Establishment of Sustainable Tourism Observatory in the Northern Sporades Islands in Greece

Tourism is one of the most prospective and dynamic businesses in the world. A sustainable tourism observatory is a system that is responsible for collecting and analyzing data based on the needs and strategic questions of a tourism destination or resource. The relationship between tourism development and environmental protection, but also the related socio-economic implications, has been a field of research and practical approach, at least since the 1970s. The paper presents the project and the methodology of the establishment of a sustainable tourism observatory in the islands of the Northern Sporades in Greece in 2021. The mission of the observatory will be the collection of tourist data for the measuring of indicators and the estimation of tourist trends, to provide evidence for sustainable tourism development in the region. The Northern Sporades Islands are a small complex of islands in the North-west Aegean Sea, which have especially in the last 20 years intense tourist growth. At the same time, the area is distinguished by special natural features such as the National Marine Park, which is a nature reserve for a series of terrestrial and marine species living in the Mediterranean Sea, including the Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus).

Tourism observatories are based on the effort launched by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) through the GOST program (Global Observatories for Sustainable Tourism) aiming to support global tourist destinations to become more sustainable in all three dimensions: economic, social, and environmental. In 2004 followed the creation of the International Network of Sustainable Tourism Observatories (INSTO), in which we aim also to include the Sporades observatory. The Tourism Observatory in the Sporades Islands is methodologically based on the European Environmental Agency’s (1999) DPSIR model (driving forces – pressures – state – impact – responses), which is a causal framework for describing the interactions between society and the environment. Based on the records of 32 selected indicators for the specific region of Sporades islands, the grad of the tourism development and the impact will be calculated. In addition to the 32 tourism impact indicators, the observatory also records indicators of the tourist market trend. This recording will be based on data from tourism companies and operators, airports, and search engines, such as Hotel Availabilities Channel Manager, Book Online Now Booking Engine, etc.

Finally, it should be noted that the establishment of the observatory and the implementation are in early stages and there may be methodological changes in the future. However, the periodic and frequent recording of the indicators will provide important information for tourism planning, especially at a time when Greece intends to restart tourism after the pandemic and the observatory will be an important guide for sustainable development.

The practical implications of the estimated indicators in the Socio-Cultural, Economic and Environmental dimension, will be the support of the destination stakeholders to take focused and coherent action in tourism planning for sustainable development.