Sustainable tourism in the rural areas of a Southern Italian region

Abstract

In the last few years, a significant interest has been observed about all the possible ways rural tourism is carried out, but especially concerning agritourism, which represents the main specific application. Rural tourism is a form of sustainable tourism since its pillar is constituted by both valorisation and conservation of the environmental and territorial situation where economic activity is carried out in tune with identity and culture of local communities. From the official statistical data, it brings out the fact that this economic activity, widely spread in the Italian territory, may provide a significant financial support both to agricultural firms and to the whole economic sector of tourism, allowing as well to redistribute touristic flows from coastal to inland areas. The main aim of the present research is to analyse the agritourist supply in Sicily in relation to the land resources, and the main factors which may affect the possibility of success for agritourist entrepreneurs. Among these characteristics, the analysis carried out has concerned environmental certifications, landscape rurality, organic farming system and localization in protected areas. Information gathered from regional statistics was supplemented by primary data, collected through a series of interviews on a representative sample of agritourist entrepreneurs who work in different rural areas of Sicily.