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Place Awareness and Community Tourism: The Case of Sambuca di Sicilia

Tourism in the Mediterranean Sea

ISBN: 978-1-80043-901-6, eISBN: 978-1-80043-900-9

Publication date: 1 March 2021

Abstract

The research approach adopted in this article intends to validate ‘place awareness’ as a fundamental element, together and beyond the consideration of classic economic factors, in assessing the endogenous potential of tourism development of a territory. ‘Place awareness’ emerges as a determining factor in the processes of tourist development since it decides the type of relationship that is established with local resources, influencing their use and therefore the forms and modalities of their enhancement. Without the emergence of a ‘place awareness’ capable of recognizing and mobilizing the resources of the territory, the implementation of tourism development policies lead to growth dynamics which are poorly territorialized and predictably not lasting. In order for there to be development of a place, it is necessary that the place is preliminarily renown: the ‘place awareness’ manifests precisely the extent and intensity of this recognition.

To affirm the centrality of ‘place awareness’ in local tourism development processes, Sambuca di Sicilia, located in the Province of Agrigento, was chosen as a case study. The village, following the surprising victory in 2016 of the national competition ‘The most beautiful village in Italy’, is engaged in a promising transition phase with a strong evolutionary potential centred on redefining its identity in terms of a tourist village that focuses on the rich and wide range of local resources available.

Keywords

Citation

Ferreri, F. (2021), "Place Awareness and Community Tourism: The Case of Sambuca di Sicilia", Grasso, F. and Sergi, B.S. (Ed.) Tourism in the Mediterranean Sea, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 75-91. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80043-900-920211007

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

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