Intersectoral local development in Italy: the cultural, creative and tourism industries

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of intersectoriality within the cultural, creative and tourism industries in Italian local development.

Design/methodology/approach

The research design builds on the literature on culture-led development and adapts the established body of empirical research on industrial districts to tourism and cultural development. The quantitative analysis of intersectoral specialization and the clustering of cultural, creative and tourism industries in Italian local labour systems (LLSs) combines specialization indexes with principal component analysis and cluster analysis.

Findings

About 50 per cent of Italian LLSs specialize in the economy of culture and tourism, mostly in material culture, although tourism has the highest level of specialization. There are three main patterns of agglomeration and clustering. The largest cluster is that of the cultural heritage and content and information industries, which coincides with the systems of medium-sized and large cities, followed by systems of tourism monoculture. The smallest is made up of material culture, typically made-in-Italy sectors. The tourism and material culture industries are monocultures – where tourism agglomerates, but material culture does not.

Research limitations/implications

The analytical approach is quantitative and based on Istat’s Industry and Trade (2012) data set. Further studies are needed on the interaction between agglomerated specialized industries.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the theoretical and political debate on the value generation and innovation potential of culture and creativity, and bridges the knowledge domains of local development and managerial studies. Novel statistical evidence on intersectoral specialization and the clustering of the cultural, creative and tourism sectors in Italy at the inter-municipal level is provided. This study helps to identify an Italian model of the economy of culture and tourism.

Citation

Della Lucia, M. and Segre, G. (2017), "Intersectoral local development in Italy: the cultural, creative and tourism industries", International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research, Vol. 11 No. 3, pp. 450-462. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCTHR-03-2016-0032