Strategic Analysis of Mediterranean Island Destinations: The Case of Corfu
Abstract
Apart from having a long tourism tradition, due to its geographic location and predominantly pleasant climatic conditions, Greece has primarily relied on tourism to recover from its prolonged economic hardships. Consequently, the present study aims at conducting a strategic analysis of Corfu, an important tourist destination located in the Ionian Sea, with the purpose of suggesting targeted interventions regarding the island’s tourism product and providing directions for sustainable tourism development. Secondary data analysis and results from a survey of 334 tourists indicated several strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats concerning Corfu’s tourism sector. This information reveals a number of ways to improve Corfu’s overall tourism product and develop a sustainable strategy for the Corfiot tourism industry. In view of rising environmental and socioeconomic challenges, a comprehensive tourism strategy ought to simultaneously enhance Corfu’s competitive position, improve residents’ welfare and safeguard the island’s scarce natural resources.
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[2] Baloglu, S., and McCleary, K. W. 1999. U.S. international pleasure travelers’ images of four Mediterranean destinations: A comparison of visitors and nonvisitors. Journal of Travel Research, 38(2): 144–152. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1177/004728759903800207
[3] Buhalis, D. 2001. Tourism in Greece: Strategic analysis and challenges. Current Issues in Tourism, 4(5): 440–480. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500108667898
[4] Christou, A. 2017. Bottom-up placemaking in a time of crisis, by the people, for the people: Case study of Arillas, Corfu. Journal of Place Management and Development, 10(2): 173–182. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1108/JPMD-07-2016-0048
[5] Crompton, J. L. 1979. Motivations for pleasure vacation. Annals of Tourism Research, 6(4): 408-424. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/0160-7383(79)90004-5
[6] Della Corte, V. 2012. The Evolution of Tourist Product as Expression of Experience-Based Innovation. Advances in Tourism Studies, 1: 301–336.
[7] Dritsas, M. 1998. The Advent of the Tourist Industry in Greece during the Twentieth Century. In Franco Amatori, G. Jones, A. Colli, Deindustrialization and Reindustrialization in 20th Century Europe, Franco Angeli. Milano. 181–201
[8] Franch, M., Martini, U. and Tommasini, D. 2003. Hypothesis of Destination Management in the Alps through the Analysis of Regional Tourist Boards. Paper presented at the XII International Symposium on Tourism and Leisure, in Barcelona, Spain.
[9] Goranczewski, B., and Puciato, D. 2011. SWOT Analysis in the Formulation of Tourism Development Strategies for Destinations. Tourism, 20(2): 45-53. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/v10106-010-0008-7
[10] Gurel, E., and Tat, M. 2017. SWOT Analysis: A Theoretical Review. The Journal of International Social Research, 10(51): 994–1006. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17719/jisr.2017.1832
[11] Insete. (2015). Marketing Plan of the Ionian Islands’ Tourism Product: Road Map 2015 – 2020 (in Greek). Insete. Available at: https://insete.gr/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/marketing_plan_ionian_islands.pdf
[12] Kamenidou, Irene C., Spyridon A. Mamalis, George Kokkinis, and Christos Geranis. 2013. Image components of nightlife-clubbing destinations. Tourismos: An International Multidisciplinary Journal of Tourism, 8(3): 99-111. DOI: https://doi.org/10.26215/tourismos.v8i3.381
[13] Middleton, V., Fyall, A., Morgan, M. and Ranchhod, A. 2009. Marketing in Travel and Tourism. Fourth Edition. Routledge.
[14] Mouratidis, K. 2021. Sustainable Tourism Development in the Ionian Islands. The Case of Corfu Island. In: Katsoni, V., van Zyl, C. (eds) Culture and Tourism in a Smart, Globalized, and Sustainable World. Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics. Springer, Cham. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-72469-6_12
[15] Mylonopoulos, D., Moira, P. and Kakaroucha, P. 2022. Sustainable Tourism and Cultural Routes in the Ionian and Adriatic Regions. In: Katsoni, V., Şerban, A.C. (eds) Transcending Borders in Tourism Through Innovation and Cultural Heritage. Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics. Springer, Cham. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-92491-1_39
[16] Ruggieri, G., and Calò, P. 2022. Tourism Dynamics and Sustainability: A Comparative Analysis in Mediterranean Islands - Evidence for Post-Covid-19 Strategies. Sustainability 14. DOI:https://doi.org/10.3390/su14074183
[17] Rutty, M., and Scott, D. 2010. Will the Mediterranean become ‘Too Hot’ for tourism? A reassessment. Tourism and Hospitality, Planning and Development, 7(3): 267–281. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1080/1479053X.2010.502386
[18] Sotiriadis, M.D., and Varvaressos, S. 2015. Strategic analysis of the Greek leisure tourism: Competitive position, issues and challenges. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 6(1S1): 319–332. DOI:https://doi.org/10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n1s1p319
[19] Tsoumanis, G., Kavvadia, E. and Oikonomou, K. 2014. Changing the look of a city: The v-Corfu case. Paper presented at the IISA 2014 - 5th International Conference on Information, Intelligence, Systems and Applications, July 07-09, in Chania, Greece. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/IISA.2014.6878800
[20] Tsoumanis, K. 2009. Features & Tourist Services in Corfu. Corfu: Typoekdotiki.
[21] Vitouladiti, O. 2014. Content Analysis as a Research Tool for Marketing, Management and Development Strategies in Tourism. Procedia Economics and Finance, 9: 278–287. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/s2212-5671(14)00029-x
[22] Vladi, E. 2014. Tourism Development Strategies, SWOT analysis and improvement of Albania’s image. European Journal of Sustainable Development, 3(1): 167–178. DOI:https://doi.org/10.14207/ejsd.2014.v3n1p167
[23] Enterprise Greece. 2017. Region of Ionian Islands - Investment Profile. Available at: https://www.enterprisegreece.gov.gr/images/public/synergassia/Synergasia_2017_Profile_Ionian-Islands.pdf
[24] European Commission. 2020. Enhanced Surveillance Report, Institutional paper 143. Available at: https://economy-finance.ec.europa.eu/publications/enhanced-surveillance-report-greece-september-2020_en
[25] European Commission. 2021. European Economic Forecast, Spring 2021: Greece. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/forecasts/2021/spring/ecfin_forecast_spring_2021_el_en.pdf
[26] McKinsey & Company. 2011. Greece 10 Years Ahead: Defining Greece’ s new growth model and strategy. McKinsey & Company, Athens Office. Available at: https://en.sev.org.gr/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Greece-10-Years-Ahead-Executive-summary-English-version-small.pdf
[27] PwC. (2018). The next day of Greek Tourism - Greece report: PwC Greece. PricewaterhouseCoopers. Available at: https://www.pwc.com/gr/en/publications/greek-thought-leadership/the-next-day-of-greek-tourism.html
[28] SETE. 2019. Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE) 2018 Annual Report. Greek Tourism Confederation. Available at: https://issuu.com/sete-ebooks/docs/sete_annual_report_go_eng_reduced_links
[29] TripAdvisor. 2022. Things to Do in Corfu – Attractions – Popular Mentions. Available at: https://www.tripadvisor.com.gr/Attractions-g189458-Activities-Corfu_Ionian_Islands.html
[30] UNWTO. 2020. COVID-19 Response: 96% Of Global Destinations Impose Travel Restrictions, UNWTO Reports. UNWTO. Available at: https://www.unwto.org/news/covid-19-response-travel-restrictions
Published
2022-09-30
How to Cite
KONTOGEORGIS, Georgios; LIVAS, Christos; KARALI, Nansy.
Strategic Analysis of Mediterranean Island Destinations: The Case of Corfu.
Journal of Environmental Management and Tourism, [S.l.], v. 13, n. 6, p. 1525-1533, sep. 2022.
ISSN 2068-7729.
Available at: <https://journals.aserspublishing.eu/jemt/article/view/7265>. Date accessed: 26 apr. 2024.
doi: https://doi.org/10.14505/jemt.v13.6(62).01.
Section
Article
Copyright© 2023 The Author(s). Published by ASERS Publishing 2023. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of CC-BY 4.0 license.