Sustainable tourism and the structuring of property rights: An integrated approach to territorial enhancement

The paper analyses the relationship between sustainable tourism and land use policies and governance, taking sustainability as the paradigm governing relations between economic activities, public authorities and property rights. Starting from an evolutionary reconstruction of the concept of sustainable tourism in international, European and national sources, the paper highlights how tourism cannot be considered an autonomous sector, but must be understood as an intrinsically territorial phenomenon, affecting the environmental, social and economic balance of the territory. From this perspective, locations emerge not as a mere physical support for entrepreneurial activities, but as a complex and stratified asset, with collective values that the legal system is called upon to protect and govern. Particular attention is paid to the role of real rights as instruments for regulating territorial transformations, capable of directing private initiative towards objectives of general interest and preventing intensive exploitation and social exclusion. The paper also highlights integrated territorial planning as a privileged forum for balancing the protection, enhancement and use of resources, emphasising its function as a public good and a democratic method of reconciling interests. In conclusion, it underlines the need to strengthen the legal instruments for governing the territory so that sustainable tourism is not reduced to a rhetorical category but is an effective criterion for regulating territorial dynamics and redistributing the income generated by tourism.

Loredana N. E. Giani, Turismo sostenibile e conformazione dei diritti reali: un approccio integrato per la valorizzazione dei territori in "RIVISTA ITALIANA DI DIRITTO DEL TURISMO" 47/2026, pp 50-75, DOI: 10.3280/DT2026-047003