Section 1: Introduction
In the world of tourism, urban tourism is the present challenge research is to about-face many of the theories and assumptions, sculpts and structure present in the trend amongst the wider province of Tourism studies in the spark of existing in the hypothetical deliberated in the ground of social science. This urban tourism is intensely ingrained in our past in the form of history, archaeology and social of any country and this is stated as a true case in Athens. This case is considered as one of the most important factors in the field of the tourism industry. Now a day this tourism industry is persuaded itself, but by analysing the theory or the current records, this tourism industry helps to increase the development of some urban areas where people were rarely lived (Santamouris, M. ed., 2013). By this industry, people visit different places which are not very populated and people want to feel the scenic beauty of the place and by the visit of the people in Athens, that urban places will be quite famous in future more.
According to the (Golias, J.C., 2002) this urban tourism refers to the various variant tourism sectors in which the areas which are urban in nature or the city will be the focus point. But in the modern era, this is considered as very complicated and quite old, it is observed that this is the main focal point so the country will be developed economically so that people will not going to suffer by it. With respect of this, there are lot more things which are connected with this urban tourism (Arnfield, A.J., 2003. With the help of the government, the urban cities have good roads and all the required facilities so that any tourist will not going to suffer anymore. In the past, maximum people did not want to go in any underdeveloped place due to the lack of facilities. So by this, that places were not so developed or popular. But now they all are having their own place in the sector or tourism industry in Athens. There are some conditions which are based on Porter’s theory which is also known as ‘Porter’s diamond’, and it is discussed by the four components of it. They are as follow-
- Factor condition- The place in the city or any nation is based on the production factor like educated or experienced labour (Santamouris, M.A.T.H.E.O.S., 2014.).
- Demand condition- In this the creation of demand is very like the British is famous for their tools of gardening because they do this thing very good in nature.
- Related or supporting industries- This is described about the product which is made by the persons, but in the market there is a huge competition (Florida, R. and Jackson, S., 2010). So due to this they make some similar product which is called substitute in the economic language.
- Firm strategy, structure and rivalry- The plans, place and the condition or surrounding of the firm must be good so that all the resource will be easily available and the related people of the firm will not suffer.
Although by the above discussion, it has been seen that the truth that there are only few visitor’s destinations, a place when popular there is no any reason behind it which is defined for the same. Although by the view point, the development in the tourism sector, transport and the transportation charges are a vital problem in this tourism sector. But in spite of this there are so many things by which this place can grow better than the others. Here the main things in which they gave their more attention is that the ecological balance in the nature. There are some points which can help the Athens to build the city better.
1.1 Purpose of the study
This research is especially all about the ecological theory of transport of this place, so that the negativity of this place can be reduced and the development of the positivity must be increased in this place so that maximum people can be increased (Streutker, D.R., 2002). With view respect it is analysed that in the present years this tourism industries has been flourished day by day. In Athens there are very exciting things which people love to do because except this place no other place has all these exciting things. Like urban characteristics such as night-life, shopping and business and in urban the sky resorts. Mostly all the people love to do and this is the reason of the visitors that they attract more and more.
So by the above discussion it is concluded that the study examines the ecological theory and the exciting and different things. But there are certain limitations which visitors should follow to do these things. All these limits are only designed for the safety of the people of the urban places in Athens.
1.2 Aim and objectives
This study wants to clear the present scenario of the tourist in urban places of Athens and the majority of the visitors over there. There are some special things which is used by the local people and the visitors also and on that things there are some limits which must be followed by everyone so that no one get harmed (Schade, J. and Schlag, B., 2000). The main things which is focused here is the places of the Athens which are urban in nature must be developed and to do this the hotels, transports, road etc. and all the necessary things must be developed so that the number of visitors will be increases. Although the aims and objectives done by the study which have been discussed below.
1.2.1 Research Aim
The paper aims to discover the need for further developing urban tourism in Athens and to promote environmental sustainability.
1.2.2 Research objectives
By the view point of the above discussion, there are some objectives or advantages. They are as follow-
- To discover the decision or selection of introducing the development of the urban areas of Athens, like build new roads, hotels etc., so that the numbers of visitors will be increased.
- To understand the necessity of advertisement of this place by any popular celebrity, in order to develop urban tourism.
- To explore the importance of developing the city and also making it risk free so that the visitors will enjoy freely.
- To understand the requirement of introducing walkability to control environmental pollution and connect other places of the city for the visitors.
1.3 Research outline
To do the representation of this report which has been done carefully and also for increasing the considerate and improvement of this study, there are some outlines which can help to understand the whole in a better way (Bonner, M.R., Han, D., Nie, J., Rogerson, P., Vena, J.E. and Freudenheim, J.L., 2003).
1.3.1 Section 1- Introduction
Apart from the justification and explanation on this topic, there is some research has been done by this they can understand the aim and objectives which have been pursued, achieve during the research.
1.3.2 Section 2- Literature Review
The whole study is only about the development of the urban places of Athens. And by the research, they clear their aims and objectives. That is they want to popular their urban place like others had. They just fulfil their needs so that the number of the visitors will be increased rapidly.
1.3.3 Section 3- Research Methodology
This section wants to clear about the investigation and rationalize the selections of investigating their thinking, approach, and nature and information collection method. Like this way, the way they used to clears all the doubts are almost right.
1.3.4 Section 4- Result
This section has the primary or the main research that what the urban place actually need to develop their place. And with the above method of research, they almost had done their work. And by this process, they can achieve their aim.
1.3.5 Section 5- Discussion and conclusion
This is the final and the last section of the whole research which has been presented with the discussion about the development of the urban places of Athens. And they discussed their aims or objectives so that they can do their work in a better way and achieve their goals also.
Section 2: Literature Review
The section has been designed to formulate a theory about the research that has been conducted from the above report.
2.1 Tourism in Athens
The term “urban tourism” was not formulated before the 90s and was not considered as a specialized or as a distinguished field. Some of the law governing body and the researchers have attributed that tourism was not an important phenomenon but a seasonal impact of the country and does not create a diverse impact on the economy of the country. After many research and theories, it has been concluded that the economy of the country can be greatly enhanced by the development of the tourism industry and so the sector was greatly encouraged and soon it gathered momentum. In the year 1995, the cultural exploitation scheme was promoted in which Athens was highly praised and more advanced and important projects were developed so that the physical environment of Greece can be exaggerated (Boukas, N., Ziakas, V. and Boustras, G., 2013). The various historical monuments and buildings, museums, the am phi-theatre, landscape beauty of surrounding areas, sports events and various tourist destination that attracts tourists all over the world was promoted to a great deal. The nightlife of Athens, its shopping streets and business opportunity also attracts tourists from over the world. Some important projects is also being launched in recent years and various old and significant monuments were being repaired so that the environmental and physical portion of Athens can attract more and more tourists (Stavropoulos, V., Alexandraki, K. and Motti-Stefanidi, F., 2013). The government is also shifting its focus to develop and re-establish the old ports of Athens which were widely used by the Greek soldiers so that the tourists who are interested in admiring the real beauty of nature can enhance the real beauty of Athens which will subsequently yield the enhancement of tourism with its original and beautiful natural beauty.
2.2 Impact of high tourism in Athens
According to the report published by the WTO in 2002, it has been found that Greece has been ranked as the 15th most visited and most attracted tourist’s destination in the world. The tourism industry has thus presented a vast growth in the GDP of the economy of the country to more than 8%. The major countries that have a greater population of the visit in Greece are Spain, Turkey, Egypt, Portugal and Cyprus. It has also been observed that the growth of the tourism industry in Greece has also expanded. The hotels of Greece thus have to expand a bit further to support such a big population visit in every year. The capacity of beds are also increasing with beds extended to 423,660 were added in the year 1990 which was later extended to 593,990 in the year 2000. The hotels capacities were not able to support such a big population of people’s visit (Drakos, K. and Kutan, A.M., 2003). The night spent also decreased to more than 50%. A decrease of 45% was suffered in the year 1980. It has also been observed that the peak time for people’s visit in Athens in between June to September when more than 51% of the foreign visitors came to visit the city which ultimately drops to more than 6% between the months of January to March. Such a huge population visit can prove very devastating to the important monuments and the roads and cities. There has been an increase in the number of road transport which ultimately witnessed an increase in the amount of crime rates in the past decade. The city life of Athens is suffering to a great deal because of the overpopulating cities with some of the common issues like overcrowding public places like bus stops and railway stations which are mainly filled with a lot of tourists from across the world.
2.3 An introduction to Environmental sustainability program in the tourism of Athens
The impact of over-crowding public places like bus stops and railway stations creates a report that the parts of Athens that are highly connected with the roads and railway transport are the major portion which is being widely explored by the native visitors. The tourists are being attracted to those places only which have a well-developed and advanced mode of a transport system. Some of the important scenic beauty of nature is being ignored by the tourists because of the lack of transport system. The environmental beauty of nature is lagging behind because of the lack of proper transport facility. It is extremely important to explore the natural beauty of Athens which adds a true beauty to the environment and thus maintaining the ecological balance of nature (Ritchie, J.B. and Crouch, G.I., 2003). It is extremely important to maintain a walking exploration to the scenic beauty of Athens to both the visitors and local people and develop the habit of walking so that the environment cannot be degraded because of pollution emitting from the vehicles. Electric cars and an advanced mode of transport system should be encouraged among the common people so that the sustainability of environment cannot face any difficulty.
2.4 Research Gap
The report that has been presented above helps to explore the true and valuable impact of tourism on Athens. The research conducted by (Sofouli, E. and Vonortas, N.S.,) in the year 2007 shows that there is a constant increase in the growth of the economy of Athens because of the tourism industry. A growth of 8% in the GDP of Greece has been observed but the number of visitors and their arrival is not proportional and varies from months to months. The number of visitors is more in the months of June to September but it rapidly declines during the month of January to April. The research also highlights that there is a lack of hotel to compensate such a huge population of visitors with a minimum number of beds and lodging facilities. It has also been explored that the number of visitors is only visiting the places that are extremely connected with proper transport facilities and thus the interior part of the country remains unexplored because of the lack of transport facilities and proper tourist guidance. It is thus important to develop a well efficient transport system which will be environmentally friendly as well so that the transport facility can take the tourist to the interior of the country. It is equally important to develop the habit of walking to explore the natural beauty of nature which is important for both the tourists and local resident of the country so that the environmental pollution can greatly be reduced. Thus the research study is being justified with the above facts and figures.
Section 3: Research Methodology
It has been observed with the facts and figures presented by (Franck, K. and Stevens, Q. eds., 2013) that the problems and concerns related to the matter cannot be established properly with the help of academic research and business process. It is not enough to conduct the research only with these perspectives but it is highly important to conduct a fair research with proper selection methods and appropriate choice of selections.
3.1 Applied Methods of Research
It has been observed that the research conducted below aims and focuses to create a proper transport connective facilities and proper dwelling hotels that can lodge the adequate amount of visitors to Athens. Therefore it can be stated that the research conducted above is important for developing a proper tourism industry with the needs and requirements of the situation. It has also been observed that the amount of data that are presented above and the provided information is very important for developing a well advanced and research-based analysis of the first segment of the paper. While conducting the research it has been observed that a lot of research test and various hypotheses have been used which cannot be appreciated and accepted by all. However the research has been conducted with the help of information and analysis available. A deductive research has been conducted with the help of current data analysis which can be very reasonable based upon the application of research and its various selecting topics. The research has presented the concept of introducing new hotels for proper lodging of the tourists and a well-developed and advanced mood of transport facilities which can help to explore the interior of the country as no theory and concepts was me told to access,
According to Franck, K. and Stevens, Q. eds., 2013 there are two types of research approaches have been used which are qualitative and quantitative research approaches for the purpose of reference. In this research a quantitative method of research has been applied with the help of primary and available data with various numerical analyses have been concluded with the help of question and answer that has been developed at the end.
3.2 Data collection Methods and Data Analysis
Both the primary and the secondary information have been used to prepare this research in the primary research which is used to support the academic concept which is helping to collect the necessary understanding of this study (White, M.P., Alcock, I., Wheeler, B.W. and Depledge, M.H., 2013.). Although, the secondary information is used to improve the understanding of the normal public’s suggestion and also the philosophy about it. Although by the past study, the papers and the journals have been evaluated to do the study in the better way of the issues of this study. There is also a conclusion about the relevance of this study which helps to understand the whole better.
The types of equipment of the research and the samples are the two main factors by which the reliability of the current study will be improved. In this case, there is a survey which is completed by the seven questions to know the response of the public and the voluntary or charitable survey from fifty respondents was used to clear the doubts and the problems also.
In this research, it is also conducted that keeping the moral consideration in memory and it is seen that apart from certifying the strict privacy of the information, the response of the people should be monitor and must check the novelty. Still, the help lines of this study were relatively followed.
Section 4: Findings
This part of the report will highlight the findings of the survey that has been conducted by the researcher and the same will also help in concluding the research.
- Do you agree that the present urban infrastructure in the city is convenient to the tourists?
| Strongly agree | 10 |
| Agree | 12 |
| Disagree | 28 |
56% of the participants of the survey have disagreed to the fact that the present urban infrastructure in the city is convenient to the tourists, 24% of them have agreed to the fact and only 20% have strongly agreed. This implies that the city needs more infrastructural development to facilitate the tourists.
- Do you think that the government should focus upon connectivity and develop further infrastructures, considering the massive volume of tourist and connect other parts of Athens?
| Yes | 35 |
| No | 15 |
70% of the respondents have agreed to the fact that the government should focus upon developing connectivity and further infrastructures, in order to facilitate the massive volume of tourists in the peak season and to connect other part of the city.
- What is the most important issue that you face, while your visit in Athens during peak season?
| Lack of hotels | 26 |
| Safety issues | 10 |
| transportation issues | 14 |
52% of the respondents have stated that, they face the issue of lack of hotels available during peak season in Athens, 20% of the respondents have stated that they face safety issues during their visit in Athens during peak seasons, while, 28% of the visitors have faced transportation issues during peak seasons in Athens.
- Have you visited the popular places only or you have visited others places around the city to enjoy scenic beauty?
| Only popular places | 35 |
| Other places | 15 |
It has been found that 70% of the tourists have visited only the popular places in the city, while 305 of the tourists have visited other parts of Athens.
- If we suggest walking as an idea to connect the entire city and also protecting the environment from pollution, what would you suggest?
| There must be separate lanes | 25 |
| There must be appropriate facilities for pedestrians | 10 |
| The safety of the tourists is necessary | 15 |
50% of the tourists have suggested the formation of separate lanes for pedestrians, in order to introduce the idea of walking. 20% of them have stated that the pedestrians must be provided with appropriate facilities, while, 30% of the respondents have stated that more focus must be put upon the safety of the tourists.
- Do you agree that the government should focus upon advertising the tourism industry through celebrities to improve tourist foot falls?
| Strongly agree | 32 |
| Agree | 10 |
| Disagree | 8 |
74% of the respondents have strongly agreed that the government should focus upon advertising the tourism industry in Athens, using renowned celebrities, in order to enhance visitor foot falls, 20% of them have agreed to the fact, while 16% have disagreed.
- What, according to you would be the steps that must be taken to increase safety of tourists?
| More security personnel deployed at strategic points | 12 |
| Separate lanes for tourists | 24 |
| control on vehicles for safety of pedestrians | 14 |
48% of the respondents have selected the option of forming separate lanes for the tourists in order to enhance safety, 24% of them have states the importance of deployment of more security personnel at strategic locations, while, 28% of them have suggested to put control on vehicles to enhance safety of the pedestrians.
- Do you think that developing infrastructures in other less popular places in Athens, where visitors can enjoy scenic beauty will have a positive impact upon the ecological balance and the environment of the place?
| Yes | 35 |
| No | 15 |
70% of the respondents have stated that, they think the development of infrastructure in other less popular places in Athens, where visitors can enjoy scenic beauty will have a positive impact upon the ecological balance and the environment of the place, while 30% of the total respondents have not agreed to this fact.
Section 5: Discussion and conclusion
5.1 Discussion
Considering the attitude of the visitors towards the current infrastructure of the city, it can be said that in the first question, it has been highlighted that, the majority of the respondents have stated that they do not agree that the present infrastructure of the city is inefficient in enhancing the convenience of the visitors. This implies about the issues faced by the visitors regarding transportation and stay during the peak season, where the popular places in the city get filled up with tourists.
The same opinion of the respondents has also been highlighted through the response made for the second question, where the respondents to the survey have stated that the government must take appropriate steps for the purpose of focusing upon the development of connectivity and infrastructure to facilitate the tourists during the peak season. This implies that, the current infrastructure of the city is less capable of accommodating the tourists during the peak months.
In the third question the issue relating to lack of hotels to accommodate the huge volume of tourist has been highlighted. It has also been found that the tourists also face the issues relating to safety and transportation.
Considering the responses made towards the fourth question, it can be said that the majority of tourists do not visit the entire city they only stick to the popular places and the same turns their visits hectic during the peak months due to higher concentration of tourists in the popular places of the city. It will be necessary for the government to encourage tourism in other places of the city with scenic beauty, which are lesser popular, for decreasing over population and also to develop urban tourism.
In the fifth question, the respondents have provided the suggestions regarding the steps that are required to be taken for introduction of the idea of walking for the tourists to connect the city and to protect the environment from pollution. Majority of the respondents have stated that the government should form separate lanes for tourists, who would like to walk, some of them has also suggested the provision of better facilities to the tourists, while another group has stated that the safety of tourists is an important factor to focus upon. Therefore, the government must focus upon these suggestions to introduce the idea of walking.
From the sixth question, it has been highlighted that there is an importance to promote the tourism industry in Athens by the help of different renowned celebrities that will encourage more visitors to discover Athens.
Considering the safety of tourists, the respondents have stated that, initiatives should be taken to deploy more security personnel at strategic location, hence, steps should be taken to focus upon the same. Again, the demand for separate lanes for the tourists can be found here, this implies that the government must form separate tracks for the tourism, in order to avoid any form of accidents in the peak months to avoid accidents. The third suggestion was to put control upon vehicles and release fewer vehicles where tourists are generally walking or roaming around, in order to avoid safety issues.
It has also been agreed by the majority of the respondents that the idea to develop infrastructures in other parts of the city to encourage the tourists to enjoy scenic beauty will decrease the pressure in the popular areas and also affect the environment favourably.
5.2 Conclusion
To conclude, it is important to state that Athens is one of the popular tourism destinations across the world. However, the city is overcrowded during the peak months, especially the popular locations, creating several issues for the visitors. The idea to develop further infrastructure both at the popular places and other less popular areas to connect the entire city would be a successful step on the part of the government to disperse the concentration of the tourists in the popular places only and also allowing them to enjoy the scenic beauty in other places of Athens. This will also be an environmentally sustainable move on the part of the government in Athens.
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