Sustainable Tourism and Cultural Routes in the Ionian and Adriatic Regions

The Ionian Sea connects the Adriatic Sea, Southern Italy and the west regions of Greece: the Ionian Islands and some areas of Epirus and the Peloponnese. The climate in the area is characterized by mild winters, while summers are quite cool with long-lasting sunshine. Τhe coastline of both the complex of islands and the mainland offers an interesting geomorphological variety. The whole region is socially, economically, culturally and touristically developed. The Ionian touristic product is based primarily on sea-and-sun model, which over the past three decades has gradually been enriched with special forms of tourism. One form of alternative tourism that has not been systematically developed either along the Ionian Sea or in the rest of Greece is lighthouse tourism. Since the era of primitive beacons and the archetypal Pharos of Alexandria, lighthouses have incorporated a lot of universal symbols, which make them particularly attractive and appealing to people seeking original and sophisticated tourist experiences. Thus, in addition to their purely functional utility as navigational aids, which tends to be abolished, lighthouses occupy a vibrant cultural space and have become a point of reference and central to many regional and national tourism development plans globally. The Hellenic Lighthouse Network, one of the longest and most organized in the world, includes 1.604 lighthouses, beacons, and buoys, 144 of which are stone-built and recognized as Monuments of Modern Cultural Heritage by the Greek Ministry of Culture. However, the Greek State has not integrated this cultural capital in the tourist offer on a regular basis for many reasons, predominately because lighthouses are managed by the Hellenic Navy and consist an important component of the national defense system. A properly prepared and methodically promoted cultural route of traditional stone lighthouses along the Ionian Sea, starting from the oldest lighthouse of the current Greek Territory built in Corfu when being under British rule (1822) and ending at the newest Greek lighthouse in Antikythera Island (1926), combined with other forms of niche mild tourism, could showcase the multifaceted interpretation of lighthouses, enhance the Greek tourist product and invigorate the bonds among cultures in the Ionian Sea.