Research, education and tourism as place marketing tools: the case of The Jonian Dolphin Conservation in Taranto, Italy

In fragile environments that are already seriously threatened, such as the city of Taranto and its Gulf, a special attention and the involvement of all stakeholders is required. In these destinations, tourist experiences and resources have the potential to become instruments to increase visitors' environmental consciousness, increasing the awareness about the value of biodiversity and the importance of its conservation. Today Taranto is struggling to overcome the negative image associate with an Ilva steel plant by enhancing its natural resources. The Jonian Dolphin Conservation, an association that carries on activities of research and protection of the sea and cetaceans in the Gulf of Taranto, operates in these directions and represents an essential example of blue economy enterprise and a sustainable way to exploit sea resources. This paper aims to study how an environmentally sustainable activity can favour tourism development and urban repositing in a place affected by a negative image.