At the International Conference organized in Kythira by the Municipality of Kythira on the topic “Tourism Development and Carrying Capacity of Infrastructure: Theoretical, Scientific and Practical Approach”, the Member of Parliament for the Dodecanese and Chairman of the Committee of Regions of the Parliament, Mr. Manos Konsolas, attended as a speaker.
“Our tourism must change course, abandon the certainty that everything will continue to evolve as it has been evolving for the last 30 to 40 years. It should analyze international trends, take into account issues such as climate change, and start planning the next day in terms of viability and sustainability,” emphasized Mr. Consolas, who described inaction, carelessness, and the logic of autopilot as the major threats to our tourism.
He referred to the concept and principles that govern the idea of sustainable tourism, noting that: “I have always chosen to talk about the future, which is not something distant and undefined, but concerns the image of the next day, which can dawn much faster than some expect.”
He stressed that the overconcentration of visitors and tourist activities in a specific period of time in a specific tourist destination exhausts infrastructure, reserves and natural resources, lowers quality and in the short and medium term means a reduced visitor satisfaction index.
He pointed out that the concept of sustainability is linked to the rational management of natural resources, the development of infrastructure in tourism businesses to save energy and water, as well as the creation of new energy and water supply infrastructure for large tourist destinations.
As Mr. Consolas said, sustainable tourism is linked to quality.
He referred to the necessity of new and updated studies on the carrying capacity of each destination, while the findings of these studies should determine and update the spatial planning of each tourist destination.
Manos Konsolas outlined the conditions for the formation of a sustainable tourism development model, as follows:
– Economic sustainability in tourism with general and specific investments that lead to quality through the diversification and enrichment of the tourism product, with a wide range of initiatives and actions for the integration of special and alternative forms of tourism and their exploitation at national, regional and local levels and in particular for the development of cultural, historical, medical, sports, gastronomic, diving and business tourism, as well as conference tourism.
– Strengthening the competitiveness of tourism businesses, by integrating them into the digital and green economy in order to reduce their operating costs. Digital transformation is linked to the competitiveness of businesses, the reduction of their operating costs and the provision of better services, with the reduction of the environmental footprint of tourism businesses, the reduction of their energy costs, water saving infrastructure.
– Addressing the consequences of climate change on tourism with coastal erosion, rising temperatures in the wider Mediterranean region, increasing energy and water supply needs.
– Upgrading tourism education. The new challenges created by the needs of climate change and the diversification of our tourism product require a new model of tourism education, new specialties, new subjects and continuous training for employees.
– Formation of a European island policy in which policies and actions for tourism in island regions will be integrated.
