MEGA EVENTS AND THEIR IMPORTANCE: SOME FRAMEWORKS FOR THE CITY OF ROME

KEYWORDS: Tourism, City, Mega-Events, Economic History. JEL Codes: H70; N01; N74; N84; N94. The spread of new communication tools has "eaten away" at mega events and their strong symbolic value, often reducing them to purely virtual consumption. The success of major sporting events (such as Formula 1 races, the World Championships for all sports or the Olympics) is measured in terms of the size of the television audience. Even assuming that the demand attracted represents the unit of measure for the magnitude of an event, this value should not be confused with the reasons that can justify the creation of a mega event. The actual definition of a major event needs to be better clarified and this paper will discuss what constitutes a great event. This analytical category will then be used to describe a new form of tourism within the context of the city of Rome, but will also make some important international comparisons. In particular, it will show how important this new aspect of touris