Routes of Saint Francis in Apennine Central Italy. Some Lessons from Social Media Analysis

The study focuses on the presence of Saint Francis’ religious heritage in some inner areas of Central Italy. In these areas the Saint left many cultural and spiritual traces made by sacred building and itineraries. The research had an explorative intention. It has been based on literature regarding co-creation, non-representational theory and performance (behavior in real practices) of residents and visitors, and the role of web tools in empowering consumers in tourism. The method has been based on Grounded theory, retrieving data from diverse sources, including the Internet and main social media websites. Data have been analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. Results are that the reality of the Franciscan itineraries in Central Italian Apennines comes form interactive performances between residents and tourists, few of them posting online. Online visibility of Franciscan itineraries is not so high, and in many cases fading to zero. Local public bodies committed to the itineraries have not yet implemented an effective practice in online communication. On the contrary many private entrepreneurs are more active in using Social Media for promoting their own business. The efforts performed by private companies and organizations will gain major reputation even for substituting the current scarce initiative of public bodies.