Regional airports can be valuable assets in tourism development. In recent years regional airports have seen considerable growth in traffic, particularly in conjunction with low cost flights throughout Europe. Regional airports, especially when combined with a neighbouring industrial, business or technology park, can be valuable assets in overall regional economic development of which tourism development is an important part. However, these airports often do not operate at full capacity since the neighbouring tourism facilities and industrial parks lack the interest of investors, and vice versa. The The overall objective of DEAR is to improve the tourism potential, economic development and job opportunities in the participating regions through a powerful network of regional airports. The network wants to strengthen the competitive position of existing small and medium enterprises and boost the capture of new investors from outside these regions. The expected results of DEAR include a network of airport regions comprising a marketable association of regional airports, tourism facilities and industrial parks. This new network, the "European Transport Hub", brings together representatives from public authorities of the regions involved, from tourism-related stakeholders and from airport and industrial park management. The DEAR partners develop a business plan and a marketing strategy for the new association, which promotes tourism and business development and thus improves employment opportunities. The study presents the Plan's components, methodology and results and concludes with recommendations for the further development and marketing of the Central Greece airport, towards potential tourism development of the wider region. Lessons for other airports within the DEAR network as well as for other regional airports in Europe are drawn. For the covering abstract see ITRD E135582.
Abstract