Il turismo di prossimità in un’area periferica: il caso della montagna pistoiese

Proximity tourism in a peripheral area: the case of the Pistoia mountains. – The Pistoia mountains represented the traditional holiday destination for the towns of Pistoia, Florence and Prato that reached its peak in the Seventies and declined in the following decades. However, since the pandemic crisis a flow of tourists has been reborn. How to transform a temporary event into a permanent new model of tourism? This is the research question of our study. The paper describes the characteristics of tourist supply and demand, the decline of family-run hotels in favor of B&Bs and the role of proximity tourism. The study also qualifies the tourism supply by interviewing local operators, managing two focus groups, defining a SWOT analysis. The results can be used for some policy proposals to exploit the strengths of the territory, reduce its weaknesses, seize the opportunities of the sustainable tourism and avoid the threats of the social scenario and climate change.