Coastal and nautical tourism in Italian regions

Abstract

Coastal and marine tourism represents a relevant maritime economic activity. Nautical tourism is a subsector of coastal and marine tourism involving people and businesses, with relevant impacts in both the national and regional economies. The main objective of this paper is to analyze data and quantitative links between nautical tourism variables and coastal length. Among the European countries, Italy is one of the main representative member states for nautical tourism in the Mediterranean Sea. For this reason, this paper focuses specifically on the case study of Italian regions. In order to reach the objective, the paper investigates nautical tourism on the Italian coasts. Principal results of coastal supply and demand indicators are presented. These results, integrated with other nautical tourism variables and indicators, constitute some input of further quantitative analysis aiming to model this maritime segment. Further developments concerning the methods and models used will support planning of future configurations.