athens as an international tourism destination
DESCRIPTION
The aim of this project was to identify the role of DMOs in promoting Athens as a tourist destination, as well as to evaluate their effectiveness in terms of marketing and managing the tourist product of Athens, its popularity and imagery.TRANSCRIPT
An empirical investigation to the city’s imagery & the
role of local DMO’s
INDEPENDENT STUDY
Athens International Tourism Destination
“ Athens, the eye of Greece, mother of arts and eloquence, native to famous wits”
John Milton,
Paradise Regained, bk.4, l.240^1
Why I chose this subject ?
“ Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world. ”
Gustave Flaubert
Aim of the project
Identify the role of DMOs in promoting
Athens as a tourist destination
Evaluate their effectiveness in terms of marketing and managing
Objectives of the Study
Impact of the study
Evaluate the contribution of Athens
DMO’s towards the rising popularity of the city, as an international destination within the context of
Destination Marketing
Objectives of the study
Identify the activities for promoting Athens
Identify the importance of destination marketing
Portrait the opinions and activity planning of Greek DMO’s
Provide insights and new trends on the Tourism Industry
Highlight the latest incentives concerning the city’s future developments
Identify the key problems of Athens & points for improvement
DMO Responsibilities
Key responsibilities
Develop online marketing strategies
Create high quality material
Participate in international tourism fairs
Develop network synergies
Tourism in Greece
Greek tourism figures Element Value
Contribution to GDP 16,4 %
Contribution to employment 18,3 %
Employment 688.800
International Tourist Receipts 10 billion Euros
International Tourist Arrivals 15,5 millions
Average per Capita Tourism Expenditure 646 Euros
European Market Share 2.9 %
World Market Share 1,5 %
Hotel Capacity 9670 Hotels,
771,271 beds
Source: Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises, 2013
Athens as a Tourist Destination
International arrivals
2.555.355 2.619.455
11.413.792
12.645.214
0
2.000.000
4.000.000
6.000.000
8.000.000
10.000.000
12.000.000
14.000.000
2012 2013
Athens
Total Greece
Source: Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE, 2013)
Destination Marketing
Destination framework
Destination Marketing Efficiency
Key determinants Author Destination Marketing efficiency
Chaitip et al. (2008) Satisfaction of the travel cost
Integrated tourism product
Tourism product attributes
Tourism product management
Buhalis (2001) Enhance the satisfaction of tourist and delight the visitor
Strengthen long term competitiveness and profitability of the local
tourism industry and of the local small and medium-sized tourism
enterprises
Develop the sustainability of the destinations and ensure prosperity of
host population
Stankovic et al. (2012) Organization of cultural and sport events
Lopes (2011) Demographic features of the tourists
Echtner and Ritchie (2003) Scenery and natural attractions
Pricing strategies
Hospitality and friendliness
Tourist activities
Nightlife and entertainment
Sport facilities / General facilities
National parks and museums
Local infrastracture and transportation Accommodation
Destination Branding
Brand image
Branding framework
Branding elements
Destination Management
Management model
Strategic planning
Sustainability framework
Destination Marketing Organizations
WNTO framework
Destination firms
The goals of DMOs
The Role of DMOs
Role of DMOs
DMO’s in Athens
Local DMOs in Athens
Interview Guide
Qualitative research The aim is a complete, detailed description
Researcher may only know roughly in advance what he/she is
looking for
Recommended during earlier phases of research projects
The design emerges as the study unfolds
Researcher is the data gathering instrument
Data is in the form of words, pictures or objects
Subjective – individuals interpretation of events is important,
uses participant observation, in-depth interviews, etc
Qualitative data is more 'rich', time consuming and less able to
be generalized
Researcher tends to become subjectively immersed in the
subject matter
Areas of discussion Question 1: What do you think about the popularity of Greece as a tourist
destination?
Question 2: What do you think about the popularity of Athens as a tourist destination?
Question 3: What have you done as an organization to promote Athens ?
Question 4: Do you think Athens can become more popular destination in the near future?
Question 5: What are the main problems & challenges of Athens as a tourist destination?
Question 6: What activities does your organization apply for Athens?
Question 7: Which improvements, your organization should make to increase efficiency ?
Question 8: What do you think about the role of DMOs in promoting tourism ?
Question 9: What can we learn of DMOs in other countries?
Question 10: Destination Marketing, can help Athens to develop touristic offers ?
Question 11: How do you manage the tourist product of Athens, except for marketing? Do you pay attention to sustainable tourism issues?
Research limitations The size of the sample was relatively
small
Qualitative research is not allowing the measure of the examined problems
The analysis may be influenced by factors which were not mentioned
Characteristics of Athens
Market positioning Natural beauty, clean seas, sunlight
Historical monuments & archaeological sites
Offer high level cultural tourism
Congress tourism initiatives
Accommodation in Athens
2014 seems to be a year with many prospects
The average stay per guest is near 2 nights
50 % Occupancy of the Hotels in 2013
The average price of hotel rooms is 70 Euros & the revenue per available room 45 Euros (2013)
Visiting experience
A stopover for the islands
Visit Acropolis, Parthenon & the Acropolis museum
Walk in the city center & shopping
Most of the tourists are not informed regarding city events
Promotion Activities
DMOs main activities
Create publications
Joint advertising activities
Create online portals
Develop membership programs
Create of promotional souvenirs
Conduct market research
DMOs main activities
Participate in international tourism exhibitions
Hold meetings with hosted buyers and trade visitors
Distribute large volumes of information material about city touristic services
Establish international collaborations
DMOs main activities
Publish tourist material such as tourist guides, thematic brochures, maps, special editions
Publish high-quality photos and translations from texts of famous Greek authors
Future Plans
DMO plans for Athens
Establish city to the top European destinations
Enhance the brand name
Develop a communication campaign
Cooperate with tour operators, travel agents
Create long-term strategy for the city
Sponsor selected events in Greece and abroad
Open new markets & promote domestic tourism
Opening new markets
Promote Athens in the markets of China, Russia, Turkey and USA
Brazil and India are also two key markets
Problems of Athens
Economic recession
Influenced competitiveness
Very high taxation
Value Added Tax (VAT) in Greece is relatively high (23 %)
Seasonality problems
Most visits between June and September
Affects the amount of revenues
Need to be more clean and organized city
Complete the major infrastructure projects
Infrastructure problems
The city needs more high quality hotel
Improvement in the public transport
The coastal front should be connected more easily
Recommendations
Recommendations
Changes in the income tax
Reductions in VAT
Construct peripheral airports
Arrange debts of tourism companies
DMOs Relationships
Partnership network
Update concerning the global trends
Enhance the movement of tourists between cooperating countries
Develop an advanced know-how
Regional development
Findings
Insights & new trends
Popular destination in the
global tourism market with many
growth prospects
International identity of the
country’s destinations
DMOs performed activities
Focused in the markets of Germany, UK,
France, Holland, Italy
Focused in seaside leisure tourism and
convention tourism.
Not a coordinated effort for other types
of tourism
DMOs action plan Strategy will be based in 5 key sectors of
the Greek Tourism:
1) cultural tourism
2) health tourism
3) luxury tourism
4) city break tourism
5) convention tourism
Results of the study
DMOs are aware of their strategic role & have established strong and long term relationships with DMOs abroad
Partnerships allow the Greek DMOs to be updated concerning the trends of the global tourism market as well as to enhance the movement of tourists between cooperating countries
Stakeholders strategic role
Promotion of Athens requires a more concerted effort between the public and the private stakeholders
Multiply the benefits for businesses, the state and the society in general
Research Suggestions
Future research
Conduct more interviews
Compare the role of the DMOs in different destinations
Use quantitative research approaches
Charts & Data
Greek tourism statistics
Greek tourism statistics
Personal Reflection
Experiential learning
Lewis and Williams (1994)
“ In its simplest form, experiential learning means
learning from experience or learning by doing. Experiential education first immerses learners in an experience and then encourages reflection about the experience to develop new skills, new attitudes, or new ways of thinking. ”
Living the Experience
Learning outcomes I spent many hours doing this project
Set goals, you can achieve anything
Persistence pays
Just push yourself
Enjoy what you do, it is much easier to excel
Gain new colleagues, partners and friends
Understand self-awareness
I am the type of person who loves to learn and always seeks to obtain more
I am especially passionate about learning things that pertain to my major and my future career
Me…the Researcher!
Reading for the thesis
Many scientific articles
Relevant literature
Previous research on topic
…Like any journey, some of the most
memorable experiences come from side trips that take us out of our
comfort zones, changing us forever
Keeping the motive
Very intriguing and exciting subject
Learned about the Greek tourism market
Great value of informational content
Task-oriented study
Demand of my academic view and critique
When we find what we look for… The view of our discovery is compensating
Challenges to overcome Demanding & time-consuming
Transcribing all interviews
Which data I would use, to produce a unique “product”
Become more confident in my interpretation of events and behaviors
Acknowledgements
Prof. George Roumeliotis. His wisdom, knowledge and
commitment to the highest standards, inspired & motivated me
Prof. Ioanna Tsoka, who carefully analyzed the
theoretical and research grounds for the study
Dr. George Papadakis, who expressed great trust in my
skills and character
My friends and colleagues, who inspired my final
efforts despite the enormous work pressures
I appreciate your help
Post-Graduate side of Life!
Read my thesis here
Bibliography & References
Literary sources Angella, F. (2008), Destination management and stakeholders' collaboration in
urban destinations Angella, F., Go, F., (2010), Tale of two cities’ collaborative tourism marketing:
Towards a theory of destination stakeholder assessment, Tourism Management Vol.30, pp.429–440
Bell, J. (2005), Doing your Research Project, Buckingham, Open University Press. Blumberg, K. (2005), “Tourism Destination Marketing –A Tool for Destination
Management? A Case Study from Nelson/Tasman Region, New Zealand”, Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 10(1): 45-57
Bornhorst, T., Ritchie, B., & Sheehan, L. (2010), “Determinants of tourism success for DMOs & destinations: An empirical examination of stakeholders’ perspectives”, Tourism Management, 31, 572–589
Buhalis D. and Deimezi O., 2004, “E-tourism developments in Greece: Information communication technologies adoption for the strategic management of the Greek tourism industry”, Tourism and Hospitality Research, 5 (2): 103-130.
Buhalis, D. (2001), Tourism in Greece: Strategic Analysis and Challenges, Current Issues in Tourism, Vol. 4, No. 5, pp.440-480
Buhalis, D., & Michopoulou, E. (2011), “Information-enabled tourism destination marketing: addressing the accessibility market”, Current Issues in Tourism, 14(2): 145–168
Chaitip, P., Chaboonsri, C., Kovacs, S., Balogh, P. (2008), A STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODEL: GREECE’STOURISM DEMAND FOR TOURIST DESTINATION, Applied Studies in Agribusiness and Commerce, Vol. 1., pp. 75-83
Keywords & Terms
Electronic sources http://www.all-athens-hotels.com/attica/webpage/athens-tourism-
entities http://www.developathens.gr/el http://www.athensconventionbureau.gr/ http://www.thisisathens.org/ http://www.gnto.gov.gr/ http://www.gnto.gov.gr/el/marketing http://www.mintour.gr/ http://www.visitgreece.gr/ http://sete.gr/GR/Archiki/ http://www.all-athens-hotels.com/attica/webpage/athens-tourism-
entities http://www.statistics.gr/portal/page/portal/ESYE http://gtp.gr http://unwto.org www.iobe.gr www.marketinggreece.com http://www.investingreece.gov.gr
Photo Attribution
From flickr.com Moimois, syedahurra,anttsichlas, frans sellies,
fiorenza baratti, chanc, elia locardi, christophe anagnostopoulou, ioannisdg, ihashb33r, totororo-roro,dimakk, ekounoupamelissa, chartouliarissa, darrellg, lucie, showinmyeyes
From Google image with the use of presentation titles, as search keywords
For Q&A’s contact me!
Email: s.lan
gkos@
em
c.ed
u.gr
#EnjoyAthens
Enjoy Your trip!
Always Remember…
………..……..FINALLY……………….