Title: Assessing the impacts of cultural tourism on small and medium sized European cities: a valuation framework for the city of Syracuse

Authors: Patrizia Riganti

Addresses: School of the Built Environment, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK

Abstract: This paper discusses to what extent one can value in economic terms the positive and negative externalities brought by cultural tourism to heritage destinations, and which are the currently available valuation techniques for this purpose. It discusses the role played by preliminary phases in the development of the appropriate valuation framework when stated preferences methods are employed reporting the case of the city of Syracuse, Italy. It builds on this research to analyse the role economic valuation can play in the management of cultural destinations to mitigate the negative impacts brought by the tourism presence whilst spreading the positive ones in the region.

Keywords: focus groups; cultural tourism; carrying capacity; conjoint analysis; tourism impact; small and medium sized cities; Europe; valuation framework; Syracuse; economic valuation; heritage destinations; cultural heritage; Italy.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSTM.2008.020347

International Journal of Services Technology and Management, 2008 Vol.10 No.1, pp.61 - 82

Published online: 18 Sep 2008 *

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