Tourism Growth and Local (Sustainable) Development: The Role of Background Landscapes in Pre-crisis Attica, Greece

Tourism is a major engine of urbanization in Europe and significantly contributes to local incomes, regional cohesion and sustainable development at large. As a matter of fact, the local economic structure of Southern European regions relies heavily on tourism revenues. In those areas, tourism supports infrastructure development, revitalizes urban centers, and promotes socioeconomic progress, while also posing challenges related to sustainability and over-tourism. A large metropolitan region such as Athens, Greece, represents a peculiar example of such kinds of urban-metropolitan dynamics in Southern Europe. Based on this assumption, the present study focuses on pre-crisis Athens’ expansion centered on tourism development. This issue was assumed inextricably associated with the latent decline of manufacturing and the slow contraction of the industrial hub of mainland Attica, the administrative region of Athens. Based on official statistics, the empirical analysis adopts diachronic indicators of consistency and performance of tourism companies on a regional scale compared with industry and service, overall. Other indicators that allow an indirect interpretation of the latent dynamics of territorial infrastructure and local development will also be considered and discussed in this work. The contribution finally delineates the evolution of tourism settlements in Attica, as a basis for understanding the most recent dynamics of tourism in Mediterranean urban hotspots.