Individuals with special education needs have been particularly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic as they have been shown to be at high risk of losing medical and institutional support at a time when people are being asked to stay isolated, suffering increased anxiety and depression as a consequence. Their families have often found themselves under tremendous pressure to provide support, engendering financial hardship, and physical and emotional strains. In such times, it is vital that international collaborations assess the impact on the individuals and their families, affording the opportunity to make national and international comparisons of how people have coped and what needs to be done to optimize the measures taken by families, associations and governments. This paper introduces one such collaboration.
In the last decades, aviation industry has expressed an increasing interest in the application of environmental management systems (EMSs). Many scholars have examined the environmental impact of the airports’ operations, but few have studied the management practices used to develop airport environmental policies. This study aims to contribute to academic and managerial knowledge by exploring and evaluating the application of EMS in the largest Greek airport, namely Athens International Airport (AIA). To achieve this goal, a qualitative case study was conducted in every dimension and aspect of AIA’s Environmental Management System. Subsequently, a new Airport Environmental Performance Model (AEP) was built combining the case study results with the most common benchmarking models proposed in the literature. This research enhances the understanding about the airport environmental management and offers best-practice insights to scholars and aviation professionals altogether, proposing the new AEP.
As tourism is the largest and most profitable industry in Greece, attempts have been made in recent years to develop new types of alternative tourism that may further fulfil traveller's needs for quality, new activities and advanced experiences. Wellness tourism is a novel and attractive activity, as it reflects a more active lifestyle and focuses on well living, stress management, relaxation and meditation. The maintenance of physical health and the introduction of proper nutrition and healthy lifestyle are the primary goals of wellness tourism, followed by mental development activities in an environmental-friendly accommodation. To investigate the prospects of wellness tourism in urban areas in Greece, we used a questionnaire addressed to people attending and organizing the "holistic Festival" of Syros Island, Greece, that took place on July 2017. Overall 53 questionnaires were obtained, 50 from participants and three from organizers. Wellness tourism seems to be a unique experience for the tourist, as it is both therapeutic-healing and entertaining, especially in an attractive environment. The study revealed that the development of wellness tourism can result in important economic benefits for a destination and may lead to viable growth of wellness tourism in many urban destinations in Greece, if a targeted strategy is adopted. This strategy should take into account developmental policy and strategy issues, management of entrepreneurship issues, financial limitations and advertisement/promotion and time-scheduling issues of the destination.
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