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This chapter aims to qualify Local Area as Smart Tourism Local Service Systems (S-TLSS), whose competitiveness and reputation depend on sharing strategies and processes of cohesion based on equifinality among/for stakeholder. The methodology envisages the integration of Service Science Management Engineering and Design (SSME+D) and the Viable Systems Approach (VSA). Thus it describes a S-TLSS in terms of local service system, whose viability requires a ‘smart governmentality’, able to guarantee the management of equity, sustainability and resilience. Referring to human resources coherent with value co-creation processes, S-TLSS implies T-shaped professionals: new kind of individuals who have proficiency in a specific field/discipline (deep professionality) and, at the same time, show capacity to understand and participate in complex projects/systems (broad professionality). Finally, the authors will show a practical application of the system attempting to enhance an Italian territory that is not very attractive to tourists and local residents.

When researching the role of microentrepreneurship in equitable and sustainable development, the question of how tourism microentrepreneurs forge relationships between place, community, and resources is significant. Two case studies from CREATOUR, a project investigating creative tourism, a novel type of cultural tourism that includes active participation in creative activities and connection to place, examines how these relationships are developed and implemented. Findings indicate that creative tourism microentrepreneurial activities in two small cities are being shaped by, and shaping, place in multifaceted ways. Creative tourism activities stimulate new perspectives on place, are designed synergistically with the “seasonal” fluctuations of the type of visitors, are embedded in personal networks of collaborators, and actively encourage alternative patterns of tourism consumption.

The accommodation sector has a strong impact on the host destination in terms of waste production, use of natural resources, physical impact on landscape and natural environment, greenhouse gas emissions, etc. (Hall et al., 2016). For this reason, the increasing attention to sustainability, also in the tourism sector, requires us to rethink the planning of the tourist accommodation development with reference to this approach. Moreover, it is necessary to take into consideration some important emerging trends in tourist consumption, in particular the greater interest in experiential holidays, the deep impact of sharing economy and the phenomena of ‘home stay tourism’ and ‘living like a local’. All of these are significantly orientating the demand and the offer towards a greater attention to authenticity (Grayson & Martinec, 2004; Paulauskaite, Powell, Coca-Stefaniak, &, Morrison, 2017; Tussyadiah & Pesonen, 2016a and 2016b; Tussyadiah & Pesonen, 2018).

The sustainability, environmental, socio-cultural and economic dimensions must be respected to develop forms of sustainable accommodations (Boley & Uysal, 2013; Elkington, 1997, 1998, 2004; Farrell, 1992). They have to be respectful of local communities and their identity and culture, not going beyond the host environmental and social carrying capacities (Graefe & Vaske, 1987; Hernandez-Maskivker, Ferrari, & Cruyt, 2019; Van Der Borg, 1992; Van der Borg, Costa, & Gotti, 1996; Vargas-Sánchez, Porras-Bueno, & de los Ángeles Plaza-Mejía, 2011). Those aspects must be referred not only to environmental ecosystems (Buckley, 2000; Sánchez-Cañizares, Castillo-Canalejo, & Cabeza-Ramírez, 2018) but also to the art, cultural heritage and local socio-cultural tissue of the destination (García-Hernández, la Calle-Vaquero, & Yubero, 2017). This is especially true in tourist destinations that are characterized by a remarkable fragility and sensitiveness. As explained by Jeong, Zielinski, Chang, and Kim (2018, p. 2), sensitive tourist destinations are areas that support responsible tourism, but do not necessarily have all the characteristics of ‘ecotourism’ or ‘responsible tourism’ destinations, as provided in their common definitions (Dolnicar & Leisch, 2008). Responsible tourism is a kind of tourist behaviour that occurs when tourists understand the impact of their behaviour on the environment and local people, and abide by the socio-cultural and environmental norms of the site (Jeong et al., 2018, p. 1).

Our research is focused on Matera. This southern Italian town, which has been the European Capital of Culture in 2019 and World Heritage Site since 1993, has an ancient and very peculiar history. It is a complex urban cave situated in a deep natural canyon, continuously inhabited since the Palaeolithic period. Today Matera, which has frequently been the location of important movies, is a successful international tourist destination and has shown an uninterrupted increase in tourism over the last 20 years. Unfortunately, this rapid tourist growth is threatening the town centre and its surroundings that are part of a protected area. In fact, the dimensions of visitors' flows are endangering a delicate destination with a fragile equilibrium, together with its priceless cultural heritage, traditions and way of living. In addition, it is giving rise to a residents' negative attitude towards tourists. For all these reasons, investments should be made to favour the development of different types of tourist accommodations (e.g. diffuse hotels or some forms of sharing accommodations) that are respectful of local economy, physical environment and cultural heritage as well as of the host community and its culture, traditions and identity (Gilli & Ferrari, 2016).

In this analysis a qualitative approach was adopted by carrying on face-to-face interviews with stakeholders. The main aims were to study to what extent tourist accommodations are perceived as sustainable by the main stakeholders' categories in Matera today, how their sustainability could be improved and if town innovations in this field already exist or could be promoted.

This chapter introduces its readers to the concept of tourism. It sheds light on the rationale for tourism, as it explains the tourists’ inherent motivations to travel. It also describes different aspects that together make up the tourism industry. Tourists travel to destinations that are accessible to them. They require accommodation if they are visiting a place for more than 24 hours. Leisure and business travellers may also visit attractions, and engage in recreational activities. Hence, the tourist destinations should have the right amenities and facilities. In this light, this chapter clarifies how destinations may offer different products to satisfy a wide array of tourists. Tourism products can include urban (or city) tourism, seaside tourism, rural tourism, ecotourism, wine tourism, culinary tourism, health tourism, medical tourism, religious tourism, cultural (or heritage) tourism, sports tourism, educational tourism, business tourism (including meetings, incentives, conferences and events), among others.

Cycle tourism is considered as a trendy opportunity of local development that should be taken into consideration by several destinations to (further) increase tourism according to the sustainable development approach. It is a broad and complex phenomenon that involves various social and economic actors. Cycle tourists are looking for new and deep experiences to better benefit from the local identities and the uniqueness of the landscape of a territory. Cycle tourism gives sustainable access to environmental and cultural resources of territories often neglected. Despite its evident potentialities, the lack of studies represents a drawback that could compromise the local development. The aim of this chapter is first to describe the characteristics of this form of tourism both in terms of its contribution to the sustainable development and of demand and supply features. Second, the study focuses on an Italian area that is strongly investing in the development of this form of mobility: an area called “Insubria,” which is located in the Lombardy region, near the Swiss border and includes, as main cities, Varese and Como. The work explores whether the supply of the tourism product in this area is aligned with the current and future demand trends of cycling and tourism. The analysis ends with some suggestions about possible improvements in the area and for the long-term industry competitiveness.

Set against the background of uncertainty and crisis generated by COVID-19, policymakers, destination marketers and tourism and hospitality managers are struggling in trying to envision how, and till when, tourist behaviour will be changed and transformed by this pandemic and how tourists will select the accommodation where to stay during their holiday.

So far, a limited number of academic studies have been devoted to analyzing how travellers will select the accommodation for their holidays. This urges academicians to fill this gap with the aim to provide practitioners with fresh and insightful knowledge to support their decision-making in a tourism era where everyone seems to be shifting towards a ‘new normality’ of uncertain duration.

This study was therefore carried out to contribute to this debate by presenting and discussing findings of an empirical investigation applying a factor–cluster analysis on a sample of 225 French consumers/travellers to profile them based on accommodation selection criteria. Further, a series of chi-square tests was run to investigate whether significant differences exist among clusters based on their sociodemographic characteristics (i.e. gender, age, level of occupation, employment status) and travel-related variables (i.e. the preferred type of accommodation and the length of the holiday).

Findings contribute to deepening the scientific debate about how tourists' behaviour is being transformed in a tourism era affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, our results will provide accommodation marketers with useful information to be used to effectively plan and implement their service design to meet tourists' expectations and needs.

Today tourism is recognised as a very complex social and economic phenomenon having a spatial, socio-cultural, economic, political, educational and environmental dimension. Furthermore, tourismis transformingtowards an individual and his/her needs, desires and interests, with a full respect for the surroundings and environment, which are given an increasing importance. Consequently, there have been changes not only in the structure of tourist consumption and in the behaviour of tourists, but also in the concept of a tourist offer. In this sense, numerous forms of special interest tourism are increasingly being developed in response to the needs of modern tourists to experience something new, authentic and different from their everyday environment. Tourists, saturated with the global trends' consequences that dominantly foster a kind of uniformity on their trips, are increasingly looking for the uniqueness or experience that is different from their own culture. Gastronomy, as a part of the local community's cultural identity, stood out as an authentic element of the tourist destination's offer, to which tourists are increasingly paying attention, which is increasingly becoming the basic motive of travelling for modern tourists.

Taking into account the current trends of the leading global source markets of the world, as well as the growing need to create a common tourist offer of the Western Balkan economies, this concept of Mountain Breakfast applied in the Western Serbia Region could represent a good example and a platform for connecting tradition, local producers, gastronomy and tourism.

The purpose of this chapter is to evaluate and discuss the factors that underpin tourists' perceptions of anti-COVID-19 practices in tourist accommodations and destinations, as well as in tourists' experience, satisfaction and behaviour, in order to make recommendations for managers at hotels and tourist destinations.

A survey at tourist accommodations in the Canary Islands was conducted to collect data, and 431 questionnaires were part of the final analysis. The data were analysed with the SPSS27 statistical processing software. Various multivariate techniques such as correlation analysis and factor analysis were used to analyse the data.

The results reveal that anti-COVID-19 practices at the accommodation are the most important for tourists to feel safe in their visit to the destination. The most important factors in the tourists' experience during the pandemic are those related to communication and behaviour. Satisfaction after COVID-19 is perceived higher if places or items for cleaning and disinfestation are provided to tourists and rooms are naturally ventilated, while intentions to visit after COVID-19 are highest to visit local destinations.

The results of the research will support scholars and practitioners to recognise the importance of factors that influence anti-COVID-19 practices, tourists' experience, satisfaction and behaviour during the pandemic. In addition, the research offers policy recommendations for maximum benefits for the tourism industry in the Canary Islands and others tourist destinations.

The chapter was an original primary and exploratory study that surveyed tourists to determine their perceptions of anti-COVID-19 practices, experience, satisfaction and behaviour during the pandemic. The results reveal the most important factors in the construction of the analysed variables, and may be used as a starting point for further hospitality marketing research.