Sustainable tourism and territorial development

Tourism is notably one of the main growth-potential sector in Italy and Europe. Although it showed a slight contraction in flows in the last years, tourism still holds an important role in the national social-economic context, representing a leading sector in economy. Italy is the European leader country thanks to the number of tourism-related companies as well as its cultural, natural and environmental heritage. Since tourism activities can cause complex and articulate environmental problems, it is necessary to conciliate economic development with ecosystem protection by using more suitable tools among those available to all kinds of companies. This work aims at analysing the connections between tourism and sustainable development, the importance of environmental issues for accommodation facilities and the application tools of environmental quality. According to this purpose, the analysis has been carried out on a qualitative basis through a survey on a significant sample of tourist facilities operating in a highly cultural area; this, in order to inquire into organizational strategies that allow to take advantage of the “value added” the environment can offer. This article aims, in particular, at analysing the various connections between sustainable tourism and regional development.