Accessibility and mobility conditions, and tourist development: The case of Southern Italy

Southern Italy (2) is a multiform and atypical system in the Italian tourist economy. According to a general image, one of its main features is the extensiveness and quality of the region's natural resources, especially the coastal areas, attractions which traditionally make the macroregion known essentially as a destination for “sun&sea” holidays. In recent years, moreover, due to growing and widespread awareness for environmental quality and for cultural factors, this image seems to have acquired new impulse and new occasions of interest. The wealth of particularly important historical, artistic and archaeological attractions (Magna Graecia, Roman and Arab‐Byzantine influences, the Baroque, etc); the diffusion and, often, the persistence of social‐cultural traditions that resist the influence of modernisation, are today—just as they were at the time of the Grand Tour—factors of strong appeal for the Southern regions. Today, the “capital cities” in Southern Italy are the main historical destinations of the early years of tourism, especially for foreign demand: besides Naples and Palermo, cities such as Taormina, Sorrento, Capri and Ischia, or destinations of cultural tourism such as Agrigento and Siracusa stand out.