Innovative Integration in Tourism

The differentiation of tourism destinations depends on the innovative integration of local cultural and natural characteristics of the territory into the regional touristic supply. A panel data model is used to identify – and to confirm – the influence of these “new” conditions for sustainable tourism development in the regional attractiveness in Southwest Europe, between 2003 and 2008. Other “traditional conditions” are also taken into consideration, namely those related to infrastructures and economic conditions. The work includes a critical literature review on the regional tourism systems, their relation with regional systems of innovation and the contribution of natural and cultural assets for the differentiation of tourism destinations.