TOURISM AND CULTURE MANAGEMENT 2021

Music tourism in Italy: audiences and destinations’ strategies

MARTHA FRIEL - GIOVANNA SEGRE

In recent years, the phenomenon of “overtourism” has prompted many destinations to investigate their offer system more thoroughly and to build new themed proposals to better distribute flows, creating value for the territories by stimulating new intersectoral collaborations. This need has become even more relevant in light of the post Covid-19 recover process that the tourism sector now needs to undertake.

In this context, music tourism, in particular that linked to classical and opera music, can be an interesting segment to focus on, in both quantitative and qualitative terms, and to develop innovative collaborations between the tourism sector and the performing arts sector for a common recovery.

Through a critical analysis of both the current structure of the tourist offer linked to the Italian music heritage and the demand trends of classic music and opera driven tourism, the paper intends to deepen the knowledge of music tourism sector and to advance some strategic considerations in terms of tourism and cultural policies aimed at a better knowledge and valorisation of the Italian music system.

 Objectives. In recent years, the phenomenon of “overtourism” has prompted many destinations to investigate their offer system more thoroughly and to build new themed proposals to better distribute flows, creating value for the territories. This need has become even more relevant for the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In this context, music tourism, in particular that linked to classical and opera music, can be an interesting segment to focus on, in both quantitative and qualitative terms (Sound Diplomacy and ProColombia, 2018).

It is now widely recognized by literature, and verified in practice, that festivals and musical events related to classical music and opera constitute an element of recognition and primary attractiveness for many destinations in the world (Gibson and Connell, 2005; Gergaud and Ginsburgh, 2017). This is the case, for example, of cities like Salzburg (Keul and Kühberger, 1997; Luger, 2006; Wenger, 2008), Bayreuth (Bolderman and Reijnders, 2017) Glyndebourne (McKay and Webster, 2016), Savonlinna (Wanhill, 2006), Pesaro (Calcagnini and Cesaroni, 2011) and many others that collect important flows of visitors motivated mainly by music.

#music tourist #tourism management #tourism product