Mapping Maritime Museums Presence in the Mediterranean Area: Value provision and Challenges to Face

In the macro-area of contemporary tourism, the coastal one can count on a multiplicity of resources, not only natural, human and physical, but also cultural. Maritime museums have recently been recognized as an important lever for the sustainable development, in social and environmental term, of coastal areas and the maritime heritage can represent a significant component for their tourist attraction (Federica Appiotti, Filippo Magni, & Musco, 2019). In this panorama, the Mediterranean Countries occupy a position of particular importance, as the economic dependence on the coastal tourism sector is greater than in other parts of the world. Specifically, Italy, being in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, is rightfully among those countries that make a living from seaside tourism and witness its consequences. This research aims at deeply analysing Maritime Museums by adopting both the visitors and the management perspectives. Through an exploratory approach, this working paper lays the groundwork for identifying the key variables by which maritime museums face their challenges. In a prospective view, the research will like to foreshadow the identification of the most relevant factors related to performance indices. Activating a virtuous cycle between the museum specific features and the territory in which it is located, allows museums to create long-term, multi-dimensional and multi-stakeholder value. The research will adopt a multimethod approach by conducting three sequential studies. In order to develop the Euro-Mediterranean maritime museums classification framework, a careful review of the literature regarding museums is performed. The final sample is made of all the 221 Mediterranean Maritime Museums that are relevant for Mediterranean maritime traditions distributed in 13 countries. This working paper presents some preliminary results on the sub-set of the 131 Italian Maritime Museums. Data are collected between January and the beginning of March 2023 from the museums’ official websites and social platforms. What emerges, in conclusion, is that the connection between the local and the global, the past and the present, is to help in making museums as institutions able to communicate something to contemporary audiences. Thus, the study contributes to the literature on culture and value creation, by focusing on Mediterranean Maritime Museums, to provide suggestions for managers, scholars, policymakers, and practitioners alike. Findings are focusing on a specific category of cultural institution but can be easily extended to any other kind of museum.