Agritourism in Italy and the Local Impact Referring To Itria Valley. The Organic Firm “Raggio Verde” And Its Ecological Agritourism Project

The aim of this article, using a paradigmatic approach, is to understand the evolution of agritouristic activity in Italy, to evaluate the possible local impacts referring to Itria Valley and considering the case of study of the organic firm “Raggio Verde” in Cisternino (Brindisi, Italy) with its project of multifunctional initiatives through the creation of an organic ecological agritourism. The thesis supported is that the local impact of the agritouristic activity is different according to the reference’s paradigm (market liberalism or ecological-territorial) and to the agritourism model (with reference to environmental and social relations, and to the dependence’s level from external sources). The methodology is inductive, based on qualitative and quantitative analysis, on indirect, direct and participant observation by a research on the field.