Abstract
Between August and October 2016, 131 municipalities in central Italy were severely hit by a series of earthquakes. Although official data on properties in those municipalities is scant, this area is generally acknowledged as a second home tourist destination. The impact that the earthquake has had on this very peculiar and interesting local community is worth to explore because it highlights the particular role that long stay tourists, the home holidays makers, might have in case of a social, physical and economic disorder provoked by a socio-natural disaster. The aim of this chapter is to discuss what needs to be tackled by response and recovery disaster management policies when second homes are involved, by considering also expectations and intentions of the affected owners with regards to tourists needs included in the redevelopment plans. This research uses a mix methodology combining geo-referenced 2016 Copernicus and 2011 Census data to geo-mapping second homes tourism and qualitative in-depth interviews with 20 second home owners and policy makers in Amatrice (one of the worst affected townships) to explore the role that they have been playing in the different phase of the disaster cycle.