REQUISITOS OBLIGATORIOS, DE CATEGORIZACIÓN Y DISTINTIVOS

To investigate on this specific subject, Italy represents a useful case study for many reasons.

First, Italy is a tourist country. As mentioned in the introduction of the present work, Italy ranks fifth in the rankings of the most visited countries in the world (UNWTO, 2014)26. If total tourist arrivals27 are considered, the position of Italy is third in the area EU-28, after France and Germany28. Italy remains third as far as nights of stay are concerned, after France and Spain29. According to recent analysis, the direct contribution of Travel & Tourism to GDP in Italy in 2012 was approximately sixty-three billion euros (4.1% of GDP; WTTC, 2013); considering

25 _{In Chapter 5 a specific Section (5.4) will focus on the analysis of tourist taxation application in}

European countries.

26 _{UNWTO data record only international tourist arrivals, while EUROSTAT provides more}

detailed yearly statistics, such as total tourist arrivals and total nights of stays, for 28 European countries.

27 _{Tourist arrivals are the number of visitors (domestic and international) registered in official}

tourist accommodation; tourist nights of stay (or overnights stay) are the total number of nights spent by visitors in official tourist accommodation (ISTAT).

28 _{Total tourist arrivals in 2013 are recorded to be 151,089,055 in France, 149,395,295 in Germany}

and 103,848,321 in Italy (EUROSTAT, 2014).

29 _{Total tourist nights of stay in 2013 are recorded to be 403,577,275 in France, 389,211,987 in}

also the indirect and induced effects, this amount increases to 161 billion (10.3% of GDP). According to the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT henceforth) in 2012, Italy recorded three hundred and eighty-one million nights of stay (domestic and international tourists; ISTAT, 2013)30. This indicator is very important because it measures the length of visitors’ stays and represents a further proxy of the impact of tourism on the economy as a whole. As reported by ISTAT, the number of tourists in Italy has constantly increased (Table 2.1): 27 million arrivals were counted in the official tourist accommodation31 _{in 1962,} while they reached approximately 104 million in 2012. Even if nights of stay is the most commonly used indicator of tourism demand, as it represents the ability to hold visitors in a tourist destination, tourist arrivals is used as proxy for the capacity to attract people.

Table 2.1 Evolution of tourist arrivals and nights of stay in Italy. Years 1962, 72, 82, 92, 2002, 2012

Years Arrivals % Var Nights of stay % Var Nights of

stay/population 1962 27,527,000 - 161,042,000 - 3.18 1972 40,084,000 4.56% 264,842,000 6.45% 4.89 1982 54,073,316 3.49% 339,800,166 2.83% 6.01 1992 59,896,946 1.08% 257,363,468 -2.43% 4.53 2002 82,030,312 3.70% 345,247,050 3.41% 6.06 2012 103,733,157 2.65% 380,711,483 1.03% 6.41

Source: Author’s elaborations on ISTAT data

A large number of businesses participate in the provision (supply) of the ‘tourist product’ – from hotels and recreation to catering businesses and transport services. In providing tourism statistics, ISTAT delivers information about the number of businesses operating in the formal tourist accommodation sector in Italy32 as well as the number of tourists that choose each type of accommodation

30 _{ISTAT collects tourism statistics on “occupancy in collective establishments” and “capacity of}

collective accommodation establishment” (demand and supply side respectively). As far as demand side is concerned, arrivals and nights of stay, collected since 1957, are divided into Italian and international tourists, and are divided into every type of accommodation establishment (hotels and similar and other collective accommodation establishments). The last available data, regarding 2012, is 103,733,157 arrivals and 380,711,483 nights of stay (foreign component counts 47% of total) (www.dati.istat.it).

31 _{ISTAT distinguishes official tourist accommodation between “hotels and similar}

accommodation” and “other collective accommodation”. In the first typology are included hotels classified into five categories and hotel-tourism residences; while in the second typology are included tourist campsites, holiday villages, tourist campsites and holiday villages-mixed forms, holiday dwellings (rented), farmhouses, youth hostels, holidays homes, mountain refuges, other accommodation, bed and breakfast and other private accommodations) (www.dati.istat.it).

32 _{According to the latest available data from ISTAT, in 2012 Italy counts 157,228 collective}

accommodation establishments in total, divided into 33,728 hotels and similar and 123,500 other accommodations.

and duration of stay (demand). In Table 2.2 is presented the evolution of tourist accommodation in Italy. Although tourist statistics have been collected by ISTAT since 1957, only the number of hotels is available starting to this year, while campsites are available from 1972 and other accommodation from 1989. The trend of the Italian supply of total tourist accommodation is positive, with a peak on the ‘90s. In particular, this increase is due to a rise in other tourist accommodation, while at the same time, hotels recorded a decrease.

Table 2.2 Evolution of tourist accommodation in Italy. Years 1962, 72, 82, 92, 2002, 2012

Hotels % Var Campsites % Var Others % Var Total % Var

1962 34,798 - N.A. - N.A. - 34,798 - 1972 42,289 22% 1,231 - N.A. - 43,520 25% 1982 41,160 -3% 1,863 51% N.A. - 43,023 -1% 1992 35,371 -14% 2,299 23% 18,551 - 53,922 25% 2002 33,411 -6% 2,370 3% 80,304 333% 113,715 111% 2012 33,728 1% 2670 13% 123,500 54% 157,228 38%

Source: Author’s elaborations on ISTAT data

Second, at urban level Italy presents different features that cluster groups of cities such as: art cities (e.g. Rome, Venice and Florence among others); seaside destinations (e.g. Rimini, Ravenna, and Naples); environmental specific and unique amenities (e.g. Belluno and Bozen (Dolomites), Brindisi (Salento) and Palermo (Etna and Isola delle Femmine Natural Parks); religious sites (Perugia and Padua). This heterogeneity is crucial in determining the flows of different tourists, because it is well known fact that factors supply, such as cultural, historical and natural amenities, directly influence tourist flows. Furthermore, according to Paci and Marrocu (2013) “tourists have different expenditure potential, preferences and interests, and it is important for managers in the destination to differentiate among them” (p. 2).

This phenomenon of geographical and socioeconomic variations at city level could generate different effects of tourism and, as a consequence, different kind of externalities. A recent study by Marrocu and Paci (2013) examines the tourist flows determinants in Italian provinces. They find that the main destination attractiveness is given by well preserved beaches, follow the presence of costal areas, renowned restaurants, accessibility and, finally, the presence of parks and museums. For this reason tourist flows in Italian cities have different levels of development and contribute in different terms to local costs and benefits.

Third, only few previous studies have applied the Italian case to check tourism externalities at urban level. Biagi and Detotto (2014) for the case of crime, find

empirical evidence on positive relation between crime offences and tourist arrivals at provincial level. They, however, analyze only a cross section for the year 2005.

As far as house price is concerned, some attempts have been done. Cannari and Faiella (2008) regressing house prices on demographic and tourist variables, show for the first time the positive relation in a sample of Italian municipalities, but only for the year 2002. Biagi et al. (2012) analyzing the case of a cross section of Sardinian municipalities find the same result for the year 2001. These works present the same limitation. Authors seek to explain the relationship between tourism and house prices by using only a cross sectional dataset for one region or a sample of cities and do not examine panel data nor dynamic relations.

Tourism taxation is not a new topic in Italy and in Europe in general. Notwithstanding, policy evaluation about the application and the distortive effect of the tax is not common in the economic literature. Recently, Italy has reintroduced tourism taxation and some empirical researches have been carried out (Perelli et al., 2011; Biagi et al. 2013). The key issue is that tourist perception on the tourist tax seems to be not significant in the choice of the tourist destination. However previous analyses are mainly descriptive, hence further developments are needed, in particular in the context of policy evaluation.

The fourth and last reason why Italy is a useful case study is the availability of data. Three case studies analyzed have three different dataset. In the first case, tourism and crime time series are easily downloaded from ISTAT website or from books called “Annuario Statistico Italiano”. The second analysis employs data from ISTAT and from “Annuario Immobiliare (by Tamborrino and Tamborrino) at city level. While the third more specific policy evaluation exercise, makes use of regional monthly data about Sardinian municipalities. The reason of data availability is not marginal in applied econometrics as is well known problem among scholars.

CHAPTER III