Abstract
This paper analyses the orientation towards sustainability in the online communication of Italian Regions, by evaluating – between December 2019 and January 2020 – the content of official tourism websites and assessing whether this orientation is associated with specific destination characteristics. Sustainability orientation of the websites is measured by the Green D-web Score, a checklist of 35 items of sustainability-oriented content. The destinations’ profile is considered in terms of adoption levels of sustainable regulations and practices, the intensity of tourism development, the size and the tourism maturity.
 The analysis returns Green D-Web Score scores between 5 and 32, out of a maximum of 35, with a median value of 19.5. Sustainability orientation of online communication is significantly and directly associated with the adoption of sustainable regulations and practices and the tourist pressure of the destination, while relationships with size and maturity are not significant.
Highlights
Sustainability is an essential perspective in the governance of tourism destinations (Borges et al, 2014; Del Chiappa et al, 2018; López-Sánchez and Pulido-Fernández, 2014), due to the economic, social and environmental impacts of such activities (UNEP and UNWTO, 2005; Lu and Nepal, 2009; Weaver, 2012) and growing awareness amongst tourists of the need to develop and protect local economies, environment and socio-cultural heritages (Budeanu, 2007; Del Chiappa et al, 2016)
destination management organizations (DMOs) should be capable of measuring, reporting and disclosing their commitment towards sustainable tourism development (McLoughlin et al, 2018) to build a market position aligned with the evolving demand and competitive and socio-economic trends (UNWTO, 2010)
The official tourism website of Calabria was offline during the entire period and so discarded
Summary
Sustainability is an essential perspective in the governance of tourism destinations (Borges et al, 2014; Del Chiappa et al, 2018; López-Sánchez and Pulido-Fernández, 2014), due to the economic, social and environmental impacts of such activities (UNEP and UNWTO, 2005; Lu and Nepal, 2009; Weaver, 2012) and growing awareness amongst tourists of the need to develop and protect local economies, environment and socio-cultural heritages (Budeanu, 2007; Del Chiappa et al, 2016). Addressing the demands of such tourists represents a crucial driver of success for a destination, and an important marketing tool for destination management organizations (DMOs) (Ritchie and Crouch, 2005). In this context, DMOs should be capable of measuring, reporting and disclosing their commitment towards sustainable tourism development (McLoughlin et al, 2018) to build a market position aligned with the evolving demand and competitive and socio-economic trends (UNWTO, 2010). Sustainability communication helps build an attractive image for the destination, reflecting the desirable values of transparency, solidarity, and equity (Ghanem and Elgammal, 2017)
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