Tourism development in inner mountain areas-the local stakeholders' point of view through a mixed method approach

Abstract

Tourism in inner areas, especially in the mountains, is a complex phenomenon due to the different tourist's needs and to the specific local features that vary considerably from one destination to another. Consequently, a unique tourism development strategy cannot be defined and adopted anywhere. When considering tourism-based territorial development in mountain areas, it is crucial to take the vision of local stakeholders into consideration. To drive different and/or unexpressed opinions towards shared tools, this study analyses the local stakeholder's point of view using a mixed method consisting of a Delphi method followed by a Group Nominal Technique. The research was performed in Soana Valley, a small mountain community in the Northwestern Italian Alps. It involved 17 local stakeholders divided into three main groups-local administrators (n = 3), hospitality operators (9) and retailers (5). Results show how operators converge on three common aspects-local food product offering, territorial promotion and collaboration among operators, on which the community should focus to build a territorial integrated tourism offering.