INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TOURISM, TRAVEL AND HOSPITALITY LAW 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 former ones under the responsibility of the Ministry of Culture and Sports, and the latter ones under nobody’s explicit responsibility) causes extra problems. The involvement of many different types of stakeholders in the identification and exploitation of caves accentuates malfunctions. The fact that these players often do not have the necessary experience and expertise creates additional problems. The inability to define a single and appropriate policy for the rational exploitation of the country’s speleological wealth aiming at the development of speleotourism is an immediate consequence of this vague institutional framework. Thus, the exploitation of caves as wealth-producing resources relies on the initiative and ability of local institutions that are generally not part of a larger and more effective tourism policy plan. 6. CONCLUSION From the study of the institutional framework governing caves in Greece, one can conclude that despite the constitutional protection of caves, the necessary legislation for the operation and management of caves has not been issued yet. The involvement of many different institutions in the promotion and management of caves, the lack of a uniform policy, as well as the absence of their promotion leads to a substantial degradation and ignorance of caves.
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