Integrated Innovative Strategies of Sustainable Tourism through Regeneration of Minor Historic Centres

Since tourism is one of the fastest growing economic sectors, it is essential that cities and regions develop effective tourism policies capable of overcoming challenges related to economic, environmental and social sustainability, balancing traditional values with contemporary requirements of innovation. Moreover many ongoing projects demonstrate that, especially during the current global crisis, regions and cities have an important role to for innovation and competitiveness through promotion of proactive strategies of cooperation between public and private sector, with the local communities’ involvement, also in tourism industry, that is a natural part of the knowledge economy. Within this context, the territorial development strategies pursued by many European regions, through policies, programs and plans oriented towards sustainable tourism patterns, aim at integration between the coastal resorts, characterized by high environmental and social impacts, and minor historic centres of the hinterland, rich in under-utilized resources, in order to reduce the imbalance and socio-economic depopulation trends of inland areas, with a view to goals of territorial cohesion. Possible actions must be integrated in order to pursue common goals closely interconnected: territorial safety; promotion of the natural and cultural diversity of the area; increase of the value of the notable under-utilized resources; trigger for growth processes. Therefore, the role of urban and territorial planning is crucial for careful analysis and interpretation of the morphological and functional characteristics of settlements on which to build interventions of rehabilitation and urban regeneration, with particular attention on use of buildings and urban spaces, on energy efficiency and materials recovery, as well as also on issues of local participation. In light of these remarks, the paper proposes possible models of sustainable tourism development based on the valorisation of local resources, with particular reference to some research activities on desirable scenarios for Calabria Region.