Cultural Event and Territorial Marketing: the Case of Ravello City of Music on the Italian Amalfi Coast

The aim of the paper is to analyse territorial marketing strategies and policies focused on creating a special event, the RavelloFestival, as a tool to increase the competitiveness of Ravello and its territory. RavelloFestival is one of the oldest cultural events of classical music in Italy and through its various editions has provided an important contribution to the building of the distinctive identity of Ravello as the City of Music. The paper is made up of four sections. The first takes a Destination Management approach, considering RavelloFestival as the main attractor and Territorial Marketing tool. The second analyzes RavelloFestival's history and management, focusing particularly on the last six editions - 2003-2008 - continually adapted to customer needs. The third analyzes the RavelloFestival supply system, examining its consistency with local values and the level of integration between the event itself and cultural resources and services. In this section some important elements for the success of the event are also considered, such as the website and the brand. Thus, the tourist experience of consumption has been analyzed in depth considering three moments into which it may be divided: pre-fruition, fruition and post-fruition. The fourth section concerns the successful factors and future strategies of integrated territorial development.