La geografia della montagna tra interpretazioni, progettualità e percorsi di sviluppo turistico

This paper firstly aims to shed light on the concept of mountain, underlining the importance of interpreting mountains as a baseline for the development of territorial policies. Although mountains are traditionally recognized as marginal areas, tourism and planning have been recognized as an important vector for countering the effects of marginalization and for the revitalization of these areas. Thus, this paper also aims at analysing the current project initiatives in the Italian mountains, through a selected sample of 250 initiatives. The study offers a theoretical contribution, through the analysis of the tourist projects and the identification of two different profiles attributable to the Alpine and Apennine areas. The research also provides practical implications that enable a better understanding of how to improve tourism planning in the most disadvantaged contexts of the Italian mountains.