there are problems of cumulative effects and ineffective control. • Significant negative impacts on local water resources due to the high peak demand, uncontrolled land development and threats of contamination from a dense pattern of septic tanks for sewage disposal. However, it is not the total number of visitors which is a problem but rather their concentration in space and time. For example, in 1989, more than 19% of all foreign overnight stays occured in the month of August while almost half of the total overnight stays occurred in

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the three-month period from July to September and some 80% of all tourist stays were concentrated in the period from May to September. The temporal concentration of demand creates tremendous stresses on environmental resources, primarily drinking water, and on environmental media which receive eventually the solid and liquid wastes generated directly and indirectly by tourist activity. Seasonal peaks in demand for environmental services create serious financial problems as well, as there are large differences between service requirements in summer and winter, due to the substantial fluctuations in daytime population, rendering problematic the design of satisfactory and cost effective infrastructure. The impacts of tourism on the environment have changed over the years in scale and intensity and so did the relevant policies. OriginaJly. the negative impacts of tourist facilities on the natural and man-made environment were isolated and of a rather physical nature having to do more with aesthetics and the size and scale of facilities within a given context. As the number of tourist facilities in an area multiplied, their cumulative impacts became more of a concern such as sewage and garbage disposal, congestion, etc. Therefore, policy and the accompanying tools and measures changed in emphasis from physical control through pennits for individual projects to area controls with plans for tourism development and/or environmental protection. In certain respects and for certain policy areas, area control has fared much better than any other measure as, for example, in historic towns or traditional settlements. The NToo has since the mid- 1970s launched a special program for the restoration of traditional settlements on six sites through undenaking the cost of renovation under a long-tenn lease agreement with propeny owners. Special incentives are also provided under the national incentives scheme for the repair or conversion of listed, protected or traditional buildings into hostels or hotels provided they are located in specially designated settlements. Since 1984, tourist installations in rural areas are required to obtain a special Locarion Permit which is a type of Planning Penni!, before the Suitability and Building Pennits are issued, the purpose being to control potential conflicts of land-use in the area. The special pennit is given following an examination of existing land-use plans and in accordance to regional policy guidelines in order to protect high productivity agricultural land and the quality of the man-made and natural environment. The criteria employed involve the existence of agricultural land of special value, adequate technical infrastructure, sensitive natural resources, compatible activities, archaeological or historic sites, coastal protection and forest protection. In tenns of planning, there was an attempt in the mid-I97Os to develop a National Physical Plan which would designate among other concerns, on the basis of various scenarios, areas for tourism development in an attempt to organize spatially the development of tourist activities. However, the ensuing worldwide economic crisis and uncertainty, together with the associated change in attitudes towards long-tenn planning in favour of short-tenn management of resources, shifted the priorities and interests of policy makers away from the Plan which was never approved or implemented. Nowadays, the prospective integration of the European economy and an increasing competition have shifted the attention of policy-makers back to the need for a longtenn tourism development strategy. Although there are no Regional Plans, certain area-wide controls for tourism development are becoming increasingly available. Since 1986, tourism development in certain areas is being put under control on the basis of the share of total accommodations and the reported occupancy rates (Athina, Rhodos, Mykonos, etc.). Also, the Law on the Environment of 1986 allows for the designation of special areas for protection, conservation or the development of ~productive activities ~ .


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From an institutional point of view, a major obstacle in achieving proper tourism development is the lack of experience and the limited involvement of local authorities in local development issues, including tourism, urban development control and environmental protection. Historical and geograhical reasons have favoured the development of a strong centralized national administrative system which lacks the means to monitor and implement policies at the local level. This weakness, coupled with an absence of local, decentralized administrative structures, has stifled all efforts for efficient policy implementation. In the last decade, substantial improvements have been made towards assisting local governments to overcome their inertia and inefficiency, efforts which have been intensified recently and which will hopefully lead to better results in environmental protection. Recent initiatives for the control of tourism development involve the designation of additional areas which can be considered to have exceeded their "capacity" for tourism and areas which need upgrading. Although in theory the policy implications of such an approach are evident, there are tremendous difficulties in technically supporting the specific choices to be made. Aside from the impacts of tourism on the natural and man-made environment there are also important social and culrural impacts, which ultimately relate to the environmental ones. A very important issue for several tourist areas and regions, in terms not only of local economy but also of social life, has to do with the dominant and overpowering role of tourism and almost total absence of other activities, a phenomenon called often "monoculrure". The substantial gains of local people from tourist activities far outweigh the gains from agriculrural or fishing activities and, frequently, such traditional activities are abandoned. In the case of developed tourist poles (e.g. Rhodos) , social life is often minimal and impoverished in the off-tourist season as the locals travel to Athina or abroad for business or pleasure. For smaller communities, the abandonment of traditional practices has two important effects: a higher dependence on external demand fluctuations and increased vulnerability to the capricious ups and downs of tourism, and abandonment of traditional environmental and land management practices (i.e. alternate cultivation and grazing) with frequently devastating effects on the environment such as overgrazing and erosionand overfishing. The desertification problems of many small islands in the Aegean can be attributed to these factors. Another potentially negative effect of tourism on social life is the overpresence in one area of tourists from one particular country or culture resulting in dominance of local culture and the often associated loss of local social life. Oddly enough, although some tourists may feel more "at home" and less insecure about their behaviour in a foreign cullUre, in the long run, the dynamics involved work against the interests of tourists and locals as the former loose the benefits of enriching their experience with another culture, the latter loose their local identity and both may face problems of social tensions, as the experience of some tourist countries suggests.

S. Future Prospects and Problems Tourism is expected to become the largest sector in international trade by the year 2000. Worldwide tourism activity grows by an annual average rate of 7.1 % in terms of arrivals and 12.5% in terms of receipts. The rise of real incomes in the industrialized world, the increase of time available for leisure, the lower travel fares and the influence of mass media are among the factors which are expected to lead to a growth of tourism (Courrier, 1990). The World Tourism Organization forecasts an increase by 2.5 times of global receipts from tourism which is annual average rate of increase of 9%.

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The countries of the Mediterranean account for more than one third of tile world tourist market for a total of 107.9 million tourists (in 1984). Some of the projections of the UNEPlBlue Plan Unit foresee a doubling in the number of tourists by the year 2000 and a lhree and a half times increase by the year 2025 under the optimistic scenario, or over 50% increase in the number of

tourists under the pessimistic scenario. In almost all of scenarios developed for the future. the tourist potential of southern Europe increases (UNEP, 1988). Although the general trend suggests a rising demand, fluctuations in tourism flows render dubious any concrete projections and, as a result, it is difficult to plan or invest in infrastructure in tourist areas (World Bank and European Investment Bank. 1990). In tenns of tourist travel patterns. it is expected that the average length of stay will tend to decrease due to more frequent but shorter holidays, seasonality will be less pronounced (e.g. third·age tourists) and the temporal and geographic distribution of tourists will be more even (UNIESCIECEIHBP, 1987). The European tourist preferences have also changed towards high quality vacations, meaning more space, peace and quiet and more activities (WTO, 1990). Furthermore, some broader patterns of change in the context of the anticipated European market integration are likely to affect southern EC countries and especially Greece. It is rather likely that a great demand will be experienced for vacation houses and other tourist facilities due to the freedom of movement of people and capital , a movement from the industrialized north to the sunbelt. Also, the expected deregulation of airlines is likely to reduce the costs of navel and increase the number of visitors and tourists. Recent political and socio-economic developments in Eastern European countries are also likely to have some long-term effects in the increase of numbers of tourists to Greece. The above mentioned developments will certainly intensify the pressures on the environmental resources of the country and its ability to manage them. The favourable combination of climate, clean environment and rich cultural resources is likely to remain a major factor of future growth. The anticipated increase in the number of visitors is likely to strain particularly the coastal areas and islands. Areas already developed touristically are likely to face pressures to expand and upgrade their tourist related infrastructure with special attention to improving the quality of the environment. New areas are also likely to develop into tourist destinations, the primary concerns for these being how to organize and mobilize local resources to attract tourists but also how to maintain their identity and environmental quality, probably through diversification of their product. These pressures are likely to be greater in the very small islands and coastal villages of the Aegean and Ionian seas. The long-term growing importance of tourism as an economic sector faces some short-term difficulties and problems, mainly due to the basic characteristics of tourism as a world-wide socio-economic phenomenon. These difficulties draw from an increasing concentration of tourist trade in a few world centers and a few large tour operators who can act as an oligopoly and control the market to their own economic benefit at the expense of the receiving countries and the visitors themselves. The vertical integration of tourist services, from transport to hotel management, bears also potential dangers as a few large operators could control the market. Additional problems arise also from the dependence of tourist arrivals on external factors such as foreign exchange rates or random events like terrorism or insecurity.

6. Policy Issues The general patterns of future tourism development discussed above point to some of the key policy issues which are likely to become of top priority for Greek policy-makers for quite some


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time in the future. The necessity to introduce long·term tourism planning is one of the first issues to be considered. In an increasingly competitive and volatile tourist market, as the Mediterranean Region is, it will be necessary to pursue a coherent policy on tourism which would rely on the differentiation of the tourist product offered on the basis of the national cultural and resourCNelated characteristics. The protection and improvement of the natural and man·made environment is certainly the major axis for such a policy. The main problem of post·Worid War II tourism policy in Greece is that, although the comparative advantages of the country were exploited, the model of development which was actually pursued did not promote a balanced national sectoral policy and regional policy which would maximize the tourism potential and at the same time would avoid the vulnerability of the national economy to external factors, like the strategy followed by some other countries with strong tourism. The development of tourism is, in essence, development of services. The broad patterns of world development and the dynamic evolution of the service sector, particularly the financial and quaternary (R&D) activities, set the framework for the development of tourism in the future. Hence, a promising tourism policy would seek to develop operational linkages of national and regional policies and coordination of sectoral policies at each level , specifically in relation to environmental policies. The type of development model to be followed should relate the socio-economic concerns with the physical and environmental aspects, probably through a set of development scenarios for the nation and strategic plans for each region. The role of regional policy is to assure the coordination of the various initiatives taken in the conle;;t of sectoral policies and at various levels of decision·making and ensure an equitable distribution of financial resources at all levels of planning (Council of Europe, 1988). In the above mentioned context, technology offers the opportunity for the harmonization of policies in space. The prospects for technological development, particularly in the fields of telecommunications and transport (air and sea) services is of utmost importance for Greece as it provides the opportunities for the development of isolated and remote areas, reducing their prob· lems of dependence. Moreover, technology offers the opportunity for integration of tourism and environmental protection, as it is possible to employ technological advances and advanced manag· ement techniques to protect the man-made and natural environment upon which tourism depends. These prospects relate mainly to energy conservation and waste management. In this respect, future policy should be such that current deficiencies should be offset and corrected. The EC has approved special programs for the Aegean islands as proposed in the operational programs of the Regional Development Plans, providing for installations of waste treatment facilities in coastal towns with favourable terms of financing. In the above mentioned context, and in view of the expected diffusion of tourism development throughout the country, it will be necessary to establish efficient local administrative mechanisms to ensure better harmonization of tourism development with the local environmental, social, economic and cultural conditions. Such effons should be complemented with extensive cultural heritage and environmental awareness programs which are needed in order to strengthen the qualitative elements of tourism. These are particularly important for the islands where there is a strong need for cultural upgrading. In terms of the levels and areas of policy·making relating to tourism, it is necessary to underline the increasing role of the European Community, particularly in regional development through financing of various investment schemes, environmental protection through various programs and transport through coordination and regulation, a role complementary to national

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policy. The development of tourist resources is also facilitated by the promotion on the part of the EC of local and regional development initiatives. These can be complementary to the efforts of the Greek government for decentralization which have been particularly intense in the last few years. The problems and opportunities which Greece faces with regard to tourism are, to a great extent, problems common to many other southern European and Mediterranean countries. International tourism consists of ~sectors· or · product packages", in the sense of common features and characteristics of tourist demand . In the case of the Mediterranean, it is not only the similar climatic and physical conditions such as clean beaches and warm weather which are particular in a world-wide sense and common among Mediterranean countries, but also the rich heritage of historic urban centers. Any policy for qualitative improvement by necessity involves upgrading , protecting and enhancing both the nawral and urban environment (Argeni, 1990). A problem with respect to tourism development common among several Mediterranean countries is the difficulty - because of international competition - to tax the growing tourist industry to cover infrastrucwre and environmental improvement costs (World Bank-European Investment Bank, 1990). The existence of common problems suggests that cooperation between neighbouring countries could offer them significant long-term benefits, combining resources , extending the time periods of visits through better organization or the development of common networks and broadening their respective markets. This strategy could be also beneficial for the tourists as it will offer them an opportunity to assess and compare the akin cultures of the Aegean and the coasts of Asia Minor and ultimately lead to the establishment of international peace and friendship .

REFERENCES Argeni, S. (1990) The Urban RenoVO/ion o/Mediterranean Historic Centers, Observer, June/July 1990. Council of Europe (1988) Con/erence Europtenne des Responsables Rtgionaux de I' AmefUlgement du Territoire et du Dtveloppement RtgiofUll. Valence (Espagne) 28-30 Avril 1987. Collection Ewdes et Travaux, No S. Council of Europe: Strasbourg. Courrier, Special Repon on Tourism. July/August 1990. Komilis, P. (1986) Spatial Analysis o/Tourism. Athina: KEPE (in Greek). NTOG (National Tourism Organization of Greece) (1989) Annual Repon '88 - Forecasts '89. Athens, Greece. OECD (1978) The Economic Aspeds oj Environmental Protection in Tourism. Report: Group of experts on environment and tourism. Paris: OECD. UN/ESC/ECE/HBP (1987) InterfUltionaf Tourism Flows and Patterns. United Nations Economic and Social Council, Economic Commission for Europe, Committee on Housing, Building and Planning. Geneva: UN/ECE. UNEP (1988) Blue Plan Futures 0/ the Mediterranean Basin: Environment and Develo~nt 2()()()"2025, France: Sophia-Antipolis. World Bank and European Investment Bank (1990) The Environmental Program for tM Mediterranean.

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WTO (1990) Closing Statement by F. Frangialli, Deputy Secretary-General of WTO (World Tourism Organization) at the Seminar on the Integration of Tourism in Europe. 7-9 May 1990 . Istanbul, Turkey.