Strategies, tools and opportunities for the development of a sustainable tourism: the case of the Torino 2006 Winter Olympic Games

The object of this paper is the analysis of the sustainability of tourism in the Valleys interested by the Olympic Games in Turin 2006 (Italy). The proposed analysis, carried out in the months immediately preceding the great event of February, defines a three-dimensional model that should characterize the tourist fruition of the specific Alpine territory from the environmental, economic and social point of view. The model is characterized by three "effective indicators", that are the Gini Concentration index as economic indicator, the Ecological Footprint as environmental indicator; and the residents\´ expectations as social indicator. The model aims at representing the point of departure for monitoring the evolution of the vacationers\´ fruition in the mountain territory in the post Olympic period, and it wants to identify possible solutions that support the sustainable development of tourism in the Olympic valleys.