Local people's perceptions of sustainable tourism development in protected mountain areas: the case of Mount Olympus, Greece

This paper examines local peoples' perceptions of sustainable tourism development in Mount Olympus National Park, the sacred mountain of ancient Greece. Nature-oriented tourism is currently viewed as an environmentally friendly way to revitalize distressed mountain communities. Tourism, however, carries a number of negative social and environmental consequences, once developed beyond the capacity of the environment and the local population to sustain it. Sustainable tourism planning therefore requires an in-depth analysis of existing resources and an understanding of local communities' attitudes towards development characteristics. Perceptions of the study area's inhabitants about the necessity for recreation facilities and technical works improvement, tourism development and economic impacts on the local economy, were studied by means of a questionnaire survey. The study investigated the relationship between local people's attitudes towards tourism development, and independent variables such as occupation and age of the respondents. Such information can help regional planners, national park managers and local development agencies to resolve arising conflicts, balancing the needs of local communities, recreationists and environmental conservation.