EMERGING RURAL DESTINATIONS: THE CASE STUDY OF FLORINA, WESTERN MACEDONIA, GREECE

Abstract

Rural tourism seems to be an appropriate tool for the revitalization of the declining rural areas and the assurance of a sustainable future. For this reason the present paper builds on the viewpoint that the future of rural tourism destinations is inextricably connected to the implementation of best practices. The development of rural tourism in Greece faces a series of major contradictions; taking this into consideration, the case study focus on the emerging rural destination of Florina, in North Western Macedonia that has been awarded by the European Commission as one of the 10 best European destinations for agrotourism (2007). The aim of the paper is to identify and discuss tourism strategies and “good practices” that can clearly improve the quality of tourism offer in equivalent rural areas.