Tourism as a tool for territorial cohesion: the Cassa per il Mezzogiorno in Italy during the 1950s

Italy represents a useful case-study for the analysis of territorial cohesion policies based on tourism development. There is general consensus that in the province of Trentino, as well as along the Northern Coast, tourism was a driver of development and consequently contributed to territorial cohesion. It is not clear if the sector played as successful a role in this regard in the South of Italy. Although public policies focused on manufacturing, the Cassa per il Mezzogiorno (the Agency for the development of Southern regions) also funded investment in the tourist sector. The paper will provide an assessment of tourism as a tool for territorial cohesion, focusing on the experience of the Cassa per il Mezzogiorno during the 1950s and the 1960s. To this end, it employs new evidence from the Bank of Italy and from the archives of the Fund for the Mezzogiorno.