AlmaTourism, a new interdisciplinary scientific

journal in the field of Tourism, Culture and

Territorial Development for a Common Future
Fiorella Dallari
____________________________________________________________________

In my capacity as editorial director, I am pleased to introduce AlmaTourism, the

first journal of tourism released by Alma Mater Studiorum – University of Bologna,
the most ancient University in the world. The branch seated in Rimini has been
committed for over 50 years to implementing a wide range of education and
research activities devoted to the ever growing international field of tourism
sector.
The electronic journal will be initially published every six months by the Campus
Branch of Rimini and the Advanced School of Tourism Sciences. It aspires to
become an innovative and international platform (i.e. open source) for studies and
researches concerned with cultural heritage, tourism and development. The journal
is available in both English and native language. Thanks to the net of academic and
scientific relationships established both in Italy and abroad, the branch of Rimini
can rely upon a national and international advisory board. In this important and
ambitious task, it’s a great honour for me to have the support of the above
mentioned board, made up of prestigious academic personalities and distinguished
experts dealing with different disciplinary and operative fields. Moreover, a
qualified list of referees will ensure a strict selection and review of the papers
submitted, thus supporting the quick integration of Almatourism within a
prestigious international frame distinguished by a significant impact factor.

The aim of the Journal is the development of multidisciplinary tourism studies, in

order to enhance the convergence and the integration of different disciplines
concerned with the tourism sector. Moreover, it aims the improvement of strategic
tools of cross-fertilisation for the dissemination of research and academic results at
the international scale, with special attention to the Neo-Latin and Mediterranean
culture.

AlmaTourism is particularly inclined to publish articles focused on tourism-related

issues within a “heritage perspective” and an innovative cross-cutting point of
view, both at the theoretical and practical level. The project thus targets
publications from all fields of study linked with tourism such as geography, history,
economics, law, political sciences, management, marketing, mathematics,
statistics, information technologies, anthropology, sociology, psychology,
environment studies. More generally, any research activity conducted in the social
and human sciences area is invited to take part in the project.

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In order to define the multitude of components and products which a community’s
heritage is made of, it is crucial to address two strategic issues which underlie a
scientific reflection on tourism within a disciplinary perspective:

1. the relationship between tourism and cultural heritage in an

economic perspective, in which institutional skills, managerial
capabilities, and rigorous, deductive ways of reasoning play a crucial
role;
2. the relationship between tourism and cultural heritage in a
geographic and historic perspective, in which the geographical and
historical sedimentations of places, as well as the evolution of the
socio-economic system from a territorial point of view are more
relevant, and theoretical inductive reasoning prevails. This approach
is also related to effective relationships with the stakeholders
through quali-quantitative economic, financial, social, and
environmental tools.

The N. 0 issue of AlmaTourism has thus the main focus on tourism, culture and
territorial development seen from an interdisciplinary perspective. As a matter of
fact, the main theme of the N. 0 issue is centred on the economic implications
arising from the correlation between tourism and cultural heritage, considering
also the humanistic perspective. This approach can be viewed as an introduction to
theories, subjects and research methods with which the Journal is concerned. In
the first editorial decisions, my intention as a director was to emphasize few
essential paradigms which are at the core of both contents and research activities.
Such approach will determine either at the theoretical and practical level the
orientation of the upcoming issues of AlmaTourism. The focus on tourism’s wide
sphere of influence thus enables to highlight the impact produced on geography,
economy, history and law, as it clearly emerges from the essays published in the
journal’s current issue. If tourism and geography are closely interwined, and
geography can deliver a wide range of knowledge and interpretations with respect
to the environment visited (see Giacomo Corna Pellegrini), in the same way tourism
can change geography, since it holds the potential to induce modifications in the
attitudes and habits of both local communities and tourists. At the same time, on
the threshold of the third millennium, we are able to assert that tourism is a true
(de facto) discipline, since there is a community of scholars especially dealing with
tourism studies (see Guido Candela and Paolo Figini suggest). Although assessing
whether tourism is a scientific discipline or not is a quite more complex task, we
can assume that tourism is a genre discipline and species discipline. This
contribution emerges both as a pattern and an encouragement suitable to enhance
further reflection, in order to continue this fundamental theoretical debate within
different disciplines.

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However, there is a general consensus on considering tourism as a discipline
involving different sciences with different methodologies, such as economy and
history. When associated with tour operators, these disciplines may produce
“good” results both in practical and operative terms (see Paolo Sorcinelli). In this
sense, it is easy to understand how tour operators are tempted to neglect historic
authenticity in order to obtain a short term income (authenticity or
commodification?), thus triggering a long term international debate on this issue,
which is crucial to historical tourism. At the same time, the connection linking the
theoretical and practical elements with reference to the multidisciplinarity in
tourism studies stands out when introducing law issues (see Marcella Gola). Such
issues require a steady reflection as well as a comparison at the national and
international scale. In the new global scenario, the analysis of relationships linking
law and tourism is extended to the main themes of the social and economical
reality, also implying a proper international debate among scholars. The launch of
AlmaTourism is meant to provide a contribution to this aim. It aspires to enhance
the circulation of research studies within the scientific context, also encouraging
the participation of scholars and experts specializing in several disciplines
throughout the world.

The sections include notes and reports, laboratory, observatory, biography and
autobiography. They are integral part of a complex editorial project, having objects,
innovation and creativity as top-priorities. In the globalization era, the potential of
tourism development with reference to the performance of a given territory can be
viewed, for example, as a privileged indicator of the international openness. The
same applies to the constant attention placed by the legislator on the legal
protection of the environment.

Research projects currently in progress and having few stages already completed
are especially favoured. “The route of Hannibal” is an inter-cultural laboratory with
the aim of training activities, culture and development within the Mediterranean
area. It is a project activity as well as a part of experimentation and methodological
patterns. The project is linked with the European Institution for Cultural Itineraries
and to the UNESCO/UNITWIN net “Culture, Tourism, Development”. It is also a
well-established heritage of the Cultural Itinerary “The Phoenician Route”. In a
similar way, the scientific and practical stimulations originating from the laboratory
activities play a significant role within the multitude of analytical and operative
guidelines which stem from this wide conceptual frame. This is especially true
when special emphasis is placed on international collaborations, as it happens for
the “China-Eu School of Law”, supported by the European Union jointly with China.
Another examples are provided by the Hellenic Society “Elliniki Eteira”, created to
foster development and protect the Cultural Heritage in Greece, and by the
Intensive Programme “Marketing and Management Strategies in Small and
Medium Sized (Family) Hotels”, which took place at the Faculty of Economics,
University of Bologna, Rimini Branch, in 2008 and at University of Gerona in 2009.
The latter is an Erasmus Programme supporting activities with innovative
approaches for the tourism industry.

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The hint according to which “Tourism, culture and territorial development” can find
in AlmaTourism a multidisciplinary platform study is also confirmed by
bibliographical information, future events and biographies. These sections provide
examples of lives and studies conducted by personalities devoted to “tourism”.
These are useful to understand how tourism can be analysed. Indeed, tourism is an
extremely complex phenomenon, to the extent that it cannot be defined with
exactness, not even with a complex and dynamic paradigm. This conclusion
emerges from the dialogue and comparison among managers and assistants at
AlmaTourism, as a result of their international research activities carried out within
different scientific disciplines. Tourism is a too complex and dynamic phenomenon,
also including a wide range of typologies which are increasingly involving both
academic and non-academic communities throughout the world. The only
convergence point consists in interpreting tourism as a social, economic and above
all cultural factor useful to support the development targets set out for the new
Millennium. This is the approach we intend to adopt, having a fully participated
ethical platform as a reference point.
With respect to this passionate participation, a special thank goes to all those who
have taken part in the implementation of the AlmaTourism, project, namely the
editor coordinator, Daniela Calanca, assistants editor Maria Francesco Barbini,
Cristina Bernini, Riccardo Campione, Massimiliano Castellani, Anna Cicchetti,
Alessia Mariotti, Maurizio Mussoni, Emanuela Presutti, Emanuela Randon, Laura
Vici (journal manager) and Lorenzo Zirulia; last but not least, the information team
including Luca Baroncini and Marina Chiarini. I would also like to express my
gratitude to the Director of the Advanced School of Tourism Sciences Marcella
Gola, Professors Guido Candela and Paolo Sorcinelli and the Director of the
Scientific and Didactic Pole of Rimini, Giorgio Cantelli Forti, for supporting the
project.
As the editorial director I would finally like to remember that AlmaTourism will
appreciate any research contribution, with particular reference to young scholars,
who are invited and encouraged to present the results of their own research
activities.

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