Firm Demography in the Accommodation Industry. Evidence from Italian Insular Regions

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to analyse the spatial pattern and the post-entry performance of tourism businesses in the Italian insular regions of Sardinia and Sicily. Using geo-referenced micro-data for the period 2011-2014, we explore the spatial distribution of ac-commodation firms in the two insular regions, and then compare the coastal and inland areas of the two regions. We observe a higher dispersion of firms in Sardinia than in Sicily; the latter, however having a higher concentration of firms in coastal and urban areas. We do not find significant differences in survival probability across the two insular regions but we do detect significant differences be-tween coastal and inland areas in Sicily.