Ecotourism as a Trigger for Economic Development: A Resource-Based View of Calabria

Ecotourism as a Trigger for Economic Development: A Resource-Based View of Calabria

Giuseppe Umberto Cantafio, Vipin Nadda
Copyright: © 2021 |Pages: 13
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-5691-7.ch008
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Abstract

Peripheral Mediterranean regions, such as Calabria, have an urgent need to revitalise the economy through better use of natural resources. The increase in tourism can bring the sought after foreign exchange, resulting in the development of small and medium local enterprises. The chapter aims at evaluating the potential of the Calabria region. This was done by carrying out an analysis of a resource-based view of the aforementioned region. A list of potential nature-based tourism resource sites was identified and discussed. This study highlighted key findings and recommendations to policymakers.
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Literature Review

Before deepening the topic of ecotourism, it is important to situate the present work in the setting of prior studies and academic works relating to the broader themes of economic development, sustainable development, sustainable tourism development, and then narrowing down the discourse to the theme of ecotourism. The following sections will offer a critical investigation of existing literature consistent with appropriate topics, validating how the present study will detect the gap in the literature, and outlining the academic and conceptual background of the study.

Economic Development

The description of economic development, on the word of Todaro (1995), is a growth in living standards, improvement of the people self-esteem needs and a free and just society. He suggested the Human Development Index as the most accurate assessment framework for economic development, in which he considered literacy rates, quality of life, life expectancy rates, and other indicators. These parameters, according to him, have a comprehensive impact on productivity and ultimately could lead to Economic Growth. The main aim of economic development is to increase the economic prosperity of a region through several initiatives that may involve job creation, and job retention, as well as tax base improvements and improved quality of life. As per there is not just a unique definition of economic development, therefore there will be wide-ranging approaches, plans, policies, and programs for realising successful economic development. Societies vary in their physical form, geographic settings, and political situations. Each society, for this motivation, will need a customised path for achieving its economic development (Economic Development Reference Guide).

Sustainable Development

The Brundtland Commission (1987) described sustainable development in terms of meeting the needs of future generations; in this day and age, there is more consciousness on the fact that the necessities of future societies may be dissimilar across countries and across time. An emergent and important interpretation of sustainable development focuses on conserving and increasing the opportunities open to people in all the countries around the world (Serageldin & Steer, 1994). The World Bank has been among the first institutions that incorporated comprehensive wealth inside sustainability analysis (Jarvis et al., 2011). Inside technical reports, some components of comprehensive wealth have been estimated, for instance, the values of natural, human and reproducible capital.

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