Territorial capital, smart tourism specialization and sustainable regional development: Experiences from Europe

Abstract

This study analyses the contribution of territorial sensitive resources related to natural and cultural features (environmental dimension), innovation capabilities and specialization patterns (smart specialization) to regional sustainable development (spatial sustainability). In the context of a fast and continuous expansion of tourism activities, particular attention is given to their impacts. The results of our path model suggest that different patterns of tourism dynamics coexist in European regions and that, for those where this sector assumes larger socioeconomic importance, the contribution to the achievement of the "Millennium Goals", as proposed by the United Nations, is relatively poor. Regions particularly endowed in natural resources reveal a weak socioeconomic performance, while showing high levels of specialization in tourism, based on large scale and low value-added products and services, suggesting that new approaches to territorial design are required. This also leads to important spatial unbalances, with the most tourism-dependent European regions revealing relatively low levels of regional gross domestic product and high levels of unemployment. Despite their relatively good performance in terms of CO2-emissions, it seems important for those regions' sustainable development to increase the value added in tourism, by reinforcing the linkages with other relevant regional economic sectors. Information and communication technologies can contribute to these achievements, through the integration of knowledge and innovations into the products and services comprising the smart tourism experiences (smart development) and their connections with related sectors (smart specialisation).

Tourism Diversification and Its Implications for Smart Specialisation

“…On the one hand, it is linked to fast economic growth and higher value added in the region, particularly in coastal or mountainous regions [10,40,[45][46][47]. On the other hand, more recent studies show lower levels of gross value added in tourism and a lack of connection between tourism, education and productivity, as well as a low contribution of knowledge and research to the economy of regions specialising in tourism [14,37,46]. Specilaisation in tourism is common in conditions of economic growth, destinations' confused image and/or lack of resources as existing markets are focused on and gathering intelligence on tourism markets for future diversification [48].…”

“…This could result in a vicious circle in which regional amenities attract visitors, which in turn contribute to their damage [37]. Recent studies show that Southern European regions specialising in tourism tend to show high levels of unemployment, slow recovery from financial crisis and low levels of productivity in regions where tourism services are more labour-intensive [14,37]. This is related to tourism low-value added products and services oriented to mass consumption, reduced socio-economic impacts and excessive use of natural resources [12,14].…”

“…Nevertheless, it is quite surprising that the impacts of tourism specialisation on socio-cultural sustainability and quality of life in tourism destinations remain understudied [46]. These impacts can be countered by diversification strategies whereby tourism develops linkages with other sectors, which increase its added value but also consider the sustainability of its resources [37,51].…”

“…It also involves interactions between small product and service providers with large international companies and customers, which make destinations a pool of tacit knowledge with high potential for innovation [14]. Even though tourism is one of the most common priorities within the main category 'business areas and target markets' for smart specialisation and innovation priority area, particularly in European rural areas, it is rarely mentioned in EU policy documents and guidelines provided to regions [30,37].…”

“…Studies on tourism and smart specialisation have only emerged recently in the context of tourism sustainable development [12,37,38] and sustainable economic growth and resilience [10,39]. This paper is original in being the first to provide a comprehensive theoretical framework for the study of tourism diversification including a conceptual framework for studying tourism diversification strategies at the market/product, regional and sectoral levels.…”