International Journal of Tourism, Travel and Hospitality Law or the company under the name “Greek Tourism Properties SA” and any third-party concerning places assigned to the Ministry of Culture". Article 36, subpar 3 of Law 4049/2012 (Gov. Gazette Α’35) transferred to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism (now Culture and Sports), without return, the ownership of real estate property belonging to the GNTO, whose management and exploitation belonged to the Public Properties Company. Among them, an area of 179.230 m² and the cave of Petralona Cave in Chalkidiki, and Koutouki Cave in Paiania, an area of 103,000 m². The transfer was repeated with Ministerial Decision ΥΠΠΟΤ/ΔΑΑΠ/Φ.01 ΓΕΝ/19007/422 (Gov. Gazette Β’929). It’s worth to mention that the Cave of Petralona in Chalkidiki is a classic case of cave management transfer to the Ministry of Culture, not done immediately however, as it was followed by many years of judicial disputes. The cave had been assigned by the Greek National Tourism Organization to the Anthropological Association of Greece. The judicial disputes for the management of the cave lasted three decades, until 2011 when Decision no. 88/2011 by the Council of State was issued and the cave was assigned to the Ministry of Culture. By the same law (Article 35, par 1), real estate property and land owned by the GNTO, managed and exploited by the Public Properties Company was transferred to Municipalities. Currently, the Public Properties Company is owner and manager only of the Dyros caves in Lakonia and has undertaken the project of restoration and promotion of the Caves through their integration, since May 2012, in the Operational Programme "Competitiveness and Entrepreneurship", with the title "Restoration and promotion of the Caves and building facilities of Diros Prefecture of Laconia - Phase II". It worth mentioned that the Hellenic Public Properties Company (HPPC) SA is making excellent use of the new digital technology. Following today’s international promotional methods for cultural and historical sites, it is giving the opportunity to visit the Diros Caves through 3D Virtual Tours. At the same time, the HPPC makes available, free of charge, the programme of 3D virtual tours to the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs giving to students the opportunity to discover the cultural and natural heritage of Greece. Also, visitors can visit Diros cave through VR tour. The virtual tour is available with the use of a purchased ticket at vr360tour.diros-caves.gr 5. Discussion It is obvious from the abovementioned institutional framework and the survey carried out, that the institutional framework for the development, promotion, protection and exploitation of tourist caves in Greece is labyrinthine, complex and unclear, leading to confusion. The fact that the specific law defining concretely the status of the caves has not been issued yet, along with the distinction of caves to those that have and those that have not been linked to human existence (with the
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