Cultural Participation and Tourism Flows: An Empirical Investigation of Italian Provinces

Abstract

The importance of cultural events for attracting tourism has been often posited in research, however rarely tested in relation to non-cultural activities. This paper investigates the association between participation in entertainment activities and tourism flows in Italian provinces, and find that admission to theatre-type activities increases as the number of domestic tourists goes up, whereas admission to museums or concerts rises with an increase in foreign tourists. Admissions to exhibitions and shows expose a positive association with both domestic and international tourists, while non-cultural activities remain statistically insignificant. The results provide empirical support for the existence of a strong relationship between tourism flows and cultural participation. The findings also imply that the demand for entertainment varies depending on the origin of the tourist.

Tourism flows and the demand for regional and city theatres in Austria

“…In the cultural tourism literature, there is indeed proof that tourists prefer to visit art museums when they travel abroad (see e.g. McIntyre 2007;Borowiecki and Castiglione 2014). Many recent studies on cultural tourism recognised also the fact that tourists carry over their everyday life experiences to the tourism arena which results in a similar pattern of cultural consumption as at home and while on trip.…”

“…In contrast to the studies which examine the behaviour of cultural tourists using their personal characteristics, this paper similarly to Gapinski (1988) and Borowiecki and Castiglione (2014) focuses on estimation of direct aggregated effects of tourism flows on attendance at Austrian theatres. Hence, this study is based on the traditional theory discussed above which states that tourists may behave differently while away from home.…”

“…Using the data for 13 London's arts companies over 12 years, this study found an attendance elasticity with respect to the number of tourists of 0.645, indicating that a 10% increase in London visitors increases lively arts attendance by almost 6.5%. In the more recent study, Borowiecki and Castiglione (2014) used data on tourism flows over 2 years in the Italian provinces. They identified positive effects of tourist arrivals and overnight stays on admission rates at theatrical activities, concerts, sports, dance and recitals, exhibitions and shows.…”

“…Recently, Borowiecki and Castiglione (2014) estimated the effects of tourism flows on cultural participation in Italian provinces. Their results provide empirical support for the existence of a strong relationship between tourism flows and the number of visits to museums, theatre and concerts.…”

Untitled

“…Abundando en estos patrones, según Borowiecki y Castiglione (2014), no todos los aspectos del turismo cultural pueden ser cubiertos por estas categorizaciones, demasiado abiertas y generales.Hay una aproximación interesante y atípica y que entra en algún conflicto con el elitismo de las definiciones anteriores: el turismo religioso. Aunque se menciona de manera explícita, en todos los autores anteriores, no hay referencias a un grupo con identidad propia en el turismo cultural: el turismo religioso.…”