On the role of cultural participation in tourism destination performance: an assessment using robust conditional efficiency approach

The relationship between culture and tour ism has been widely investi-gated from different perspectives. A large strand of literature studies the role ofcultural heritage to attract tourists, while a rich bulk of studies on cultur al partici-pation investigates the impact of tourism ?ows on the demand for culture. Anotheraspect worth investigatin g relates to the link between cultural participation and theperformance of tourism destinations (TDs), as a highe r cultural participation in anarea could boost the performance in the management of tourism resources. How-ever, so far, this issue has been disregarded in the literature, and this paper aims at?lling this gap. Speci?cally, it studies the effect of cultural participation on TDs’performance using a conditional ef?ciency approach that ensures robust inferenceon the role of environmental factors. We employ data on the Italian regions for theperiod 2004–2010, and we explore the role of cultural participation for tourism byusing several indicators. Our ?ndings offer empirical support to the positive role ofcultural participation and, thus, suggest that public cultural policies might also boostthe ef?ciency of the tourism sector.