Tourism Development in UNESCO Natural Heritage Sites: The Case of Sicilian Volcanic Sites: Mount Etna and Aeolian Islands

Abstract

Local development often depends on tourism, especially in fragile contexts like islands which represent a special cluster and are the best cases to be analyzed in order to highlight positive and negative aspects of economic development driven by tourism. A sustainable development approach should be taken in account and the UNESCO brand plays a fundamental role in this sense. The aim of this paper is to analyze the link between tourism supply and the growth of tourism demand in the case of UNESCO sites through multivariate regression analysis. The results show a correlation between the variables considered. But the actual structure of supply is still built on conventional sea tourism and is not yet organized to host and attract tourism demand connected with the UNESCO active volcano area. The UNESCO brand could guarantee a new approach for local tourism development if associated with a specific tourism supply structure.

Tourism Dynamics and Sustainability: A Comparative Analysis between Mediterranean Islands—Evidence for Post-COVID-19 Strategies

“…Island destinations represent a unique cluster, where tourism development and sustainability issues are connected and represent crucial aspects of the local economy and well-being [44].…”

Improving Dissemination and Localization of Cultural Heritage Through Multimedia Maps - The Case of Lipari Island

“…Such situation suggests the opportunity to protect this endangered material heritage from within an organic view, such as UNESCO can ensure. The designation in the WHL can potentially prove decisive also in relation to economic development, through tourism-related activities: the current local offer is still focused on the conventional 'sun-sea-and-sand' segment and on a young target, and it is not fitted for a demand referred to the volcanic area [9]. However, although recognizing the extreme fragility of coastal zones, new promotion strategies still head towards them, by proposing thematic or geo-tourist itineraries [10], without sensibly impacting in terms of flow de-seasoning, which is instead more and more necessary [7,9].…”

“…Much research work has been carried out, in general, on the effects of WHL designation on heritage management and on territorial development [11][12][13][14][15][16]. Among them, and with specific reference to tourism, some are of the view that the UNESCO 'brand' in itself can have only indirect impacts and that the inscription in the List is not sufficient, alone, to exert long-lasting effects [9].…”