Air accessibility as a factor of tourism development in Southern Italy

The paper analyses the tourism supply in Southern Italy with the aim to verify the role played by air transport in promoting tourism in Southern Italy among major European sales market. Thus the following items are taken into account: a. The level of competitiveness and main characteristics of tourism supply in Southern Italy, compared with those of the other countries in the Mediterranean Basin, according to holiday offers presented in several catalogues collected among tour operators placed in some major European capitals; b. The level of air accessibility of Southern Italy, provided by its commercial airports, through a deep analysis of airports schedules of Southern Italian airports and their competitors; c. The evolution of the air accessibility in the last three years, and the causal link with major trends verified in the airborne transport market during the recent years. The results of the study show that new trends in the air transport are favouring the development of tourism in South‐Eastern Mediterranean Basin, but airlines tend to centre flights towards areas already providing a well‐developed tourism supply, and where it is more integrated in European sales markets. Countries such as Italy, where the tourism supply is more fragmented are more damaged; whereas Italy, on the one hand, has difficulty in reaching a sufficient level of demand for specific tourist areas, on the other hand, there is a lack of commercial policies coordinated among operators to penetrate the “richest” foreign markets. The main problem for Southern Italian tourism operators is therefore to develop policies strongly integrated among different areas and regions, both on supply organization and in the field of marketing, with the aim to generate the traffic volumes necessary to attract airlines. The increasing in competitiveness faced at the present time by the air transport market, and the increased easiness for the individual customer to choose and book air flights must stimulate those policies.