Competition Protection in the Tourism Sector in Italy Rosaria Garozzo1 Marina Pecoraro2 I. Introduction; II. The Italian Regulatory Framework; a) The Italian legislation; b) The Italian system of multilevel governance; c) The regional legislation; III. ICA Decisions in the Field of Tourism; a) Advocacy activity; b) ICA Investigation: Booking and Expedia cases. I. INTRODUCTION 1.1. The World Tourism Organization (WTO) defines tourism as “traveling to countries other than the one in which one has habitual residence, outside one’s daily environment, for a period of at least one night, but not exceeding one year and whose usual purpose is different from the exercise of any remunerated activity within the visited country”3. Hence, tourism is made up of various activities aimed at putting together trips and stays. Usually – but not always – they pursue recreational or cultural purposes4. This wide definition clearly shows the multifaceted nature of tourism. Moreover, the activities involved are relevant in two distinct areas: public and private. In Italy, these activities involve an extensive range of public and private bodies. The latter consist of the following: consumers or users of services, 1 Disclaimer: Rosaria Garozzo works for the Italian Competition Authority – Legal Directorate. The views contained in this article are personal opinions and do not in any way represent the Institution. 2 Italian Competition Authority – Legal Directorate. 3 Global Code of Ethics for Tourism, adopted by the WTO in Santiago de Chile on 1 November 1999. 4 See V. Franceschelli & Francesco Morandi, Manuale di diritto del turismo, VII Edizione, Giappichelli Editore, 2019; C. Giunta, Nozioni fondamentali di diritto pubblico del turismo, http://www.lettere.uniroma2.it/sites/ default/files/Microsoft%20Word%20-%20turismo%20lettere%202018.pdf.
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