The tourism sector in Italy is one of the sectors that significantly affects GDP. Cultural tourism is characterized by trips that aim to increase one’s knowledge and usually places where there is a wide cultural offer as a destination.
Recently the Directorate General for Tourism has been assigned to the Ministry of Economic Development untying it from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in which it was previously based. The main legislation in the sector is the Tourism Code, a law dating back to 2011. The legislation dedicates a specific part to cultural tourism aimed at enhancing the historical, artistic, archaeological, architectural and landscape heritage.
The cultural tourism segment is undergoing a significant change of course, as is the case in various parts of the world, and from many parts it is highlighted that especially for the usually overcrowded cities of art before the pandemic it was an unsustainable strategy for good city management. New practices are emerging and starting an interesting debate on the development of new strategies for tourism and cultural tourism. A slower and longer mobility aimed to enjoy better and more deeply the environment and the cultural services of cities, but also policies for freelance workers who do not necessarily have a constraint in physical location and can revitalize villages in inner areas. As there is a renewed tendency to live in non-urban places that are equipped with efficient technologies and connection networks, nomadic work and workations (a combination of the words work and vacation) are being re-evaluated.
The Strategic Plan for Tourism currently being updated focuses on 4 key words: sustainability, accessibility, hospitality, innovation, and includes 13 specific objectives and 52 lines of action. In the Plan, the cultural sector and the attractiveness of heritage is considered one of the main characteristics in Italy. Finally, the PNRR provides for actions that encourage the digitization of cultural heritage which will likely be a driving force for new ways of using it both in presence and at a distance.
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