The Impact of the Festival ‘Routes in Marpissa’

Research in the context of the festival “Routes in Marpissa” by the Department of Tourism Studies of the University of Piraeus.

The research was conducted in August 2023 by the Department of Tourism Studies of the University of Piraeus, under the scientific supervision of Professors Dr. Georgia Zouni, Assistant Professor of Tourism Marketing and Dr. Ioannis Katsanakis, Assistant Professor of Information Systems Management.

The aim was to investigate the impact of the festival on the island of Paros on an economic, cultural and touristic level. The population of the research was the visitors of the festival, who are categorized as residents, seasonal residents and tourists. The sample included 200 visitors, who were approached with the stratified sampling methodology throughout the three days of August 25-27, ensuring the reliability of the sample and its representativeness in the population of festival visitors.

During the festival, researchers led by Ms. Lamprini Kokolantonaki (Department of Tourism Studies, University of Piraeus) distributed the questionnaires to the visitors of the festival, explaining the context of the research and collecting their answers. The responses collected, evaluated and analyzed in SPSS to draw conclusions by a team of researchers from the Department of Tourism Studies of the University of Piraeus.

According to the results of the survey, there was representation from all three groups of visitors: Seasonal residents: 37.0%, Tourists: 36.5% and Residents: 26.5%.

Also, it appears that thefestival “Routes in Marpissa” has a positive impact on the local economy of Paros, as 99% of participants believe that the festival has benefits for the local economy of Paros, with 72.5% of participants believing that it has significant positive benefits. This positive perception is expressed both by local residents (71.7% consider it to have significant benefits), as well as by seasonal residents (70.3%) and tourists (75.3%). An impressive finding concerns the contribution of the festival to the promotion and dissemination of the culture and tradition of Paros, with all participants answering that the festival has a 100% positive impact on the culture of the island, without any negative answer. Overall satisfaction with the festival is an absolute 99% with 65.0% of participants rating it as “excellent” and 34.0% rating it as “very good”, while only 1 in 200 people has a negative opinion.

The findings regarding the effect of the festival on tourists are also noteworthy. About 60% of tourists stated that the festival was a main reason that led them to visit Paros, highlighting the strong orientation towards the event and the cultural experience that the festival offers. In addition, one in two tourists decided to stay more days on the island because of the festival. The percentage of 98.3% of all visitor-tourists believe that the festival has significantly improved their tourist experience in Paros, highlighting the quality of the event. Finally, 81.7% of tourists also explore other attractions and parts of Paros during the festival, adding variety to their tourist experience and contributing to the promotion of various aspects of the island.

You can see a more detailed analysis of the survey results in the presentation.

We warmly thank Dr. Georgia Zouni and Dr. Ioannis Katsanakis, as well as Ms. Lamprini Kokolantonaki for conducting the research.

The results are an important tool for our team, as their study will strengthen our action with the aim of cultural creation and development, the preservation and promotion of our rich cultural heritage and the sustainable development of the place, placing culture as a driver of social and economic activity.