Local Development in the Tourist Sector. the Application of a Model to Analyze Industrial Development

The study of the governance of tourist destinations – understood as the management of the offering system – presupposes the delimitation of the boundaries of tourist systems. The spatial identification of such systems becomes even more necessary when they are the object of normative recognition and incentive policies. In Italy, the Law 135/2001 for tourism reform provides for public financing of projects for the development of local tourist systems, but does not establish a method to determine which areas are eligible for funding. This paper uses the model of industrial districts to identify the spatial areas and to analyze the local tourist systems as a necessary preliminary step in the study of the management of destinations. The industrial district is the principal model for the study of local development in the industrial sector, but is also an effective tool to interpret forms of development in the service sector, this on the condition that the territory represents an essential component of the productive process and of the way in which the process is organized. The case study conducted in the alpine area of the provinces of Trento, Bolzano and Belluno is an empirical evaluation of the application of analytical categories, methods and tools able to identify and measure tourist systems that have the features of a district.