Ecotourism and phryganic ecosystems

Tourism in Greece shows high rates of seasonality because it is mainly based on the development of the islands and coastal regions. The need for decongestion of the coastal regions and dispersion of tourists during the summer period, in addition to the development of the winter tourism as a remedy for the problem of seasonality, dictates the replacement of the model of conventional tourism with the so-called “sustainable tourism”, or ecotourism. Ecotourism expresses the values of nature preservation and cultural heritage; it constitutes a meeting point between tourism and the sustainable development and contributes to the integrated management of a region, yielding financial profits and shaping the tendencies and characteristics of local institutions, businesses and visitors. Ecotourism is applied in a plethora of ecosystems; however its application on the phryganic ecosystems is remarkable, as they are found to a great extent in the islands of the Aegean and in Crete and provide a wonderful aesthetic landscape due to their varied appearance during the period of blossom. In addition to this, they diffuse a pleasant scent in the air during summertime, due to their enclosed volatile essential oils. The phenomenon of the seasonal dimorphism creates pleasant optical stimuli. The presence of wild life is of paramount importance, as well as their contribution to the production of other products (honey, candle, cosmetics etc), which also contribute to the development of trade and tourism. The application of ecotourism in the phryganic ecosystems may actually be quite beneficial. The present paper constitutes a contribution to the ecotourism, focuses on the search of practices that aim at the sustainable use of phryganic systems, controls the products and benefits that may derive from its application in such ecosystems and propose the required actions to be taken for the promotion and transfer of tourism at the springtime.