New age technology in tourism research

The Department of Business Economics & Management of the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania (CIHEAM-Chania), with the support and cooperation of the Region of Crete, the Hotel Owners Association of Chania, the Municipality of Chania, the Economic Chamber of Commerce of Western Crete, the Technical Chamber of Commerce of Chania, the Laboratory of Financial Systems of the Technical University of Crete, and the Laboratory of Administrative Financial and Decision Systems of the Hellenic Mediterranean University are conducting this year’s annual survey on the profile of tourist visitors and the prospects & possibilities of tourism in Western Crete.

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The aim is to determine the general profile of the foreign tourists, their degree of satisfaction with the services offered, the recording and tracking of their expenses, an investigation into the factors that influenced their decision about the final destination, the connection of the primary sector with tourism, an evaluation of local agricultural products, as well as the visitors’ preferences for various destinations and attractions in the region, based on new market trends, as these have been shaped by the latest developments in the global environment, caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

COVID-19 SURVEY FOR SAFE TOURISM

As part of the structural changes in tourism brought about by the pandemic in 2020, CIHEAM-Chania is conducting this year’s tourist research as a COVID-19 SAFE SURVEY, fully utilizing an automated system of voluntary participation of foreign tourists in the completion of the survey with the use of their personal devices (PC, Smartphone and Tablet), in a completely contactless manner.

The choice of this feature is notified to foreign visitors at the departure gates of Daskalogiannis Airport in Chania, by the representatives of the survey with the use of fold-away banners and/or posters, and is activated in the language of choice of the foreign tourist through optical scanning of the URL or QR Code from their PC, Smartphone or Tablet.

For this purpose, a training seminar was held by the staff of CIHEAM-Chania for the members of the research team, which consists of undergraduate and postgraduate students, in order to implement the research with complete success, strictly adhering to all health safety protocols.

Contributors to the research: Dr G. Baourakis, Director of CIHEAM-Chania; Prof. K. Zopounidis, Academician, Director of Financial Management Systems, Technical University of Crete; G. Atsalakis, School of Production Engineering and Management, Technical University of Crete; C. Lemonakis, Laboratory of Administrative Financial and Decision Systems, Hellenic Mediterranean University; P. Drakos, Department of Economics, University of Crete; G. Angelakis, Researcher, Department of Economics and Administration, CIHEAM-Chania, Ph.D. candidate in Management Science & Technology, Hellenic Mediterranean University.