Small towns and slow tourism. The experience of some "minor" Italian centers

Italy is the country of small municipalities. The Italian territory is characterized, in demographic terms, by a spatial organization based on "minor" centres and small towns. Over 70% of all Italian municipalities have a population less than 5,000 inhabitants. In the last 50 years, most of the small Italian centres has lost more than half of their residents, in particular as a result of both migrations to large internal urban areas and abroad. In recent years, tourism assumed increasing importance in small towns. A trend confirmed by a significant increase in tourist arrivals in smaller Italian localities (ISTAT, 2019). In “minor” centres, Tourism is driven by a strong curiosity of the visitor towards the discovery of places other than traditional tourist destinations and characterized by local resources and specificities, but also to a return tourism to the origin places or second residences. Small towns represent "slow" contexts by definition, therefore a slow tourism, based on respect for the environment and the local community and on the desire to discover the specificities of the place, is an ideal way to discover the historical centres' great cultural heritage. Development of local contexts is largely based on the ability to recognize specificities and to rediscover their own identity. In this perspective, the paper analyzes the experience of some small towns that have started tourism paths based on research and enhancement of local excellence and typicality.