Abstract
Among the different forms through which slow tourism takes shape, one of the best known is represented by the so-called “vertical tourism”, the travel experience that sees participants walking uphill: trekking and sport climbing represent its best-known face. This trend emerged from the wider trend of the so-called “slow movement”. By extension, slow tourism contrasts with the so far prevailing trend of mass tourism or fast tourism. An intense dialogue has developed around the difficulties to define and accept a concrete concept for “slow tourism”. Vertical slow tourism can also be practiced in the city. Vertical urban tourism takes place when people decide to climb stairs and vertical places. In this sense, the city of Naples is configured as a privileged scenario for the analysis of this phenomenon, since it includes over 200 stairways and step paths that connect the hills with the center and the coast. Because of its conformation Naples was named “oblique city” by songwriter Edoardo Bennato in one of his most famous songs. The “scalinatelle” (steps) of the Neapolitan capital find their origin in urban planning needs: today they are considered real masterpieces that cross city districts, monasteries and churches, offering walks with a breathtaking panorama. This article is an effort to define and clarify the different meanings and aspects of “mass tourism” and “slow tourism” by conducting a literature review and, lastly, describing the “vertical” tourist offer of the city of Naples and to highlight the main problems that characterize some of the experiences related to the visitability of these pedestrian paths. Specifically, based on the results of a qualitative and quantitative survey conducted within the research activities of OUT - Osservatorio Universitario sul Turismo of the University “Federico II”, which involved tourists and local associations, the study proposes a twofold objective: on one hand, to describe the profile of tourists visiting the stairs, showing their expectations, needs, behaviors, habits and, on the other, to retrace the initiatives aimed at recovering the livability of the stairs of the city of Naples, paying particular attention to those aspects that it is necessary to improve in order that they can become spaces for socialization and urban aggregation, as well as attractions and tourist poles