Territorial brands for tourism development

Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 38, No. 2, pp. 540–560, 2011 0160-7383/$ - see front matter Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Printed in Great Britain

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doi:10.1016/j.annals.2010.10.008

TERRITORIAL BRANDS FOR TOURISM DEVELOPMENT A statistical analysis on the Marche Region Eleonora Lorenzini Viviana Calzati Paolo Giudici University of Pavia, Italy

Abstract: The paper aims at understanding the impact of territorial brands on tourism development studying the statistical relevance of belonging to the Association The Most Beautiful Villages of Italy. The analysis is carried out by means of multivariate regression and partial correlations graphs, applied to 79 touristic towns of the Marche Region (Italy). Our results show that the significant drivers of tourism development are the presence of noteworthy heritage and an integrated system of supply, while territorial brands show a limited impact. In this respect the paper confirms the findings of recent research work, which identifies the need to consolidate regional networks of certification programmes, as well as to include the brands in an adequate process of planning and destination management. Keywords: local development, Italian regions, multivariate regression, quality, territorial brands. Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

INTRODUCTION The analysis of destination competitiveness is a major subject in tourism research. Over the last decade many scholars have elaborated various proposals for defining and measuring the competitiveness of a destination (see Mazanec, Wo¨ber, & Zins, 2007 for a review). Most of them have dealt with the research of the factors influencing competitiveness at the country level, identifying a rich assortment of determinants. Less attention, however, has been paid to the local level, especially in the quantitative studies aimed at estimating the impact of different

Eleonora Lorenzini is Research Fellow at the Department of Public Finance and Territorial Economics (University of Pavia, Corso Strada Nuova 65, 27100 Pavia, Italy. Email ). Her research interests focus on qualitative and quantitative models for territorial development evaluation, tourism development and cultural districts. Viviana Calzati is Research Fellow and her fields of research are tourism-territorial analyses and cultural tourism. Paolo Giudici is Professor of Statistics and his research interests include data mining methods; statistical models for service evaluation; statistical models for financial and operational risk measurement; statistical models for territorial marketing. 540

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variables on competitiveness and development. Yet, the local level—the territory—more than the macro and the micro level, determines the capacity of a country to be competitive (Courlet, 2008). To contribute towards filling the gaps identified in the literature, this paper explores the competitiveness determinants for a set of tourism destinations at the municipality level from a quantitative viewpoint. At the same time, the paper aims to assess the importance of a key variable, often neglected: territorial brands. Many studies have indicated the brand as a competitive factor for destinations (Ritchie & Crouch, 2000). Territorial brands are a particular type of brand that have been addressed also in the literature on place branding and on sustainable development focusing on ecotourism and on the use of local products for tourism development. As Neto (2007) states, the building of territorial brands is a way of promoting the territory as a tourist destination, but also, and mainly, to attract investments and populations, to promote the companies located in it as well as their products and to increase the portfolio of established companies. Both place branding and sustainable development are acquiring importance in the related literature: on the one hand, in fact, many scholars indicate the recent shift in place marketing towards place branding (Kavaratzis, 2004; Rainisto, 2003; Trueman, Klemm, & Giroud, 2004). On the other hand, it is widely accepted that the future competitiveness of destinations will be based on the extent to which they are concerned about the sustainability of their natural, economic and cultural resources (Kozak & Nield, 2004). Nevertheless, the concept of territorial brands is rarely used and an agreed upon definition of territorial brands as a specific topic has not been found in the literature. In this work a brand has been considered as referring to a territory when: it is applied to a specific geographic area or its products rather than to a single firm; consequently it involves and is used by a multiplicity of different stakeholders; it is linked to the historical, cultural, environmental or social conditions of an area; it conveys a sense of quality and authenticity. There are two main reasons for considering this kind of branding. First of all, there has been a wide diffusion of its use to promote tourism, although the literature has not yet proven its effectiveness in tourism development from a quantitative view point. Secondly, territorial brands are increasingly important for the type of brands they represent. As Kolb states, in fact, one of the most recent branding models available to tourist marketers is emotional branding. Emotional branding suggests that marketers build the brand around a specific lifestyle (. . .). Another brand model is iconic branding. In this model the branding is taken to a new level by introducing the idea of building not just emotion but an entire identity around the brand. (. . .) By consuming the product the tourist, at least while visiting, assumes a similar identity. (Kolb, 2006, p. 225)

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Territorial brands can be considered as emotional and iconic brands, since they convey a content of authenticity, quality and typicality of the product, they are representative of contexts where rural traditions are still relevant and there is a strong commitment of the local community to the material and immaterial culture of the place. This paper discusses the concept of territorial brands, verifies whether they have an impact on tourism development, and also measures the impact of other factors signalled by the literature on tourism development. TERRITORIAL BRANDS The most used definition of a brand is that of the American Marketing Association (Tasci & Kozak, 2006, p. 300) which defines it as ‘‘a name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of these, intended to identify the goods or services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors’’. Using a partially different perspective Aaker (1996, p. 68) affirms that ‘‘a brand is a multidimensional assortment of functional, emotional, relational and strategic elements that collectively generate a unique sets of associations in the public mind’’. Place branding is a complex subject for which Kavaratzis (2005) has identified five distinct trends of study in the literature. The first is ‘‘place of origin branding’’, which involves use of the qualities, images and, in most cases, stereotypes of the place and the people living in that place to brand a product that is produced in that place. The second is ‘‘nation branding’’, concerning the effects of branding the nation for the benefit of tourism development and the attraction of foreign investments. The third is ‘‘culture/entertainment branding’’, which deals about the effects of cultural and entertainment branding on the physical, economic and social environment of cities. The fourth is ‘‘destination branding’’, investigating the role of branding in the marketing of tourism destinations. Finally, the fifth trend identified is ‘‘place/city branding’’, which examines the possibility of using branding as an approach to integrate, guide and focus place management. Since territorial brands aim to promote an image of quality and sustainability of the territory they refer to, they can be considered as a tool of place branding. As Kavaratzis and Ashworth state, in fact, ‘‘part of place branding is about using the qualities of local products to ascribe meanings and associations to the place’’ (Kavaratzis & Ashworth, 2005, p. 511). The concept of territorial brands, though, seems worth distinguishing from that of place branding to underline its link to the territory conceived as terroir, a concept that links the actors, their histories, their social organizations, their activities (Bowen & Zapata, 2009). This means that territorial brands are strictly linked to the natural, cultural and social values of the territory and the community they are an expression of.

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The category of territorial brands refers also to the idea of quality. Although quality remains a problematic concept, since it is a socially constructed and ambivalent notion and thus can be highly contested (Rangnekar, 2004), it is evoked by the whole set of the different territorial brands as one of the attributes distinguishing the product, process or territory certified. In many cases the quality attributes are intrinsically linked to the idea of ‘‘localness’’, which conveys a sense of genuineness, values of the local community and so on. In the case of territorial certifications linked to the physical attributes of the place, such as UNESCO and Blue Flag, the idea of quality is about the intrinsic value of the heritage and assets protected, but also the ‘‘lifestyle’’ of the community which recognises the value of its heritage and decides to preserve it for future generations. In the case of food and origin labelled products, quality pertains to the production process and the raw materials used, but also to the place where they are produced, referring back to the cultural concept of terroir. For these reasons quality is the basis of differentiation for the branded product/place and the good reputation of the brand is the core resource for a marketing strategy and for territorial development. Furthermore, the reputation acquired, conveyed through the distinctive signs, helps to diminish the information asymmetries between buyers and consumers that characterise experience goods (Rangnekar, 2004). A taxonomy of territorial brands includes: territorial certifications, eco-labels, quality systems and typical products covered by a collective intellectual property right (CIPR). For each item a brief summary is provided. Local Products, Collective Intellectual Property Rights and Sustainable Development Typical products are presumed to be an important asset for development, in particular in rural and cultural districts. This topic constitutes the subject of an emerging literature which focuses especially on the use of collective trademarks and appellation of origins for local development (Moran, 1993; Ray, 1998; Tregear, 2003) and tourism development (Bessie`re, 1998; Santagata, Russo, & Segre, 2007). Two categories of CIPR recognised by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) are of interest given the object of this study. The first is that of Collective trademarks; they are distinctive signs, used to differentiate between identical or similar goods and services offered by different producers or service providers. Among them figure collective marks—owned by an association whose members use them to identify themselves with a level of quality and with other requirements set by the association—and certification marks, given for compliance with defined standards, but not confined to any membership. The latter may be granted to anyone who can certify that the products involved meet certain established standards.

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The second regards geographical indications, signs used on goods that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities, reputation or characteristics that are essentially attributable to that place of origin. Whether or not a sign is recognised as a geographical indication is a matter of national law. The appellation of origin is part of this category. Santagata et al. (2007) identify two main functions of any type of intellectual property right (IPR). The first is an information function about the quality of the goods produced and the services provided. It is crucial to defend original culture-based production when there are information asymmetries between consumer and producer, as in the case of experience goods. The second is an organisational function and regards especially collective intellectual property rights. Since CIPRs entail the introduction of rules, standards, inspection procedures and financial mechanisms for business development into an area, a community or an association of producers, setting standards on the quality of the products implies maintaining a high level of trust and cooperation among the enterprises. In this sense, CIPRs can be assets for sustainable economic development. The promotion of typical products is the object also of other kinds of initiatives which do not share the same legal protection objectives of the CIPR but have an equally important function. Initiatives such as the Presidia Slow Food, in fact, help to preserve local production, giving pride and recognition to the producers and communicating the value of their product. Certifications, Quality Systems and Labels Another important category comprised in the territorial brands is that of area labels and certifications. They are objects of sectoral interest in the literature focusing on ecotourism and sustainable tourism, while the literature on place branding does not seem to deal with such brands. Since the 90s, researchers have identified a remarkable proliferation of awards, prizes, eco-labels, and certification initiatives given for environmentally sustainable performance (Buckley, 2002; Font & Harris, 2004; Font & Tribe, 2001; Hamele, 2002). They are voluntary tools seldom related to the concept of quality assurance. Quality tourism is a widely used phrase in tourism and tourism-related texts and is associated with a diversity of meanings and usage. For a review of the different perspectives on quality tourism experiences see Jennings and Nickerson (2006). The history of certification in tourism dates back to initiatives such as those of the American Automobile Association or the Michelin Guides in Europe and the worldwide five-star system of hotel quality which have existed for most of the twentieth century. In recent years the negative environmental and social impacts of tourism have led many tourism industry leaders to promote the triple bottom line of sustainability

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(environmental, social and cultural, and economic sustainability) as recommended business practice (Centre for Ecotourism & Sustainable Development, 2007). Currently, certification within the tourism industry refers to a procedure that audits and gives written assurance that a facility, product, process service or management system meets specific standards (Honey & Stewart, 2002). The vast majority of the programs in the tourist industry evaluate lodging, followed by certifications for destinations (Centre for Ecotourism & Sustainable Development, 2007). Certification systems referring to destinations may have two main objectives (Carbone, Fava, & Maggi, 2000): in some cases they aim to protect the environment and to protect the quality of the tourist experiences (i.e., Green Suitcase). Other programs certify the tourism quality, in terms of services and attractions (i.e., Village Holidays in Austria or Les Plus Beaux Villages de France—The Most Beautiful Villages of France). Others, such as the Blue Flag, combine criteria of quality of the services with the quality of the environment. The international literature has paid particular attention to environmental labels for businesses but in recent years in many European countries particular attention has been conferred to territorial certifications. In Italy, for example, the demand for tourism experiences in rural and urban internal areas, linked to the discovery of gastronomy, high quality products and the local culture has led to the birth of quality certifications and marks, granted by associations and foundations such as the Italian Touring Club, which through the brand Bandiera Arancione (Orange Flag) promotes the valorisation of cultural heritage, environment protection, and the quality of the hospitality system (Iannario, 2006). These programs follow the intents of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage List, but have more limited geographic extension (national, regional and sometimes local). The wide diffusion of these instruments can be considered as a positive shift of society towards the search for more sustainable tourism system models. Nevertheless, an uncontrolled proliferation of brands, labels and certification programs may lead to a problem of recognition. Honey (2002) identifies three consumer-linked factors that limit the success of certifications: one, most tourists are unaware of the existence of tourism certification programs; two, tourism certification has been hurt by a lack of credibility; three, the plethora of eco-labels confuses consumers. Gaps in the Literature and Focus of the Analysis Font and Wood (2007), document with reference to certifications for sustainable tourism (but the point can be extended to all the territorial brands) that there has been an overestimation of sustainable tourism and ecotourism demand. This optimism was induced by the diffusion

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of studies reporting on the consumers’ intentions, which show a higher concern for environmental and social values than that evidenced by actual consumer purchasing habits. The authors also cite a study from Goodwin and Francis (2003) which confirms that, according to tour operators, destination, price, services and departure dates remain the tourist’s key decision-making criteria. Furthermore, although the presence of territorial brands is seldom considered an important driver for tourism development, both for the attraction of tourism and for the construction of a system of supply (Parrott, Wilson, & Murdoch, 2002), the literature lacks statistical studies verifying the impact of territorial brands on tourism development and their importance as a market driver for the tourist demand. In this paper we address this point evaluating the impact of territorial brands on tourism development in an Italian Region using regression analysis From a review of the literature on quantitative studies of this type in tourism research, it emerges that this methodology is used in studies focused on subjects such as the impact of the introduction of a large artistic attraction into an urban economy. The case of the Guggenheim Museum of Bilbao is one of the most studied (Go´mez & Gonza´lez 2001; Plaza, 2000, 2006). Other quantitative studies are devoted to forecasting tourism demand to assist managerial decision making (Witt & Witt, 1995 for a review). The majority of articles concerned with tourism demand are econometric studies (regression analyses to estimate the quantitative relationship between tourism demand and its determinants), spatial models (in particular gravity models) and time-series models. With the exception of some literature on UNESCO sites (Buckley, 2004; Kim, Wong, & Cho, 2007; Leask & Fyall, 2006; Prud’homme et al., 2008; Wager, 1995), no other quantitative studies exist on territorial brands. Prud’homme et al. (2008) conduct an econometric analysis on the French UNESCO sites to understand the association between belonging to the List and the social and economic development of the local area they belong to. The study is a comparative analysis among UNESCO sites and other culturally valuable sites not included in the World Heritage List. The response variables concern the tourism activity of the area and indicators of social and economic development. The explanatory variables are: cultural attractiveness; environmental attractiveness and localisation; climate; accessibility; population and revenues. The results obtained show that the UNESCO sites benefit from considerable tourism activity but little importance was attributed to inscription in the UNESCO List compared with the other sites signalled by the Michelin guide, with the exception of the impact on the employment in the restaurant industry. Mazanec et al. (2007), instead, in their causal model of destination competitiveness, use the number of UNESCO Heritage Sites for country as indicator for the heritage and culture construct. The model shows a strong influence of heritage and culture on tourism growth and market share.

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The Case Study: the Marche Region and the Association I Borghi Piu` Belli d’Italia (The Most Beautiful Italian Villages) In order to understand the relationship between territorial brands and tourism development, the Region of the Marche in Italy has been chosen as case study. Seventy-six municipalities, 30.9% of the total number of municipalities in the Region, four Mountain Communities (associations of municipalities located in mountainous areas), three Provinces and one Chamber of Commerce comply with territorial certifications in the Marche Region. In addition, the Marche Region is tied for first place with Liguria and Tuscany Regions in the 2009 Blue Flag classification for beaches, with 16 Blue Flag localities. These data provide evidence of the presence in the Region of a development model oriented towards improving the quality of life, the promotion of its specificities and the union of production and local identities with a view towards the sustainable development of tourism. As concerns its economic system, more than 160,000 companies operate in the Marche Region, with over 600,000 employees and 27 industrial districts, presenting a mixture of tradition, research and innovation. Traditional manufacture and agricultural activities constitute an important part of the GDP of the Marche Region (+1.8% in 2007, higher than the national +1.5%). The Marche’s environmental heritage is a fundamental resource that gives further added value to the entire regional system. The protected areas within the regional territory consist of two national parks, four regional parks, and four nature reserves. Furthermore, there are 109 sites belonging to the European Ecological Network Natura 2000, covering a surface equal to 14% of the regional area. The territory of the Marche also has a significant cultural heritage: more than 1,000 significant monuments, 106 castles, 15 fortresses, thousands of churches and 72 historical theatres all restored and in use. The 344 museums in the Marche qualify it the as the Italian Region with the highest museums/population ratio. Given the importance of the cultural capital of the Region, the analysis has been focused on the brand I Borghi Piu` Belli d’Italia (The Most Beautiful Villages of Italy, from here on Borghi), one of the several territorial brands present in the Marche Region. The Association Borghi was instituted in 2001, stimulated by the Tourism Committee of the Association of the Italian Municipalities (Associazione dei Comuni Italiani—ANCI), with the objective of safeguarding and promoting the historical-artistic, environmental and identity heritage of the small Italian towns positioned on the fringes of the large tourism flows. The project intends to promote the participation of local governments concerned with the safeguarding and enhancement of their villages’ cultural heritage who intend to improve the quality of life of the village and therefore to increase its visibility and tourism promotion. Currently 196 towns belong to the circuit, of which 18 in the Marche Region. The quality charter defines the admissions criteria, the method of withdrawing the brand and control of the use of the brand. Each town

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must satisfy the following criteria: to have a population which in the old village indicated does not exceed 2000 inhabitants. In the city itself, there cannot be more than 15,000 inhabitants. It must possess an architectural and/or natural wealth certified by documents in the possession of the city and/or the Sovrintendenza delle Belle Arti (Superintendence of Fine Arts). The historical buildings must predominate in the set of ‘‘constructed mass’’ and create an aesthetically homogeneous whole. The charter also establishes that the city must express the will and create policy for the enhancement, development, promotion and enlivenment of its territory. It should be noted that the promoter of the certification is the local government which becomes, theoretically, an interlocutor able to create collaboration and sharing among the players of the territory about the certification project. The Model The model that we propose comprises diverse possible determinants of tourism development as identified by the related literature. We note that, in choosing the determinants, we have matched theoretical suggestions coming from the literature with the available data. The lack of the latter has drastically limited our choice of variables. The target variables considered as proxy of tourism development are demand indicators such as overnight stays/number of inhabitants and average length of stay. The variables identified as drivers for the tourist development of a place can be organised as belonging to one of the following groups. Accommodation Structure Variables. The supply of accommodation structures, restaurants and other tourist services is presumed to be linked with the demand. Probably the relation is circular rather than casual. On one hand, without an adequate system of supply, tourists would not have the opportunity of staying in the destination; on the other hand, the arrival of tourists stimulates the organisation of the supply. Economic Development Variables. The economic development of a destination can have a two-fold effect on tourism development. If local development has an industrial character, it could determine low tourist attraction or the growth of business tourism. But local development can also be generated by a process of progressive integration of the economic structure that builds a composite local offer of agricultural productions, arts and crafts, services and tourism activities. This activates a multiplier process which can also be driven by the valorisation of cultural assets, as we expect will happen in the case of the Borghi. Using the example proposed by Greffe (2004), improving a monument may lead to the development of the surrounding area and this is what the application of income and employment multipliers to these regions indicates. The outcome of this development largely depends on the proper integration of the area. The greater the area’s ability to satisfy the needs of tourists with its own resources, the greater the multiplier process will be (Greffe, 2004).

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Cultural and Environmental Capital Variables. The case study chosen and the importance of territorial brands especially in cultural and rural districts imply the introduction of this category of variables among the drivers. Nowadays the growth of cultural and heritage tourism is considered one of the main trends of the evolution of the tourist demand and is one of the priorities of tourism policy in many countries. Nonetheless, a problem inherent in cultural distinction strategies is that many places adopt similar strategies and therefore even culture begins to lack distinction (Richards & Wilson, 2007). To address this point, especially in the urban sphere, but also in some extra-urban spaces, the goals of cultural policy have shifted away from heritage preservation towards more intangible heritage and the animation of cultural space (Cloke, 2007; Richards & Wilson, 2007). For these reasons, elements such as performing arts festivals, local product fairs, tasting and events play an emerging role in the attractiveness of a destination. Network Capabilities, Systems, Institutional Capacity. The role of agglomeration economies is widely recognised in the literature for their potential for generating external economies such as the sedimentation of a distinctive savoir faire, knowledge and capabilities at the local level; the growth of relationships and interdependence among firms within the same sector and between different sectors; the creation of a local labour market; physical and institutional infrastructures. Usually, in tourism districts, institutions play a leading role in facilitating the cohesion of players of different nature around a common strategy and development project; in strengthening social capital; in promoting networks of territories and area labels; in setting quality objectives; in facilitating the development of human capital. They can also favour a good governance of the system, laying the ground for the coordination of the interests of different stakeholders. Context Variables. The number of inhabitants in a place, the average income of the population, the proximity to the sea and thus the climate, are presumed to be associated with the indicators of tourism development. Presence of Territorial Brands. Finally we have included in the model a set of variables regarding the presence of territorial brands, the main factor of interest. Organisation of the Data The construction of the database was the first step of our empirical work. The final database is composed of 79 observations, represented by all the municipalities that the Region considers as having tourism value as well as the municipalities belonging to the Association Borghi. Although we are interested in understanding the variables influencing the competitiveness of a destination, conceived as a territory composed of several municipalities sharing similar or complementary resources and values, for this study we have chosen the single municipality as our unit of analysis.

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The 80 variables considered were obtained from several sources. Table 1 shows the main numeric variables collected as well as their mean, median, standard deviation and data source. Other variables not included in the table concern the number of employees and firms divided by sector of employment. Further variables, binary, have been gathered concerning the climatic zone and whether the municipality belongs to a mountain community or to a local tourism system. From Table 1 note that the variables referring to territorial brands are: labels; indicator of quality and typicality—territorial brands and borgo. Furthermore, some variables have been considered individually, while others have been condensed into four binary indicators. The complete operational definition of the variables and indicators used in the model is shown in Table 2. We have also tried to obtain an indicator of networking capacity using variables such as belonging to a Mountain Community or to a local tourism system. Nevertheless we have chosen not to use these since they seem to be the result of a political arrangement rather than indicators of the willingness to network of the individual municipality. Concerning the response variables, target of the regression analysis, we have chosen the ones that could be considered the closest proxy of tourism development: overnight stays/number of inhabitants; average length of stay; variation of the previous two between 2001 and 2007. We note that these variables are unable to gather some important aspects of sustainable tourism development, such as an improved quality of life for inhabitants, increased social capital and determinants such as the quality of destination management and destination policies. Nevertheless, given the available data for the Italian context, they represent the most frequently used indicators for tourism development. Finally, we remark that price levels have not been included in the model, despite the importance given to price as an independent variable in many competitiveness models. The reasons for this choice are the followings: first of all, the price competitiveness index usually used (see Mazanec et al., 2007) is based on exchange rate adjusted purchasing power parities. Such an approach makes sense when competitiveness is studied at the country level, while price competitiveness is hardly measurable at the local level. Furthermore in this case all the municipalities analysed belong to the same Region and have similar features. This allows one to assume that price levels are not very different among the 79 municipalities and do not constitute a differentiating element. Furthermore price emerges as unimportant in the UNESCO study (Prud’homme et al., 2008), along with proximity to transport infrastructures which has not been considered for the same reason. Results of the Statistical Analysis Descriptive Analysis. First of all, a descriptive analysis was made of the 79 municipalities in relation to the target variables selected. It showed that four out of 16 Association members have a higher than average

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Table 1. List of the Main Quantitative Variables Collected and Their Sources Variable

Mean

Standard deviation

Median

Source

No of inhabitants in 2001 No of inhabitants in 2007 Hotel beds 2001 Hotel beds 2007 Non-hotel beds 2001 Non-hotel beds 2007 Overnight stays 2001 Overnight stays 2007 Arrivals 2001 Arrivals 2007 Average length of stay 2001 Average length of stay 2007 Typical restaurants

4,985 5,266 266 298 364 180 74,432 77,699 8,972 9,754 6.26 5.74 0.52

3,546 3,809 863 889 1,049 491 200,299 200,626 20,001 21,028 6.24 5.79 0.85

3,851 4,006 63 88 64 57 8,800 11,446 2,536 2,421 4.74 4.26 0

Territorial certifications

0.91

1.19

1

Museums and libraries

2.80

1.55

3

Historical and artistic assets

9.22

6.16

8

Theatres Events and festivals Fairs and markets Nature Reserves Certified wines Certified oils Other certified products Slow Food Presidia Average income 2005 Total firms 2001 Total firms 2008 Total employees 2001 Total employees 2008

0.63 3.82 0.81 1.73 0.38 0.01 0.15 0.28 16,555 581 597 1,095 1,491

0.54 2.74 0.91 2.15 0.74 0.11 0.36 0.55 1,183 387 409 820 1,070

1 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 16,489 455 471 917 1,291

ISTAT ISTAT Regional Tourism Observatory Regional Tourism Observatory Regional Tourism Observatory Regional Tourism Observatory Regional Tourism Observatory Regional Tourism Observatory Regional Tourism Observatory Regional Tourism Observatory Regional Tourism Observatory Regional Tourism Observatory I ristoranti d’Italia 2009—Le guide dell’Espresso; Italia 2009 Alberghi e ristoranti Michelin; Ristoranti d’Italia ‘09 Gambero Rosso www.borghitalia.it; www.bandierearancioni.it; www.cittadelvino.it; www.cittadellolio.it; www.cittaslow.net; www.restipica.net www.comuni-italiani.it; websites of the municipalities; www.cultura.marche.it; www.marcheturismo.it; Touring Club Italiano Guide www.comuni-italiani.it; websites of the municipalities; www.cultura.marche.it; www.marcheturismo.it; Touring Club Italiano Guide www.cultura.marche.it; www.paesionline.it; www.eventiesagre.it www.paesionline.it; www.eventiesagre.it www.regione.marche.it www.cittadelvino.it; www.restipica.net www.cittadellolio.it; www.restipica.net www.restipica.net www.presidislowfood.it; www.comuni-italiani.it Unioncamere Unioncamere Unioncamere Unioncamere

level for the indicator overnight stays/number of inhabitants, while almost the entire group (15 out of 16) has a higher than average value with regard to the evolution of the indicator between 2001 and 2007. Concerning the average length of stay and its trend between 2001 and 2007, nine out of 16 performed better than average. Although these results seem to indicate that belonging to the Association generates better than average results, they need to be verified

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Table 2. List of the Variables and Indicators Used in the Model Variable

Operational definition

Overnights/pop

Standardised number of overnight stays/number of inhabitants Variation between 2001 and 2008 of number of overnight stays/number of inhabitants Standardised number of overnight stays/arrivals Variation between 2001 and 2008 of number of overnight stays/arrivals Number of museums and libraries/maximum observed value (from here on max) + number of historical and artistic assets/max + number of theatres/ max + number of natural reserves/max Standardised number of territorial certifications Number of labelled products/max + number of Slow food Presidia/max + number of events and festivals/ max + number of fairs and markets/max Standardised number of tourism offices Belonging to the Association Borghi (1) or not (0) Standardised average income Position in internal hill (1) or not (0) Position in internal mountain (1) or not (0) Hotel beds 2007/ max + non hotel beds 2007/ max + variation 2001–2008 employees in hotels and restaurants + employees in hotels and restaurants in 2008/max + variation 2001–2008 employees in hotels and restaurants for 100 inhabitants Total employees 2008/max + total employees 2008 for 100 inhabitants/max + variation between 2001 and 2008 of total employees 2008 + variation between 2001 and 2008 of total employees 2008 for 100 inhabitants + variation between 2001 and 2008 of firms Standardised number of agriculture employees 2008 Standardised number of manufacture employees 2008

Difference Overnights/pop Average length of stay Difference Average length of stay Heritage Indicator

Labels Indicator of quality and typicality—Territorial brands IAT Borgo Average income Internal hill Internal mountain Tourism services indicator

Economic development indicator

Agriculture employees 2008 Manufacture employees 2008 Building industry employees 2008 Commerce employees 2008 Hotels and restaurants employees 2008 Transportation employees 2008 Brokerage employees 2008 Real estate employees 2008 Total employees 2008 Hotel beds 2001 Non hotel beds 2001 Hotel beds 2007 Non hotel beds 2007

Standardised number 2008 Standardised number Standardised number employees 2008 Standardised number

of commerce employees 2008 of hotels and restaurants

Standardised Standardised Standardised Standardised Standardised Standardised Standardised

of of of of of of of

number number number number number number number

of building industry employees

of transportation employees 2008 brokerage employees 2008 real estate employees 2008 total employees 2008 hotel beds 2001 non hotel beds 2001 hotel beds 2007 non hotel beds 2007

with a regression analysis that takes into account the correlations among variables.

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Table 3. Output of the Regression Analysis for the Target Variable Overnight Stays/Number of Inhabitants Explanatory variables Indicator of heritage Internal mountain Employees in manufacturing Employees in construction industry Employees in commerce Employees in hotels and restaurants Total employees Hotel beds 2001 Non-hotel lodging beds 2001

Estimated regression coefficient T value 0.037 0.062 0.107 0.055 0.042 0.070 0.178 0.090 0.096

2.221 1.644 2.271 1.748 1.382 1.725 2.048 2.791 5.141

Pr (>|t|) 0.030 0.105 0.026 0.085 0.172 0.089 0.044 0.007 2.44e-06

Regression Analysis. Table 3 shows the output of the regression analysis for the model selected by stepwise selection for the variable overnight stays/number of inhabitants with respect to all the explanatory variables. Table 3 shows that as far as the overnight stays/number of inhabitants target variable is concerned, the model highlights a significant positive association with the following variables: indicator of heritage, total number of employees and beds both in hotel and non-hotel lodging structures. Furthermore, there is also a positive association, even if less statistically significant than the previous ones, with the location of the sites in the internal mountain area. This seems to confirm a shift from traditional 3s tourism to a search for a total leisure experience. We note that the R2 of the model in Table 3 is equal to 0.50. The corresponding F test is 6.88, which means that the model as a whole is significant. The residuals from the fitted model turn out to be substantially normally and independently distributed. Table 4 shows the output of the regression analysis for the model selected by stepwise selection for the variable average length of stay with respect to all the explanatory variables. The model in Table 4 has an R2 of 0.47 and an F test of 5.16 which indicate the significance of the model as a whole. The residuals from the fitted model have proven to be substantially normally and independently distributed. Regarding the parameters, the model concerning the average length of stay again shows a significant association with the heritage indicator, the number of beds in hotel and non-hotel lodging structures in the year 2001 as well as with the employees in the agricultural products transformation sector. There is, instead, a negative correlation with the average income of the population and the number of beds in hotel structures in the year 2007. The coefficients of beds in both hotel and non-hotels accommodations in 2001 are positive, while the coefficient of beds in hotels in 2007 is negative. This evidence suggests that an investment in the supply of tourism accommodation in 2001 bore fruit in the following years, while for the municipalities which invested in

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Table 4. Output of the Regression Analysis for the Variable Average Length of Stay Explanatory variables Indicator of heritage Indicator of quality and typicality Average income Internal hills Internal mountain Indicator of economic development Employees in agriculture Employees in real estate Hotel beds 2001 Hotel beds 2007 Non-hotel beds 2001

Estimated regression coefficient 0.067 0.040 0.168 0.100 0.119 0.087 0.074 0.057 0.212 0.143 0.122

t value 1.960 1.361 2.777 1.423 1.441 1.557 2.161 1.608 3.413 2.307 4.154

Pr (>|t|) 0.054 0.178 0.007 0.159 0.154 0.124 0.034 0.113 0.001 0.024 9.44e-05

the hotel sector only in the years after 2001 the average length of stay diminished. The negative association with the average income can be explained by the fact that these data are based on income declared on tax returns and, therefore, give an estimated income rather than the actual one. Furthermore, since we have noticed a positive correlation with the activity of agricultural product transformation, we can presume that the average length of stay is higher in rural areas where the agricultural sector is the main activity and therefore the declared income is typically lower than in the industrial sector. There is also an underestimation of the average income in the tourism sector, in particular in the non-hotel segment. For the sake of completeness we note that we have also tried to elaborate a model to explain the differential trend between 2001 and 2007 of the two indicators used above. Such models have not proven to be significant. Interpretation of the Obtained Results. We now interpret the results of the various models. Both the model for the average length of stay and the one for the number of overnight stays/population have confirmed the hypothesis that the presence of heritage is an attractive factor for tourist flows. Also the variables of economic development (in the first case the total number of employees and in the second case the employees in the agriculture related sector) show a positive correlation with both target variables. This suggests that tourism development is fostered by the presence of an integrated development system based on a portfolio of diversified activities such as agriculture, commerce, the manufacturing sectors and the building industry. Furthermore, the models confirm, as hypothesised, that an increase in the accommodation supply generates the expansion of the demand. Unexpectedly, the indicator of quality and typicality and the presence of territorial brands do not seem to be directly associated with the target variables. We offer some possible explanations for this result. First of all we stress the difficulty in finding indicators able to give an idea of the kind

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of tourism development which takes place in sites like the Borghi. The variable number of overnight stays/number of inhabitants cannot be the only method of evaluation where the strategy of development is attracting quality rather than mass tourism. The official statistical institutes should make an effort to create indicators that measure the impact of excursionists and the holiday house flows. A second reason is that we have estimated only one component of the quality, that is, the presence of typical labelled products and territorial certifications. There are other important aspects of quality, such as the quality of life and the quality of hospitality, which can be better evaluated using data extracted from questionnaires and interviews. This can constitute a future step in the research project. A third reason is that the achievement of a brand does not automatically generate impacts. It takes some time for the effects to emerge. This is because many brands are not yet recognised by tourists, who are not aware of their existence and thus do not take them into consideration at the moment of choosing a destination. Furthermore, the model has measured and analysed only the number of territorial brands present in the selected municipalities. Important information would be provided by the inclusion in the model of data about brand awareness, advertising and promotion expenditures. Gathering this kind of data should constitute a future research step helping to add value to the model. We finally note that, although a direct effect of territorial brands does not emerge from the analysed data, an indirect effect is evident, through related significant variables, such as the heritage indicator, the number of beds in non-hotel lodging and the employees in the agricultural products transformation sector. This suggests that territorial brands may be effective when inserted in a coordinated plan of tourism development. The Analysis of the Partial Correlations. Finally, in order to remove possible spurious correlations caused by collinearities between the target variables, we have calculated the matrix of the partial correlations among all the variables, both target and explanatory. Such partial correlations have been shown graphically in Figure 1. More precisely, each variable corresponds to a node in the graph and between each pair of nodes we have evaluated how to draw a line based on the following criteria: if the partial correlation between the two variables is significantly positive, a continuous line was drawn; if instead the partial correlation between the two variables is significantly negative, a dotted line was drawn. Figure 1 shows that there is a positive correlation of 0.345 between the two target variables of overnight stays/number of inhabitants and average length of stay. This means that the two variables increase or decrease together. Furthermore Figure 1 shows that the collinearity between the target variables diminishes the number of significant correlations between the target and the explanatory. More specifically Figure 1 confirms that for overnight stays/number of inhabitants the variables positively correlated are: heritage indicator, total employees and beds in non-hotel accommodations in 2001. The variables negatively correlated are:

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Overnights/pop Non-hotel beds 2007 Difference Overnights/pop

Non-hotel beds 2001 Hotel beds 2001

positive

- - negative

Hotel beds 2007

Average length of stay

Difference average length of stay Heritage Indicator

Total Employees

Labels Real estate Employees Quality Indicator Brokerage employees IAT

Trasportation Employees Borgo Hotel and restaurant Employees Average income Internal hill

Commerce Employees

Internal mountain Building Industry Employees Tourism services Indicator

Manufacturing Employees Agriculture Employees Economic Development Indicator

Figure 1. Partial Correlations Between all the Variables Used for the Regression Analysis

difference 2001–2007 in overnight stays/number of inhabitants and employees in hotels and restaurants, commerce, manufacturing and building industries. Regarding the average length of stay target variables, Figure 1 confirms the negative correlation resulting from the regression analysis with average income and hotel beds in 2007. The only positive correlation regards the target variables overnight stays/number of inhabitants. This means that all the positive associations resulting from the regression analysis are actually mediated by the first target variable. CONCLUSIONS This paper has proposed a new model to assess the importance of territorial brands in the competitiveness of destinations using statistical methods. The original elements of the paper are essentially three. First, a new concept of territorial brands has been proposed and discussed. Second, the importance of territorial brands on destination competitiveness has been analysed using a quantitative regression analysis, rather than in a qualitative way, using questionnaires to customers and interviews of policy makers and entrepreneurs. Third, while competitiveness is usually measured at the country level, our model adds information about the importance of many different competitive determinants at the local level. As far as the results are concerned, the quantitative analysis conducted on the 79 tourism towns of the Marche Region suggests the need

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to deepen the research on territorial brands as a competitive factor. The use of the number of territorial brands as independent variables, in fact, does not show a significant positive impact of territorial brands on tourism development from a quantitative viewpoint. The first reason that can be claimed to explain this result is the fact that the number of territorial brands should be accompanied by other independent variables such as promotion expenditures. Secondly, it would be useful to collect a broader set of indicators to estimate tourism development. Unfortunately indicators such as the average tourist expenditure or data on excursionists are not available for the Italian municipalities. Similar data could help gain a deeper understanding of the tourism dynamic characterising destinations like the Borghi whose development model is based on quality rather than the attraction of mass tourism. The lack of data at the local level is probably the main limitation of this study. This suggests that the main statistical offices need to build more complete datasets. Furthermore some limitations can be overcome in future research projects by gathering information about brand awareness in consumers and brand management and promotion from policy makers and enterprises. As far as the other competitiveness determinants are concerned, heritage confirms its relevance in attracting tourists and determining a high average length of stay. Similarly, agricultural products transformation is associated with a longer average length of stay. Certifications and brands protecting and valorising heritage and typical products are thus worthy of policy makers’ attention. Moving from theory to practice, the paper shows that awareness of the importance of quality as indicated by the presence of territorial brands is not yet fully developed in tourists. On the one hand, in fact, although in recent decades alternative holiday forms have been discovered, mass tourism remains an extremely popular vacation option (Sharma, 2005). On the other hand, an appropriate promotional campaign is necessary to spread awareness of the different quality labels and of the differentiated supply they guarantee. There is, in fact, a problem of education towards tourists. Chafe (2007) reports on some studies carried out in Australia which demonstrate a sensitive increase in tourist support towards such initiatives after a program informing about certifications. Our study confirms the findings of recent research which identifies the need to consolidate regional networks of certification programmes (Hamele, Kusters, Sanabria, & Skinner, 2007). After a period of development of bottom-up, locally based, capacity building certification programmes, it appears that the current certification brands are not sufficiently powerful to influence customer choice (Font & Wood, 2007), while networking efforts at regional or at least national level could improve their effectiveness both in terms of the achievement of higher quality standards and of customer awareness. Evidence seems to suggest that the achievement of the territorial brand is often an isolated action, not followed by an adequate process of planning, organisation and management.

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The major difficulties arising in the implementation of territorial certifications are connected with the time necessary to foster effective communication among interest groups and in particular to make the local community aware of the opportunities and of the conditions for a sustainable development. As already pointed out, certification cannot carry out this role if it represents an ‘‘isolated’’ tool, limited to assigning a ‘‘stamp’’ to the territory, thus removed from the process of tourism planning of the area. Destinations must initiate a process of organisation, coordination and integrated management of the tourism supply. The association owning the property right or brand can play an important role in stimulating these processes through two main actions: setting objectives for the sustainable development of the system and implementing a monitoring system to verify the progress made by the participants. This can then stimulate the proactive attitude of the destination to promote actions aiming at strengthening the quality of life for the community which is in turn the main beneficiary of the positive externalities of the destination. Community involvement generates a shared vision of the territory and of the possible development strategy. In this way the community can gain an active role in the economic activity and this creates conditions of wealth and quality of life that constitute a benefit not only for residents but also for tourists. Acknowledgements—The Authors are grateful to three anonymous referees for comments and constructive criticism. The Authors acknowledge the Association Borghi Piu` Belli d’Italia (the Most Beautiful Villages of Italy), the data provider Company Infocamere and the Regional Tourism Observatory of the Marche Region for their support in the data collection. The Authors acknowledge the financial support of the FIRB project ‘‘Data Mining for Small and Medium Enterprises’’. The Authors also thank Carla Ge Rondi and Carlo Magni for their stimulating discussions.

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