Digital Tourism and Local Networks: New Models and Methods of Integrated Tourism Planning. The Irpinia Case

The article deals the topic of digital tourism, concentrating on the new interaction trends among territories, technologies and communities in a tourism context, in other words how tourism information, which is the basis of the image and tourist attraction of a location and therefore of competiveness, is created increasingly by the interaction between territory and the tourism community in an era of digital communication and social networks. Beginning with the changes caused by the application of new technologies and digital innovations to tourism practices, from the viewpoint of both demand and offer, which the literature quoted provides an accurate summary of, we aim to provide a detailed examination of the models and methods of integrated tourism planning that may derive from these changes, especially for destination which, although without major tourist attractions, have in the identity of the territory the critical factors for success capable of responding to a new demand for experiential, authentic, plural and community tourism. In terms of the methodology used, the theoretical examination of the reasoning behind the topics specifically dealt with is supplemented by the presentation of an especially significant experience of applied geographical research and tourism planning, the Irpinia case, as an example of an innovative model in terms of understanding the value of the network (local and virtual) and the digital technologies in the processes of integrated tourism planning for lesser tourist attractions.