e-Περιοδικό Επιστήμης & Τεχνολογίας

e-Journal of Science & Technology, (e-JST)

REMOTE SENSING AND GIS APPLICATION IN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: A CASE STUDY OF ZAKYNTHOS ISLAND IN GREECE

E. Xarou^1,2, M. Stefouli³  Α. Martinis¹,  O. Mavratza⁴, A.Marmarinos⁵ , and A. Kabassi¹   

¹Departmentof Ecology and  Environment , TEI of Ionian Islands, Greece.

² Inst. Of Informatics & Telecommunications NCSR DEMOKRITOS, Greece

 ³Institute of Geology and Mineral Exploration, Greece

⁴Hellenic Cadastral , Greece

 ⁵Hellenic High School of Brussels

Abstract

The tourism in Greece has for many years been focused on coastal areas although  the 70% of the area of Greece is of mountainous or semi-mountainous nature. The development of sustainable mountainous tourism or eco tourism could have positive effects in many socioeconomic factors of these areas. A diversion of tourist pressure from coastal regions to mountain regions could be achieved by the promotion of mountainous natural and cultural heritage. In this work a methodology for the production of detailed cartographical material concerning the mountainous paths and routes is described. The methodology is based in GIS, Remote Sensing and GPS technologies and is focused on the recording, mapping and labelling of mountainous paths and routes. For each path a description of the type of the path, the terrain involved, experience needed, estimated time required and a classification of the paths according to the difficulty is attempted. An easy to use 3-page leaflet is also created and distributed to the tourists A CD-ROM with the relevant information is created and distributed to local authorities and Public Tourist Offices  and over the Internet

Keywords:  sustainable tourism, ecotourism,, Remote Sensing.

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