Corso di geografia turistica

Unit A1

p.13

• Tourism to the great European capitals is growing, facilitated by the increasing availability of low cost flights.
• In particular, two to three day holidays, called city breaks, involving capitals and cities of art, make up as much as 40% of total overnight stays in Europe.
• Such a large slice of the market forces cities that are already classic destinations to vary their traditional proposals, with new ideas and travel suggestions so that they do not lose ground, and encourages other cities to put themselves forward as new tourism destinations through promotional activities, to make their resources known.
• Paris is an example of a city that is always popular as an international tourism destination. Despite its proven success, the local government has never eased up on its work of promoting and developing ever more innovative tourism proposals. The tourist is the focus of initiatives offering them the very best in terms of the hospitality industry, the efficiency of public transport and road networks, the organisation of highly attractive events, the choice of accommodation facilities, and cultural offers.
• In recent years, cities that in the past were not considered interesting have established themselves as independent tourism destinations: Stockholm being one of them. Taking advantage of the opportunities created by low cost flights, the local authorities, in collaboration with tour operators, have launched a series of initiatives with the aim of creating tourism packages that focus on some peculiarity of Stockholm, such as its distinctive characteristic as an “ecological city”, the worldwide fascination that revolves around the Nobel prize, and the setting of the “Millennium Trilogy”, the literary phenomenon by the writer Stieg Larsson.

Unit A2

p.19

• River tourism satisfies desires for exploring the environment, enjoying the landscape, knowledge, and understanding the history of the land being crossed.
• The Danube, Volga, Seine and Rhine are examples of how a river can become a major tourist attraction that integrates with the resources of the territory in its vicinity.
• In particular, a cruise on the Danube, Europe’s second longest river, offers an opportunity to reconstruct the history of a large portion of Central Europe. Along its banks, the traces left by peoples who, from antiquity up to modern times, have conquered or lived in this land are evident: Romans, Tartars, Ottomans, Russians, Moldavians, Ukrainians, and Hungarians. They were mostly united under the Austro-Hungarian Habsburg Empire, whose era was crowned by the opulence of the mansions and castles that are reflected in the “beautiful blue waters” of the Danube celebrated by Strauss.
• Unspoiled nature, protected by the Donau-Auen National Park, and splendid cities, like Vienna, Budapest, Linz, Passau and Regensburg, meet the demands of natural tourism and cultural tourism

Unit A3

p.29

• A meeting place and the scene of cultural exchange between three continents, the Mediterranean is the world’s most visited tourism destination.
• The high tourism volumes are explained by its central position, ease of navigation, the beauty of the coasts, and the immense wealth of history, art and culture of the countries that surround it.
• However, in recent years the traditional holiday has felt the affects of competitors who are more alert to changes in tourist behaviour and habits, as well as emerging demand (shorter but more frequent holidays, experiential tourism, domestic tourism, etc.).
• It has therefore been necessary to reconsider tourism proposals by focusing on environmental conservation, on the originality of the cultural offer, on a greater balance between volume and the load capacity of an area, on the creation of tourism packages that introduce the tourist to the authentic life of the country visited.
• Market tourism has developed in this direction. From Arab souks to Turkish bazaars, to the fish and herb markets of Spain, Provence and Sicily: in wandering amongst the stalls, tourists reconstruct age-old traditions and cultures, finding products related to the area and the seasons. The whole from the point of view of a tourism that is respectful of local customs and resources.

Unit A4

p.35

• A holiday with the 3S insignia (Sun, Sand and Sea) no longer attracts the evolved tourist who are looking for an all encompassing and memorable experience, far removed from ready-made mass tourism packages.
• In the heart of Europe is a land where time appears to have stood still, where the events of accepted history have not affected the memory and identity of its people. This is Maramures, the region of Romania covered with woods and hills.
• Here lives a people with ancient origins, still dedicated to practicing age-old methods of agriculture. Wood is obtained from trees to build homes and splendid churches: Gothic cathedrals set amongst greenery. Even in the cemetery the skilled local artisans give proof of their skill: each grave is marked by a wooden cross painted blue, which is engraved with a short epitaph of the departed.
• This land offers itineraries between the wooden churches, trekking on the mountains, ethnographic museums, traditional celebrations and rural festivals, an authentic cuisine prepared with products from the area, and a genuine hospitality in the homes of the peasants.

Unit A5

p.41

• Buildings, bridges, skyscrapers, churches and train stations designed by the inspiration of brilliant twentieth century architects (Niemeyer, Gehry, Meier, Foster, Botta, Piano, Hadid, Calatrava, Fuksas, to name just a few) are now powerful in terms of urban and cultural tourism, which have also been able to attract (and re-attract) visitors to cities that were previously outside the established tourism itineraries.
• There are now many cities that have chosen to renovate abandoned urban areas or to redesign parts of their historic centres, entrusting the work to designer architects who have revolutionised the cityscape by creating contemporary monuments, not only innovative in form and design but also in terms of materials, chosen for their environmental sustainability.
• The Hague’s New Centre, Copenhagen’s Black Diamond, Stavanger’s Petroleum Museum, Lisbon’s Modern Oriente Railway Station, Valencia’s City of Arts and Sciences, Bilbao’s Guggenheim Museum, Prague’s Dancing House and Dresden’s Central Station are just some of the spectacular projects that, like the great monuments of the past, attract tourists thanks to the strong emotions they arouse.

Unit A6

p.49

• Great cuisine, understood as a high quality culinary product, linked to the history and traditions of a country, has long been a tourism resource.
• Today crowds of connoisseurs are moving to Europe, attracted by the restaurants and chefs who create haute cuisine, characterised by a constant search for perfection and research on food in order to extract its “essence”.
• Restaurant guides, of which the red Michelin guide is the most prestigious, award their recognition to the best restaurants, which become cult destinations for international gourmets: a reason in itself to justify even a long journey.
• In France and Spain, the work of these young experimental chefs is grafted onto a centuries-old food and wine tradition, which boasts products of excellence linked to the territory of origin, such as foie gras and Champagne from France and Iberian ham and Rioja wines from Spain.
• Other European countries are also reintroducing their own culinary traditions on the food and wine tourism industry scene. An example is Slovenia, which focuses on its genuineness and use of fresh products, related to the seasons, to increase appreciation of the country’s traditions and culture.