This work discusses the theoretical foundation for the introduction of a taxation mechanism capable of collecting the necessary and indispensable financial resources to carry out public policies aimed at planning and managing tourism development. The research focus on some dynamics observable in Lanzarote (Spain), where different aspects and impacts of tourism development are identified and analyzed to demonstrate the existence of external costs. The ascertainment of external costs in Lanzarote leads the research to examine the theory of the “rent capture” as Hartwick proposes to reach some conclusions as the use of tax revenues for the enlargement of the carrying capacity of physical facilities or the funding of research for improving destination management strategies. The originality of this article is to delve into the theoretical justification for the implementation of a taxation mechanism at tourism destinations.

La World Tourism Organization (W.T.O.) propone agli enti preposti alla gestione territoriale delle destinazioni turistiche l’adozione di una griglia di indicatori con cui procedere alla raccolta di specifiche informazioni e attraverso cui svolgere un opportuno monitoraggio delle loro condizioni sociali, economiche e ambientali (W.T.O., 1996). Tra gli indicatori proposti, particolare rilevanza assume quello della Capacità di Carico Turistica (CCT) delle località di destinazione turistica. Sebbene questo indicatore sia quasi sempre trattato in termini teorici e con un significato unidimensionale, esso riveste un’importanza cruciale nei processi di controllo e di programmazione turistico-territoriale. Tale considerazione impone la necessità di procedere alla individuazione di una sua applicazione empirica in una logica multidimensionale1. L’obiettivo di questo contributo è di presentare un caso empirico di computazione multidimensionale della CCT in applicazione al Comune di Vieste, una destinazione del Parco Nazionale del Gargano, dove la valorizzazione turistico-economica dell’area deve coniugarsi con l’esigenza di tutela di un patrimonio ambientale di inestimabile valore.

Il presente studio s’innesta nel quadro più ampio di un’indagine conoscitiva in corso di svolgimento presso l’Osservatorio Turistico del Dipartimento di Economia dell’Università di Foggia, che ha per oggetto l’analisi del fenomeno turistico-religioso nel territorio della provincia di Foggia. In particolare, attraverso la somministrazione di un questionario che ha interessato un numero complessivo di trecento visitatori/pellegrini (cento per ciascun sito), esso tenta di analizzare le principali caratteristiche della domanda turistica legata ai santuari dell’Incoronata, di Monte Sant’Angelo e di San Giovanni Rotondo al fine di individuare alcune strategie riorganizzative e giungere a una migliore utilizzazione delle risorse culturali e spirituali esistenti su base locale. This study is developed within the activity context run by the Tourism Observatory of the Economics Department of the University of Foggia. Through the use of a questionnaire it attempts to analyze the religious tourism phenomenon in the territory of the province of Foggia. A total number of three-hundred pilgrims (one-hundred for each specific site) was interviewed with the aim of understanding the main features characterizing the specific tourism demand related to the Sanctuaries of Incoronata, Monte Sant'Angelo and San Giovanni Rotondo. The study represents a first attempt to help the identification of some reorganizational strategies to pursue a better use of the cultural and spiritual resources existing at the local level.

This work focuses on the issue of the environmental sustainability of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) operating in the tourism sector. It first analyzes the most relevant environmental labeling schemes (i.e. Ecolabel, EMAS and ISO 14.001) used by the firms operating in tourism hospitality. Furthermore, it reports the results of a field work run in the territorial area of the province of Foggia (Southern Italy) in February 2014 when a sample of locally operating SMEs was investigated with the aim of observing the benefits and competitive advantages they eventually gain from approaching the Ecolabel scheme but also the costs they bear for doing so. Although 67% of the firms interviewed refers to have received some benefits from the adhesion to the above-mentioned scheme, the remaining - however statistically relevant - 33% of the firms expresses its deep doubts about the utility of such environmental policy tool by saying that the costs beard for the adoption of the environmental scheme in question is unjustifiably high and no benefits are gained as a counterbalance. In addition, from the answers achieved during the interviews, it comes out evident that the adoption of the mentioned environmental scheme is very often the result of suggestions tourism firms receive from their financial consultants and is perceived as a necessary precondition to access public funds and/or aids rather than the result of a specific knowledge and/or sensitivity of the environmental sustainability issue. In this perspective, a reorganization of the implementation of this type of environmental policy tools should become the subject of a more proper reflection.

In this work the author discusses the theoretical foundation for the introduction of a taxation mechanism at tourism destinations with the aim of indicating an appropriate policy implementation for the use of local torusim assets. In fact, the justification of this kind of policy proposal requires the identification of specific reasons which, according to the economic literature, are mainly represented by the need to internilize tourism external costs and to capture toourism rents in order to reinvest end ensure the sustanability of the local economy while facing non-renewable and scarese natural resources exploitation. To this aim, strong support comes from a reflection on the theory of the Pigovian tax and the consideration of other issues such as that of the "rent capture" cnceptt and Hartwick's prescription. This economic theoretica framework can give us the opportunity to identify appropriate arguments which can play an enforcing role in justifying the implementation of a taxation mechanism at destination.

Trough the use of the econometric technique of panel data, this work mainly investigates the relationships between agricultural and energy prices and the land use for triti- cale, which is nowadays seen as one of the most important biomass crops. This is done with the aim of assessing the land use implications potentially associated to the existence of policies implementing forms of incentive for renewable energy production. The analysis is developed while considering 22 selected OECd countries observed over a period of 17 years, between 1995 and 2011. The analysis results suggest that the  estimated functional shape of the land use for triticale mainly depends upon variations in the yield, producer and electricity prices. The policy implications, which might be derived from these fndings, highlight how farmers would not be willing to substantially increase the area devoted to triticale unless the adoption of some forms of economic incentives to enhance bio-energy production is taken into consideration.

This work investigates the relationship between foreign direct investment (FDI) inflowing in the transport sector and its connected activities of storage and communication of 30 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries and the carbon dioxide (CO2) emission fromsectoral fuel combustion. To this purpose, an unbalanced dataset containing statistical information, all derived from different databases of various international organizations, for the 25 years between 1981 and 2005 is analysed through the use of the econometric technique of panel data. Apart from other evidence, the empirical result shows the existence of a negative relationship, although quantitatively very low, characterizing the cumulative effect of the considered type of FDI on CO2. This helps us to understand that the foreign investment flow arriving in the transport sector of the considered OECD receiving countries does not generate a dangerous detriment to the environment as can generally be expected. As a result, we argue in favour of those policy prescriptions suggesting its enforcement.

The objective of this work is to contribute to the understanding of the relationship between FDI and the natural environment by providing a detailed review of the specific literature. More specifically the work proposes an explanation of the introductory aspects of the FDI and analyzes its socio-economic and environmental effects. With specific regard to the environmental effects of FDI, technique, scale and composition effects are firstly analyzed according to the mainstram literature. In addition, the competition for FDI and its effects on environmental standards together with the cross-border environmental performance are analyzed. Before drawing some concluding considerations, where ideas for a research agenda are highlighted, a description of the geographical and sectoral distribution of FDI is made.