SWOT ANALYSIS CRETE STRENGTHS Rapid, until recently, regional economic development Mature regional environment for the adoption of advanced technologies Serious number of small, medium and large enterprises of the tourism industry High quality hotel infrastructure Numerous initiatives and incentive co-financed programs to promote touristic and technological development (NSRF, Development Law) Successful national initiatives that have become growth factors for the regions as well Developed infrastructures and entrepreneurship in the sector of Information Communication Technology Sufficient penetration and diffusion of ICT in tourism, in the general population and businesses Number of higher education Institutes ICT oriented Sufficient size of high level academic and research staff International competitiveness of the technologies developed in scientific institutions of the region Active business community and high rate of private investments Increasing demand for broadband services Administrative Reform in progress D
WEAKNESSES Adverse current economic climate Lack of specification and implementation of a regional tourism policy and tourism policy focused only in creation and management of hotel units Very slow growth of technological innovation Low level of attractiveness for foreign direct investments Number of small enterprises with more acute problems (financial, etc.) compared to the penetration of new technologies Addiction of entrepreneurs in capital grants (grants expectations) Relative lack of confidence in the safety of technological applications Weak, in international terms, collective bodies of entrepreneurship Low level of networking and clustering of tourism operators Lack of modern broadband infrastructure Insufficient dissemination of good practices in new technologies adoption Low productivity of public administration and difficulty in accepting targeting, measurement of results and evaluation of the efficiency and quality of services (difficulty in stimulation) Incomplete facilitation and assistance of the public administration authorities to the entrepreneurship Bureaucracy, time delays and lack of transparency in the management system of private investment Insufficient on stop shop entrepreneurship support services Incomplete
OPPORTUNITIES Orientation of research and innovation in local and industry specific needs Effective use of co-financed opportunities in tourism, R&D and Innovation (NSRF, FP7, CIP, JEREMIE) Focus on technology solutions that facilitate widespread dissemination of tourism content and enhance the tourism product in the region Increasing familiarity and demand for ICT High demand for ICT by tourists Mobilization - encouragement, change in business culture in order to be oriented ed in technological development Capitalization of transnational cooperation programs and experience gathered from new technology focused programs Greater flexibility of small enterprises (compared to large ones) ) to bypass traditional sales channels more easily adopting new technologies Effective use of good practices and experience of efforts in the field of modernization public administration
THREATS Maintaining of the economic downturn will depress the financial resources available both in private and public sectors of the economy Falling tourist demand and declining competitiveness of the tourism product Retreat of political commitment for technological development to main pillars of the economy such as tourism Maintaining the low volume of technology focused business investments Null or marginal academic research assistance to the regional business community Low number of tour-operators operators giants Maintaining the fragmentary works of new technology projects Inertia, considering the progress made satisfactory Incomplete emphasis on training Delay in the required reorganization and consolidation of public c administration and in the development of specific policies Maintain inefficient bureaucratic practices and resistance to the e modernization of administrative structures and functions D
PRESENT ACTIONS Cooperation with local Chambers of Commerce, Associations and Clubs related to tourism Efficient support of the media Communication between the Ministry of Tourism and the local factors Formulation and implementation of local policies and the joint management of the tourism product Interconnection of tourism and cultural economy with ICT Participation in European projects related to the use of ICT Strengthen the research and the link to the production, the training in new technologies, the employment and the teleworking