Abstract

The essay considers fascist tourism policies from the viewpoint of the relationship between centre and periphery. Tourism represents a growing area for academic research. Recent reforms of local government in Italy encourage the adoption of a perspective of political history in the analysis of tourism policies, also with the aim of unearthing the roots, both positive and negative, of Italian tourism today. This essay examines the effects of fascist interventions on tourism, in order to assess whether the regime succeeded in controlling it at the peripheral level, and to what extent local bodies had room for independent initiative. It also outlines how the measures undertaken by the regime in this sector were affected by both its domestic and international policies.