Turistica - Italian Journal of Tourism

Return tourism and sustainable enhancement of deserted Italian villages: description, analysis, and evaluation of an existing project

2024-03-17T16:53:33+01:00

To outline and critically evaluate an existing project called: "Return to Italy 2023-2028", already started with the title "2023: Year of Return Tourism. The Discovery of the Origins" desired and managed by the “Rete Destinazione Sud” (Destination South Network), as part of the various Italian initiatives typical of 'Roots Tourism'. It focuses, in particular, on the revaluation of the villages of Colliano and Collianello. After a broad theoretical framework referring to previous national and international studies, the article draws on the direct experience of one of the co-authors who implemented the project and is currently managing it. The authors' presence at some of the numerous planned initiatives also facilitated a critical assessment of the results obtained and the expected perspectives. The initiative of southern private enterprises in a network aimed at enhancing economically depressed inland areas has considerable social value, especially since it is built following the latest canons of sustainability. We hope for the multiplication of initiatives similar to the positive ones that have already characterised Colliano and Collianello, giving back to the community ancient buildings and abandoned dwellings, transformed into widespread accommodation facilities. This study enriches the scientific bibliography, but also and above all proposes a praiseworthy concrete case of co-participation of private enterprises in the enhancement of depressed marginal areas, normally taken care of by public authorities. This fosters a business culture that is more sensitive to social issues and concretises the hope of entrepreneurs' active participation in a geography of tourism spread throughout Italy, decongesting traditional itineraries that suffer from over-tourism.

The impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on accommodation preferences in Italy: a temporal and geographical analysis (2018-2022)

2024-07-02T13:09:58+02:00

The spread of the Coronavirus has triggered a global crisis, significantly altering global geopolitical balance. The pandemic has profoundly disrupted the performance of the global economy, causing disruption and losses in all sectors. Once the lockdown period was over, economic production and the labor market began a delicate process of adaptation to new conditions. The tourism sector, due to the restrictions imposed to reduce national and international flows, has suffered a significant impact and has been forced to reinvent itself through new travel methods. This study aims to analyze the adaptation of the tourism sector, with attention to preferences relating to accommodation facilities. The analysis focuses on the partial replacement, during the holiday organization phase, of traditional hotel establishments with more open-space solutions, such as campsites and tourist villages. The data provided by ISTAT as part of the Occupancy in tourist accommodation establishment, relating to the period 2018-2022, is used. This time frame includes the years before the pandemic, the years characterized by the spread of the virus and the subsequent recovery period. At first, the situation at national level during the years considered is examined. Subsequently, the analysis is deepened at a regional level, in order to understand the trend in the four Italian geographical macro-areas: Northern Italy, Central Italy, Southern Italy and Insular Italy. This subdivision allows us to precisely identify the regions that follow a trend in line with the national one and those that deviate from it. The main objective of the study is to analyze consumers' choices during the pandemic, investigating whether the latter has actually permanently changed their preferences, or whether we are witnessing a return to habits prior to the health crisis. Through this analysis, we intend to provide a detailed and articulated vision of the impact of the pandemic on Italian tourism dynamics, contributing to the understanding of the changes taking place in the sector and future prospects.

Tourism in smart villages as an enhancement of rural areas

2024-07-12T11:59:25+02:00

The purpose of this work is to verify whether Italian smart villages are attractive on a tourist level. This article has the task of analyzing and highlighting the health status of rural villages and checking which and how many of them have evolved toward a sustainable rural village concept, defined in the literature by the name smart village. The study was conducted through the analysis of the projects applied within the two smart villages under study. The two villages analyzed focus on future-oriented development and identify already integrated urban areas as a test bed, capable of attracting the population, workers, and tourists. Both villages have common objectives such as, for example, the transformation from rural villages into smart villages, overcoming the state of depopulation, making them attractive on a tourist level, and pursuing urban development strategies, guaranteeing territorial sustainability. The urban planning process and energy policies are integrated with the Smart Village policies, whose meeting point and strength are represented by the technology applied to the city. The method brings to both experiences multiple points of advantage dictated by the fact that the methodology allows all interested parties of citizens to actively participate in the political life and not only of the city. The successful application of transformation policies in these cities can be used as a future test bed to enable other cities to develop and evolve from classic rural villages to smart villages.

From the mountains to the sea: what tourism for Calabria?

2024-09-24T18:23:56+02:00

Calabrian tourism is predominantly coastal, but this work aims to analyze, through a multidimensional analysis at municipal level, whether Calabrian tourism, especially on the supply side, diversifies between mountains, hills and sea. To describe the phenomenon, we chose to use the Istat classifications of Italian municipalities which are based on geo-morphological or urban settlement characteristics, measured for statistical purposes only. Municipalities are assigned a series of attributes, corresponding to some physical and/or anthropological characteristics, in particular the altimetric zones and coastal zones. The altimetric zones are homogeneous zones deriving from the aggregation of contiguous municipalities based on altimetric threshold values. They are divided into "mountain area", "hill area" and "plain area". Furthermore, to consider the moderating action of the sea on the climate, the first two altimetric zones were divided, respectively, into internal mountains and internal hills and, if these were bathed by the sea or close to it, coastal mountains and coastal hill. Coastal areas are defined based on the degree of proximity to the coast and are represented by municipalities located on the coast or having at least 50% of the surface at a distance from the sea less than 10 km, to which are added the enclaves (non-coastal municipalities surrounded by adjacent coastal municipalities). The rest of the municipalities are classified as non-coastal areas. Since the objective of the work is to analyze Calabrian tourism from the mountains to the sea, a new classification is proposed as a synthesis of the previous ones, i.e. mountain, hill and coast where the coastal areas represent the coast while the non-coastal areas are divided into mountains and hill. To describe the tourism potential municipal, 22 indicators have been identified at municipal level divided into 3 macro areas: tourist offer, flows and determinants, presence of farmhouses and bed and breakfasts, employment in the tourism sector. To have an even more complete picture of the phenomenon, a focus was also developed on the municipalities classified as "non-tourist" based on tourist density, i.e. those municipalities where there are no accommodation facilities and/or with zero tourist flows. For this purpose, big data deriving from Tripadvisor reviews were analyzed.

E-wom and territorial analyses: the use of opinion mining in tourism

2024-09-24T18:18:25+02:00

In the digital age, social media and electronic word of mouth (eWOM) have fundamentally transformed several industries, including tourism. This paper explores how opinion mining (also known as sentiment analysis) can be a strategic tool for tourism stakeholders to extract and analyse data from social media reviews and posts. The aim is to provide actionable insights to enhance customer satisfaction and destination management by assessing the sentiment expressed in online content. From a methodological viewpoint, the implemented approach integrates qualitative and quantitative data with textual data to delve into opinions embedded in eWOM. The analyses help identify patterns and trends in tourists’ feedback, offering a valuable framework for understanding their behaviour and leveraging this information for the stakeholders’ specific purposes. A case study on Naples (Italy) highlights the potential of sentiment analysis in tourism, suggesting future research directions. Practical applications range from improving customer satisfaction and destination reputation to guiding marketing strategies and supporting sustainable tourism development.