The Via Francigena as a tourist product for local development: the case of Lucca and its province

The European programmes and the local policies toward the valorization of Via Francigena have been always promoting a general diffusion of cultural heritage, both at scientific level (through numerous archeological, historical and geographic publications) and at tourist level (through specific tourist guides and the information technology communication). After a concise overview of the tourist’s features involved in this type of tourism, of this heritage usage methods and of the effort in collecting data concerning the tourists just as pilgrims, the present work has the aim to examine the level of popularity of the Via Francigena in the area of Lucca and find a possible more suitable way of promotion. This research study has been carried out through a survey involving both tourists and residents focusing on the religious or tourist relevance of the path, the advertisement efficacy and the degree of Internet use. The surrey has been carried out in different periods, between May and July 2014 in order to better understand the impact of an important event in Lucca concerning the official opening ceremony of the trail in the Province of Lucca. A particular interest has been given to the community involvement in the process of a more tourist development of the Francigena path, as a mean to highlight and capitalize also other resources and specificities of the area. The survey addressed to the residents in Lucca let us understand the perception level of Via Francigena as a resource and at what extent the community can be involved in boosting it as a tourist product for an image coming back and an economic upturn of Lucca and it’s Province.