Carrying Capacity and Assessment of the Tourism Sector in the South Aegean Region, Greece

Since the early 1950s, Greece has been a popular travel destination providing high-quality tourism services. This was amplified by its diverse landscape, extended sandy beaches, scattered archaeological sites, people’s mentality, and adequate infrastructure. In particular, the south Aegean Archipelago attracts more than six million (6,000,000) visitors annually, approximately 27% of tourist arrivals in Greece. The carrying capacity assessment of the South Aegean region aims to improve the already high standards of the offered tourist services. Seventeen appropriate variables were analyzed to assess and increase tourism attractiveness by alternative products for long-term and sustainable management. Furthermore, the outcomes of the carrying capacity indicators application provide specialized solutions to control the over-tourism impact, mitigate the natural environmental degradation, and establish a roadmap for sustainable development in the study area. The required data were interpreted based on the PAP/RAC 1997 and WTO, enriched with more suitable variables from national and international literature to determine the carrying capacity. Therefore, the selection of seventeen (17) most representative indicators was unavoidable. Finally, the calculation of the different indexes showed that Mykonos and Thira are far above the indicator scale limits and are facing over-tourism issues. Additionally, the numbers of tourists concentrated in the abovementioned islands may accelerate the environmental degradation and, as a result, the tourist product will be downgraded. The set of these seventeen indicators works best since low, obfuscated, or no environmental data are available for the South Aegean region from the official state agency. Alternative tourist development and the extension of the tourist season based on local climatic conditions must be applied to ease the over-concentration and, consequently, the degradation of the tourist product. The large islands do not seem to face significant problems. However, the calculation of CCA will contribute to the decongestion of tourism concentration together with environmental decompression, leading to sustainable development in the South Aegean region.