Local Tourism System in Sicily: a proposal for the identification through spatial classification with the constraints of contiguity

The theoretical approach to Tourism Economics is based on the systemic nature of tourism, stemming both from the heterogeneity of the tourist package and from the existing complex interactions among destinations, firms, tourists. The systemic nature of tourism and the identification with its geographical representation, that is the destination, introduce the concept of Local Tourist System (LTS). This systemic nature has also been recognized by the Italian legislation by creating of an economic policy instrument, named Local Tourist System: “We call local tourist systems, homogeneous or integrated tourist environments, which include territories belonging even to different regions characterized the offer integrated cultural, environmental and tourist attractions, including typical agricultural and local handicraft products, or by a widespread presence of individual or associated tourist firms” (National Tourist Law Reform, Law 29 March 2001 No. 135, Our Translation). Moving from the assumption, the aim of this paper is to propose a method to identify LTS. It is applied for identify LTS in Sicily. The method is articulated in two steps. In the first step we proposed use of Gearing’s approach (Gearing, 1976) to measure tourism attraction in Sicily and in the second step, we proposed to use spatial classification with the constraints of contiguity for identify LTS in Siciliy. This study will provide information for policy makers, researchers and whoever wants to implement the idea of collaborating networks in a context of local tourism development.