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Sustainable Governance of Tourism-Based Social–Ecological Landscapes

2023; Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute; Volume: 15; Issue: 22 Linguagem: Inglês

10.3390/su152215967

2071-1050

Federica Epifani, Donatella Valente,

Economic and Environmental Valuation

In this research, we intended to develop a tool that is able to support the governance of tourism destinations in pursuing adaptation strategies to face environmental impacts. The Sustainable Tourism Assessment Index (STAI) is a synthetic index suitable to assess a destination’s readiness for the implementation of sustainable tourism development trajectories, and it is characterized by a place-based and holistic approach. STAI has been tested in two specific destinations, Gargano and Grecìa Salentina, both located in Apulia (Italy). The two areas were analyzed based on a set of selected indicators, appropriately adapted from a literature analysis, using data from multi-source scraping and referring to the year 2019. Principal component analysis allowed us to compare the tourism performance of the two areas. STAI was then calculated at the municipality scale on the basis of the values of each variable. According to the results, we argue that STAI is a useful tool for governing tourism destinations, including minor ones, and helps support the implementation of development strategies in accordance with the SDGs. Moreover, it helps in comparing different locations in the same region/country from a different perspective of sustainability, as well as assessing the levels of governance sustainability of a tourism-based socio-ecological destination.