Abstracts - International Initiative for Georgian Cultural Studies

CULTURAL TOURISM
state and private sector does not exist.
3. It is a fact that tour operators do not work on developing new tourism routes, as this activity
does not bring them much income.
4. Tourism advertising has not become relevant to the travel industry. Nobody is concerned
with the quality of presentation materials or souvenirs. Demand and delivery issues have not
been studied.
5. Museums in the provinces are not involved in cultural tourism. No plans for their involvement
exist.
6. A state program for developing a cultural tourism database is to be launched, which will
assist in planning respective activities
Dorothea Papathanassiou-Zuhrt
University of the Aegeant; The IRIS Research Laboratory. Greece
Transinterpret II: Heritage Interpretation as a Vehicle for Multisensorial Experiences. The Case of
Greece
Although heritage resources are the main travel motive for a wide range of market segments, in unfamiliar
heritage settings the distant past is beyond the contemporary individual memory and as such beyond
the process of understanding. Visible monuments can be understood as time markers, able to move visitors
back and forth in history. Such time markers should be managed so as to appeal to diverse audiences. By
creating a balance between novelty and familiarity, authenticity and the stories told, a site’s past and present
can demonstrate its place in the historical continuity.
Many peripheral areas throughout Greece recognise the potential to use local heritage for tourism. Still
in many cases local governances are not equipped to create autonomously comprehensive tourism development
plans, whilst local populations are increasingly anxious to preserve their identity, environment, and
natural and cultural wealth from the impact of uncontrolled tourism flows. At the same time diverse tourist
segments exercise pressure upon the tourism industry for a variety of experiences and a range of activities.
This paper presents the planning process followed to create a series of self-guided heritage trails using the
diversity of historic environments in rural areas in Greece within the framework of TRANSINTERPRET
II, a multilateral cooperation, under the umbrella of C.I. Leader+.
TRANSINTERPRET II develops projects concerned with Heritage Interpretation according to the
standards and recommendations of a dynamically evolving database, providing all interpretive projects
and services, created according to collected specifications, with a quality label. TRANSINTERPET II reflects
an effort to combine community involvement, regional governance and academic research in order
to a) educate stakeholders on the values of heritage interpretation; b) manage leisure time for non-captive
audiences in recreational settings; c) to communicate to domestic and foreign visitors the highlights of the
region’s historical and cultural heritage; and d) to create a non-exchangeable tourism image for sites located
in rural and peripheral areas in Greece.
“The Project HERODOT: Tourism use of the historic environment - Know-how transfer and quality
management practices at the regional level”: A collaborative network to promote regional identities
and cultural heritage
A decentralized process within a transnational and multidisciplinary framework, able to guarantee for
high-added value tourism products is not necessarily a utopia. HERODOT, a transnational collaborative
knowledge network between Greece and Italy, funded by C.I.P. Archimed IIIB, aims to promote the historic
environment as an agent for tourism within the partners’ areas through the dissemination of best practices
in heritage management and tourism planning. HERODOT pioneers a new form of co-operation between
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