Rethinking Community Participation in Destination Planning Towards Achieving Sustainable Development: The Role of Civil Society—The Maniatakeion Foundation at the Town of Koroni, Greece, in Connection with the Mediterranean Diet

The present paper deals with community participation in destination planning, using the small town of Koroni in Greece and the associated Maniatakeion Foundation as a case study. Benefiting from the author’s consulting experience and based on interviews with the foundation’s owner and the local community, on local press articles and a business plan on the development of Koroni, the paper aims at exploring the following: (A) how the participation of the local community in destination planning can lead to concrete plans and actions towards achieving sustainable development; and (B) the role of civil society organisations to this end. At first, the existing development model of Koroni is outlined. Then, the new development model of Koroni, based on the Mediterranean Diet, is analysed: how it was crafted; how it was implemented; what the role of the Maniatakeion Foundation was; and whether it was embraced by the local community groups. It is shown that (A) Koroni managed to shift from a mass tourism development model towards an alternate model that is rooted in sustainable development. Also, the fact that Koroni, which had no brand name (even on a local level), succeeded in acquiring an international brand name through the inscription of the Mediterranean Diet on the UNESCO Intangible Heritage List; (B) the destination planning process was initiated, coordinated, and operated by the local civil organisation Maniatakeion Foundation. The key lesson of broader application to be taken is that civil society organisations can build integrity and capacity and play a leading (and not only a supportive-supplementary) role in destination planning.