Author: Adie BAILEY, Alberto AMORE
E-mail: bailey.adie@gmail.com, a.amore@campus.unimib.it
Department: Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca – Italy
Institution: Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca – Italy
Title: Varied Economic Impact Assessments and their Use in Sustainability Measuring at
Heritage Tourism Sites : Syracuse, a Case Study/ Variée méthodes pour la evaluation des
impacts économiques et leur utilisation pour la mesure de la durabilité aux sites de
tourisme patrimonial : Syracuse, une étude de cas.
Abstract:
Economic impact assessments are often used to ascertain the economic sustainability of
World Heritage Sites. This paper will analyze various methods with which this economic
assessment is undertaken in order to evaluate the methodological validity of these varies
assessment procedures. This seeks to fill a research gap in modern sustainability-based
tourism research. Although much research focuses on the feasibility of sustainable tourism
both in general and at specific sites, the majority of these studies often focus on one
methodological framework to assess sustainability. As a result, very little work
implemented multiple assessments in the analysis of tourism related impacts on a specific
site. Similarly, the review of these assessment methods is extremely limited. This study
seeks therefore to adopt different evaluative methods for the analysis of a specific World
Heritage Site while simultaneously gauging the accuracy levels of each method and of its
results.
This study looks at five different types of impact assessments which are undertaken
in tourism assessment. The first deals primarily with direct impacts, specifically, increase in
site admissions sales and site-specific employment. These are the most obvious economic
impacts which can be analyzed by tourist professionals, but they can also be the most
misleading ones as they only illustrate a very narrow aspect of the economic impact. The
second technique uses the multiplier effect analysis which examines the spread of economic
benefits to the broader community and region. It basically assumes that a greater economic
spread among the local community will increase local demand for products which will in
turn raise the level of economic development. The third consists of an input-output analysis
which deals with ratios related to economic input in terms of capital or work and its
subsequent, and expected, increased output. The fourth method analyzes indirect site
visitation spending, such as that spent on souvenirs, accommodation, meals, etc. The fifth,
and final, method involves an analysis of patterns of business and personal movement. This
specific method seeks to detect whether or not the site attracted new inhabitants to its
locale and to evaluate the growth of business around it.
These five methods are often used separately in different analyses, but this study
will undertake all of them in order to determine which, if any, are the most valid, and if,
instead, the most valid assessment would be a mixed usage of the above described
assessments methods.
This analysis will be applied to the specific case study of Syracuse, Italy, which was
awarded World Heritage Site status in 2005. This site allows for an in depth assessment
using all of these different methodologies as the city of Syracuse is a site itself. This study
will use all available economic and visitation data in accordance with the above stated
methodologies to undertake the analysis of the assessment methods. This case study will
then be used as a model to ascertain the validity of one specific assessment methodology or,
as mentioned previously, the usage of a mixed assessment. This analysis is expected to fill
the aforementioned gap in research related to the validity of economic assessment
methodology in tourism.
Author Bio:
Bailey Adie is a recent graduate of the Master of Arts Cultural Heritage and
International Development program at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK.
Her research focuses on branding, UNESCO, economic sustainability, and tourism
with a focus on the South Asian region, specifically India. She has written her
dissertation on the impact of imagery in the marketing of places and its impacts on
economic development through tourism, using a comparative case study of two
Indian states.
Alberto Amore is graduated in Tourism and Local Development at the University of
Milano-Bicocca, Italy. His research interests focus on tourism planning, heritage
tourism and urban tourism, while his most recent studies deal with the
phenomenon of culture-led urban regeneration in the UK.