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The COVID-19 pandemic crisis has had direct effects on social relationships. Tourism activities are by definition linked to the interaction among human beings, beginning with a physical movement of a person from a habitually-frequented environment to one or more destinations. Any denial of mobility, therefore, negates the tourist experience. After briefly discussing the effects of the COVID-19 crisis on the tourism system and hospitality, this work presents a qualitative survey by means of a thematic analysis approach. The study investigates tourism professionals operating in Sicily, across different tourism sectors and in various segments of the market (cultural, luxury, nautical, rural, and slow tourism). The operators were asked questions about their experiences of the pandemic, with its negative impact, and their expectations and prospects. The abilities to adapt to the new normal and build resilience are often related to offering sustainable products and services, which are characterized by a more robust relationship with the territory and local economy.

Walking tourism in urban destinations can be defined as a sequence of day visits and/or a sequence of walking tours. In this work, GPS tracking data on spatio-temporal behaviour of walking tourists in Malaga are reported as case study. Malaga is a booming tourist destination characterized by a city centre, particularly suitable for a pedestrian visit. From 22nd January to 19th March 2018 for a total period of 41 days, a survey was carried out with a specific protocol: 103 interviews were conducted and 101 GPS valid tracks were collected. Walking tourists were systematically sampled, starting from the population of all tourists staying in the surveying day at some selected hotels in the city centre. The approach was based on the use of GPS technology as a supplementary tool used in conjunction with the traditional questionnaire-based survey. The survey has achieved three specific objectives; the analysis of: - the most visited attractions and the characteristics of mobility of walking tourists in Malaga; - the main routes taken by walking tourists during the visit of the city and the corresponding movement patterns; - the factors that have significantly influenced the spatio-temporal behaviours of walking tourists within the city.

Urban destinations are increasingly concerned about regulating overtourism and the saturation of public space by different types of mobile consumers. In the past two years, European cities, like Copenhagen, Amsterdam and Berlin have launched degrowth strategies, including incentives to leave the beaten track and visit neighbourhoods outside of central tourist zones. Yet, these nudging measures are seldom grounded in a deeper understanding of mobility patters of transient visitors. This paper maps the spatial dispersion and consumption choices of cruise visitors Copenhagen, by combining GPS-tracking with traditional visitor survey data and ethnographic fieldwork. Results indicate that previous experiences, planning autonomy and preparation levels significantly affect intra-destination itinerary decisions and the spending patterns of cruise day visitors. By understanding the drivers of cruise tourism mobility, the study can inform differentiated, micro-scale governance of dispersing visitors and alleviating tourism pressures in the city. Urban destinations are increasingly concerned about regulating overtourism and the saturation of public space by different types of mobile consumers. In the past two years, European cities, like Copenhagen, Amsterdam and Berlin have launched degrowth strategies, including incentives to leave the beaten track and visit neighbourhoods outside of central tourist zones. Yet, these nudging measures are seldom grounded in a deeper understanding of mobility patters of transient visitors. This paper maps the spatial dispersion and consumption choices of cruise visitors Copenhagen, by combining GPS-tracking with traditional visitor survey data and ethnographic fieldwork. Results indicate that previous experiences, planning autonomy and preparation levels significantly affect intra-destination itinerary decisions and the spending patterns of cruise day visitors. By understanding the drivers of cruise tourism mobility, the study can inform differentiated, micro-scale governance of dispersing visitors and alleviating tourism pressures in the city.

Seasonality is one of the key distinctive features of tourism-related phenomena. Seasonality in tourism is characterized by regular and rather predictable changes over time of tourismrelated aggregates (arrivals and overnight stays in accommodation establishments, hotels’ occupancy rates, traffic on highways and airports, lodging and transportation prices, etc.), which recur every year. Seasonal fluctuations in travel and tourism demand are relevant both for the travel and tourism industries and for destination managers. Causes, impacts, and policy implications are described as well as measurement challenges and proposals.

The present work aims at proposing an analysis of cruise passengers’ behavior at the destination through a survival analysis approach. Data collected through GPS devices on cruise passengers’ behavior in the port of Palermo and Dubrovnik are analyzed in order to show similarities and differences among behaviors at the destination, according to socio-demographic characteristics. Results are of interest from both a methodological perspective, related with the processing and the analysis of GPS data, and from the destination management perspective.

The increasing need of reliable and detailed information at a regional and subregional level poses some challenges related with the measurement of tourists flows, for tourism destination management, planning and promotion purposes,. The aim of this work is twofold; first, it intends to analyse and discuss the main features and limits of the official border surveys conducted in the majority of world’s countries, within the framework of Time Location Sampling (TLS) design; second, it suggests the implementation of TLS design at a subnational level, by presenting the sampling design of the survey on incoming tourists in Sicily, carried out between 2009-2010, aimed at estimating the unobserved tourism and at analysing tourist mobility in the island

Many pleasure trips are often characterized by the visit of more than a single destination. Despite the topic is well documented in literature, the empirical studies are limited to a few pioneering studies. This lack may be attributable to the failure of tourism organizations to collect data on multi-destination trip behaviors, as it results, for example, from the system of European statistics on tourism (according to the Council Directive 95/57 EC), where no information on the average number of destinations visited within a single trip are provided. This paper aims to analyze the main implications of multi-destination trips both on tourism statistics and in tourism planning, and to describe the research design and the solutions adopted for the analysis of incoming tourism in Sicily. Some results related to the number of destinations visited and on the main travel itineraries undertaken by tourists in Sicily derived from the survey are presented.

The present work aims to illustrate the criteria used for the determination of probabilities of selection of first and second stage units, given the available information, within the TLS design implemented for the survey of the Relevant National Interest Project (PRIN) on mobility of regional incoming tourism in Sicily and Sardinia. First and second stage units selection probabilities are necessary for the implementation of Hansen-Hurwitz class estimators for the estimation of the average number of stops made by tourists in Sicily, for the estimation of the share of un-observed tourism, and for the sampling errors associated.