ABSTRACT
Emigration is a phenomenon which has always existed and, though the motivations that have driven people to move may be different, the economic reasons for migrating have surely dominated at all times. Italy is definitely a country that was much affected by this phenomenon in the past, and still continues to be so, albeit in moderation. The Italian history is marked by two major migratory phases: the Great Migration and European Emigration and Internal Migration'. There is the community, which sees emigrants return as tourists to the birth place they left, that birth place where part of the people remained, and who must demonstrate they were able to remain in a useful way. The tourism industry is very active in the construction of tourist products, whose complexity increases with increasing market competition. Roots tourists are at once a cultural and an economic resource, but they are not given the attention they deserve.
