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The purpose of this article is to describe the characteristics and the consumption behaviour of tourists coming from different countries and choosing different holiday typologies (cultural, seaside, mountains, etc.), by evaluating their expenditure in terms of consumption functions and productive sectors. The analysis — which uses the results of the survey on tourist expenditure carried out in the Veneto region, with particular reference to international tourism, from May 1994 to April 1995 —, can be suitably extended over the local scale. A multisectoral‐biregional input output model (VERDITOUR) has been implemented to measure the economic role of each segment and the plot of interactions going from tourist expenditure habits to the tourism industry.

Southern Italy (2) is a multiform and atypical system in the Italian tourist economy. According to a general image, one of its main features is the extensiveness and quality of the region's natural resources, especially the coastal areas, attractions which traditionally make the macroregion known essentially as a destination for “sun&sea” holidays. In recent years, moreover, due to growing and widespread awareness for environmental quality and for cultural factors, this image seems to have acquired new impulse and new occasions of interest. The wealth of particularly important historical, artistic and archaeological attractions (Magna Graecia, Roman and Arab‐Byzantine influences, the Baroque, etc); the diffusion and, often, the persistence of social‐cultural traditions that resist the influence of modernisation, are today—just as they were at the time of the Grand Tour—factors of strong appeal for the Southern regions. Today, the “capital cities” in Southern Italy are the main historical destinations of the early years of tourism, especially for foreign demand: besides Naples and Palermo, cities such as Taormina, Sorrento, Capri and Ischia, or destinations of cultural tourism such as Agrigento and Siracusa stand out.

One of the major changes recently noted in the evolution of world tourism demand seems to be represented by the shift from “sun and beach” holidays to more active and special interest ones. This trend will affect some destinations more than others. There will be losers and winners.