ABSTRACT. Trade Fairs throughout their long history have always had a multi-level interaction with the cities that hosted them. The significant contribution of trade fairs to the tourism development of the host cities was and still remains undisputed. Furthermore, this contribution is so important that it has become one of the strongest motives for local authorities leading them to adopt the strategy of organizing trade fairs in the direction of tourism development. The city of Thessaloniki with the International Fair of Thessaloniki (TIF) records a long and remarkable historical tradition in the organization of trade fairs. Since 1926, when the first TIF was organized in Thessaloniki, until today, the Exhibition and the City have had parallel courses, capturing the particularities and historical events of each period. The international character of the trade fair activity in Thessaloniki and in particular of TIF, has always been significant and imprinted periodically through the concept of the “Honored Country”. Thus, in many occasions, an honored country that presented its important achievements (economic, cultural, etc.) as well as its most important businesses was the focal point of the International Fair of Thessaloniki. This concept faded out during the past decades, while in recent years an attempt has been made towards its revival by selecting as honored countries, three geopolitically powerful and potentially important economic partners for our country, namely Russia in 2016, China in 2017, and the USA in 2018. This paper attempts to examine the concept of the honored country within the framework of the International Fair of Thessaloniki historically and explore its multiple role. The central hypothesis of this paper concerns the exploration of the multiple role of the concept of the honored country during TIF and the highlighting of its impact on the city’s tourism development. The exploration will take place both over time through the study of the historical archives of TIF-HELEXPO, as well as through the case study of the 82nd TIF, where China will be the Honored Country. Methodologically, in this paper we are moving on two axes: first of all, we will study the archives of TIF-HELEXPO, and examine the concept of the honored country during TIF and its role in every historical period. Secondly our investigation will focus on the case study of the 82nd TIF and China’s participation in it. During the 82nd TIF, a primary quantitative survey will be carried out with the use of a questionnaire while a qualitative survey will follow including semi-directed exploratory interviews to representatives of the Chinese enterprises and organizations participating in the 82nd TIF.

ABSTRACT. Tourism is one of the most important sectors of the Greek economy. The European identity of Greece, combined with its’ natural landscape, the countless islands, the coastline, the pluralism of its mainland, as well as, its’ unique history and ancient monuments make it a popular destination. Greece has a goal to extend the Greek tourism season and these can be achieved by enhancing country’s image as a tourist destination for special forms of tourism like ecotourism, cultural tourism, medical tourism, sport tourism etc.

A form of tourism that has been developing systematically in recent years worldwide is sport tourism. Sport Tourism is an emerging key component of tourism supply and many tourism destinations are offering specific Sport and Tourism related services and experiences. These events enable destinations to attract travelers who are keen on getting in touch with nature, and enjoy more healthy and interactive holidays. Especially, the trend towards a healthy life, exercise and seeking for experiences is constantly increasing, becoming a global phenomenon that motivates tourists and travelers to either plan their travels based on a particular sporting event or to seek activities at their holiday destination.

Greece, the cradle of the Olympic Games and the birthplace of Marathon Run, has the opportunity to take advantage of the growing sport tourism market, enriching and diversifying greek tourism product with sport tourism events so as to support all-year-round tourism season. It must be mentioned that many running races already taking place every year throughout the country.

The study examines how the trend towards running and endurance events could contribute to tourism development of Greece. Furthermore, explores the barriers of planning and policy making and also the opportunity factors of supporting running sport events in Greece. In support of the foregoing, empirically generated insights will be collected, by conducting a survey among the organizers and race directors of running, trail running and triathlon events in Greece.

The survey also will explore the nature and the role of various types of event organizers, their objectives and also the barriers and the prerequisites of further development of event sport tourism in Greece and especially that of running movement.

It is hoped that the findings will provide a strategy planning framework for event managers, local municipality decision-makers and other stakeholders involved, which can be taken account in setting priorities, making decisions, planning strategies, promoting future sport tourism events.

ABSTRACT. 1. INTRODUCTION With the present study, through the projection of triple tourism - culture - gastronomy, it is proposed a strategic development plan for the region of Epirus. 2. PURPOSES  Diversification of the local tourist product  Create "Brand Name" 3. HOW TOURISM IS LINKED TO CULTURE AND GASTRONOMY? The development of a network of partnerships between local entrepreneurs, local and state institutions coupled with rich cultural heritage, excellent natural beauty and plenty of local traditional products, are considered to be conducive to achieving these goals. Taking advantage of the conjuncture that integrates Epirus into the "Strategic Plan for Sustainable Urban Development", the wider region acquires a unique comparative advantage (Epirusnews.eu, 2017). Although geographically isolated, the completion of the Ionian Road gives the region a further lead and the creation of the conditions and measures that will allow the realization of an integrated "Cultural Route for the Ancient Theaters of Epirus" (Dodoni - Ioannina, Nikopoli & Kassopi - Preveza, Amvraki - Arta, Gitanas - Thesprotia) are expected to make a positive contribution to the tourist development of the area (Region of Epirus, 2017). According to UNESCO, cultural incentives are the most substantial and qualitative dimension to specific forms of tourism, combining sustainable tourism development with local economic growth (UNESCO, 2017a), while in the last few years the term "Cultural Heritage" has been further expanded, incorporating new areas of interest, such as "gastronomic tourism" (UNWTO.ORG, 2012).

4. STEPS FOR A “SUSTAINABLE GASTRONOMY” The consumption of “Food”, besides being a biological necessity, is also a social practice, which in a way is linked to the history and customs of a country. - According to the WTO, about 44% of travelers around the world, consider the food as one of the most attractive elements of the place to visit (Culturepolis, 2017). Consequently, a policy of "sustainable gastronomy" should serve the following two basic principles: i. Protection of resources in order to reduce as much as possible the pressure exerted on different ecosystems in order to produce goods, and ii. To ensure that working conditions which are adequate for the performance of their duties are met by those working in the sector (UNWTO, 2012:50). 5. OBJECTIVE: “THE GASTRONOMIC PATHS OF EPIRUS” According to the "Cultural Routes", "Olive Streets" (UNESCO, 2003) and "Wine Roads" of the Council of Europe, or in line with the "Creative Cities Network" (UNESCO, 2017b) and "Gastronomy Cities" by UNESCO (UNESCO, 2017c), it is proposed to implement the action "Gastronomic paths of the Epirus". This action aims to create a "Gourmet Route" that goes beyond the predetermined visits to areas of Epirus with local products (Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) Products, eg, Metsovone cheese) (Ministry of Agricultural Development & Food, 2012) and will include, respectively, visits to historical, archaeological or cultural sites. The above action could also be combined with other special forms of tourism, such as religious tourism or mountain tourism, ideal forms of tourism due to the geomorphology of the area.   6. EXPECTATIONS The implementation of a "4E tourism model" (Environment and Clean Nature, Educational Tourism- Culture and History, Event and Mega Event, Entertainment and Fun) (Varvaresos, 2009:7), according to new tourism standards, is expected to bring benefits for the region, such as:  Differentiation of the tourist product: Enhancing the sense of respect for the cultural heritage and the traditional values of local communities  Promotion of quality in infrastructure and services: Incorporating tourism sustainability and quality indicators to reduce the wasteful use of environmental resources and protect biodiversity  Reduction in business operating costs: Implementation of "Green Policy" using innovative technologies or alternative forms of energy  Prolongation of the tourist season: Time distribution of demand outside the peak periods for tourism 12 months a year  Increase in customer base - Opening up new markets: Emerging market penetration strategy with higher income criteria (eg senior tourism, special interest tourism, foreign tourism - especially with support after 30/05/2017 from Ioannina airport and international charter flights)  Increase in business turnover: Stimulate the local economy, but also create a wider network of partnerships  Creating new jobs: Reducing unemployment rates, especially in vulnerable social groups (young, female, self-employed) 7. CONCLUSIONS In order to rebuild the tourist image of the region of Epirus, it is necessary to implement a development strategy, which will be oriented towards innovative actions, especially in the cooperation of bodies, government and citizens, always respecting the environment and the specific cultural identity of the region.

ABSTRACT. We are interested to submit full paper to the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management;

Thermal tourism is a type of tourism with a history of many centuries and also of great importance for Greece, which has a rich thermal potential, in different environments of the Greek geographical area.This paper presents the geographical mapping of Thermal Springs in Greece using digital maps containing thematic levels of information. Geographic Information Systems have many applications in the tourism industry in microeconomic (tourism businesses) and macroeconomic (national, regional, local sector), as both in terms of supply and demand is linked to the concept of geographic information. The designed application is an effective tool for companies and public sector to show cases and takes advantage of the tourist product. Moreover, the geographical mapping gives the opportunity to the user to have access to dynamic maps by receiving information regarding the thermal services, pinpointing the location of the thermal springs, enabling the user to turn the information into effective actions by providing personalized services.

ABSTRACT. Introduction: Studies have shown that the type of breakfast offered by hotels is identified by travelers, as an important component of quality in the hospitality industry. Identifying and promoting the local, Greek traditional breakfast food products, to the traveller, will offer him/her the opportunity to better understand the culture, history, philosophy, dietary habits and dietary perceptions of the Greek people. The purpose of the current study is to measure and evaluate the knowledge, attitudes and opinions of the hotel industry regarding the promotion of the Greek traditional breakfast, as an alternative to the convention breakfast models. Methods: A specially designed electronic questionnaire, consisting of predominantly close ended questions, aiming at measuring predominately knowledge, attitudes and opinions regarding the promotion of the Greek traditional breakfast, was administered to hotel owners, in different areas of Greece. Possible social sustainability markers of the promotion of the Greek traditional breakfast, as an alternative to the convention breakfast models, were also assessed. In total 253 hotel owners and employees of the hospitality industry (64% male), took part in the study. The sample consisted predominantly of hotel owners (43.9%) and hotels managers (36.8%). Results: The majority of the participants identified the inclusion of traditional Greek foodstuffs in the breakfast menu, as an important advantage. Twenty percent of the hotels businesses were certified by the “Greek breakfast” program (Hellenic Chamber of Hotels), whereas, 1 in 10 participants, stated that they were not aware of the existence of the above program. Fifty percent of the participants stated that they are offering Greek breakfast, 28.4% offer continental breakfast, 24.1% American breakfast, 2.4% American Breakfast & 1.2% of the participants stated that they are offering Mediterranean breakfast. The main barrier to the inclusion of traditional breakfast foodstuffs in the breakfast menu were mainly the high price of these products and the lack of adequate production and supply of local produces, to cover the needs. Conclusion: A number of barriers to the inclusion of Greek traditional products in the breakfast menu have been identified by the hotel industry and further studies are needed to explore ways to overcome these problems.

ABSTRACT. Nearly every country and its people are associated with both positive and negative generalizations and stereotypes. As can be expected, these perceptions serve as a key mechanism to categorize and deal with the enormous quantity of information that flows from a wide range of sources regarding all of the world’s countries. But how do marketers and national leaders react when these stereotypes constitute a barrier to tourists, investors and international status? This issue is even more frustrating and challenging in cases where such officials feel that the negative perceptions of their destination—as “dangerous”, “primitive”, or “gray”, for example—has no connection to reality. Despite of the fact that stereotypes can be a serious barrier to the arrival of tourists, comprehensive studies, focused on strategies that countries’ leaders and marketers have chosen to deal with the stereotypes, have rarely been conducted to date. The “theory of image repair” is one of the central theories in crisis communication through which organizations, companies and brands can analyze efforts to restore their image. Despite the variety of strategies mentioned in the image repair models–such as denying, reducing offensiveness, bolstering and redressing–the use of most of them might be problematic when seeking to restore a nation’s image. Avraham and Ketter (2016), on the other hand, in their “multi-step model for altering place image”, suggest twenty-four strategies to restore place image, divided into three the broad categories of source, audience and message (SAM strategies). Using this model the aim of this study is to examine the strategies that countries around the world have chosen to deal with stereotypes and negative perceptions towards them. Three main research questions are examined in this study: 1.What kinds of stereotypes are the focus of the campaigns? 2. What are the most popular strategies used by countries seeking to change stereotypes or negative perceptions and how are these strategies used in the campaigns? 3. Do the strategies used to change negative perceptions differ either according to the continent where countries are located or according to the type of political regime? This examination made use of quantitative and qualitative analysis of 70 ads, that were uploaded to YouTube, produced by 47 countries. The quantitative analysis was done using a coding page that contained 15 variables, including name of the country/continent, kind of advertising, stereotype’s field/type, target audience, strategies used, and kind of regime. In the qualitative analysis, several specific case studies that used the strategies were analyzed. The analysis shows that marketers were creative in fighting such stereotypes. We mainly saw the use of three kinds of marketing strategies: source (such as personal testimonies, “Come see for yourself”, blaming the media for the distorted image), message (expanding the image, celebrities, confessing to the stereotypes, opposite message to the stereotypes, turning negative to positive, ridiculing the stereotype, promising a great future, softening the hard image, and association to prestigious places), and audience (target audience values and changing the target audience).

Avraham, E., & Ketter, E. (2016). Marketing Tourism for Developing Countries: Battling Stereotypes and Crises in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Palgrave-McMillan.

ABSTRACT. The main aim of the paper is to determine if there is a difference in image and brand personality perception of the Roman heritage sites in Serbia between tourism stakeholders and tourists who have visited those sites. The initial assumption was that stakeholders in tourism have a more realistic perception of the current destination brand and image and that they are more aware of advantages and disadvantages related to the development of the analyzed Roman sites. It is also assumed that tourists’ perception of the image and brand personality can be shaped by various factors (different sociodemographic characteristics, personality, and tourist behaviour). To achieve the main aim of the study, the research has been done in two phases. The first phase included the survey done on the sample of 502 tourists who have visited some of the Roman sites in Serbia, while the second phase included an interview with 10 tourist stakeholders - employee of the Roman Heritage Museum, two professors of cultural tourism, one history professor, two managers of the Roman sites, one tourist guide and one archaeologist (employed at the Roman site), two employees of the Tourist Organization of Serbia, one of whom is working on the product development - cultural tourism. The results show that tourism stakeholders have a more positive perception of both cognitive and affective image, with a special emphasis on affective image where the differences are quite large. In addition, the results indicate that tourists and tourist stakeholders equally perceive the analyzed Roman sites as Exciting. On contrary, tourist stakeholders have a better perception of all other dimensions of the brand personality, with the biggest difference being noticed in the perception of Ruggedness and Competence. This means that tourism stakeholders more than tourist perceive these sites as a raw and competent destination. Further differences will be discussed in the paper.

ABSTRACT. This paper examines the impact of microblogging word of mouth (MWOM) through Twitter on value co-destruction for destinations facing sustained crises. The paper’s main aim is to explore the role of online communities in value co-destruction – as both an individual and interactive concept – in order to contribute to current literature, which has mostly focused on how social media enable value co-creation in tourism. Using the case of the Greek capital, Athens, we explore the extent to which Twitter influencers, such as travel bloggers and news broadcasters, can, accidentally or intentionally, act as value co-destroyers (Ple & Chumpitaz Caceres, 2010) for the destination under study. We argue that, as major influencers, lifestyle accounts and news broadcasters disseminate negative narratives about the destination which, when shared with their followers, can lead to significant value co-destruction within the online community. Acknowledging the argument that consumers are more influenced by negative WOM and MWOM (Chakravarty et al., 2010; Hennig-Thurau et al., 2015), we aim to identify how lifestyle accounts and news broadcasters on Twitter contribute to value co-destruction for destinations in sustained crises as a result of the crisis they are communicating and, that way, amplifying the crisis itself and contributing to the decline of the destination well-being. We explore the case of Athens as a city destination facing a sustained financial crisis. Our analysis focuses on three years from 2013 to 2015, which have been the most eventful years of the Greek financial crisis so far (Gkritzali et al., 2017; Gkritzali, 2017). During this period, we look at the top five Twitter influencers, according to their klout scores, that are sharing stories about Athens (using the hashtag #Athens) and are a mix of news broadcasters and lifestyle accounts. We use the method of sentiment analysis to capture the attitude and prevailing emotion of the influencers (Dickinger, Költringer, & Körbitz, 2011; Godnov & Redek, 2016; Gkritzali, 2017) throughout the years after study. In addition, we map the journey of the online narratives about Athens that are produced and disseminated by the Twitter influencers, through various retweets and retweeting accounts. This way, we capture the shared online value formation process between Twitter users, who are a mix of stakeholders, such as influencers, residents and visitors. Viewing online value formation as a collective process, we do not focus on individual differences, but rather explore the direction of value formation (co-creation or co-destruction) as well as the volume of online sharing throughout the three years that lie in the heart of the Greek financial crisis.

References Chakravarty, A., Liu, Y., & Mazumdar, T. (2010). The differential effects of online word-ofmouth and critics’ reviews on pre-release movie evaluations. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 24, 185-197. Dickinger, A., Költringer, C., & Körbitz, W. (2011). Comparing online destination image with conventional image measurement-The case of Tallinn. In ENTER (pp. 165–177). Gkritzali, A., Gritzalis, D., & Stavrou, V. (2017). Is Xenios Zeus Still Alive? Destination Image of Athens in the Years of Recession. Journal of Travel Research. Gkritzali, A. (2017). Online destination sentiment recovery during a sustained crisis. Annals of Tourism Research. Godnov, U., & Redek, T. (2016). Application of text mining in tourism: Case of Croatia. Annals of Tourism Research, 58, 162–166. Hennig-Thurau, T., Wiertz, C. & Feldhaus, F. (2015). Does Twitter matter? The impact of microblogging word of mouth on consumers’ adoption of new movies. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 43(3), 375-394. Plé, L. and Chumpitaz Cáceres, R., (2010). Not always co-creation: introducing interactional co-destruction of value in service-dominant logic. Journal of Services Marketing, 24(6), 430-437.

ABSTRACT. The branding process has assumed an increasing importance in tourism (Kim & Lehto, 2012), and has aroused the interest of professionals and academy. Gastronomy emerges as a fundamental resource in the differentiation and promotion of a tourist destination (Horng & Tsai, 2010). Considered an identity mark of destination (Bessiere, 1998) and a form of cultural tourism (Horng & Tsai, 2010), it allows direct experience with local culture and knowledge. The results of a study conducted by Folgado-Fernández, Hernández-Mogollón and Duarte (2017) show that gastronomic experiences have a positive effect on destination image and loyalty. Gastronomy needs to be identified and crafted as a resource of the destination brand (Rand, Heath & Alberts, 2003). The destination brand is perhaps the most powerful marketing tool for tourism destinations, with tourists increasingly seeking the development of lifestyles and destination experiences (Morgan & Pritchard, 2004). Gastronomy arises as one of the essential elements of the tourist experience (Chaney & Ryan, 2012; Hall & Sharples, 2003). The sensory pleasures that food provides constitute the experiential part of the tourism experience (Richards, 2002). So, gastronomy contributes strongly to tourism sustainability and destination authenticity (Rand, Heath & Alberts, 2003), because it offers new products and different activities in the destination (Folgado-Fernández, Hernández-Mogollón & Duarte, 2014). The websites can be strong vehicles of developing destination brand (Morgan & Pritchard, 2004) and of destination communication, being crucial the presentation of useful content of websites (Horng & Tsai, 2010). In fact, digital media can enhance the image of destinations by regularly disseminating consistent and coherent content and messages of endogenous products, which define the gastronomic identity of a region. This exploratory study aims to understand the role of websites in the communication of destination brand through gastronomy. It is intended to present the main results and conclusions of the preliminary study applied to the Dão Lafões and Alto Paiva Region (DLAPR). Websites of the Regional Tourism Entity Centro de Portugal, five Municipalities and two Gastronomic Brotherhoods of DLAPR were analyzed. Literature review allowed the construction of a measurement scale of gastronomic identity elements of the destination, with 40 indicators and 6 dimensions, of binary response: relevant information, information resources, useful information, initiatives gastronomic, dialogic dimension and the hierarchy of information. The methodology is based on quantitative content analysis of the data collected. Results confirm that in Municipalities websites, contents about the description of endogenous products are privileged, while the Brotherhood websites disseminate content with their own events. Several initiatives have been developed for the promotion and communication of the endogenous products and the gastronomy of the DLAPR, however these need to be improved. There are weaknesses of information and online communication of the region as gastronomy destination. This study brings a scientific and practical contribution, as it deepens the knowledge about regional brands, suggesting guiding clues for different actors of gastronomic destination. The analysis of a small number of entities (8) is a limitation of the study. Future investigations can applicate this methodology to other entities (farmers, restaurants).

ABSTRACT. This research aimed to analyze urban mobility between hub international airports and hotels located in central areas of the chosen destinations: Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, London, Milan and Vienna. It was carried out as a qualitative and descriptive study based on the comparison among two case studies in South America (Rio de Janeiro International Airport Tom Jobim and Buenos Aires Ezeiza International Airport) with three case studies in Western Europe (London Heathrow Airport, Milan Malpensa Airport and Vienna International Airport). In order to obtain objective results, the criteria adopted for the comparison of the urban mobility from/to the airports to/from the selected hotels were: terminal, journey time, timetable, intermediate stops, inter-modality. The methodology consisted of three steps: secondary research on the selected airport websites, an in loco study to analyze the conditions of the urban mobility offered to passengers, and later, comparison with specialized and non-specialized media reports on the selected airports’ mobility. Concerning the cases of Rio de Janeiro International Airport Tom Jobim and Buenos Aires Ezeiza International Airport, the respective special buses were the objects under analysis, since these two airports do not have a rail system (metro nor train). As for the selected airports in Western Europe, the metro was the transport chosen for the London Heatrhow Airport, the regular train from/to Milan Malpensa Airport and the City Airport Train for the Vienna International Airport. The research revealed that only the Buenos Aires special bus has its own terminal for the passengers on the way to the airport. The results showed that in the two South America case studies (Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro), urban mobility may suffer delays since it is vulnerable to road traffic conditions. In addition, the road modal is also more susceptible to urban safety issues. The London case study revealed that the journey time may vary depending on the variation of the time the metro stops in each intermediate stations. Both the Milan and the Vienna case studies led to a similar result in terms of predicting the time spent traveling, revealing more punctuality in comparison to the others. As for the fare, the trains proved to be more expensive than other means of transportation to/from the airports, followed by the special bus from/to Buenos Aires airport. And finally, concerning the timetable, the metro available at London Heathrow Airport proved to be the most frequent means of transport in this research universe.

ABSTRACT. People with disabilities have always needed help in their everyday lives. The mentality that prevailed was to keep these people isolated in homes, shelters and special hospitality centers away from the eyes of others, having to deal with the practical problems created by their physical diversity, as well as the emotional and psychological problems caused by this social isolation. Recognizing and accepting that Disabled People have equal rights to quality service and unhindered mobility is an issue that is being more discussed and developed over the past 10-15 years. It is, therefore, a modern and growing field of research and action, where all stakeholders have room for improving the living conditions of People with Disabilities. With the liberalization of markets and increased competitiveness being the main features of modern times, businesses have no choice but to turn to customer-centric systems of organization and service. The main goals of businesses that want to offer quality products and services are flexibility, reliability, and fast service. When the above are achieved, while at the same time meeting the needs of all those involved in the provision of services (business, staff and customers), then the successful outcome of the project is certain. With regard to the aviation industry, following the changes in the ownership regime and in order to be able to meet the varying requirements of different users, it is evident that they are diversifying their services. Accessible Tourism allows people with accessibility requirements to operate independently, with self-sufficiency and dignity within the global tourism service. Particularly worrying are the statistics showing steadily rising rates of people with disabilities and motor problems, as well as the prediction for a rapid increase in the number of people with disabilities in the coming decades. The Accessible Tourism sector is an untapped market with great potential for growth and profit. People with disabilities and generally all people with accessibility requirements, as illustrated by the empirical analysis, are not adequately served by the travel and tourism industry, despite the positive willingness of all airport directors, who mobilize their personal work experience to respond with dignity to the needs of people with disabilities. They demand and require appropriate assistance and support for their work and efforts by businesses, government agencies, federations and associations of people with disabilities. The aim of the first part of the presentation is the theoretical approach of issues from a customer centric approach, concerning the qualitative provision of services amid the influence of human and environmental factors. The aim of the second part is to be presented all the results of the empirical survey carried out through questionnaire as well as the key points of the interview of the airport managers of Athens International Airport "Eleftherios Venizelos".

ABSTRACT. The cruise industry inspires tremendous confidence in investors, having delivered growth at a compound rate averaging 6.55% per year since 1990 [CMW 2015]. 2015 saw industry capacity increase to 1.8 million passengers worldwide, and this trend shows no sign of slowing [Mintel, 2016]. This popular and lucrative form of business is conducted at a cost to society and the natural world however, with modes of harm that are not readily visualized.

This paper examines the pollution associated with the industry, with the aim of identifying the “full cost” of cruising – as distinct from the price paid by a cruise package holiday customer, and the costs incurred by the operator.

The authors examine in particular the consequences of the industry’s widespread reliance on heavy fuel oil, and discuss some of the steps now being taken to reduce the impact of operations at a time when the media is becoming increasingly critical of the industry. Building upon earlier work that revealed the carbon footprint of cruising to be more than four times that of an equivalent stay in a land-based hotel [Farr and Hall 2015], emissions other than those responsible for climate change are now examined.

ABSTRACT. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over a billion people live with some form of disability. This means that nearly 15% of the world’s population has very significant difficulties in functioning, while rates of disability are also increasing due to population ageing (as roughly 12% of the world’s population is over 60 years old ) and global increase.

The Tourism sector, which is one of the key areas affecting a person's life, is still nowadays encountering accessibility problems and sometimes to such an extent that people with disabilities (PwD) are often prevented from participating in it. Considering the need for more sustainable tourism and transport, accessibility will become even more important in the coming years and it is therefore essential to be included in all strategies and policy initiatives. If one accounts people with reduced mobility (PRM) and their families’ members (traveling with them), roughly 33% of the world’s population is directly affected by disability, controlling commonly 8 trillion € of purchasing power.

Accessibility is often still treated like a luxury that is taken into account too little and often too late. Even though several legislative initiatives to improve accessibility of tourism and transport on EU level exist, they are still focusing too much on a single sector, while the issue of accessibility should be universal and mainstreamed in all strategies, legislative proposals, projects, and other initiatives.

For most PwD and PRM, lack of accessibility in tourism and transport services affects significantly their everyday lives. Such accessibility problems clearly restrict their options and limit their opportunities and chances for social inclusion, integration and recreation. Removing physical obstacles is one way of improving the free mobility and the quality of life of these travellers, but accessibility is not just a matter of physical obstacles. The provision of appropriate and accessible tourism and transport services, as well as access to communication and information (since we shift more and more towards an information society) is equally important. Smart ticketing, real-time information, websites, mobile applications, and online booking of tickets are only a few examples of how accessibility of ICT is a vital part of accessible tourism.

In this context and in view also of the European Accessibility Act (EAA) development, a study is being implemented, contracted by the EU Parliament, titled “Transport and Tourism for Persons with Disabilities and Persons with Reduced Mobility”. The study aims to describe the state of play of accessibility in EU Member States of both tourist destinations and transport services for persons with disabilities and reduced mobility, as well as the framework of efforts and initiatives for their inclusion into mainstream transport and tourism activities, based upon the principles of equality and the concept of sustainability of solutions and measures.

This paper will present the findings of this study, focusing on the relevant needs, trends and best practices concerning the modern day tourism and its outlines for 12 EU member states, plus extra European ones.

ABSTRACT. The purposes of this manuscript are: a) to point out the importance of Human Resources (HR) empowerment as a basic condition for the survival and development of hotels, and b) to identify the factors which influence and support HR perceptions and attitudes towards empowerment. The literature review suggested that empowerment increases job satisfaction of HR (Gumasluaglu and Ilsev, 2009) while contributing crucially to their effectiveness in the workplace (Stavrinoudis and Simos, 2013). Employees participating actively in empowerment activities tend to have a more creative behaviour in the workplace while the support and encouragement by their managers increase their self-esteem and commitment (Yah, 2014). The impact of said empowerment on hotels is vital, since it ensures that employees possess the necessary knowledge, skills and most importantly the authority to decide on certain matters related directly to their jobs, thus facilitating administrative procedures (Miller et al, 2007).

For the achievement of the aforementioned purposes, a primary research was conducted between June and July 2016 using a structured self-completion questionnaire. Prior to the finalisation of said questionnaire a pilot research was carried out. The questionnaires were distributed to the employees of a well-known hotel group and were collected afterwards by one of the researchers. Sealed envelopes have been used in order to ensure that all questionnaires have been filled out anonymously. 398 questionnaires were correctly filled out. The analysis of the results was performed using the package SPSS 21, while a factor analysis was conducted in order to identify any common factors in the same group of variables (Costello and Osborne, 2005). Furthermore, an one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) as well as a T-Test have been carried out for two separate samples. Finally, a Chi-Square test has been conducted in order to examine the relation between qualitative variables and to compare the frequencies resulting from each group of variables with the estimated frequencies (Casella and Robert, 2004). The reliability of the internal coherence was evaluated with the use of Cronbach’s alpha.

The research’s results confirmed on the one hand the major role and utility of HR empowerment in management, regardless of their working relationship with the company, and on the other hand its impact on the enhancement of employees’ productivity. The research identified the relationships between the administration and the group’s HR and the HR strategies that aim at and -to a great extent- achieve the enhancement of the job satisfaction and staff commitment coefficients. The extent to which the group's employees can take initiatives has been investigated while the results revealed an increased level of HR autonomy as well as a continuous effort to improve HR skills. Individual differentiations have been investigated with regards to the age, work experience and working department of the employees.

References Casella, G. & Robert, C. (2004). Monde Carlo Statistical Methods. Springer Verlag.

Costello, A.B. & Osborne, J.W. (2005). Best Practices in Exploratory Factor Analysis: Four Recommendations for Getting the Most From Your Analysis. Practical Assessment- Research E-valuation 10 (7).

Gumusluoglu, L, & Ilsev, A. (2009). Transformational leadership, Cretivity and organizational innovation. Journal of Business Research, 62, 461 - 473.

Miller, J.E., Walker, J.R. & Drummond, K.E. (2007). Supervision in the hospitality industry. Applied human resources. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.

Stavrinoudis, T. & Simos, D. (2016), Factors affecting hotel employees’ perception and attitude toward empowerment. Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality & Tourism, 15 (4), 416 - 439.

Yah, Y. (2014). Exploring the impacts of employee advocacy on job satisfaction and organizational commitment: case of Taiwanese airline. Journal of Air Transport Management, 36, 94 - 100.

ABSTRACT. The need for sustainable practices in the hospitality industry is becoming acute. Management scholars have employed the lens of institutional theory to examine the adoption and diffusion of natural environmental standards and practices. According to Institutional Theory, external, social, political and economic pressures influence firms’ strategies and organizational decision-making as firms seek to adopt legitimate practices or legitimize their practices in the view of other stakeholders (Jennings and Zandbergen, 1995; North, 1990). Institutional Theory can be used to explain how changes in social values, technological advancements and regulations affect decisions regarding “green” sustainable activities (Ball and Craig, 2010; Lounsbury, 1997; Riviera, 2004) and environmental management (Hoffman and Ventresca, 1999; Brown et al., 2006; Frowler and Hope, 2007; tate et al., 2010). The cause of institutional pressures for adoption of sustainable practices may result from legitimacy-seeking motivations. If an organization believes that its legitimacy will be enhanced by conforming to pressures, then it will be more likely to acquiesce (Oliver, 1991). Management literature concerning sustainable practices notes that firms are not equally responsive to such external pressures. Larger firms will tend to be more responsive, given that their increased visibility makes them easier targets of external pressure. At this point, we assumed that larger hotel organizations will be more likely to adopt sustainable practices than smaller organizations. An organization’s constituents represent sources of institutional pressures. An organization’s constituents represent sources of institutional pressures. The existence of conflicting pressures from different sources is a common problem in organizations (Pfeffer & Salancik, 1978). A strategy of acquiescence to institutional pressures is, of course, extremely problematic when faced with conflicting pressures (Oliver, 1991). Acquiescence becomes less likely in cases of low external dependence on constituents. Organizational perceptions of constituent power influence the sustainability practices that firms adopt (Sharma & Henriques, 2005). Stakeholder pressure is also an important component of determinant arguments. These different perceptions of pressure ultimately create variation within the same organizational field. Recent polls suggest that consumers exhibit behaviors that reflect a growing sustainability consciousness (Harris Interactive, 2009). Eightythree percent of respondents in a recent survey stated that a company’s commitment to sustainable business practices is very or somewhat important in their purchasing decisions (Capstrat, 2009). By contrast, business-to-business firms’ customers, commercial and industrial buyers, are primarily profit driven and hence less concerned with sustainability. To the extent that management perceives environmentally conscious consumers as a more powerful constituency than others who may not value sustainability, the organization will be more likely to adopt sustainable practices. So at the end we hypothesized that when hotel organizations perceive greater power in constituents who promote sustainable practices than in those who resist, those organizations will be more likely to adopt sustainable practices. Both hypotheses were supported after testing in 79 European hotel organizations.

ABSTRACT. This manuscript resumes a systematic four-year scientific work. It aims to present the logical- scientific process of creating the ReSCulture research tool-questionnaire which will be suitable for exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. The main objective of the questionnaire is to investigate and measure in depth the role of reward and recognition systems in processes of organizational culture change in the Greek hospitality industry. In line with the above- mentioned main objective, the literature review will be divided into two strands and will summarize the central theoretical findings on: a) organizational culture and its change and b) reward systems within an organization. In relation to the first strand, the codification of the literature (Stavrinoudis & Kakarougkas, 2016) showed that the change of the organizational culture can occur at individual, group and organizational level due to the choice of organization’s management according to the formal dimension (Lewin, 1958 and Burnes, 2009), or due to social evolution according to the informal dimension (Lewin et al, 1960; Thurley, 1979 and Cooperrider & Whitney, 2005) or due to a combination of the above, based on the hybrid direction of change (Hinings & Malhotra, 2008; Carlström, 2012 and Kotter, 2012). Every attempt to change the culture of an organization is confronted with many obstacles that can disorientate or even stop the change on: individual, group and organizational level (Torres Jr & Gati, 2011; Tanser & Lee, 2012; Lozano, 2012 and Cameron & Green, 2012). In relation to the second theoretical strand, based on the encoding of the motivation theories (Stavrinoudis & Kakarougkas, 2017), it was found that a rewards and recognition system within an organization depends on five interrelated and interdependent sets of elements: human/ employee (Koole, 2009; Lawrence & Jordan, 2009 and Von Gilsa & Zapf, 2013), organization/ rewards and recognition system (Wiley, 1997; Milkovich, Newman & Gerhart, 2011 and Caudill & Porter, 2014), work within an organization (López-Cabrales, Real & Valle, 2011; Snell & Bohlander, 2013; Downes & Choi, 2014 and Hall-Ellis, 2014), rewards/ recognition (Amaratunga & Baldry, 2002; Robbins & Judge, 2010 and Abadi et al, 2011) and needs (Islam & Ismail, 2008; Koole, 2009; Fisher, 2010 and Von Gilsa & Zapf, 2013). Through the conceptual synthesis of the above findings of the two theoretical strands, eleven specialized and complex hypotheses have been modeled, and presented in this manuscript, which are being investigated by one hundred eleven variables/ items. The integration of these variables/ items into the research questionnaire and the analysis- investigation of the eleven specialized and complex hypotheses will lead to the conclusion of the main research objective. At the same time, it will allow the creation of specialized models imprinting the role of reward systems by area of interest within the processes of organizational culture change in the Greek hospitality industry. References Abadi, F. E., Jalilvand, M. R., Sharif, M., Salimi, G. A., & KhanzadehS. A (2011). A Study of Influential Factors on Employees’ Motivation for Participating in the In-Service Training Courses Based on Modified Expectancy Theory. International business and management, 2 (1), 157- 169. Amaratunga, D. & Baldry, D. (2002) Performance measurement in facilities management and its relationships with management theory and motivation. Facilities, 20 (10), 327-336. Burnes B, (2009). Managing Change, Financial Times/ Prentice Hall: USA. Cameron E. & Green M. (2012). Making Sense of Change Management: A Complete Guide to the Models, Tools and Techniques of Organizational Change. 3rd ed. Kogan Page: USA. Carlström E. D., (2012). Strategies for change: adaptation to new accounting conditions. Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change, 8 (1), 41 - 61. Caudill, H. L., & Porter, C. D. (2014). An Historical Perspective of Reward Systems: Lessons Learned from the Scientific Management Era. International Journal of Human Resource Studies, 4(4), 127- 142. Cooperrider, D. & Whitney, D. D., (2005). Appreciative inquiry: A positive revolution in change. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Downes, P. E., & Choi, D. (2014). Employee reactions to pay dispersion: A typology of existing research. Human Resource Management Review, 24, 53 -66 Fisher, C. D. (2010). Happiness at work. International Journal of Management Review, 12 (4), 384–412. Hall-Ellis, S. D. (2014). Reward systems promote high-performance work teams achieving library mission. The Bottom Line, 27(2), 66-69. Hinings, C.R. & Malhotra, N. (2008). Change in institutional fields. In Ebner, A. and Beck, N. (Eds), The Institutions of the Market: Organizations, Social Systems and Governance, Oxford University Press: Oxford, 106-31. Islam, R., & Ismail, A. Z. Hj. (2008). Employee motivation: a Malaysian perspective. International Journal of Commerce and Management, 18(4), 344-362. Koole, S. (2009). The psychology of emotion regulation: An integrative review. Cognition & Emotion, 23 (1), 1–44. Kotter, J. P. (2012). Leading change, Harvard Business Review Press: U.K. Lawrence S. & Jordan P. (2009). Testing an explicit and implicit measure of motivation, International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 17 (2), 103 - 120. Lewin K. (1958). Group decisions and Social Change. In Maccobby E. E., Newcomp T. M. and Hartley E. L. (eds): Reading in Social Psychology. pp. 330- 344, Holt, Rhinehart and Winston: New York. Lewin K. Lippitt R. & White R. (1939). Patterns of aggressive behavior in experimentally social climate. Journal of Psychology, 10. 271- 299. López-Cabrales, Á., Real, J. C., & Valle, R. (2011). Relationships between human resource management practices and organizational learning capability: The mediating role of human capital. Personnel Review, 40(3), 344-363. Lozano R. (2012). Orchestrating organisational changes for Corporate Sustainability: Overcoming barriers to change. Greener Management International. 57 (43), 43- 64 Milkovich, G. T., Newman, J. M., & Gerhart, B. (2011). Compensation, 10th ed. New York: McGraw- Hill. Robbins & Judge, (2010). Organizational behavior, 14th ed. Prentice Hall: U.S.A. Snell, S., & Bohlander, G. (2013). Managing Human Resources, 10th ed. Mason, OH: South Western Cengage Learning. Stavrinoudis T. & Kakarougkas C. (2016). A Theoretical Model of Weighting and Evaluating the Elements Defining the Change of Organizational Culture. Conference Tourism, Culture and Heritage in a Smart Economy, Athens: IACuDit. Stavrinoudis T. & Kakarougkas C. (2017). A Scientific Modeling of Factors of Human Motivation in Organizations. Conference Innovative Approaches to Tourism and Leisure: Culture, places and narratives in a sustainable context, Athens: IACuDit. Tanser G. & Lee P. (2012). Using Change to Stretch Talent, Achieve Real Time Leadership Development and Change Culture. OD PRACTITIONER. 44 (4), 42- 46. Thurley, K. (1979). Supervision: A reappraisal, Heinemann: Oxford. Torres Jr A. S. & Gati A. M. (2011). Identification of Barriers Towards Change and Proposal to Institutionalize Continuous Improvement Programs in Manufacturing Operations. Journal of technology management and innovation. 6 (2), 94- 108. von Gilsa, L., & Zapf, D. (2013). Motives for Emotion Regulation in Service Work. The Role of Emotion and Emotion Regulation in Job Stress and Well Being (Research in Occupational Stress and Well-being, Volume 11) Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 11, 133-161. Wiley, C., (1997). What motivates employees according to over 40 years of motivation surveys. International Journal of Manpower, 18 (3), 263 - 280.

ABSTRACT. A vital aspect of providing high quality service in the hotel sector is the human resource management (HRM) system employed in the hotels concerned. As Baum (2007) supports; in most service industries it is the HR that creates the competitive advantage to the organization. It is imperative to point out that the economic performance of every country’s economy is strongly linked to the SME sector and SMEs rely seriously on their workforce and on their HRM practices for their success. It is a fact that the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are playing vital role in the economies around the world in irrespective of the countries development stage. SMEs are now considered as the leading source of economic growth. However, as a result of the dynamic environment and globalization, SMEs are struggling for their smooth survival. Internationally there are thousands of small-medium sized hotels that are facing challenges relating to service quality aspects. The hotel industry is a service industry and hence it strongly relies on human labor; that is, its service quality is directly connected to its staff quality. There is generally a worldwide view that internationally the Hotel and Catering Industry has a number of personnel related problems and poor employment practices and conditions, especially the smaller hotels. Larger hotels have more advantage in human resource (HR) recruitment and development because the higher level of remuneration and benefit that they can offer makes them the number one choice for highly competent and skilled staff. Hotels justify the absence or neglect of HRM functions with the size of the organization. Smaller hotels with limited financial resources claim to be restricted in developing and implementing HR systems in comparison to larger hotels. It is a fact that small and large organizations typically differ in terms of resources, money, and time. Still, all businesses—whether small or large—must hire employees to run the daily operations. Despite the size, employees are vital assets. A well- established and maintained HR department offers a solid structure which is an organizational advantage that is vital to success.

ABSTRACT. Tourism as a Research Field of Economics – Further Developments.

ABSTRACT. The concept of sport related tourism in Greece has become more prominent in the last few years as an increasingly popular tourism product. Sport and tourism professionals alike are realizing the significant potential of sport tourism and are aggressively pursuing this market niche. The increased emphasis on health and fitness and increased use of sports events by cities to attract tourists made sport tourism one of the fastest growing sectors in the tourism industry. As a tool, sport tourism, can be used to achieve many things - to generate significant revenues, create thousands of new jobs, regenerate urban infrastructure, and to develop or reappraise entire destinations.

The term sport tourism includes: active sport tourism, which refers to people who travel to participate in sports; event sport tourism, which refers to travel to watch a sports event; and finally visits to sports museums, famous sports venues, and sports themed cruises. Marathons are sport tourism events taking place in many cities around the world and are used as promotion tools to attract visitors. Besides the short term economic benefits that are related with the visitors during their stay (hotels, transports, restaurants etc.) there are also positive long term (post event) effects.

The Athens Authentic Marathon is one of the few events worldwide that have both an athletic and cultural aspect. Based on a unique historical event, the battle of Marathon (490 BC) and the achievement of an Athenian soldier, the Athens Marathon is not just another running race. Over the last years, has turned into the biggest, most massive and most significant of all sport events in Greece bringing thousands of people from all around the world, highlighting the city of Athens and Greece worldwide. Runners and spectators from all over the world are toning up financially the city on a time period that is not so active since the Marathon is organized on November of every year.

In our days, the Athens Authentic Marathon, is generating revenues of up to 20 million euros in just five days but has the potential of much higher following the example of cities like London or New York. To achieve this, sport, tourism and cultural organizations have to collaborate and see the opportunities and benefits (both short and long term) that arise from the organization of such events. Very important is also the role of marketing in differentiating the Athens Authentic Marathon from the rest of the Marathons.

There are 10 million people all over the world that are participating in Marathons. It has been calculated that 20% of them would travel to run a Marathon. They wouldn’t want to run the Athens Marathon? The Authentic Marathon? More than 2 million people are travelling every year around the world to run a Marathon and only 7,500 of them are participating in the Athens Authentic Marathon. There is too much room for growth.

ABSTRACT. Religious tourism is a special form of tourism with international range and is recognized as a dynamic sector of the modern tourism industry. However, religious tourism is regarded as an economic, environmental, social power and a political phenomenon (Richter, 1989) and generates revenue in a way as no other kind of tourism does (Karar, 2010).. The latest research show religious tourism is of great potentials to make a high rate of income for the countries and attract thousands of tourists a year (Yalghouzaghaj, & Shorbolagh, 2013). According to Griffiths (2011) religious places have consist some of the most visited and valued destinations in the world, not only for religious but for general tourists as well. Nowadays, taking into consideration that the world's Christian population is more than 2 billion, and with the assumption that a large part of this population is potential religious tourists, it is becoming clear that religious tourism offers significant development prospects for Greece and its regions.

This article presents the current situation, explores the potential and prospects for the development of religious tourism on the island of Lesvos and attempts to formulate policy proposals for its systematic development, which will contribute to the establishment of Lesvos as a pilgrimage destination and promotes the religious tourism in the region of the North-East Aegean.

The exploration of the research objectives was carried out by quantitative research. A structured questionnaire was used and shared to representatives of the public and private sectors -directly or indirectly - involved in the tourist development of Lesvos. The questionnaire included 30 multiple choice questions and consisted of three sections, which investigates: the profile of respondents and their relation to religious tourism, the views of the agencies on the existing religious tourism demand in Lesvos and the prospects for the development of religious tourism on the island. The survey took place in Lesvos, in the first half of February 2017, using the inventory method. A total of 70 questionnaires were shared, of which 53 were answered (73% response). The data collected were based on descriptive and inductive statistics.

According to the results of the primary research, despite the assumption that religious tourism in Lesvos can be developed throughout the year and contribute dynamically to the tourist development of the area, giving economic, social and cultural benefits to the local community, the public and the private sector considers to a significant extent that the development of religious tourism is limited.

The majority of respondents attributed particular importance to Lesvos as the exclusive destination of religious tourism at certain times of the year, considering that tourists’ visits happened according to the Orthodox calendar. Particular reference is attributed to Lesvos as a main pilgrimage destination of the North Aegean region, or even as a tourist destination, capable of responding to other interests of tourists through the promotion of special and alternative forms of tourism.

In view of the fact that Greek and Cypriot pilgrims note the greatest number of visitors to the island, the search for new markets is pursued. At this point, the public and private sectors showed their preference for the emerging markets of the same religion Balkan countries, Russia and the former Soviet Union countries. The majority of the Orthodox Christian tradition is associated with the Russian Orthodox Church, which lists 101,450,000 believers reflecting 39% of the world Orthodox population and 50.6% of the Orthodox population of Europe (Pew Research Center, 2011).

In addition, according to the respondents, the increase in the pilgrimage flows to Lesvos can be achieved through the constructive cooperation of stakeholders, the upgrading of transport to religious monuments and the combination of religious tourism with organized packages holidays and other special forms of tourism. In order to support and encourage religious tourism, the local authorities can include the worship places in various protection and preservation programs, including international ones (Tala, 2008).

The survey highlighted the need for the implementation of an integrated strategic planning for local tourism development, which through targeted actions will cover the basic strategic directions for the development of religious tourism in Lesvos.

ABSTRACT. Culinary tourism or food tourism or gastrotourism is the experience of dining out at touristic destination that provide foods and beverages of exquisite or particular perception. It could be also the quest of unique and memorable eating and drinking experiences. Culinary tourism differs from agrotourism in the sense that culinary tourism could be part of cultural tourism (cuisine is a manifestation of culture). However there are several common concepts between food tourism and agrotourism such the origin of the food products and the manufacturing processes. Culinary tourism is often misconceived as gourmet eating, but this is not the case in all aspects. The culinary tourist or gastrotourist maybe in the pursuit of local cuisine at plain outlets that depict the culinary traditions of the land he is visiting. In this study an extensive review of existing certification systems for local or ethnic cuisine are presented and compared. For Greece there are several certification standards such as the “Greek Cuisine” of the National Ministry of Tourism, the “Cretan Cuisine” of the Cretan Quality Consortium, the “Aegean Cuisine” initiative by the Chambers of Commerce of Cyclades and Dodecanese and the “Greek Breakfast” initiative by the Hellenic Hotel Chamber. The Italian standard for “Ospitalita Italiana” is one of the most successful standards with international recognition. All the above mentioned standards were compared upon the procedures of certification, the basic criteria of certification, the certification costs and the market segmentation. The output of the comparison summarizes the common and different aspects for each certification system. Eventually some suggestion for certification aspects that are not covered or should be covered are proposed. A discussion is raised about the promotion and communication of these standards and the possible sustainability in the tourism market as recognizable labels. Is there a place for more standards? What about the other local cuisines, the Corfu cuisine i.e. Should there be a national standard for the traditional greek restaurant, the “taverna”. Should there culinary standards be focused on the restaurants within Greece or at the Greek restaurant scattered all around the globe? Is culinary certification a luxury service or a profitable added value? These and some more issues are to be addressed at our presentation.

ABSTRACT. World cultural heritage, both tangible and intangible, is our inheritance from previous generations of Humans and our legacy for those to come. It is an irreplaceable repository of knowledge and an invaluable resource for economic growth, employment and social cohesion. The focus of this paper is in tangible heritage sites and cultural landscapes within a rural and an urban environment and the planning implications of such sites to the attractiveness of the greater area as a place to live, work, and visit. Cultural heritage is a shared resource, and like such, it can be vulnerable to physical over-exploitation and under-funding, which can result in neglect, decay and, in some cases, oblivion. Urban planning and heritage management though, have often been positioned as opposing powers in the management of historic urban landscapes. To reconcile them, the goal is to recommend a holistic, integrated and multidisciplinary management of resources, by means of a new approach in heritage management, which will focus not only on protection and restoration, but also on entrepreneurial, economic and marketing management of a much greater area that the heritage site. Accordingly planning (urban, regional and land-use) is called upon to incorporate and integrate a valuable site mirroring the past, in a forward-looking planning proposal for the future. The challenge is inclusion, rather than working around heritage sites and the in-depth realization that as a tourism asset for heritage, alternative sustainable tourism, no monument or building can act as an island. The environment around the site (built or natural) is part of the overall tourism experience and has to reflect and acknowledge the existence of such an historic site while still acting as a host for tourists and residents to evolve in the modern society thus creating a new interpretation of the cultural landscape. Three case studies of different sites will help highlight the planning and heritage management challenges in this context. All three sites are chosen from the UNESCO world heritage sites list, and the they represent a rural example (Delphoi), an urban example with low residents- - high tourist demand (Venice) and an urban example where heritage sites are part of everyday resident’s life (Thessaloniki). Historic cities, towns and villages face the most complex problems in terms of preserving the urban fabric while generating sustainable growth and employment. Heritage management can be successful and sustainable, for example through the energy-efficient re-use of historic buildings, and the promotion of greener transport and cultural tourism. Thanks to the attractiveness of their urban and natural environments, heritage sites often host clusters of cultural and creative industries.

ABSTRACT. Human resources, as an integral component of hotel service framework represent the single biggest issue faced by practitioners, with attracting and retaining Millennials topping the list (Solnet, Kralj and Baum, 2015). Indeed, a recent survey of 50 hotel CEOs and top management from across the globe, reports that almost half of them have developed interventions to appease the different priorities, ambitions and expectations of Millennials who currently occupy almost 70% of the workforce (Khowala, 2015). Furthermore, Marriot International, as part of its “Aging Workforce Project”, developed the “Intergenerational Toolkit for Managers” to better equip managers with the resources needed to successfully lead multigenerational teams and/or, enhance intergenerational relationships in the workplace. Aligned with this organizational reality, an ever growing body of studies has sought to examine the phenomenon, providing evidence of generational differences from disparate cultural contexts (i.e., US, Puerto Rico, South Korea, Australia, Netherlands, Cyprus and Turkey). The purpose of this paper is to offer a critical evaluation of the evidence supporting (or not) the notion of generational differences in hotels. In particular, we first provide an up-to-date map of the body of generational research across hotels, focusing on the five dominant work attitudes identified, namely job satisfaction, turnover, work-life balance, organizational commitment and work engagement. Third, we compare the findings between both the successive generations (Boomers vs Xers and Xers vs Millennials) as well as between the oldest and the youngest generation of hospitality workforce (Boomers vs Millennials) to inform future understandings of generations and what this means for the workplace. We conclude with a number of contextual and methodological directions for future research.

ABSTRACT. Research aims and context: Hotel procurement and supplies are critical not only in terms of cost effectiveness but also in terms of service quality, product differentiation, brand image and positioning. This study aims to examine various aspects of hotel buying behaviour and decision making. Industrial buyer behaviour is distinctive, mostly because of the rationalism that characterizes decision making in a B2B marketing context, thus urging suppliers to use customised marketing strategies to fulfil clients’ special needs. As service quality in hotel services relies significantly on raw materials, equipment, products and services used, this study focuses on hotel buying behaviour; procurement procedures, choice criteria for B2B transactions, products, services and suppliers are examined within this context. Special emphasis is put on attitudes and buying behaviour of hotel businesses towards eco-friendly products and services. In order to meet research objectives, a quantitative study was designed and implemented among hotel managers and owners. The study took place in 2017 with the participation of hotel managers & owners from the island of Zakynthos, Greece, a well-known tourism destination where almost 300 hotel businesses operate during full season. Main research findings: The main findings of the study clearly highlight the dominant role of product quality and cost for buyer’s decision making and choice selection. Customer service levels and distribution aspects proved particularly important as well. Hotel business owners seize multiple roles in the buying process, performing all kind of tasks in order to ensure business success. In addition, perceptions and attitudes towards green and e-commerce tools for procurement issues are examined. Furthermore, eco-friendly products add elements of innovation that empower sustainable tourism but also differentiate both B2C services and the enterprise as a whole by creating positive brand associations. As a response to increasing demand for unique and memorable tourism experiences, hotels companies try to provide offerings with additional customer value and clear differentiation; green products and services provide additional value thus attracting hotel customers who are environmentally concerned. Hotel managers acknowledge this market trend which is expected to contribute to sustainable business growth and tourism development. Eco-friendly products are evaluated as an extremely important factor in the buying pro cess even though it is rated last. Hotels managers also acknowledge the importance of sustainability and try to adopt relevant business practices, but they still face important barriers for extended usage of green products: higher prices, limited recognition of customer awareness for environmental issues, and the inadequacy of the legislative framework to influence business decision making, definitely let room for improvement in terms of environmentally friendly buying behaviour. Conclusions and practical implications: According to the findings of this study, green procurement seems to be in its infancy in the hotel sector, open to further exploitation and development which can be achieved with the aid of B2B marketing. Practical implications for both business customers and their suppliers are discussed within this sectoral, B2B context. Further research is necessary for the generalization of findings and a more integrated and holistic examination of the issue.

ABSTRACT. The research activity relates to the assessment of the key variables i.e. energy, water, waste and soil, that make up the Ecological Footprint (EF) within the tourism framework. This structured assessment is translated into the Tourism Ecological Footprint (TEF). Scope of this research is to present the methodological framework for assessing the Ecological Footprint and its components within the Hellenic Hotel Sector, nationally and per accommodation typology (4 & 5 star hotels) for the period 1990-2012. Initially, through the theoretical background, an introductory approach is carried out on the research object and the methodological approaches of the Ecological Footprint and its Components (energy, water, waste and soil), are registered distinctly. Moreover, a bottom-up analytical process is introduced that calculates, for the hotels in reference, the footprint of each component separately and the total TEF accordingly. We then compare the results with the total EF of the country and draw important conclusions. The challenge generated from this research activity is to develop a contemporary strategy for utilizing the TEF as a methodological tool that will support the “green” energy transition of the topline hotel sector of Greece, into achieving carbon neutrality, tackling climate change and safeguarding long term sustainability, through the introduction and utilization of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) and Rational Use of Energy (RUE). Within this context, it seems reasonable to expect a significant benefit to the hotel industry, and the environment in general, through actions associated with the TEF, such as reducing energy consumption, water and waste going to landfill. At the same time, the possibility of tourism infrastructures i.e. major hotel chains, to exploit the reduction of CO2 emissions, with the sale of allowances given by the emissions trading mechanism, and thus acquire a financial benefit, provides a solid and sustainable basis, that will enhance their competitive advantage within regional tourism markets and boost their growth potential.

ABSTRACT. Purpose This paper aims to identify the attributes of value co-creation in the use of web technologies within the hospitality industry. While the value of technology and e-commerce has often been discussed, the attributes of value in technology use have frequently been established from the perspective of the service providers. Examples of these studies ranged from Amit and Zott’s (2001) study of value creation in e-business to Lyon et. al.’s (2009) paper investigating human and automated services. A shift in perspective was introduced in Ng et. al.’s (2011) study on the use of technology for value co-creation. Highlighting the importance of ‘means driven-ness’ in the increasing digitization of businesses, the study suggested that technology enables both service operation optimization and becoming a service itself. As value co-creation assumes sufficient knowledge and skill from both the service provider and customer, in order to deliver a service, this study examines the necessary attributes of value creation from the perspective of customers.

Design/methodology/approach The study focuses on technology use by hospitality businesses in the south west of England. From an extensive review of literature, the study compiled a matrix of attributes for value co-creation and value attributes of web technologies. Survey questions were then developed from core attributes identified. The survey instrument was administered using an online web survey tool- Qualtrics. A factor analysis of the attributes and a canonical correlation analysis were also conducted.

Findings While research on value, value co-creation and in particular technology use has evolved and expanded considerably in the general business discipline, the combined investigation of these salient topics within the hospitality and tourism sector appear to be in decline over the same period. Overall, the analyses indicated that three distinct factors ‘perceived control’, ‘service standardisation’ and ‘enabled customer service support through varied channels’ were underlying customer responses to the items where the factors were found to be internally consistent. ‘Enabled customer service support’ was reported to be the most important by customers, with a negatively skewed distribution, whilst ‘perceived control’ and ‘service standardisation’ were perceived as considerably less so and had positively skewed distributions.

Practical implications The findings provide many useful insights into the necessary attributes for value co-creation within the context of technology use in the hospitality sector. Implementation of these attributes could be applied in practice where future research could measure their effectiveness and or augment the relevance these attributes.

Originality/value This study conducted a comprehensive review of the attributes from literature and theories in both value co-creation and value in technology use. While studies in value co-creation and value in technology use, on their own are abundant, the combined evaluation and investigation from the consumers’ perspective is unprecedented.

References Amit, R., & Zott, C. (2001). Value creation in e-business. Strategic Management Journal, 22 (6-7), 493-520.

Lyons, K., Playford, C., Messinger, P. R., Niu, R. H., & Stroulia, E. (2009). Business models in emerging online services. Value Creation in E-Business Management, 44-55.

Ng, I., Parry, G., Maull, R., & McFarlane, D. (2011). Complex engineering service systems: A grand challenge. In Complex engineering service systems(pp. 439-454). Springer London.

ABSTRACT. This paper addresses the fluidity, complexity, reflexivity and hybridity of interrelationships developing at tourist destinations between the two sides coming into contact (the tourist and the local sides) and lays out the relevance and applicability of new approaches (both theoretical and methodological) and relevant tools of assessment and analysis of such interrelationships, from the part of the geographical discipline—and specifically, Cultural Geography. The broader theoretical context of this endeavour is the ‘moral turn’ in tourism research, in the 1970’s; since then, however, little scholarly attention has been given to tourist spaces as complex moral realms of performance and negotiation between hosts and guests. In order to remedy this shortcoming, new ways are proposed here in approaching (especially alternative) tourism as a phenomenon that embeds local people in their living spaces and creates new and complex relations, imbued with spatial, personal, social/ communal, moral and professional implications. The paper highlights issues of morality in tourist-local encounters and argues for transcending essentialism and dichotomies in the construction of tourism space, shared by locals and tourists, i.e. views of tourism as ‘sinner or saviour’; the problematic of rural vs urban tourism; or compromises sought in alternative tourism concerning ‘money or mission’.

Resting on the groundwork which Tourism Geography has been building during the past few decades, this undertaking views tourism from a multi-scalar perspective, with a focus on the mundane, everyday level of encounter and interaction, placed in its broader context (globalization, market system, capitalist modes of production/ processes of accumulation, etc.). In this regard, this study lays out new theoretical underpinnings for conducting ethical, committed research in tourism destinations, such as relational geography (post-structuralism), mundane/ everyday life geographies, more-than- (or non-) representational geography, and time-geography. It also proposes a series of mainly qualitative methods, such as focused ethnography, narrative analysis, in-depth interviews, reflective/ reflexive openness, coining appropriate language, etc., in order to capture the relational experiences of living with tourism and the ethical and moral aspects of managing tourism complexity and plurality, while allowing for transformative learning among guests and sustainable community living for the hosts, and remaining mindful of issues of issues such as researcher’s situatedness, subjectivity, creativity, reflexivity etc. The paper, thus, represents a critical perspective to tourism studies, with agency (both social and material) at its centre, towards ushering new, open, reflexive and more honest and sensitive routes/ approaches to getting to the core of the performative and relational realm of guest-host encounters, in the context of (alternative) tourism.