1. Visit to the Local Tourism Board in Marina di Massa – 02/04/09

3. Welcoming by the Local Tourism Board president, Mr. Tarantino

4. Interview with Mr. Minuto, president of ConfTourist

5. How long is the tourist season? It’s about 6 months long (from Easter to the end of September/beginning of October)

6. - What about peak and low season? - Peak season is from the beginning of July to the end of August. -The other months (April, May, June, September, October) represent low season.

7. What kind of tourists come (families, young, old, domestic, foreign)? How long do they stay? - During the low season most of tourists are secondary school students (participating to school trips) and third age people. They mainly come from: Germany, Austria and Nederlands. In the peak season most of holidaymakers are represented by Italian middle- class people. -On average such visitors stay three days

8. Why do they come? (For: seaside, mountain, lake, countryside, relaxation, art, nature, spa, other) - Most visitors choose this area as they love seaside. - Foreign students look for an accodomation here as a starting-point to see the marble quarries, the Cinqueterre and other Tuscan places (Lucca, 45 km; Pisa 45 km; Florence 110 km; Volterra, San Gimignano). - Foreign individual tourists prefer the seaside, the art towns and Cinqueterre.

9. Which are the main types of accommodation: hotels, houses/flats/residences, farm holidays, hostels, camping sites? A – houses, flats, residences and hotels (near the seaside) B- camping sites: the camping area at Partaccia (between Marina di Carrara and Marina di Massa) is one of the largest in Italy: it has approximately a 20,000-bed capacity C - hostels (the hostel Turimar has a 1,300- bed capacity) D – Farm holidays (mainly located in Lunigiana, the northern part of Massa- Carrara province) E – Holiday facilities belonging to: various Associations/Religious Orders/Public Authorities

10. Which are the favourite tourist spots?

11. Seaside

12. The quarries

13. Trekking trails on the Apuan Alps

14. The several Malaspina Castles

15. Carrara centre Prof. Alberto Rappelli