- On the juncture of World Tourism Day, the Observatory of Sustainable Tourism of the Aegean addresses the pursuing unfastened missive to the visitors of the islands: What would you similar to spot erstwhile visiting a Greek island?
The missive is signed by emeritus prof Yiannis Spilanis...
Here is the letter:
When we program our holidays, our motive for the travel is connected with what we would similar to do. We make an representation and we hunt to find the destination that fits this image. Other times we person immoderate long-held wish. The sojourn to Greece and particularly to immoderate of its islands is often a predetermined destination.
But what are the elements of the representation that we person created for the destination and what bash we privation to experience? Does the slogan “live similar the locals” interaction america oregon bash the advertisements of the luxury hotels and residences with the pools that link with the oversea pull us? Do we privation to research the individuality of the land done its landscapes, its monuments, its accepted settlements, its myths and its history, its tastes, oregon bash we privation to unrecorded arsenic astatine location oregon possibly cosmopolitan?
Those of you who person already visited them either due to the fact that you travel from 1 of them, oregon due to the fact that you visited them charmed by the stories of journalists, the works of writers and artists, the cinema, you person a amended representation of what to expect. Of people it depends connected however galore years person passed since your past travel due to the fact that astir of the islands person changed a batch successful caller years.
You volition accidental and what remains unchanged? Should the islands person remained arsenic they look successful the postcards of the decennary of the ’60s and the ’70s? With the tiny mediocre houses, the paths oregon the “new” ungraded roads, the cobblestone alleys wrong the villages, the bare beaches and the picturesque taverns connected the formation with the retirees of beingness drinking their ouzo oregon their vino and the children playing successful the sand?
Of people not. The representation described supra whitethorn beryllium charismatic for the visitant of a fewer days, but not for the inhabitant. To stay connected the land helium needs a occupation that pays, infrastructures and services of health, education, transport, telecommunications, amusement etc. akin to those of the mainland. Tourism is simply a driving enactment that has aggregate effects.
All this is bully you volition say, but up to wherever volition this improvement go? And chiefly could not everything travel the standard and the characteristics of the island? It is not self-evident due to the fact that arsenic we said supra the locals besides privation to lucifer us. But astir importantly, we inquire the places to accommodate to what we privation to unrecorded and we bash not judge to accommodate to what made them sustainable for galore centuries. We inquire for accelerated ships due to the fact that we person nary time, ample houses with the comforts of the large cities oregon the resorts we saw successful the advertisement with the ample rooms and their pool, we inquire for “good roads” and parking spaces, we inquire to devour “cosmopolitan”, we ask, we ask, we inquire not what the spot is, but what we person dreamed.
We inquire from the islands a exemplary that is nary longer sustainable anyplace connected the planet, overmuch little connected the tiny islands with the constricted resources and space. We inquire for much abstraction for location without realizing that this seals, concretes the onshore and reduces the biodiversity, much roads to determination rapidly with mechanical means adjacent for abbreviated distances portion we person travel to unbend making a interruption from our mode of life, much h2o for the excavation and the jacuzzi portion it is indispensable to run energy-consuming desalination that volition nutrient it etc.
We privation much resources and we nutrient much waste, exceeding its carrying capacity. At the aforesaid clip the attraction of galore visitors successful the aforesaid play creates crowding and dissatisfaction among the locals who contempt the income from tourism spot their prime of beingness decreasing and successful america who bash not bask the pleasance we would like.
The dispersed of tourer resorts and residences with the statement we made, instauration of a existent property that is successful a hurry to instrumentality the wealth it invested galore times implicit if possible, is astatine the halfway of the changes that are noted successful caller years and alteration captious characteristics of the islands, alteration their identity. At the aforesaid clip they summation the fig of visitors who tin beryllium astatine the aforesaid clip connected the island, expanding adjacent much the overtourism.
In galore of the islands the limits of gathering and carrying capableness person been exceeded. The islands are much susceptible than ever owed to the tourer monoculture and clime change. Up to wherever though is this alteration acceptable?
To unrecorded similar the locals we request overmuch less. We request a dilatory and elemental tourism that uses the peculiar characteristics of the spot – the culture, the environment, the productive contented – that person been utilized done the specialized cognition that the young workers have. We request to get to cognize the spot and its radical done unsocial experiences devoting the clip that is required. We request a tourism that volition assistance the radical of the spot unrecorded amended present but besides support it sustainable for tomorrow.
Yiannis Spilanis
Emeritus Professor – Laboratory of Local and Island Development – Observatory of Sustainable Tourism of the Aegean
Department of Environment – University of the Aegean
Greek (GR) · 
English (US) ·