The Supply of the Tourist Services: A Case Study

The majority of studies, carried out in the field of accommodation service evaluation, provide approaches based on the analysis of the demand. As only few studies are based on the tourist service supply, the present research is original and important. Because of the seasonality of the tourist service demand, the accommodations are often used insufficiently, resulting under-used during the off-peak season, and this determines a low incidence of this part on the dynamics of the low added value. In such a way the role that the tourist sector would have on the development of a determined territorial area is reduced. The present study based on a survey carried out in Salento, an area of Apulia region in Southern Italy aims at describing the tourist hospitality structures and considering the geographical distribution of accommodations in this specific area to evaluate the economic impact that the hospitality sector may have on the Salento GDP and to study the entrepreneurial behaviour in the sector. Special attention is dedicated to the owners and managers’ entrepreneurial behaviour in accommodation sector, since it allows a better understanding of the capacity of the Bed and Breakfast structures to overcome the obstacles generated by the “peak season” factor.