Focus on the Role and Point of View of Municipal Administrations in the Apulia Region on the Phenomenon of Roots Tourism Through a Factor Analysis

The paper deals with a very important topic for Italian southern regions and therefore for Apulia and for smaller destinations like the internal and peripheral areas that could become tourist destinations if they were properly organized to host roots tourists. In the past few centuries Italian southern regions were characterized by poverty, misery and unemployment that obliged many people to emigrate to distant lands in search of a better life. However, many of them never forgot their places of origin. The municipalities of the Daunia Apennine foothills have been heavily affected by past and current migratory phenomena. There, the phenomenon of depopulation must be curbed through the local territory and resources development. This research stems from the awareness that in Italy roots tourism has not yet been studied in depth and even from the operational point of view little has been done, i.e., there are few initiatives created for this tourism segment. It was soon noted that in order to successfully plan the tourist offer for roots tourists it was necessary to know this segment in depth, because it has specificities: roots tourists’ tastes, preferences and behaviours during their holidays are different from other kinds of tourists. In the light of this, it was necessary to understand what local administrators think of the phenomenon of roots tourism, what interest they have developed in this regard, the initiatives they have taken and how public administrators should be made more aware of this segment.