Sustainable tourism as a tool for social quality

The depletion of the ecosystem and the consequent negative effects on the quality of life pushed the researchers to consider the damage caused by the impoverishment of territorial resources. Particularly, the impact of the characteristic activities of tourism on the territory is considerable. Therefore, today tourism is considered as one of the main factors that could meaningfully contribute to the economic evolution in terms of sustainable development on a local scale. Moving from this point of view, the present paper means to highlight how the knowledge and the protection of the potentialities and the available resources of a territory constitute the base of the development of sustainable tourism. In this direction, the achievement of these conditions involves the creation of workplaces and, conversely, the attainment of a better quality of life for the local people. It is evident that the indicators of economic performance are generally used to measure the well-being degree and the development. Nevertheless, they risk only highlighting an increased productivity of a system and the amplified availability of assets, without pointing out the improvement of the economic and social conditions of the community. The development concept, in this theorist-analytical perspective, consists in valuing the potentialities and the available resources in a given territory and in favouring the emancipation of men in the respect of their historical and cultural roots and, generally, in the context in which they live and work.