This paper examines the case of the Peloponnese region in southern Greece, as a characteristic example of unorthodox regional development. There are two main obstacles: First, the Peloponnese is divided administratively the wrong way in the Region of Western Greece – which also includes a prefecture of Central Greece, the Region of Peloponnese, while a third section in the east belongs to the Region of Attica. Second, the Peloponnese is treated as a peninsula instead of an "island" that even its name indicates. Its name derives from the first mythical king of the region, "Pelopas", plus the word "island" and it means "the island of king Pelopas". Peloponnese could easily benefit from all the economic advantages enjoyed by an island, due to successful marketing, and rapid tourism development that could achieve as a tourist destination while being characterized as "the largest island of Greece". At the same time, because of its unique geographical position, Peloponnese maintains the entire comparative advantages of a mainland, once before the creation of the Isthmus, it was a peninsula. Thus, making the most out of this unique blend of advantages and characteristics, Peloponnese could be driven towards sustainable tourism development and economic prosperity. The entity of Peloponnese as an indivisible and integrated whole could be better demonstrated by other components, common throughout the entire region, such as the unique biodiversity, culture, gastronomy and history that the region shares for centuries. These are elements which characterize Peloponnese from one end to the other. It is also worth noting that through history, all the civilizations that concord or lived in Peloponnese, despite the diversity of their origin and culture (eg. Franks, Byzantines, Turks, Greeks, etc.), never dared to divide Peloponnese, and managed it sufficiently by respecting its natural borders in order to achieve the best possible administration, while treating it as a single and homogeneous area. To the contrary, the practices ...
