Christiana Koliouska

NATIONAL FOREST PARKS DEVELOPMENT THROUGH INTERNET TECHNOLOGIES FOR ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES

National Forest Parks are protected under national and international environment laws because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. Since they provide economic perspectives through recreational and tourism opportunities for the public, the visitors’ overuse and the supplementary development of facilities and services in these protected areas are the main threats to their ecological integrity. Within the current digital innovations, Internet has become a viable alternative business channel and many firms have already created their internet presence. The aim of the paper is to study the employ of internet technologies in Greek National Forest Parks for economic perspectives and rank the websites, respectively. Internet presence of Greek National Forest Parks is evaluated qualitatively according to their content, used as criteria. Following, the multicriteria method of PROMETHEE II is applied for the total ranking. Furthermore, the optimum National Forest Parks internet presences are identified and described to be used as models with the total exploitation of internet technologies. Finally, necessary recommendations for website optimization are presented.

Internet marketing for sustainable development and rural tourism

Internet is very widespread in all business sectors and has been an extremely important tool for the promotion of business sales. Moreover, internet-based marketing is widely accepted by tourism enterprises. Sustainable tourism refers to development in such a manner and at such a scale, that it remains viable over an indefinite period. There is a special relationship between the concept of sustainable tourism and the rural tourism. This paper assesses internet and e-marketing adoption for the sustainability of rural tourism enterprises, for the case of Greece. Rural tourism enterprises are analysed and further ranked as to their e-marketing features and ICT functions accomplished. An integrated-dynamic framework is developed for ranking the enterprises based on the multicriteria method PROMETHEE II and the results are discussed. Finally, we identify and describe the optimum enterprises to be used as a model for designers of websites promoting e-marketing activities for rural sustainability.

Marketing and organisational evaluation of rural firms in the internet

Internet has become a successful way to promote a firm and it provides the firms’ managers a key point in organisational and marketing functions through incorporation of e-marketing activities, total quality management and corporate social responsibility in corporate website. Since many firms already have an enhanced internet presence, this paper aims to evaluate the marketing and organisational functions in a corporate website as to further decide for website’s improvement and innovation. As a case study, the agri-food sector in Greece was selected. Thirty Greek big agri-food firms were studied, analysed and were categorised taking into account six marketing and organisational criteria in their corporate websites. Through factor analysis, it was provided a three-factor model, to be used as a validated determinant that can be applied in wider context. Business managers can use this three-factor model to decide on the current marketing and organisational functions adoption in the corporate website and decide to proceed in website development and upgrading.

Database management systems in wood entrepreneurship and marketing

Within the present trends in the current society, wood entrepreneurship sector gains growing attention, worldwide. This paper describes the development of a database about wood and its products and its management system, presenting significant and useful timber species. The detail wood characteristics plus the origin of timber are factors that differentiate treatment and performance and determine final use. Data were based on previous scientific research and publications and the records link European and tropical wood, their uses and characteristics. It incorporates a user-friendly interface for its management including various common wood entrepreneurship functions in active button type to facilitate business activities even for non-experienced users. These interactive elements are designed using macro commands. A database can become a useful reference tool in marketing appropriate for wood enterprises, as registered wood properties and origin formulate value characteristics and should be acknowledged by wood entrepreneurs in marketing.

E-commerce in the Context of Protected Areas Development: A Managerial Perspective Under a Multi-Criteria Approach

Protected areas are under national and international environment laws because their recognized biological and environmental values provide economic prospects. The Prespa Lake Ecosystem, shared by three countries, Greece, FYROM and Albania, constitutes a dynamic model of local economic growth, environmental protection, joint management and international cooperation. Internet has become an alternative channel on business standard and especially, e-commerce constitutes an imperative within the viability of an enterprise. The concept of e-commerce is all about using the Internet to incorporate previous business models and economic strategies. This paper studies the e-commerce adoption in the Prespa Park Basin, a Greek protected area, member of NATURA2000 network, for regional development. E-commerce websites are ranked respecting their content and characteristics, as attributed to 30 variables. Following, the multicriteria method of PROMETHEE II is applied in order to perform evaluation and ranking tasks. Furthermore, the optimum e-commerce units are identified aiming to benchmark further e-commerce adoption in local enterprises. Finally, necessary recommendations for e-commerce website optimization is presented.

Applications in Various Agricultural, Food and Environmental Issues

In this section, we will apply four methodologies to data regarding agricultural, food and environmental issues. More specifically, we will use the following methods: the PROMETHEE II ranking method, the Hierarchical Cluster Analysis, the K-means analysis and the combination of PROMETHEE II method and a cluster generation method.

Regional Sustainability: National Forest Parks in Greece

Regional sustainability promotes an integrated approach to planning and development in regional communities. European Union legislative acts bring together all levels of government to achieve a holistic approach to sustainability using Information and Communication Technologies tools for better delivery of services. Today, there has been observed an increasing interest in applying e-government to different business sectors such as the environmental sector. Sustainable management of National Forest Parks relies on a complete understanding of the goods and services, which are provided to the society. This paper aims to study e-government websites concerning the 10 Greek National Forest Parks and analyse the websites as to their qualitative and quantitative features. Then, the electronic services model adoption of the websites is assessed. The e-government websites are classified in electronic services adoption stages starting from a simple presence of the government agency in the Internet to the total electronic services integration through multiple ICT tools and applications provision according to content features accomplished by the websites. The findings can be helpful for managers, policy makers, web designers, environmentalists and government agencies.