Federica Buffa

4L tourism (landscape, leisure, learning and limit): responding to new motivations and expectations of tourists to improve the competitiveness of Alpine destinations in a sustainable way

Purpose – Most Alpine destinations are currently in the mature phase of the development life cycle, placing them near the precipice that leads toward a period of irreversible decline. After describing the principal reasons for this phenomenon, the paper aims to set forth a strategic response, within the logic of destination re‐engineering, that is based on recent changes in the motivations and behaviors of tourists. A new market segment has emerged that shows a heightened sensitivity to environmental protection, local cultural preservation and to the overall authenticity of the vacation experience. This segment, defined with several terms (eco‐tourism, nature‐based tourism, responsible tourism …), is potentially a very important market in terms of both quantity and quality, on the condition that the destinations should be able to compete by maintaining originally and authentically attractions.Design/methodology/approach – The study is based on field research with the administration of about 1,000 question...

Roles and opinions of primary and secondary stakeholders within community‐type destinations

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify primary and secondary stakeholders for the development of community‐type destinations and to analyse how the difference in power characterizes them with regards to how they value specific rules and how they estimate trust and control in the destinations. From this analysis it is possible to draw useful indicators for the definition of the destination governance.Design/methodology/approach – The paper takes the form of a literature review and field research. The literature review considers network approach and stakeholder approach in order to analyse the actors involved in the tourist offer (size of the network and characteristics of the nodes) and their influence reputation for identifying primary and secondary stakeholders within the destination. The field research is carried out in two community‐type destinations in the Alps. In both destinations, tourism is the main economic activity, as it involves a multiplicity of public and private stakeholders; th...

Awareness and Exploitation of the Potential of the Web by SMTEs: The Case of Alpine Hotels in Italy and France

The economic literature has clearly shown the potential of the introduction of the ICTs in the management of the firms, starting from the seminal research of the MIT in the Ninetines. The question is if small tourist businesses have used correctly and widely the new technologies, gaining competitive advantages and improving their market results. The paper presents the results of a field research on this topic, managed by the eTourism Research Group in the territory of the Alps, where the tourist offering is based on small — or micro — businesses. The analysis allows to identify both positive and negative results, highlighting some lacks in the use of the Web by the SMTEs and suggesting some areas of improvement.

The Web as (a Weak) Enabler of New Marketing Approaches. An In-Depth Study of SMTEs in the Dolomites

This paper analyses the impact of ICTs on the strategic and organisational behaviour of hotel enterprises in the Dolomites, one of the main tourist areas in the Alps. The results are from two research projects conducted in 2005 and which involved 1) in-depth personal interviews of a sampling of 43 hotelkeepers and 2) the evaluation of the Web sites of 147 hotels. The effects of the widespread application of new ICTs among small hotels arc also discussed, looking specifically at whether and to what degree such technologies have supported the creation of a network among SMTEs and enabled innovative processes in marketing. From the two research projects it is possible to conclude that as yet the Web has not been an enabler of processes for structural, managerial or commercial reorganisation for SMTEs in the Dolomites. Hotelkeepers had a positive perception of the usefulness of new ICTs tools such as email and Web sites and also that they arc a wise economic investment. Nonetheless, these technologies have been used only to conduct traditional business in a new way, bringing advantages in terms of efficiency and efficacy, but not being used to redesign the internal management and organisational structure, nor the network of relations with local partners within the value chain. New ICTs have had a typical veiling effect insomuch as they have been used for traditional tasks but lack the capability to have a definitive effect on the reorganisation of management processes. A possible solution to achieve this result for SMTEs is to adopt a business culture with a broader strategic vision that is more open to collaboration. Unless such a new approach is taken the possibility of using Internet to redefine the business model at an individual and destination level would probably be lost.

Intelligent Governance for Rural Destinations

Abstract One of the main challenges of “good tourism intelligence governance” is to balance and manage the interests of private enterprises, public administrations, and civil society, and to find the right mix between strategic and operational governance. An innovative governance model was introduced in 2011 in emerging rural destinations within the three years’ European project “Listen to the Voice of Villages.” By means of in-depth interviews carried out in summer 2014 in Italy, Austria, Germany, and Slovenia, this chapter investigates how this model of governance was deployed and performed. Findings suggest that this model is effective and sustainable, promotes and supports knowledge transfer and as such it can be recommended for implementation in other emerging rural destinations.

Local networks, stakeholder dynamics and sustainability in tourism. Opportunities and limits in the light of stakeholder theory and SNA

Purpose of the paper : Given the importance of relationships between territorial actors and their ability to make collective decisions in order to ensure the sustainable development of tourism, this paper suggests social network analysis (SNA) as an appropriate method to explain the dynamics of interpersonal relationships in tourist areas. Methodology : The stakeholder map was reconstructed by using stakeholder theory in conjunction with the identification of actors through snowball sampling. The most important stakeholders were identified by adopting the in-degree centrality indicator referred to the weighted adjacency matrix (quantitative) and the role played by stakeholders (qualitative). The in-degree network centralization indicator showed the distribution of centrality between the nodes of the network. Findings : SNA enriches the reading of multi-stakeholder relationships in non-hierarchical territorial contexts; it picks up on the evolving dynamic of networks and the relative weights of the decision makers within them, providing a more comprehensive and convincing interpretation than does the stakeholder approach alone. Research limits : exploratory research was undertaken in order to focus on analytical tools and the general theoretical framework. Practical implications : the reconstruction of the networks and the interpretation of the relationships provide a sounder basis for the definition of strategies and of instruments that are employed to facilitate processes of participative governance in accordance with principles of sustainability. Originality of the paper : few applications of SNA to tourism have so far appeared in the literature. However, the results derived from SNA can open new scenarios in destination management since, as well as demonstrating the existence of relationships, they also classify and prioritize them.

The role of the regional tourist boards in the destination marketing policies. The case of the dolomites

In recent years the scientific community has focused on the study of tourist destinations from a strategic-managerial perspective. Questions remain, however, regarding who can manage the destination as a system and facilitate coordination among local operators. In the light of a research conducted in the Dolomites (an Italian alpine region) this paper seeks to define some possible strategies for destination marketing by Regional Tourist Boards (RTBs) with a view to identifying the characteristics associated with an integrated tourist destination.ResumenA lo largo de los últimos aúos la comunidad cientúfica ha centrado sus esfuerzos en el estudio de los destinos turísticos desde una perspectiva estratígico-gerencial. Quedan, sin embargo, cuestiones por resolver en relatión con quión puede gestionar un destino en tanto en cuanto que sistema y facilitar la coordinatión de los operadores locales. Tratando de aportar alguna luz en este sentido a partir de una investigatión llevada a cabo en la región alpina italiana de los Dolomitas, el propósito del presente trabajo consiste en determinar algunas estrategias de marketing susceptibles de aplicación por las Corporaciones de Turismo Regionales, tratando de identificar las características asociadas a un destino turístico integrado.

The links between territorial marketing, regional sustainability policies and the brand positioning of a small firm: An analysis of best practice in the dairy sector

Territorial marketing strategies can be oriented towards sustainability in the agro-alimentary sector. This contribution presents and discusses a relevant case, analysing the marketing strategies that businesses, leveraging on their distinctive location, can pursue to create value for both themselves and their territory. The research approach was qualitative, involving a case study which included desk analysis and personal interviews with key actors in the dairy sector of an Alpine area. The study highlights the opportunities offered by differentiation strategies based on inter-sector integration, describing marketing and brand management choices, and underlining the importance of business organisation and governance in the creation of competitive advantage.

Effetti della pubblicità online sulle decisioni di acquisto in Internet. Indagine sulle opinioni dei giovani consumatori

Obiettivi del paper : Il lavoro si inserisce nel dibattito scientifico riguardo agli effetti della pubblicita online nelle decisioni di scelta e acquisto dei giovani consumatori. Obiettivo e rilevare le opinioni della fascia giovanile rispetto a media habits, comportamento adottato negli acquisti online, opportunita offerte da Internet ed effetti della pubblicita online sul comportamento di acquisto per ricostruirne il profilo comportamentale e gli atteggiamenti dichiarati. Metodologia : Ricerca esplorativa condotta su una popolazione di 16.000 giovani utilizzatori di Internet. I dati sono elaboratori avvalendosi di strumenti di statistica descrittiva, cluster analysis e test di significativita. Risultati : La ricerca identifica due diversi profili. Il primo, si compone di utilizzatori che manifestano particolare interesse per le potenzialita offerte da Internet, ne riconoscono funzioni e ruoli che vanno oltre l’utilizzo degli strumenti piu tradizionali e sono piu sensibili ai messaggi pubblicitari online (heavy users). All’interno di questo profilo, vi sono giovani che dichiarano che la pubblicita online influenza il comportamento nelle fasi di scelta, acquisto e post-acquisto. Il secondo profilo e rappresentato da giovani che dedicano meno tempo alle attivita online, fanno un utilizzo piu tradizionale degli strumenti offerti da Internet e manifestano meno interesse per la pubblicita online (light users). Limiti della ricerca : La natura esplorativa della ricerca incontra dei limiti alla estendibilita dei risultati. Implicazioni pratiche : La ricerca sottolinea alcune implicazioni per le imprese riguardo all’attivita di comunicazione, in particolare per quanto concerne le campagne pubblicitarie e promozionali e l’adozione degli strumenti della pubblicita online. Originalita del lavoro : Analisi del comportamento di consumo online e degli effetti della pubblicita online dei giovani consumatori in ambito nazionale. Parole chiave: comportamento online; pubblicita online; internet; segmento giovanile; heavy e light users.

Il ruolo dell’attore pubblico e della destination management organisation nel marketing delle destinazioni community-type. Uno studio esplorativo

Il marketing territoriale sostiene la forza competitiva delle destinazioni turistiche facendo leva sulla capacita dei territori di esprimere una strategia condivisa. Nelle destinazioni community-type, la frammentazione dell’offerta rischia di limitare le opportunita strategiche di tale strumento ed identifica nell’ ente pubblico e nella destination management organisation i soggetti capaci di conferire una dimensione sistemica al territorio in quanto presupposto per elaborare una strategia turistica condivisa. Il paper offre un contributo scientifico al tema indagando, da un lato, il ruolo di tali soggetti nel marketing territoriale della Valle di Fassa in quanto tipico esempio di destinazione community-type, dall’altro, le implicazioni del destination marketing sulla competitivita delle imprese alberghiere della valle.