Residents’ Engagement and Local Tourism Governance in Maturing Beach Destinations: Evidence from an Italian Case Study

In academia as well as in practice there is increasing interest in governing the complex relationships within destinations. Nevertheless, a gap persists in knowledge on how to valorize and engage the local community in the tourism development process. This paper analyzes residents’ perceptions, attitudes, and involvement towards tourism development in a mature Italian “Sun, Sea and Sand” tourism destination. An Exploratory Factor Analysis was applied to reveal the underlying factors in the data, followed by a K-Means Cluster Analysis that resulted in the identification of four groups of residents representing different levels of interest towards tourism ranging from euphoria to apathy. The findings and conclusions are proposed as useful tools for tourism policymakers in Italy and beyond that are generally unfamiliar with stakeholder management and other strategic management approaches

The organizational impacts of quality management in tourism firms: An empirical investigation of the Molise Region, Italy

This study uses institutional theory to investigate the isomorphic pressures affecting quality in the accommodation industry. Following questionnaire development, pretest, and a pilot study, survey data were collected from a sample of 324 accommodation firms in the tourism industry of the Molise Region of Italy. Mimetic, coercive and normative pressures were assessed for influence on firm behaviour regarding visible attributes associated with quality. Results show that isomorphism exists in the degree to which quality factors are used in the different accommodation types. However, no substantive differences are observed between the two provinces (Campobasso and Isernia) of the Molise region in Italy.The research confirms the utility of new-institutionalism theory in the field of hospitality and tourism for several purposes including policy for tourism destination development

Ensino e pesquisa em turismo na Universidade de Calgary (Canadá)

Locate the Tourism education development in the 70's and 80'sdecades, and emphasize its basic characteristics in the 90's decade, mainlyin North America. Present a multidiscipline model for the turistic educationat University level, developed at Calgary University (Alberta, Canada),through its World Tourism Education and Research Center (WTERC),emphasizing the class levels - Bachelor, Master, PhD and free classes - andmechanisms of Touristic educational programs integration at Regional andNational environment.Analisa o desenvolvimento da educação em turismo nas décadas 70 e 80, destacando as suas características básicas, principalmente na América do Norte. Apresenta um modelo multidisciplinar para a educação turística em nível universitário, desenvolvido na University of Calgary (Alberta, Canadá), através do seu WTERC - World Tourism Education & Research Center, o qual desenvolve quatro tipos de cursos: bacharelado, mestrado, PhD e cursos livres. Descreve, ainda, alguns mecanismos de integração de programas de educação em turismo no Canadá, em âmbito regional e nacional

Destination management organizations: a stakeholder perspective

Bibliography: p. 141-15

An Assessment of the potential for regionally integrated tourism planning: a southern Alberta case study

Bibliography: p. [101-106]

Residents’ engagement and local tourism governance in maturing beach destinations: evidence from an Italian case study

In academia as well as in practice there is increasing interest in governing the complex relationships within destinations. Nevertheless, a gap persists in knowledge on how to engage the local community in the tourism development process. This paper analyzes residents’ perceptions, attitudes, and involvement related to tourism development in a mature Italian “Sun, Sea and Sand” tourism destination. Exploratory factor analysis followed by cluster analysis revealed four groups of residents representing different levels of interest towards tourism ranging from euphoria to apathy. The findings and conclusions are useful for tourism policymakers in Italy and elsewhere where there is a critical need for stakeholder management and other strategic management approaches in the public realm