No. 4 (2020)

The aim of this work is twofold. First, we aimed to investigate the ownership dynamics in high-value hotel acquisitions (over €7.5 million) by both 'pure financial' buyers (investment banks, insurance companies, sovereign wealth funds, etc.) and buyers within the hospitality industry. In addition, we noted the 'domestic' permanence of the property following the transaction. Based on hotel purchase and sale transactions that took place from 2015 to 2018 in Spain, France, Italy, the UK and Germany, we conducted exploratory research through descriptive statistics. Then, through a logit model we looked for statistical differences in behaviour between the observed countries. The results show the predominant weight in the number and absolute value of transactions carried out by pure financial actors, which therefore confirm their fundamental role in the real estate hospitality sector. On the other hand, no significant statistical differences emerged in the dynamics of transactions between countries, which could indicate a tendency to want to preserve domestic nationality for the property being transacted. However, the study of the volatility of control of hotel real estate across national borders is a new contribution, which therefore calls for further investigation and analysis.

BEST MED project is being implemented in eight Mediterranean countries (Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Croatia, Slovenia, Greece and Montenegro) with the general objective of enhancing Mediterranean Governance, being the main challenges to tackle seasonality and the lack of effective cooperation among main tourism actors, including the citizen active participation on the policies design. It aims to have a new integrated and sustainable tourism planning approach, to contribute to the mitigation of seasonality in the MED area, through the connection between coastal and inland regions, such as a path-route method. A testing phase will allow to build a joint model that will be transferred and capitalised, as well as a toolkit and updates set of data indicators. BEST MED will follow a strategy of previous approaches and outputs, testing an updated toolkit of data and indicators, contributing to the design of a new Green model (MED S&C PathSustainable Path & Cultural Routes Model), focusing on integration of tourism planning into wider development strategies, together with mobilizing key players both at local and specifically at transnational level, creating synergies across MED countries and promoting the awareness of the MED area. Among the main objectives of the project, in particular, at paving the way for the creation of a network of Tourism Observatories in the Mediterranean area based on a participatory approach. Of great support for the actions envisaged is the INSTO, UNWTO's “International Network of Sustainable Tourism Observatories”. Best Med’s intervention field is also the promotion of tourism sustainability planning in local territorial systems. To this purpose special focus is placed on the presentation of “Best Med Sustainable & Cultural path model” meant to improve the sustainability policies along the Cultural Routes of the Mediterranean Basin. This model will be further developed in the next phases of BEST MED project, using pilot areas.

Event sustainability is increasingly becoming a crucial topic among both scholars and practitioners. The main purpose of this research is to verify the existence and the extent of synergies between sustainable events and sustainable urban public transportation, with particular reference to light rail transit (LRT). Using the main events taking place in Perugia and its LRT (the Minimetrò) as a case study, a method is proposed to quantify the extent to which event visitors contribute to achieving the economic sustainability of urban public transportation. The results suggest the existence of a win-win perspective, showing that the more the events become sustainable, the more they contribute to the economic sustainability of public transportation.

Starting from an overview of the evolution of the Observatories for tourism in various Italian regions, this work describes the conception and start of the federated regional tourism observatory of the Veneto region. The Regional Tourism Observatory has been included in the wider Strategic. Framework for Tourism 2018-2020, which refers to the National Tourism Plan and to the European pillars. The Strategic Framework for Tourism is the result of an extensive consultation which involved more than 300 stakeholders of the regional tourism system. While designing the Plan, parties made it clear that the access to a collection of information, data and analyses to read the complex Tourism System was vital to understand current trends, latest available figures, volumes, economic and environmental impact, origin and profile of tourists. The Observatory is based on three key concepts:1) it is ruled by a governance system and a network of territorial actors, both providers and consumers of data; 2) the awareness that a lot of information equals no information 3) Data Agora: a virtual single platform for the ordered, organized and systematic collection of analyses and data on tourism.

Based on a qualitative research design, this article explores the relationship between art and wine. Specifically, it analyzes the way in which the connection between art and wine can support wineries’ business marketing. To this end, this study uses the inductive approach which involves triangulating the data collected with different methods to identify emerging categories. Specifically, the findings from previous studies on innovation in the wine hospitality sector and art-based strategies were used for designing the scripts underpinning the subsequent interviews. These involved eight wine-hospitality managers that are famous for involving artists in the promotion of their wineries. Findings highlight the positive contribution of art in the wine hospitality sector and suggests the employment of art- based initiatives in the future recovery of the tourism sector.

The main Sicilian spas managed by the institutions have experienced years of great crisis with the closure of the thermal baths of Acireale in 2010, and the definitive one of the thermal baths a of Sciacca, since 2015. The crisis was caused by disastrous management caused by the accumulation of management deficits, as was the case with many other Italian spas which referred to local and regional institutions: Montecatini, Fiuggi, Salsomaggiore, Agnano, Grado and others and others. The state of affairs is well reported by the author who knows very well the history of the Baths of Sciacca and has been the author of many articles on them. "Due to the lack of specialized managers, we have been anchored in a concept of thermalism too oriented to health aspects without knowing how to grasp the novelties of a market increasingly oriented towards wellness and
for this reason in strong development. In fact, the great development of well being has had almost as a counterpoint, in Sicily, as well as in some other region, the crisis and the fall of the traditional thermal sector".
It is mentioned as an emblematic case of what happened that of the Grande Albergo San Calogero. Built 50 years ago, inaugurated three times and never opened. In this same magazine we have repeatedly argued that the institutions, and in particular the regions, have not activated real managers for the management of spas but only political figures. For this reason, there have been bankruptcy managements for which the market is now blamed while the market has seen the lush growth of wellness and related wellness establishments. So there is a paradox because the institutions have caused the spa crisis and are now accusing the spa of experiencing the same crisis that caused it. It is a vicious cycle which must be taken into account