A New Model for the ‘Tourism Renaissance’: the Case Study of the Tuscan Village of San Pellegrino in Alpe (original) (raw)

Creating a Tourism Destination through Local Heritage: The Stakeholders’ Priorities in the Canavese Area (Northwest Italy)

2021

A specific region, characterized by a significant natural and cultural heritage, is not necessarily a tourist destination. However, it can become so if there is active participation of local stakeholders oriented towards local development. In this context, this study focuses on a specific area, the Canavese (northwest Italy), which needs to find new regional development alternatives to the industrial sector. In particular, the research focused on the level of integration of local stakeholders and on their ability to identify common guidelines for tourist enhancement of the region. From an operational point of view, a survey of public and private stakeholders was carried out through a mixed-method approach divided into three stages: a questionnaire developed by a group of experts and individual interviews carried out by the Delphi method, presentation of the results, and identification of local priorities by the nominal group technique. Findings show the opportunity to act on specifi...

A regenerative tourism approach for the development of marginalised areas. Insights from two best practices in Southern Italy

Turistica - Italian Journal of Tourism, 2023

In recent years, travel habits, needs and desires have been gradually changing and influencing both demand and supply in the tourism industry. Macro-phenomena like the pandemic, the climate change with consequent environmental issues, and the digital turn have been introducing new trends and directions. In this view, the need of addressing tourism towards new itineraries is proving crucial for activating processes of regenerative tourism, which acts as a transformational approach and aims to identify the potential of places to create net positive effects. The focus of the paper is on marginalised areas, specifically on areas with low population density, distant from the main hotspots and endowed with significant environmental assets and cultural heritage. The paper chooses to employ the concept of regenerative tourism for investigating the conditions that foster and sustain the development of these communities. To this aim, the analysis of two Italian best practices is meant to provide a new approach to brand-identity, tourism and local industry in marginalised areas. The case of "Museo Diffuso dei 5 Sensi" ("Widespread Museum of the 5 Senses") identifies new itineraries and builds new economies in a village in Sicily through the reconnection of the local community with its land. The case of "Sea Working Brindisi" reevaluates a marginalised area as a destination for nomad workers and works for the activation of innovative economies in the South of Italy. The analysis conducted will be based on online material (i.e. website, social media, journal articles) and literature review (when available). Based on this material, the paper will analyse the two cases along the value chain ecosystem-intuition-design-action-dissemination. The value chain will help identify the connection of each practice to the territory and to the local community as well as their potential to enhance the tourist attractiveness of the area. The analysis of the two successful cases, explored through the lens of regenerative tourism, has the merit to define the connection between regenerative tourism and the development of marginalised communities, providing directions to realise successful practices in other areas. The acknowledgment of the two cases as contemporary forms of tourism will help foster further practices and outline incentives that enhance tailored projects based on the uniqueness of each place.

"THE STORIES WE SELL": MARKETING HERITAGE TOURISM AT ASSISI ITALY

2018

For the summer semester of 2018 in the World Heritage Studies and Heritage Conservation and Site Management courses at Brandenburg University of Technology, we partook in a study project investigating how to market heritage sites as a tourism brand, with the World Heritage Property of Assisi, Italy, as the case study. Our project consisted of two phases, the first phase consisting of two parts - lectures based in Cottbus and preliminary research by a smaller group in their respective area of concentration, and then a week-long field trip to Assisi, where we attended stakeholder meetings, interviewed visitors and residents, and made observations. This field research was conducted jointly by all 15 students, with the aid of our two instructors. Each smaller group then summarized their work in a final written paper. The visitor analysis group - Carmen Jiang, Kenneth Mick, and Sylvia Biwerski - examined and analyzed the visitation data for Assisi. The results of our research are presented in this paper, authored by Jiang and Mick.

Local Tourism System: critical issues and perspectives in the government of Italian territories

The paper analysed, from a multidisciplinary perspective (juridical and managerial), the reality of Italian Local Tourist Systems (LTS) set up with law no. 135/2001. The first part of the work lies in the recognition legislation of the LTS and argument of the theoretical aspects of relational nature that emerge strongly from the normative provision. It was put forward a key to understanding the effects, a rising from the normative provisions referred LTS, produced on the organizations habitants the territories. Everything has been reconnected to isomorphism organization compromise under the best-known neoistituzionalism approach. The second part of the work aims to identify the critical issues raised by the implementation of law. These "critical" refer legal aspect, in particular related of the division of responsibility between institutional actors and the relationship between them and private; on the other hand refer to the relational aspect, ie those cooperative interactions between actors (public and private) required under LST law, on the activation of which would have constituted an improvement for the performance of the touristic areas. In the conclusions emerge, between lighting and shadows, the potential of the LTS, although improvements with appropriate regulations and concrete approach to a systemic relational approach.

The Valorization of Italian "Borghi" as a Tool for the Tourism Development of Rural Areas

The paper comes from the need to search for criteria useful for the valorization of heritage towns, located in rural and/or inland areas of Italy, now affected by depression and depopulation process. To this end, the authors point out how territorial identity can constitute the theoretical foundation to influence development policies and, in particular, tourism development for the sustainability process. It was therefore decided to interview a number of stakeholders who could contribute, with their professionalism and expertise, to identifying possible paths and processes for the enhancement of these areas for tourism development. The methodology was based on in-depth interviews, which allowed for the identification of a of a Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threat (SWOT) analysis, offering a guideline for the correct governance of these rural areas for their tourist enhancement in terms of the sustainability of development and tourist attractiveness. The study is an observatory that will monitor the implementation of sustainable tourism enhancement of the "borghi".

Rural Tourism and Territorial Development in Italy

This chapter analyses the development of rural tourism in Italy over the recent decades. Since the end of the twentieth century, also due to the crisis of indus-trialization and the exhaustion of the factory work model, interest in "returning to the countryside" has grown. The spreading of new social and cultural trends, more sensitive to the issues of sustainability and preservation of natural wealth, has encouraged in Italy, the country of art and the beautiful landscape, a sudden increase in new tourism initiatives that are environmental friendly and revolving around quality food and wine. The "Roads of flavours" and numerous associations of small towns have therefore been created, to enhance the Italian artistic and architectural heritage. In particular, interest in Mediterranean diet has increased, as shown by the growth in tourism linked to oil. There is no lack of compatibility problems as well as difficulties in devising new cohabitation formulas, but as this work demonstrates, after the boom of the "sun and beach" tourism of the 1960s, today a far more diversified tourist panorama has emerged, thus allowing the rural world to benefit from a renewed momentum.

From Territorial Identity to Territorial Branding: Tourism-led Revitalization of Minor Historic Towns in Reggio Calabria

2017

Reggio Calabria in Southern Italy boasts many well-preserved minor historic towns (MHTs) of Greek origins. These MHTs are characterized by a strong territorial identity with small-sized centers, often isolated from urban basins. However, these MHTs suffer from continuing degradation due to depopulation and stagnating local socioeconomic development (LSED). This article, grounded on an asset-based endogenous approach and system-based relational approach to tourism development, maintains that tourism development is an effective tool to revitalize these towns while promoting LSED. It therefore attempts to explore a tourism-led revitalization model for MHTs where territorial identity and territorial branding are respectively fundamental assets and means. To this end, the research first investigates the constituents of territorial identity, the existing problems that the territorial identity is facing, territorial branding approaches and practices in the MHTs in relation to the two appro...

Between Change and Stability: Local Development, Tourist Offer and Local Values in Monferrato, Italy

Issues in Ethnology and Anthropology, 2020

This article presents an ethnographic analysis of the perception of tourism in small, rural municipalities in Italian internal areas, by focusing on the UNESCO territory of Monferrato, in North-Western Italy. The paper looks at how communities consider tourism in relationship with the specificities of their land and the need of transforming it in order to create a functional tourist destination. In so doing, the paper answers to key questions concerning touristic development by pointing the relevance of the hierarchy of values of the communities in shaping the actual offer in services and goods, highlighting the conflicting expectations concerning developing a new, thriving economic and maintaining the local social stability.

The 'albergo diffuso': an innovative model for tourism development and territorial enhancement

The 3rd International Conference S.ARCH 2016, Conference Proceeding, 2016

The albergo diffuso (dispersed hotel) is a model that has been recently developed. In summary, this is a model for local tourism development that allows guests to experience an historic, usually urban, setting. Accommodation is provided in houses and rooms located a short distance away from the core of the hotel itself, the building in which reception, the bar/restaurant area, and the common spaces and services are located. The increasing spread of this model is mainly due to the responsiveness of part of the tourism market to ideas of sustainability and environmental friendliness. The model is compatible with the goal of enabling the continuation of economic development, which has not always been respectful of environmental values. It is believed that the very nature of this type of accommodation, thinking in terms of a large and flexible version of the model, may be particularly suitable for a local development plan. It can reduce the environmental impact in settings that have been already adversely affected by previous economic growth strategies that have turned out to be disrespectful of their surroundings. The paper, based on a study of the experiences of some examples being implemented in Europe, will develop some considerations in respect of the area where the conference will take place. It will also take account of the fact that the tourism sector is one of the most important sectors of the Montenegrin economy and that, in particular, the Kotor Bay area includes 70% of the nation's artistic heritage.

Widespread Hotel: An Innovative Made in Italy Model for Cultural Tourism and Local Sustainable Development—The Umbria’s Case

Chinese Business Review, 2014

Widespread hotels represent a new Italian phenomenon still not much investigated, both on theoretical and empirical side, which cannot be ignored anymore. Indeed they meet the need to implement techniques and management tools which are able to improve the culture-tourism binomial. This would permit to transform into valid instruments of national economical development, the shared declaration of intents for which culture and tourism, especially in Italy and in this particular fragile period, represent even more the main strategic levers for the sustainable development. This article intends to describe the potentiality of these widespread hotels as innovations particularly suitable with trends recently emerged in tourism sector and outline the phenomenon pattern in Italy with particular attention on Umbria region, in order to identify his main strength and weakness and some innovation to improve performance. To this end, it starts from the analysis of the national and international economic-managerial literature concerning in particular cultural and experienced trends shown in tourism. Then it introduces the main acquisitions about widespread hotels in Italy, updating and extending them through a desk survey based on indirect sources of various natures. Lastly, it describes the case of Umbria, analyzing more in depth making use of interviews with entrepreneurs/managers of hotels and based on a semi-structured questionnaire. The aspects of indeterminateness which were found, starting from the normative one, testify how the potentiality of the widespread hotels as far as regards the value creation for the enterprise itself and the territorial stakeholder, are still not properly understood and therefore used. It is clear that, therefore, new behaviors are needed for entrepreneurs and, most importantly, for local policy makers in order to create the conditions for the full success of these hospitality models.