Rural and Regional Regeneration of Ancient Olympia: A sustainable tourism approach

Tassopoulos, Konstantinos (2025) Rural and Regional Regeneration of Ancient Olympia: A sustainable tourism approach. Masters by Research thesis (MPhil), Manchester Metropolitan University.

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Abstract

This research outlines the main theories that surround and support the concept of rural and regional regeneration and advancement of tourism destinations. Ancient Olympia was chosen as a case study due of its archaeological importance as well as the values that represents to the global community. More specifically, the purpose of the research is to decipher ways and means that can help and contribute to the regional and rural development of Ancient Olympia. In order to do so, a sustainable tourism approach is being selected and analyzed. In addition, the maintenance of heritage is also being taken under consideration. All the cultural goods mentioned in one place constitute their cultural heritage in the sense that it contains the elements that make up the historical memory of the people or the society of the people who inhabit it, that is, everything created in the past and is related to the historical of the route. At first, the research focuses on the main reasons for choosing the sustainable development approach and the reasons that it can offer such benefits in the selected area. In order to achieve environmental sustainability, the natural environment should retain its full functionality and usability for a long time. It is preferable for measures to be taken to encourage the balance of our natural environment while at the same time promoting positive growth rates. Any actions that disturb the balance of the environment should be avoided, but if they occur, they should be reduced to a lesser extent. Afterwards, tourism, marketing and sustainable development of the town and region are all combined to produce the desired result, which is a proposal for ancient Olympia. Finally through the use of a questionnaire this research produced a basis for a further research with a wider sample in order to produce a statistical tool against which to judge future proposals for the regeneration in Ancient Olympia.