A tourism network model for the development of marginal areas

The paper will discuss the issue of tourism promotion as an instrument for the development of marginal areas, with reference to a case study conducted in Southern Italy that is considering the potentiality of territorial policies and the strategies for overcoming the difficulties of their implementation at local level. The tourist promotion of an area cannot be reached by measures focussed only on ‘generalist’ tourism but through the construction of a network apt to enhance the different resources of the territory (tourism, environment, cultural goods, agriculture, craftsmanship). The network model is conceived as an instrument for reinforcing relations among local subjects in view of offering integrated services characterised by a specific territorial identity. The case study regards the Local Action Group of Santa Maria di Leuca in a coastal area of Apulia, established 15 years ago within the EU Programme LEADER I and consolidated through LEADERII and LEADER+, that has produced significant changes in the local context. These changes have been reached through the diffusion of trust relations, cooperation capacity, overcoming of traditional attitudes by public actors, reinforcement of the initiatives promoted, and integration with others local development policies. The potential attraction factors of a territory can be enhanced by initiatives and strategies promoted and implemented “bottom up”, by creating relations among the local actions, sectors and subjects. It is a perspective based not only on “doing” but “doing together” for public and private actors. The case study shows that the tourist development of an area can be pursued by promoting a quality tourism, sustainable and coherent with the specificity of the territories. This implies the capacity of taking into account the different resources, also in the internal areas, and not simply assuming a traditional generalist perspective of tourism on the coast.