Abstract

This essay traces back the evolution of tourism in the South of Italy from the end of WWII to date, with the aim of ascertaining the role of public policies and local actors – in the broader context of national and international tourism trends – and identifying the reasons for the weaknesses of the Southern tourism model and the implications for its future. The periodisation adopted to analyse the 70 years considered is based on the main turning points of both tourism trends and public policies. Two main phases are identified: the 1950-1991 period, characterised by the impetuous development of mass tourism and, in the South of Italy, by the centralised special State intervention for the development of the South; the 1991-2019 period, characterised by a decline of domestic tourism, the development of new tourism demands and forms of intermediation, as well as the end of national policies for the South and the full «regionalisation» of public policy, also within the scope of the European cohesion policy. Regarding tourism trends the focus is on the demand side and, more specifically on the demand for accomodation in hotels and other lodging categories, which represent the core of the tourism sector, in the two main areas of the country. As to public intervention, the focus is on the debate and on the contents of policies deployed in the different phases (aims, strategies, tools, financial resources), with the aim of identifying continuities and turns.