nep-cul New Economics Papers
on Cultural Economics
Issue of 2011‒08‒15
four papers chosen by
Roberto Zanola
University Amedeo Avogadro

  1. Importance of E-services for Cultural Tourism By Eveline van Leeuwen; Peter Nijkamp
  2. Museum visitors can be regarded as specific cultural tourists? A length of stay analysis By JG. Brida; Marta Meleddu; Manuela Pulina
  3. ART ET CULTURE DANS L’EVOLUTION DES DISTRICTS INDUSTRIELS ITALIENS [Art and culture in the evolution of Italian industrial districts] By Ragazzi Elena; Rolfo Secondo
  4. Landscape aesthetics: towards a better understanding of rural landscape preferences By Howley, Peter

  1. By: Eveline van Leeuwen (VU University Amsterdam); Peter Nijkamp (VU University Amsterdam)
    Abstract: Despite a busy lifestyle – or perhaps as a result of a stressful lifestyle – more people than ever before make leisure trips, sometimes for a long time but in many cases just for short periods. Modern telecommunication technology brings attractive tourist destinations directly into the living rooms of potential travellers, also destinations that would otherwise have been difficult to find, such as certain cultural heritage objects. In this contribution, we will address the relevance of e-services in urban cultural tourism. Its aim is to map out the relative drivers of cultural visitors to cities with a particular view on the importance of modern e-services in the tourist sector. We focus on three case-study cities: Amsterdam, Leipzig and Genoa. We use discrete choice models and factor analysis to analyse the preferences of tourists for cultural heritage and e-services. Interestingly, in all three cities, the most important group of tourists, the cultural heritage enthusiasts, are often international tourists. This stresses the importance of multilingual e-services in order to maximise their impact on cultural heritage visitors and the tourism sector in general. In addition, it is also important to note that certain e-services become more important for tourists from further away, such as online booking systems.
    Keywords: Tourism; cultural heritage; e-services; ordered logit models; factor analysis
    JEL: L83 L86
    Date: 2011–08–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:uvatin:20110109&r=cul
  2. By: JG. Brida; Marta Meleddu; Manuela Pulina
    Abstract: This paper examines the length of stay of cultural tourists in a mountain destination, on the North-East of Italy. A microeconomic perspective of cultural tourism is provided, where the interest is to analyse the attitude of visitors regarding culture and their overall vacation. To this aim, visitors’ behavior to the South Tyrol s Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano (Italy) is analysed through survey data. Unlike similar studies, empirically, a zero-truncated negative binomial model is estimated as a generalization of a Poisson distribution. The analysis shows which are the main determinants that influence length of stay of cultural tourists. Nationality, age, employment, income, costs associated with the travel have an impact on length of stay. Specifically, variations in such factors correspond to variation in the span of the vacation that is also positively affected by the presence of the icemen Ötzi in the museum as well as by the presence of other cultural attractions. These findings provide an essential tool to manage heritage resources and plan the future tourism development around the Ötzi museum.
    Keywords: Length of stay; cultural tourism; museum; zero-truncated negative binomial; management implications
    JEL: D12 L83 C19
    Date: 2011
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cns:cnscwp:201114&r=cul
  3. By: Ragazzi Elena (Ceris - Institute for Economic Research on Firms and Growth, Moncalieri (TO), Italy); Rolfo Secondo (Ceris - Institute for Economic Research on Firms and Growth, Moncalieri (TO), Italy)
    Abstract: The competitiveness of a territory is more and more explained by factors that combine technological innovation, recognized as a key element of the competitive advantage of an economic system, with knowledge, creativity, and sometimes even art and culture. In some areas of ancient industrialization we can find at local level a social capital that is a synthesis of economic, social and cultural aspects. This can be used both for the products promotion and for the support to new industries able to offer to the end consumer not only products but the opportunity to carry on an experience with the local tradition. The paper examines two cases of industrial districts in Italy (Biella and Carrara), where the cultural aspect of the traditional manufacturing has been the starting point for enhancing the territorial system and for the beginning of an integrated supply, products-services, which has expanded the boundaries of the previous specialization and it is now a strong element of territorial competitiveness.La compétitivité d’un territoire est de plus en plus expliqué par des facteurs qui associent à l’innovation technologique, depuis longtemps reconnue comme élément de l’avantage compétitif d’un système économique, la connaissance, la créativité et, parfois, même l’art et la culture. On voit ainsi comme dans les territoires d’ancienne industrialisation on retrouve à niveau local une synthèse entre aspects économiques, sociaux et culturels qui représentent un capital utilisable soit pour la promotion sectorielle, soit pour le soutien à la naissance de nouvelles filière capables d’offrir au consommateur final pas seulement un bien, mais la possibilité de faire expérience avec une tradition. Le papier examinera deux cas de districts industriels italiens (Biella et Carrara) où l’aspect culturel de la production traditionnelle a été le point de départ pour une valorisation du système territorial et pour la naissance d’une offre intégrée produits-services qui a élargi les frontières de la précédente spécialisation et représente un élément fort de la compétitivité territoriale.
    Keywords: Art et culture, créativité, districts industriels
    JEL: O18 R11
    Date: 2010–12
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:csc:cerisp:201009&r=cul
  4. By: Howley, Peter
    Abstract: The central aim of this study was to gain greater insights into the factors that affect individualsâ preferences for a variety of landscape settings. To achieve this aim, this paper derived dependent variables (based on a factor analysis of respondents mean ratings of 47 landscape images) representing 5 different landscape categories. These variables were then utilized in separate OLS regression models to examine the effect of personal characteristics, residential location and environmental value orientations on landscape preferences. First in terms of visual amenity the results suggest that the general public have the strongest preference for landscapes with water related features as its dominant attribute which was followed by cultural landscapes. Second the results also demonstrate how there is significant heterogeneity in landscape preferences as both personal characteristics and environmental value orientations were found to strongly influence preferences for all the landscape types examined. Moreover the effect of these variables often differed significantly across the various landscape groupings. In terms of land use policy, given the diversity of preferences a one size fits all approach will not meet the general publicsâ needs and desires.
    Keywords: Landscape preferences, environmental attitudes, Land Economics/Use,
    Date: 2011–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aesc11:108956&r=cul

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