Understanding the Impact of Waste Management on a Destination′s Image: A Stakeholders′ Perspective

Abstract

The present manuscript describes a case study on the viewpoints of tourism stakeholders on the effect of waste management on a destination′s image. In particular, the study aims to analyze the problems that arose during the summer of 2018 in the touristic image of Corfu because of the waste management on the island. The qualitative method approach through interviews was used to collect the primary data of the survey; online sources were used to collect data to review similar cases. All the stakeholders agree that waste management during the summer of 2018 negatively affected the image of Corfu as a touristic destination. Moreover, based on the interviews′ findings, there is a lack of political will, infrastructure, and information provision from the local authorities on the island of Corfu. Interviews also indicated that an integrated solution to the problem of waste management on the island is the implementation of source separation in households and tourism-related firms with the support of the local authorities. The contribution of this paper is towards identifying the effect that waste management has on the image of a tourist destination. It is the first of its kind conducted in Greece and among the few reported in the literature focusing on the viewpoints of service providers.