Using Data Envelopment Analysis to Evaluate Environmentally Conscious Tourism Management

This paper discusses a methodology to assess the performances of tourism management of local governments when economic and environmental aspects are considered as equally relevant. In particular, the focus is on the comparison and efficiency assessment of Italian municipalities located on the costal areas. In order to assess the efficiency status of the considered management units, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), a methodology for evaluating the relative efficiency of decision making units, is applied. The efficiency index measure used in DEA analysis accounts for both environmental and economic features correlated to the tourism industry. Further, potential managerial improvements for those areas resulting far from the efficiency frontier can be investigated.Data envelopment analysis, Sustainable tourism

Benchmarking in Tourism Destination, Keeping in Mind the Sustainable Paradigm

Tourism destination benchmarking and the assessment of tourism management performances are a crucial and challenging task in the direction of evaluating tourism sustainability and reshaping tourism activities. However, assessing tourism management efficiency per se may not provide enough information concerning long-term performances, which is what sustainability is about. Natural resources management should therefore be included in the analysis to provide a more exhaustive picture of long-run sustainable efficiency and tourism performances. Indeed, while the environmental endowment of a site is a key feature in tourism destination comparison, what really matters is its effective management. Therefore, in this paper we assess and compare tourism destinations, not only in terms of tourism services supply, but also in terms of the performance of environmental management. The proposed efficiency assessment procedure is based on Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). DEA is a methodology for evaluating the relative efficiency when facing multiple input and output. Although the methodology is extremely versatile, for the sake of exemplification, in this paper it is applied to the valuation of sustainable tourism management of the twenty Italian regions.Data envelopment analysis, Sustainable tourism indicators

The External Cost of European Crude Oil Imports

This paper is the first to assess operational and probabilistic externalities of oil extraction and transportation to Europe on the basis of a comprehensive evaluation of realistic future oil demand-supply scenarios, of the relative relevance of import routes, of the local specificities in terms of critical passages and different burdens and impacts along import routes. The resulting externalities appear reasonable both under the assumption of high future demand and under low demand. Estimates range from 2.32 Euro in 2030 in the low demand scenario to 2.60 Euro in 2010 in the high demand scenario per ton of imported oil.Oil Transport, Externalities Oil Spills, Risk Analysis

Benchmarking in Tourism Destination, Keeping in Mind the Sustainable Paradigm

Tourism destination benchmarking and the assessment of tourism management performances are a crucial and challenging task in the direction of evaluating tourism sustainability and reshaping tourism activities. However, assessing tourism management efficiency per se may not provide enough information concerning long-term performances, which is what sustainability is about. Natural resources management should therefore be included in the analysis to provide a more exhaustive picture of long-run sustainable efficiency and tourism performances. Indeed, while the environmental endowment of a site is a key feature in tourism destination comparison, what really matters is its effective management. Therefore, in this paper we assess and compare tourism destinations, not only in terms of tourism services supply, but also in terms of the performance of environmental management. The proposed efficiency assessment procedure is based on Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). DEA is a methodology for evaluating the relative efficiency when facing multiple input and output. Although the methodology is extremely versatile, for the sake of exemplification, in this paper it is applied to the valuation of sustainable tourism management of the twenty Italian regions

Benchmarking in Tourism Destinations; Keeping in Mind the Sustainable Paradigm

The book focuses on ‘modern’ advances, particularly those in tourism, and it targets readers with an interest in economic perspectives. … A comprehensive book on advances in modern tourism research economic perspectives offers relevant evidence and numerous perspectives. … Because the book offers a targeted analysis of different contributions at a particular conference, it also opens avenues for new research topics in the future. … the book is recommended because it will stimulate researchers and new research projects in tourism

The Role of Risk Aversion and Lay Risk in the Probabilistic Externality Assessment for Oil Tanker Routes to Europe

Oil spills are a major cause of environmental concern, in particular for Europe. However, the traditional approach to the evaluation of the expected external costs of these accidents fails to take into full account the implications of their probabilistic nature. By adapting a methodology originally developed for nuclear accidents to the case of oil spills, we extend the traditional approach to the assessment of the welfare losses borne by potentially affected individuals for being exposed to the risk of an oil spill. The proposed methodology differs from the traditional approach in three respects: it allows for risk aversion; it adopts an ex-ante rather than an ex-post perspective; it allows for subjective oil spill probabilities (held by the lay public) higher than those assessed by the experts in the field. In order to illustrate quantitatively this methodology, we apply it to the hypothetical (yet realistic) case of an oil spill in the Aegean Sea. We assess the risk premiums that potentially affected individuals would be willing to pay in order to avoid losses to economic activities such as tourism and fisheries, and non-use damages resulting from environmental impacts on the Aegean coasts. In the scenarios analysed, the risk premiums on expected losses for tourism and fisheries turn out to be substantial when measured as a percentage of expected losses; by contrast, they are quite small for the case of damages to the natural environment

Coastal Zone Management in the Mediterranean: Legal and Economic Perspectives

This paper examines existing measures taken to protect the coastal zones of the Mediterranean Sea and assesses their success. A summary of the main pressures facing these zones is given, followed by an analysis of the legislation covering coastal zone development in ten countries: Algeria, Croatia, Egypt, France, Israel, Italy, Malta, Spain, Tunisia and Turkey. We find that not all of these states have legislation specifically covering coastal zones, but there is concern in all areas that the legislation is not working, We also look at the costs and benefits of controlling coastal development. Firstly, a literature review of valuation studies identifies a range of values placed on developed and undeveloped coastline for both users and local property owners. These values were then used in a model to evaluate policy options to control development of a stretch of coastline. The model indicates that a stricter control regime of coastal development may provide significant benefits

The Possibilities for the Development of Tourism in the Appennino Lucano Val d'Agri Lagonegrese National Park: A Participative Qualitative-Quantitative Approach

Protected areas can represent a strategic laboratory for the realisation of initiatives capable of promoting sustainable economic development models at a local level. One of the duties of national parks is to provide value and promote, even for tourism purposes, natural, historical and cultural resources subject to restrictions in the territory. This contribution describes the research process activated for the definition of a tourism development strategy in the youngest Italian national parks, the Appennino Lucano Val d'Agri Lagonegrese located in Basilicata. This is a protected area which has not yet been developed from a tourism point of view and it has an "eclectic" naturalist value characterised by flora on one hand and significant fauna on the other, as well as a subsoil rich in hydrocarbons (the largest deposit on continental Europe). In light of this typicality for the area, research favoured a participative type qualitative-quantitative approach, involving both local stakeholders, for exploration of the area's potential and definition of possible tourism development scenarios, and actual or potential users interested in the area, for assessment of the proposed alternatives. The information and data collected allowed, on one hand, the identification of major critical areas which currently make tourism in the area an activity that is still economically marginal with respect to the local structured economic system, and on the other hand, identification of some themes around which to build a competitive tourism product in line with market demands in observance of sustainability. Through a contingent assessment exercise it was possible to understand what the preferences are with respect to different hypotheses of the tourism offer in the area for current and potential tourists involved in the survey and, at the same time, to identify some elements to examine in order to improve attractiveness

The External Cost of European Crude Oil Imports

This paper is the first to assess operational and probabilistic externalities of oil extraction and transportation to Europe on the basis of a comprehensive evaluation of realistic future oil demand-supply scenarios, of the relative relevance of import routes, of the local specificities in terms of critical passages and different burdens and impacts along import routes. The resulting externalities appear reasonable both under the assumption of high future demand and under low demand. Estimates range from 2.32 Euro in 2030 in the low demand scenario to 2.60 Euro in 2010 in the high demand scenario per ton of imported oil