Title: The evolution of tourism demand and supply: a regional policy study

Authors: Manuela Pulina, Bianca Biagi

Addresses: School of Economics and Management, (TOMTE), Free University of Bolzano, Italy; and CRENoS, Via Torre Tonda, 34, 07100, Sassari, Italy. ' Departments of Economics and CRENoS, University of Sassari, Via Torre Tonda, 34, 07100 Sassari, Italy

Abstract: The Life Cycle (LC) approach is a useful tool for analysing the development of destinations and market segments. The Island of Sardinia (Italy) highlights the usefulness of the LC approach using tourism demand and supply. An econometric and a descriptive approach have detected heterogeneities between domestic and international tourism LC. The paper shows that the dynamics of tourism demand are strictly dependent on the local policy and socio-economic changes. The development of the accommodation sector and tourists| preferences are triggered by several factors, such as transportation, advancements in information technology and implementation of public policy.

Keywords: life cycle approach; tourism demand and supply; policy intervention; tourism policy; Sardinia; Italy; local policy; socio-economic changes; tourism accommodation; tourist preferences.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTP.2010.037995

International Journal of Tourism Policy, 2010 Vol.3 No.3, pp.237 - 256

Received: 21 Jan 2010
Accepted: 03 Sep 2010

Published online: 07 Jan 2011 *

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