TOURISM AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

The aim of this course is to provide a critical understanding of the complex entanglements between tourism, local development and sustainability. It aims at introducing students to the methodology, concepts and specific issues related to the interpretation of the competitive and sustainability dimensions of tourism experiences and destinations.
The course will develop a problem-oriented approach based on the analysis of today's debate on the natural, social, economic and cultural sustainability of places. Different logical interpretations and forms of action will be presented that affect both individual actors and systems and networks of actors. In the overall frame, the themes of the relationship with local development, smart destination, accessibility will be further explored and deepened.

Students will acquire knowledge of the fundamental concepts for the analysis and understanding of contexts, of the behaviors of the actors and their relationships, and the main approaches and tools with which to describe and interpret the competitive and sustainability dimensions of tourism experiences and destinations.
They will develop their own ability to apply the concepts and theoretical models proposed during the course and to think critically, highlighting the potential and limits of their applicability.
Group discussion in class will help develop research skills and independent study of materials (texts and academic articles, data and information available on the web, etc.) and also communication skills.

No specialist knowledge on tourism issues is required to attend the course.

The course is developed into a number of interrelated topics.
1. Destinations: the dimensions of Competitiveness and Sustainability
2. Destination governance and Visiting Experiences
3. Sustainable Tourism and Local Development
4. Destinations & Smart Cities: toward Smart Destinations
5. Accessibility and Inclusion

Wang Y, Pizam,A., Destination marketing and management: theories and applications, CAB International 2011 [capitoli: 1, 2 (solo pp. 21-31 ), 6, 7, 17]
Full text available: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/unive3-ebooks/detail.action?docID=772203&pq-origsite=primo

Briassoulis, H., Sustainable Tourism and the Question of the Commons, Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 29, No. 4, pp. 1065–1085, 2002

Sharpley, R, Tourism and Sustainable Development: Exploring the Theoretical Divide, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, Vol. 8, No. 1, 2000

Pavione, E., Pezzetti, R., Gazzola, P., The Role of “Slow Territories” in the Development of Sustainable Tourism, Proceedings of 7th INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC FORUM, ISF 2017, 7-9 February, Oxford, UK

Piras, P., Ambiente, patrimonio culturale, turismo e sviluppo sostenibile, Aedon, Rivista di Arti e Diritto online, (ISSN 1127-1345) Fascicolo 1, giugno 2009.

Gretzel, U., Werthner, H., Koo, C., Lamsfus, C., Conceptual foundations for understanding smart tourism ecosystems, Computers in Human Behavior, 50 (2015) 558–563

Check out the course page (moodle.unive.it) for other materials, readings and information

Suggested Readings

The exam is written, an additional oral examination may occur depending on the grade of the written exam.
Written exam will be organized in open questions
See the file "leggimi.pdf" in the moodle area, section "Introduzione al corso"

The course is mainly organized in lectures. Indications, references and any supplementary materials will be made available to students through the moodle platform.
Speech by experts and moments of interaction are foreseen in which students will be encouraged to use the notions learned and to develop their own critical arguments.

Italian

written and oral

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Cities, infrastructure and social capital" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development