L’impatto economico e socio-ambientale sul territorio delle innovazioni in ambito turistico

Abstract

In geographic and economic literature, the impacts of innovations in the tourism are quite analyzed. In the first part of this paper, the author tries a definition of innovation in the tourism, because it is necessary to differentiate the characteristic of innovations in tourism in opposite to the industrial sector. An other important distinction is investigated between product innovation and process innovation. In tourism product innovation, in general, has more effects in the destination than process innovation. It is very interesting verify, for example, the ITC technologies have only returned efficiency in tourism services without positive impact on the local community and with negative environmental and social effects in the destination. On the contrary product innovation changes all the economic activities because it enlarges the productive capacity of all tourist system and so local community and the environmental resources have new ways. In the second part of the paper, the positive and negative impacts of product innovation on the destination are analyzed. It is necessary to use economic and geographic tools both for determining the effects of innovations in tourist system and understanding if the innovations are one of the important factors that the hospitality industries choose to localize their facilities. Finally, innovation appears the factor for a new model of localization for tourist industries. This model is so different to the past when the enterprises were concentrated in the central city. Now the tourist industries need to some more space and money than the past and so choose the peripheral area for localization. In this marginal area, in fact, the communication with the local «stakeholders» is direct and the local cultural and environmental resources is more accessible and plentiful than the central areas.