Ioulia Poulaki is an Assistant Professor of Tourism Business Administration in the department of Business Administration at the University of the Aegean. She also collaborates with Hellenic Open University as an Adjunct Faculty Member in the Tourism Management undergraduate course. She has ten year experience in airline industry's operational and commercial departments with specialization in revenue management. Her main research interests concern air transport management, distribution channels, travel flows, tourism development and digital tourism.
As remote work goes from trend to mainstream, digital nomads are on the rise, becoming a market e... more As remote work goes from trend to mainstream, digital nomads are on the rise, becoming a market every destination needs to attract. Considering the needs and wants of digital nomads, this paper aims to investigate the strengths and the opportunities of Greece, as an ideal destination for digital nomads, underlining, at the same time, the opportunities and threats challenging the country’s attractiveness towards this market segment. Furthermore, the authors analyze the content of website “Work From Greece: Become Digital Nomad in Greece”, the official Greek website dedicated to digital nomads in order to define Greece’s online presence, within this digital global community. In addition, co-working spaces in Greece are explored as an advanced form of hospitality favorable to digital nomads. The research methodology employed to draw conclusions combines a SWOT analysis and content analysis for websites of tourism businesses and organizations, as has been developed in previous research....
In the last decades, aviation industry has expressed an increasing interest in the application of... more 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 t...
Significant changes have taken place at airports due to market liberalization, airport privatizat... more Significant changes have taken place at airports due to market liberalization, airport privatization and growing competition. The growing demand and evolving expectations of passengers, require new ways of using technologies, to enhance operational processes and the whole travel experience. The digital era is transforming the aviation industry and has a significant impact on its future. The aim of this study is to assess the benefits of applying digital technologies to airports and airlines and their inseparable connection with innovative services provision to passengers, while it describes how to create a seamless end to end experience at the airport, maintaining a high level of security. Moreover, the study underlines the contribution of digital technologies to aviation industry, focusing on the organizational integration and passenger experience optimization. Reference is made to the pandemic, of COVID-19 and its impact on air travel. Primary research methodology is qualitative, ...
Η γεωγραφική θέση ενός τόπου είναι ικανή να απαντήσει σε όλα τα ερωτήματα που αφορούν σε όλα τα χ... more Η γεωγραφική θέση ενός τόπου είναι ικανή να απαντήσει σε όλα τα ερωτήματα που αφορούν σε όλα τα χαρακτηριστικά γνωρίσματα του εν λόγω τόπου, τα προβλήματά του, το βαθμό κοινωνικής ευημερίας του, την οικονομική του ανάπτυξη, την αλληλεπίδρασή του με τις γειτονικές περιοχές κλπ. Η συγκεκριμένη πεποίθηση αποτελεί την έμπνευση της παρούσας διατριβής. Εν συνεχεία, η ανάγκη για περεταίρω ειδίκευση των θεωριών και των ερευνών μέσα στα πλαίσια μιας διδακτορικής διατριβής, οδηγεί στην επιλογή των οικονομικής γεωγραφίας φαινομένων, όπως είναι ο τουρισμός και οι αεροπορικές μεταφορές. Επιπλέον, εγείρεται η ανάγκη για συγκεκριμενοποίηση μιας γεωγραφικής περιοχής μελέτης, η οποία εν προκειμένης είναι το Ανατολικό Αιγαίο που κρύβει μια σειρά από ιδιαιτερότητες οι οποίες αφορούν στη φυσική και πολιτική του γεωγραφία. Το Ανατολικό Αιγαίο, από ελληνικής πλευράς περιλαμβάνει δύο διοικητικές περιφέρειες νήσων (Βορειοανατολικό Αιγαίο και Νότιο Αιγαίο) ενώ από τουρκικής, περιλαμβάνει τρεις επαρχίες των ...
New air travel opportunities for Ceuta, a Spanish remoter region in Northern Africa, generated by... more New air travel opportunities for Ceuta, a Spanish remoter region in Northern Africa, generated by air transport liberalisation in neighbouring Morocco. Spatial discontinuity and lack of seamless transport connections between Ceuta and the Spanish mainland pose significant accessibility challenges for the Spanish exclave
The COVID-19 outbreak had a disastrous effect in the event industry. This has also heavily affect... more The COVID-19 outbreak had a disastrous effect in the event industry. This has also heavily affected sport events with substantial disruptions, postponements, and even cancellations. The study focuses on Athens Marathon participants, and examines their perspectives concerning their willingness to support the restart of the event. The research was held in November 2021, during the restart of Athens Marathon at Kalimarmaro stadium in Athens, Greece. Drawing from a sample of 400 race runners in all three Athens Marathon races (5km; 10km; 42km), the research examines the chaordic systems of participants’ decision-making through the employment of fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis. The findings have generated three sufficient pathways (event loyalty; COVID-19 effect; brand protection) that are able to lead to the participants’ willingness to support the restart of Athens Marathon. The contribution of the study lies in both, theoretical and methodological domains, whilst it also pr...
Purpose The rapid digital transformation (DX) that airlines experienced during the past decade ha... more Purpose The rapid digital transformation (DX) that airlines experienced during the past decade has been proven to be the driving force of significant benefits for the airlines when it comes to cost reduction, branding and revenue opportunities when passengers purchase tickets and ancillaries directly from their websites. This paper aims to contribute empirically to the theoretical approaches of DX and revenue management (RM) with the investigation of the Aegean airlines DX progress, focusing on emerging RM practices and digital distribution channels. Design/methodology/approach A content analysis of the airlines’ website and social media performance is used to note the current situation combined with previous and upcoming developments. Evaluation of the company’s digitalization progress is approached by using a combination of two selected DX models, the digital transformation maturity (DTM) concept and the technology acceptance model (TAM). Findings The analysis of qualitative and q...
As remote work goes from trend to mainstream, digital nomads are on the rise, becoming a market e... more As remote work goes from trend to mainstream, digital nomads are on the rise, becoming a market every destination needs to attract. Considering the needs and wants of digital nomads, this paper aims to investigate the strengths and the opportunities of Greece, as an ideal destination for digital nomads, underlining, at the same time, the opportunities and threats challenging the country’s attractiveness towards this market segment. Furthermore, the authors analyze the content of website “Work From Greece: Become Digital Nomad in Greece”, the official Greek website dedicated to digital nomads in order to define Greece’s online presence, within this digital global community. In addition, co-working spaces in Greece are explored as an advanced form of hospitality favorable to digital nomads. The research methodology employed to draw conclusions combines a SWOT analysis and content analysis for websites of tourism businesses and organizations, as has been developed in previous research....
In the last decades, aviation industry has expressed an increasing interest in the application of... more 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 t...
Significant changes have taken place at airports due to market liberalization, airport privatizat... more Significant changes have taken place at airports due to market liberalization, airport privatization and growing competition. The growing demand and evolving expectations of passengers, require new ways of using technologies, to enhance operational processes and the whole travel experience. The digital era is transforming the aviation industry and has a significant impact on its future. The aim of this study is to assess the benefits of applying digital technologies to airports and airlines and their inseparable connection with innovative services provision to passengers, while it describes how to create a seamless end to end experience at the airport, maintaining a high level of security. Moreover, the study underlines the contribution of digital technologies to aviation industry, focusing on the organizational integration and passenger experience optimization. Reference is made to the pandemic, of COVID-19 and its impact on air travel. Primary research methodology is qualitative, ...
Η γεωγραφική θέση ενός τόπου είναι ικανή να απαντήσει σε όλα τα ερωτήματα που αφορούν σε όλα τα χ... more Η γεωγραφική θέση ενός τόπου είναι ικανή να απαντήσει σε όλα τα ερωτήματα που αφορούν σε όλα τα χαρακτηριστικά γνωρίσματα του εν λόγω τόπου, τα προβλήματά του, το βαθμό κοινωνικής ευημερίας του, την οικονομική του ανάπτυξη, την αλληλεπίδρασή του με τις γειτονικές περιοχές κλπ. Η συγκεκριμένη πεποίθηση αποτελεί την έμπνευση της παρούσας διατριβής. Εν συνεχεία, η ανάγκη για περεταίρω ειδίκευση των θεωριών και των ερευνών μέσα στα πλαίσια μιας διδακτορικής διατριβής, οδηγεί στην επιλογή των οικονομικής γεωγραφίας φαινομένων, όπως είναι ο τουρισμός και οι αεροπορικές μεταφορές. Επιπλέον, εγείρεται η ανάγκη για συγκεκριμενοποίηση μιας γεωγραφικής περιοχής μελέτης, η οποία εν προκειμένης είναι το Ανατολικό Αιγαίο που κρύβει μια σειρά από ιδιαιτερότητες οι οποίες αφορούν στη φυσική και πολιτική του γεωγραφία. Το Ανατολικό Αιγαίο, από ελληνικής πλευράς περιλαμβάνει δύο διοικητικές περιφέρειες νήσων (Βορειοανατολικό Αιγαίο και Νότιο Αιγαίο) ενώ από τουρκικής, περιλαμβάνει τρεις επαρχίες των ...
New air travel opportunities for Ceuta, a Spanish remoter region in Northern Africa, generated by... more New air travel opportunities for Ceuta, a Spanish remoter region in Northern Africa, generated by air transport liberalisation in neighbouring Morocco. Spatial discontinuity and lack of seamless transport connections between Ceuta and the Spanish mainland pose significant accessibility challenges for the Spanish exclave
The COVID-19 outbreak had a disastrous effect in the event industry. This has also heavily affect... more The COVID-19 outbreak had a disastrous effect in the event industry. This has also heavily affected sport events with substantial disruptions, postponements, and even cancellations. The study focuses on Athens Marathon participants, and examines their perspectives concerning their willingness to support the restart of the event. The research was held in November 2021, during the restart of Athens Marathon at Kalimarmaro stadium in Athens, Greece. Drawing from a sample of 400 race runners in all three Athens Marathon races (5km; 10km; 42km), the research examines the chaordic systems of participants’ decision-making through the employment of fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis. The findings have generated three sufficient pathways (event loyalty; COVID-19 effect; brand protection) that are able to lead to the participants’ willingness to support the restart of Athens Marathon. The contribution of the study lies in both, theoretical and methodological domains, whilst it also pr...
Purpose The rapid digital transformation (DX) that airlines experienced during the past decade ha... more Purpose The rapid digital transformation (DX) that airlines experienced during the past decade has been proven to be the driving force of significant benefits for the airlines when it comes to cost reduction, branding and revenue opportunities when passengers purchase tickets and ancillaries directly from their websites. This paper aims to contribute empirically to the theoretical approaches of DX and revenue management (RM) with the investigation of the Aegean airlines DX progress, focusing on emerging RM practices and digital distribution channels. Design/methodology/approach A content analysis of the airlines’ website and social media performance is used to note the current situation combined with previous and upcoming developments. Evaluation of the company’s digitalization progress is approached by using a combination of two selected DX models, the digital transformation maturity (DTM) concept and the technology acceptance model (TAM). Findings The analysis of qualitative and q...
Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics, 2020
Digitalization has penetrated air transport industry conquering airlines and airports as well. Ai... more Digitalization has penetrated air transport industry conquering airlines and airports as well. Air services are now accessible easily and conveniently through user friendly online distribution channels that carriers are continuously developing. Customer oriented digitalization has been promoted to meet the new patterns in consumption, as well as the demand generated by the profile customization in products and services provided by the airlines. This paper aims to highlight the benefits from the digitalization of air services, focusing on airline distribution channels. Literature review and some business oriented perspective are developed to define the context of the digital transformation process and the potentials that arise for the company itself, for its passengers and its partners, in order to depict the evolution in air services distribution channel strategy, through the rapid digital transformation (DX) that airlines experience during the last decade. Digital transformation maturity concept is developed as a practice to define the level of a company’s digital completion and integration, emphasizing its application in the airline environment. Additionally, the paper underlines in detail the potentials for the airlines upon digital transformation distribution channels evolution, when it comes to revenue maximization, cost reduction, additional revenue opportunities, branding and loyalty issues. These multiplier benefits appear in the context of an integrated organizational environment of a company with concrete commercial strategy and financial planning, focusing on consumer oriented digital tools to offer its customized products.
The air transport sector has been closely related to the tourism industry since its emergence. As... more The air transport sector has been closely related to the tourism industry since its emergence. As a matter of fact, the existence of the air transport product complements the supply capacity of the tourism industry. The demand for air transport services is derived to a very large extent, as most people fly to engage in spatially determined activities related among others to leisure, business and sport practicing. In 1980, approximately 35% of international tourists travelled by air, whereas at present this percentage is close to 50%. In addition to air transport, the cruise industry and the hospitality-accommodation sector constitute a large part of the tourism circuit as they provide the basic means for a tourist to enjoy holidays in a place different from home. Such a holistic view of tourism has been embraced by Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou who is widely known for founding easyJet - one of Europe’s largest low-cost carriers - as well as other tourism-related “easy” brands such as easyCruise, easyHotel and easyCar. Further to a short biography of Stelios, a justification of his acknowledgment as a Giant of Tourism is provided by this chapter; this is followed by a presentation of the corporate achievements of his flagship company, easyJet, and some of his other companies before concluding.
TOURMAN Conference (paper published in the electronic conference proceedings), 2018
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the potential effects of the so called sharing econom... more The purpose of this paper is to investigate the potential effects of the so called sharing economy in a destination that experience continuous growth in its tourism figures. The effect of the sharing economy on housing markets and tourism destinations until now is barely measurable and its investigation is limited to a few popular urban centers. A case study for Chania Regional Unit, combining relevant literature review with primary data that investigate the influence at the hotel industry may provide with insights on the sharing economy effect, from a perspective where empirical research could be useful in tourism policy formulation.
TOURMAN Conference (paper published in the electronic conference proceedings), 2018
Tourism is one of the most competitive markets with many particularities and challenges needed to... more Tourism is one of the most competitive markets with many particularities and challenges needed to be faced by destinations in order to obtain and maintain their competitive advantage. The radical development of technology, especially nowadays, affect the tourist product and markets should adapt it as traditional distribution channels are continuously changing. South Aegean Region, is the most famous, profitable and visited destination in Greece. In order to sustain its uniqueness it should be innovative and keep pace to the changes of destination marketing and software.
Two countries, one sea; destinations offering a similar tourism product; five Greek islands and t... more Two countries, one sea; destinations offering a similar tourism product; five Greek islands and three Turkish coastal cities located in the Eastern Aegean area. Eight airports and ferry connections set the structure of the region's transport system. Considering the adverse economic conditions prevailing (especially in Greece) over the last five years, it is important to present, analyze and justify the tourism evolution of the region. Initially, a PESTEL analysis illustrates the tourism industry’s external environment in the region across the borders, where significant issues such as political, economic and institutional/legal that both countries have experienced over the last decade are analyzed. Subsequently, an extensive secondary research is undertaken, based on air passenger data collected from the respective civil aviation authorities. Tables and graphs are presented and a number of indicators are estimated to discuss the last decade’s tourism evolution in the area. Air passengers’ figures and related concentration indexes, such as the Gini coefficient and the concentration ratio (CR) are calculated to highlight the changes and the emerging seasonality phenomena. Moreover, the changes that ferry connections have experienced as a result of the recent legal reforms regarding the travel between the two countries are also analyzed. Finally, suitable transport and tourism policy measures emerging from the previous diagrammatic and statistical analysis are discussed.
17th Annual World Conference of the Air Transport Research Society (paper published in the electronic conference proceedings), 2013
Literature review regarding the term of airport catchment area vary according to the location exa... more Literature review regarding the term of airport catchment area vary according to the location examined in every research. The results present the same degree of variety as airport catchment area seems to have the ability to fluctuate depending on the external factors of each airport case. Furthermore, the role of the intermodality for the airport catchment area is obvious within the literature as a key factor of its further spread. Not only, shuttle buses and railways could contribute to the chain of intermodality with the airport but also, a short sea shipping link according to the geography characteristics of the area in the wider region of an airport. Taking into account all the above, the spread of the Izmir International Airport " Adnan Menderes " catchment area beyond Turkish frontiers to the Greek Eastern Aegean islands may have a potential. Hereupon, a sedulous market research regarding travel time and transport costs allowed the modeling of particular scenarios for ten main European cities traveling via Athens International Airport or via International Airport of Izmir, followed by a primary research that has been undertaken to the citizens of Chios island in order to examine their willingness to use Izmir for their international air travel since geographically is much closer to them than Athens. The results were analyzed statistically with SPSS presenting a clear willingness for an air travel via Izmir since it was selected almost by the 80% of the participants.
Literature review regarding the term of airport catchment area vary according to the location exa... more Literature review regarding the term of airport catchment area vary according to the location examined in every research. The results present the same degree of variety as airport catchment area seems to have the ability to fluctuate depending on the external factors of each airport case. Furthermore, the role of the intermodality for the airport catchment area is obvious within the literature as a key factor of its further spread. Not only, shuttle buses and railways could contribute to the chain of intermodality with the airport but also, a short sea shipping link according to the geography characteristics of the area in the wider region of an airport. Taking into account all the above, the spread of the Izmir International Airport “Adnan Menderes” catchment area beyond Turkish frontiers to the Greek Eastern Aegean islands may have a potential. Hereupon, a sedulous market research regarding travel time and transport costs allowed the modeling of particular scenarios for ten main European cities traveling via Athens International Airport or via International Airport of Izmir, followed by a primary research that has been undertaken to the citizens of Chios island in order to examine their willingness to use Izmir for their international air travel since geographically is much closer to them than Athens. The results were analyzed statistically with SPSS presenting a clear willingness for an air travel via Izmir since it was selected almost by the 80% of the participants.
The aim of this paper is the analysis of the situation of General Aviation (GA) in Greece and its... more The aim of this paper is the analysis of the situation of General Aviation (GA) in Greece and its possible implication for tourism in the country. In which way i.e. the GA can, directly, constitute a form of special interest tourism and, indirectly, raise and contribute to the aid of other tourism forms and expressions, such as professional and educational tourism. What is examined substantially is the case of Recreational General Aviation as a form of special interest tourism through the dynamics of the motive for it and the specific characteristics of the target group in question.
The aim of this paper is the analysis of the situation of General Aviation (GA) in Greece and its... more The aim of this paper is the analysis of the situation of General Aviation (GA) in Greece and its possible implication for tourism in the country. In which way i.e. the GA can, directly, constitute a form of special interest tourism and, indirectly, raise and contribute to the aid of other tourism forms and expressions, such as professional and educational tourism. What is examined substantially is the case of Recreational General Aviation as a form of special interest tourism through the dynamics of the motive for it and the specific characteristics of the target group in question.
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Papers by Ioulia Poulaki