Impacts and User Preferences along a hiking trail on the Chalcidice Peninsula in northern Greece

BSc. Maria Magdalini Mertzimeki

Master's thesis

Abstract:

Nowadays tourism seems to be one of the most significant social and economic enterprises, as well as a major source of revenue for many regions, particularly in Greece, which attracts a great number of visitors annually. Although tourism contributes positively to the development of regions, it can sometimes have detrimental consequences, particularly for the cultural and natural heritage of an area, which must be protected. The necessity for environmental and cultural conservation, combined with the growing desire of tourists to interact with nature and culture, has resulted in the emergence of alternative types of tourism, including ecotourism. The primary purpose of ecotourism is to protect natural and cultural values by ensuring that human activities are properly regulated. Cultural trails are a significant tool for ecotourism, and their administration and promotion would contribute to the integration of each region into a larger socio-economic environment, as well as to its further sustainable financial, cultural and environmental growth. The village of Torone in Chalcidice Peninsula, which is in the northern part of Greece, attracts a lot of tourist attention every year, because of its significant environmental, historical, and cultural value. The aim of this diploma thesis is to record and present the special features along a 3km trail, which starts from Lekythos Byzantine Castle ruins and ends in the remnants of a WW2 military installation. As the creation of this cultural trail was mainly an initiative of the local residents, suggestions for the legal establishment, better management and promotion of the trail, as well as assessment and improvement of the overall quality of the visitor experience while visiting it, are presented. Further studies and regular monitoring activities should be considered essential for the preservation of the overall quality of the trail and its natural and cultural features, as well as for the well-being of the local community.

Keywords

Trail users, Touristic impacts, Visual impacts, Resource conservation

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 13. 3. 2022

Thesis defence

• Supervisor: doc. Peter Kumble, Ph.D.
• Reader: Henry William Andrew Hanson IV.

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Faculty of Environmental Sciences

Master programme:
Nature Conservation