Models for Territorial Re-equilibrium in the Tourism Sector in Sicily (Italy)

Tourism shows evident potentialities for the employment revenues growth and for consumers' satisfaction. In this direction, the UE recognised the central role of the tourism sector in oder to foster the entire economy in many UE member states. Sicily island (Italy) faced a great growth of tourism towing both the sector and the rest of regional economy. This work has the aim at describing territorial disequilibria caused by the tourism sector in Sicily still facing a traditional tourism model quite exclusively coastal. Features of sicilian tourism are seasonality of employment, non equilibrated resources allocation, irreversible environmental impacts, territorial inefficiencies and spatial disparities in tourism settlements and infrastructures endowments. After the Sixties, characterized by spontaneous and uncontrolled growth, also in recent year the Sicily faced increasing congestion in coastal zones and near a lack of tourism presence in the inner and rural zones, rich of diverse cultural and environmental heritages, potentially being resources for tourism. This work has the aim at designing a territorial re-equilibrium in the tourism sector in Sicily and delineating eventual patterns of integration between traditional and innovative tourisms, such as rural tourism. Statistical data are reported on tourism describing its map and spatial inequalities, but also the actual potentialities of growth for cultural, rural, ecological and responsible tourisms. The place based research enucleated territorial disequilibria due to lack of political programmes and past excess of spontaneous private initiative and enlightened innovative patterns of tourism feasible to match both UE policies on sustainability and demand trends which show an increasing attention in cultural, rural, environmental and responsible tourisms. In particular, the increasing numbers of presences in selected sites, off the traditional coastal circuits and within rural areas, makes realistic new hypotheses on a future increasing diffusion of sustainable tourism.