ABSTRACT
Chapter 3 focuses on the description and analysis of the Italian tourism sector, giving details about the sector’s important contribution to the overall economy and exploring the impact of COVID-19. Moreover, this chapter describes how the Italian tourism sector reacted to COVID-19. The chapter also highlights the growing importance that the so-called new forms of tourism (slow tourism, sustainable tourism and proximity tourism) are assuming and that the pandemic has probably accentuated. It is essential to predict the trajectory of change in tourist behaviour to help tourism managers identify the basis of a resilience strategy for responding ideally to the situation. It is extremely difficult to predict the real future trends in the tourism industry; nevertheless, to this end, the chapter tries to identify the primary trends that are expected to impact the tourism industry and, in particular, consumer behaviour. Predicting the trajectory of change in tourist behaviour is essential for helping tourism managers identify a resilience strategy for responding ideally to the situation. To overcome this crisis and be successful, companies need to adapt quickly to changes in consumer behaviour. This will create a strong competitive advantage.
