The research reported in this study sought to determine whether successful
tourist destinations can build a «network» on the basis of their attractiveness. To this
end, we conducted a social network analysis with municipalities as network nodes and
edges representing the natural, economic, social, and public institutional dimensions,
reduced to a composite attractiveness indicator (CAI). Although easily replicable in other
contexts, our methodology was tested on two Apulian areas in Southern Italy, Gargano
and Salento, which are legally designated as tourist districts. The analysis emphasizes
that these districts are still unable to construct a system despite strong potential in
terms of attractiveness
