Improving the local development: the stakeholders’ point of view on Italian railway tourism

Railway tourism has been developed in several European countries. Although Italy has an important national railway heritage, local railway tourism is still in an early development stage. In 2021, research was conducted by the Department of Management of the University of Turin, which involved the key stakeholders in railway tourism, in order to explore and define strategies for further development. A mixed-method approach was used in defining the process in three stages: a focus group of experts to design a dedicated questionnaire, the Delphi method to conduct individual stakeholder interviews, and the Nominal Group Technique (NGT) for the presentation of survey results, and identification of stakeholders’ priorities. The results identified the key elements of the market and established players in the Italian railway tourism supply chain to implement operational strategies to develop this form of tourism, and in line with the interest of the younger generation. Italian railway tourism has considerable potential due to the cultural, historical, and scenic heritage of the railway lines which can be enhanced by operational organisations. Moreover, this tourism activity is a useful tool for economies and operators in the local areas.