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Digital archives as a tool to strengthen tourism research: the Italian case
Full text linkThe digital turn is impacting tourism history in many ways. First, it has changed
tourism itself by fostering new commercial, marketing, and organisational models, and has made it easier to shape new tourist experiences in terms of education, promotion of cultural diversity, and accessibility. It has done this also by exploiting the many opportunities provided by the re-conceptualization of cultural heritage and culture.
The interaction of commercial and cultural dimensions is producing a re-design of
tourist destinations. Secondly, the digital turn has influenced the way historians do
their job, by increasing the role of digital sources and tools in designing research
methodologies; innovating dissemination activities as suggested by public history; and devoting time and resources to the digitalisation process to build historical maps, datasets, digital collections, etc. Finally, access to a variety of online archives as well as the emergence of new social, economic, and environmental challenges is stimulating new research questions and interpretations.
The tourism field is not a special case, as all history disciplines are facing a profound
transformation. In addition, the pattern of changes varies in different countries. For
instance according to Simone Lässig (2021), there are two main differences in digital
history between North America and Europe: 1) in the former, research infrastructure
and initiatives are bottom up and usually funded by private undertakings, while in the latter, state and public projects play a pivotal role; 2) in the former, digital history arose out of public history and, consequently, initially focussed on websites, databases, network analyses, digital imaging technologies, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS), that is, all the tools needed to reinforce the communication of history, whereas European historians initially focussed on tools that enable the analysis of great quantities of text.
Finally, to complete the picture it is necessary to draw attention to economic history,
which was one of the first disciplines to include computer and digital tools in its
methodological approaches. In the United States, in the 1960s, a group of economists created new datasets and applied econometric tools to historical analysis. After many years the most prominent of them, Robert Fogel, was awarded the Nobel Prize along with the institutional economist Douglass North. In the meantime, the so-called cliometric approach spread in the United States and helped to bring economic history closer to economics and farther away from history. Its evolution was not linear, however. In the 1960s and 1970s, the new approach became dominant in the United States and Canada, then during the 1980s and 1990s, spread to the UK and then to continental Europe. Subsequently, US economists’ interest in the cliometric revolution rapidly vanished, such that economic history teachings were no longer included in economics PhD programs. Only recently, thanks to the diffusion of a new approach called “persistence studies”, there has been a revival of economists’ interest in history and an increase in the number of economic history articles in economic journals.
Recently various papers have dealt with the unsatisfactory relationship between
economic historians and economists and the emergence of the new approach of
historical economics, which marks the complete abandonment of historical
methodologies in favour of economic ones (Cioni et al., 2022). Since the beginning, the cliometric approach stimulated a vivid debate among Italian economic historians, that is still undergoing. Over the long run, the main result has been a decline in the number of economic historians in the economics department and an increase in the number of economists who publish papers based on historical data.
The development of digital history (economic history included) in Italy is not far from the general trend described by Simone Lässig for Europe, and can be chronologically framed with three dates corresponding to the establishment of three new scholarly associations: the AIUCD – the Italian Association for Digital Humanities and Culture in 2011; the ASE – the Economic History Association in 2015 (although quantitative history in Italy extends back to the 1990s); and the AIPH – the Italian Association for Public History in 2016.
Since 2017, the AIUCD has published Umanistica Digitale, a scientific journal based at the University of Bologna, which fosters debate on the challenges and opportunities of digitalisation by proposing papers ranging from the theoretical and methodological foundations of computational models in social science to the development and application of computational systems and digital tools in the humanities; and from the study of new phenomena in internet cultures, to the analysis of changes happening in scientific communication and in research infrastructure.
ASE fosters and encourages quantitative history projects and publishes the Rivista di
storia Economica (RSE) [Italian Review of Economic History], although it also welcomes papers using qualitative methodology. This association gives visibility to the quantitative approach (cliometrics) whose diffusion in Italy dates back to the 1990s.
The most recent of these associations is the AIPH which has 478 members including
scholars and professionals, and aims to promote historical knowledge, encourage
multidisciplinary dialogue, and enhance practices and experiences that focus on the
active involvement of groups and communities, also in the digital world. Like in North America, in Italy public historians contribute extensively to the use of digital tools, particularly web and multimedia (Salvatori, 2021).
Following Douglas Seefeld and William G. Thomas, we can say that two of these Italian associations focus on the methodological level (the ASE and the AIUCD), while the third, the AIPH, more on communication and citizens’ science of the past.
Until now, tourism historians have marginally contributed to these associations’
conferences and scientific journals: in Umanistica Digitale, no paper focusing on tourism history or cultural heritage valorisation has ever been published; the Italian Review of Economic History has received only one paper which focused on the reconstruction of the invisible part of the Italian current account from Unification to WWI (Incerpi,2019). We will come back to this essay later. As for the AIPH, although tourism studies are not public historians’ primary target, the association’s annual meetings usually feature papers dealing with the tourism valorisation of history and cultural heritage.
For instance, in the first conference in 2017, tourism was the focus of three Sessions:
“History as a reference for research and design of new cultural tourism products”; “The Liberated South: for a new narrative of South between tourism and business”; and “Cultural tourism”. Three sessions were dedicated to tourism issues also in the 2018 conference: “The valorization of the cultural heritage through the cultural itineraries as an element of touristic promotion of the territories”; “Moving in space in order to travel in time: widespread museums for contemporary history in Italy”; “Co-Heritage: examples of enhancement of the cultural heritage in Lazio Region”. The last Conference in 2022 experienced a further diffusion of tourism related topics. In conclusion, on the basis of the Italian journals promoting the digital turn in the humanities and economic history fields, so far tourism history has played only a marginal role.
The picture doesn’t change if we take into consideration the other main Italian
historical journals or Italian historians’ international publications released in the last
15 years, both in Italian and English. The first decade of the new millennium saw the
major development of tourism history in Italy, particularly due to the engagement of
the Istituto per la storia del Risorgimento italiano (Institute for the Italian Risorgimento/Unification, Naples committee), that from 2000 to 2018, published the
Annali di Storia del turismo (editor Annunziata Berrino 2013, 2016, 2018) on a biennial basis. However, apart from this publication, very few articles on tourism history have been published in other Italian history journals. We can mention Diacronie, which in 2018 published a monographic issue on tourism history (no 4), and more recently Italia Contemporanea, where some papers were presented from 2020 to 2022.
To complete the picture of Italian historians working on tourism, we need to include a few papers published in international journals (Journal of Tourism History, Business
History, Revista de la historia de la economia y de la impresa, TST –Transportes, Servicios y Telecomunicaciones) and a dozen books. However, very few of these papers and books used digital tools or can be categorised as digital history. We will come back to these publications in the next section
Costruzione di un archivio di comunità sulla spiaggia e produzione di saggi scientici sull'evoluzione dell'organizzazione e delle pratiche di spiaggia
No full textIn previsione di una candidatura degli usi e costumi della spiaggia di Riccione a patrimonio immateriale dell'Unesco, il capitolo esamina le fasi di lavoro del gruppo del Centro di Studi Avanzati sul Turismo dell'Università di Bologna nella creazione di un archivio digitale orale degli operatori di spiaggia e propone tutta la serie di articoli scientifici e tesi scritti e pubblicati dal gruppo stesso nei due anni di ricerca
Il valore aggiunto dei servizi, 1861-1951: la nuova serie a prezzi correnti e prime interpretazioni
Full text linkPapa (and Mama) Do Preach: Successful Intergenerational Transmission in a Mature Tourism Destination
No full textThe primary goal of this paper is to deepen the understanding of the impact of hotel managers’ competencies and experiences on the performance of small and medium size hotels. A quantitative survey, complemented by qualitative interviews, has been conducted to investigate the profile of hotel managers and the organizational solutions of Rimini hotels. 139 questionnaires and 25 in-depth interviews have been collected and analysed. To uncover the main success factors of Rimini hotels, a regression analysis and a factor analysis have been developed. The paper presents the main findings of the survey and proposes policy-making implications
UNWTO Affiliate members report Volume Twelve, Global Report on Cultural Routes and Itineraries. Transnational urban memory for local development: the ATRIUM Route.
No full textAs it is based on the main buildings and urban landscapes
of past authoritarian European regimes, ATRIUM brings
together a dissonant heritage, one based on values which
present-day Europe unequivocally repudiates. The project
aims at encouraging a shared view of European identity
that is able to face the uncomfortable and contradictory
aspects of the history of the twentieth-century.
Within this framework, tourism could play a crucial role not
only by creating wealth but also making people more aware
of this dissonant urban heritage. From the outset, Forlì, the
municipality leading the project, took into consideration
both the cultural and the tourism dimensions
Il cambiamento organizzativo nella storia degli Hotel di Rimini
No full textWhat are the most relevant organizational changes that are taking place in hotels? This longitudinal research on the Rimini case investigates the issues pertaining to the trajectories of development of family hotels and their organizational change. In order to understand the actual dynamics of entrepreneurship development and the organizational choices implemented by the hospitality industry in Rimini, an ambitious research project is being conducted. This paper presents the preliminary results emerging from a quantitative survey and from qualitative interviews, in order to depict the evolutionary paths, the dynamics of generational shift and organizational changes that have been taking place in Rimini hotels for more than sixty years. The result is a unique picture, rich in details and evidences, of one of the most important cases of hospitality management in the world
Exploring the current meaning of plaster face casts in museums: the case of Lidio Cipriani’s facial masks at the Anthropological Collections of the University of Bologna (Italy)
No full textAmong the different types of anthropological items that have been amassed over time for research and didactic purposes (e.g. identified human osteological series and anthropometric instruments), plaster face cast collections still enclose a sensitive nature when exposed in museums, being midway between objects and human remains, between scientific items and cultural heritage. The present work focuses on the plaster face casts stored at the Anthropological Collections of the Museum System of the University of Bologna (Bologna, Italy). The main subject is a series of copies of the human facial masks realised by Lidio Cipriani (1892–1962), an anthropologist of the University of Florence, during his scientific missions in African and Asian regions during the European colonial expansion. Starting from this collection, we want to emphasise our recent experience as the Self Steering Committee of the University of Bologna for the pillar Cultural Heritage of the alliance Una Europa, aimed at critically reflecting on the value of those plaster face casts, unveiling their dissonance. Then, we will present our results in the frame of the renewed principles of the discipline, reflecting on the scientific, cultural and social implications that this kind of anthropological asset may have today
Papa (and Mama) Do Preach: Successful Intergenerational Transmission in a Mature Tourism Destination
No full textThe primary goal of this paper is to deepen the understanding of the impact of hotel managers’ competencies and experiences on the performance of small and medium size hotels. A quantitative survey, complemented by qualitative interviews, has been conducted to investigate the profile of hotel managers and the organizational solutions of Rimini hotels. 139 questionnaires and 25 in-depth interviews have been collected and analysed. To uncover the main success factors of Rimini hotels, a regression analysis and a factor analysis have been developed. The paper presents the main findings of the survey and proposes policy-making implications
Cambiamento organizzativo e dinamiche intergenerazionali negli hotel di Rimini
No full textObiettivo
L'obiettivo di questo contributo è la comprensione e la spiegazione delle scelte organizzative e delle traiettorie di cambiamento organizzativo in atto negli alberghi di una destinazione turistica matura (Rimini).
Metodologia
Metodo di ricerca basato su focus group con esperti e albergatori, indagine quantitativa (per mezzo di questionari online) sugli hotel, e interviste qualitative secondo i metodi della storia orale. I dati sono stati tratti da 139 questionari compilati dagli albergatori riminesi e da 25 interviste di profondità.
Risultati
E' stata sviluppata una tipologia ideale, basata su due dimensioni esplicative: (1) Albergo inteso dal gestore come una "casa" o come un "business" e (2) Orientamento al business "tradizionale" o "creativo". Incrociando le due dimensioni, sono stati definiti quattro tipi ideali di organizzazione alberghiera (Albergo tradizionale, Albergo 2.0, Albergo manageriale, Albergo creativo). La tipologia proposta si è mostrata in grado di comprendere e spiegare le scelte organizzative attuate dagli albergatori riminesi.
Limitazioni
Appare necessario estendere il campione di analisi, al fine di evidenziare eventuali criticità della tipologia proposta. Rimane da verificare la possibilità di applicazione della tipologia in altre destinazioni turistiche mature (nazionali e internazionali) e in altre tipologie di destinazioni turistiche.
Implicazioni Applicative
La tipologia proposta permette di ordinare gli hotel sulla base delle caratteristiche organizzative principali che li contraddistinguono, al di là delle differenze formali in termini di dimensioni, categoria, stagionalità, contesto ambientale. Tale tipologia consente inoltre di effettuare valutazioni di congruenza delle scelte organizzative attuate e può essere utilizzata per evidenziare i percorsi evolutivi di ciascun hotel nel tempo e le conseguenze del passaggio generazionale e dei cambiamenti di proprietà o di gestione
Il valore aggiunto dei servizi, 1861-1951: la nuova serie a prezzi correnti e prime interpretazioni
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