Competition Law in Tourism

330 COMPETITION LAW IN TOURISM It becomes necessary to rethink the evaluation parameters of the former, measuring the efficiency and efficacy of a specific tourism policy not only regarding the economic and social outcomes generated in the legal order, but also the ability of the state-system to enter the global market and get a hold of all the potential in the sector. In the definition of efficient and effective tourism policies, Italy keeps dealing with issues that reflect other “systemic” complexities. Three of them are noteworthy. The first is represented by the immanent nature as transversal of the sector and, in particular, by the fact that it is characterised by the presence of a variety of activities, public or private, which at their core are very differentiated. For instance, this is the case of the market structure for the activities concerning big hotel chains, often of a multinational dimension, and “family” businesses in tandem with the offer of housing services, according to the logic of the sharing economy. On the other hand, a second critical moment concerns the natural dependence of tourism and of the corresponding developing policies of a public nature, on general policies which are subject to competitive market dynamics, for instance, those related to public transportation, to the cleaning and safety of the cities and to the protection and valorisation of the natural and artistic heritage. The third factor of complexity, in the end, derives from the fact that public policies work on different national, regional and local government levels, answering to a differentiated touristic demand, either central or suburban, and developing heterogeneous organisational models characterised by a different purpose in order to achieve the administrative goals set forth. The current administrative structure gives a central “role” to regions that have to promote and develop tourism in their territory, whilst the state is left with the role of programming, coordinating and promoting the national policies. In order to favour the cooperation of the central and suburban administrations, coordinating institutions have been constituted. This is the case of the standing conference for State, Regions and independent Provinces (State-Region Conference) and of the unified Conference where Provinces and Municipalities are concerned because of the subject matters with a touristic common interest. Relevance has also to be given to the permanent Committee for the promotion of tourism in Italy, with the goal of supporting enterprises and promoting the image of the country, alongside the organisation of events with a touristic impact.

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