The Network Building Capacity of Tourist Districts: An Application to the Apulian Case

The research reported in this study sought to determine whether successful tourist destinations can build a «network» on the basis of their attractiveness. To this end, we conducted a social network analysis with municipalities as network nodes and edges representing the natural, economic, social, and public institutional dimensions, reduced to a composite attractiveness indicator (CAI). Although easily replicable in other contexts, our methodology was tested on two Apulian areas in Southern Italy, Gargano and Salento, which are legally designated as tourist districts. The analysis emphasizes that these districts are still unable to construct a system despite strong potential in terms of attractiveness.