Youth Visitors' Satisfaction in Greek Cultural Heritage Destinations: The Case of Delphi

Abstract

Greece is a country with significant cultural wealth, developed mainly as a mass destination. However, the existing mass form of tourism has become saturated, and the need to move to new markets by offering more diversified products is now imperative. Cultural tourism targeted at young people is a way to satisfy this need. Therefore, more emphasis has to be given to youth preferences. This paper examines the satisfaction levels that youth visitors attach to attributes of a major cultural destination, the archaeological site of Delphi in Greece. The study was based upon quantitative research, through the use of a self-administered questionnaire submitted to people between 15 to 35 years old. Results show that youths are important consumers of culture. They are satisfied with the basic attributes of the site such as monuments, landscape, and accumulated experience. On the other hand, they are less satisfied with man-made interventions such as facilities, amenities, and operational features. The study also indicates that youth visitors of Delphi have different backgrounds than the tourists of Greece in general. Overall, it is concluded that the core assets for developing cultural tourism in Greece, such as the sites and their monuments, are existent and satisfy youth travellers. However, attention must be paid to the effective marketing management of Greek cultural heritage destinations in order to optimise their tourism potential. Therefore, the implications of the study suggest that tourism policy-makers need to recognise youths as a vital segment with great potential regarding cultural tourism and to concentrate on markets that respond positively to cultural heritage destinations.