Analysis of the tourist potential of Salento (Italy) as a creative tourism destination

Abstract

In the general tourist scene, Italy is known for its rich tangible cultural heritage, mostly promoted in the north of the country. On the other hand, the south is still closely related to stereotypical images of mafia and seasonal seaside tourism. In this framework, the objective of this paper is to analyze the creative tourism potential of Salento leccese, based on the hypothesis, according to which this territory has a great Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) that can allow it to become a Creative Tourism (CT) destination. CT is a cultural tourism typology very sustainable throughout the year. The results have made it possible to show the relationship between the main actors, their opinion about the CT, as well as the design of an inventory of the ICH of Salento with creative potential and a diagnosis of the tourist accommodation capacity of this territory. In the conclusions, it has been confirmed that Salento has a big potential strongly linked to its intangible cultural resources, such as the cartapesta leccese, the decorated tables in honor of St. Joseph or the Punto Maglie lace technique, assets which can be included in creative tourism experiences. Based on the results found, some next steps are proposed in order to achieve a more sustainable tourism.