ABSTRACT
Situated in south-eastern Europe, Greece has a population of about 11 million people and is nearly 132,000 km2 in size. Islands cover almost 20 per cent of this area. The Greek archipelago has more than 6,000 islands and islets, of which 227 are inhabited. Many of the Greek islands attract significant tourism flows, both domestic and inbound, and about 60 per cent of tourist accommodation establishments in Greece are located on the islands (Greek National Tourism Organization. 2006). Tourism is a major business in Greece, accounting directly for about 7 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP); nonetheless, when all indirect and induced effects are considered, the travel and tourism economy contribution exceeds 15 per cent of GDP (World Travel and Tourism Council, 2006). About 14.3 million international tourists visited Greece in 2005 (United Nations World Tourism Organization, 2007). More than 75 per cent of these visitors travelled by air.
