Sustainable Business Model in the Cultural Tourism Industry

As one of the fastest growing industries in the world (R. Baggio, 2013), Tourism is a key player in sustainable development (Serra and Jakulin, 2006). Consistent with their role in the global economy, international and regional governments require organizations to transform the way they conduct their business towards sustainability outcomes (Chofreh et al. 2017). Specifically, firms are called to evolve the classic way of business, towards a model in which to develop, according to collective needs such as environmental and social sustainability (Meda, 2018) results consistent with the expectations of its stakeholders (Luthra and Mangla 2018). The present work, through an empirical survey conducted on several case studies with the combination of quantitative and qualitative data (Gummesson, 2017) useful to investigate the business models used by the parties involved, highlights the considerable development of business realities related to the tourism sector, specifically the sea, linked to sustainable business models. The selected firmss, although they have little capital, staff and, in some cases, even experience, strong of their link with a territory with high environmental value, show a growth almost stable over time, despite the difficulties presented by the global pandemic crisis. The sustainable business model of these firms is also distinguished by the digital innovation component. The use of digital technologies, and in particular social media, such as Facebook and Instagram, the website, and the possibility of booking online (in four cases out of five), it's an essential tool for addressing what appears to be the target audience: foreign tourism.