Participation in tourism of Italian residents in the years of the economic recession

In this study an hurdle model is used to analyze the tourism behavior of Italian residents during the 2004-2013 period. Using the microdata from the quarterly survey on “Trips and holidays in Italy and abroad” carried out by the Italian National Institute of Statistics we investigate the factors that have influenced the tourism participation and the length of stay of residents in Italy in the years of the economic recession. The empirical results show that socio-economic characteristics of the individuals and of their families have an important effect on their tourism participation; that these factors, together with some trips-related characteristics, affect the total number of overnight stays; and that the economic recession impacted negatively on both aspects of tourism behaviour