Spatial Analysis of Cultural Resources and Their Contribution to the Sustainable Tourism Development of Greece

Abstract

The concept of sustainable development in tourism has received the attention of scholars and academics in recent decades. The sustainable development of tourism in an area contributes to the preservation and promotion of the traditional values ​​and cultural heritage of the communities. Sustainable tourism takes into account the cultural heritage and the management of its value. At the same time, however, the cultural heritage of a place can contribute to its sustainable tourism development. One way is to contribute to the alleviation of saturated tourist areas but also to the strengthening and promotion of emerging unsaturated tourist destinations. These are the contents of this article. This is done through the analysis of sustainable development of 13 regions of Greece, in 2020. Based on a research on the sustainable tourism development of Greece, occurs a presentation and analysis of the findings concerning the spatial distribution of cultural resources in its regions. Additionally is being investigated their contribution to the sustainable tourism development. The research correlates the sustainability with the tourist saturation of the individual destinations. The tourist saturation of the areas is investigated based on the TALC theory. According to the findings, some areas are considered to follow sustainable tourism development practices and others not. Based on the spatial distribution of cultural resources is then ascertained their contribution to sustainable tourism development. Suggestions for their proper management and promotion are following. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.