About us
Maria Grazia Cito, Ph.D.
Creator
PhD in Applied Economics, she works on the quantitative analysis of tourism and territorial phenomena. She applies econometric models to assess the impact of public policies and territorial investments, with a focus on rural destinations.
She carries out research with the AQR group at the Universitat de Barcelona, studying the impacts of climate change on European tourism flows, and has published in international journals such as Tourism Economics and Current Issues in Tourism.
The path
- 2025–2026Postdoctoral research fellow — University of Bari, DEMDI. Indicators and methods for the impact assessment of infrastructure and territorial services
- 2025–2028Adjunct lecturer (Cultrice della materia) — University of Bari. Destination Management · Economics and Tourism Policy
- 2024–2025Contract lecturer in Industrial Economics — University of Bari, Brindisi campus (8 ECTS)
- 2022–2025PhD in Applied Economics — University of Bari. PON “Green & Innovation” scholarship. Assessment: Excellent
- 2022–2023 · BarcelonaMaster in Applied Research in Economics and Business — Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Spatial Machine Learning
- 2022– · BarcelonaVisiting researcher — Universitat de Barcelona, AQR group (Regional Quantitative Analysis)
- 2021–2022Second-level Master in Economics and European Project Design — University of Rome Tor Vergata. 110/110 with honours
- 2019Short Master in Management of Tourism-Cultural Communication — University of Bari – TPP
- 2016–2019MSc in Design and Management of Tourism and Cultural Systems — University of Bari. 110/110 with honours
- 2013–2016BSc in Modern Languages and Cultures for Tourism — University of Bari. 110/110 with honours
- 2026–Destinalytics — Founder
- 2025–Board of Young Members, BCC — Member
- 2019–Independent practice — Analyst and researcher: context analysis and heritage enhancement projects for foundations, DMOs, public bodies and hospitality businesses
- 2019–Itria Valley — Licensed tour guide, in Italian, English, French and German
- 2019–Board of Pro Loco di Locorotondo — Treasurer and Secretary/Board member
- 2020–2026Locorotondo/Terrae magazine — Author, articles in issues 51, 52 and 61
- 2021–2022Regione Puglia, Dept. of Tourism, Culture Economy and Territorial Enhancement — Internship
- 2020Pro Loco di Locorotondo — Trainer, course for hospitality managers in the Itria Valley
- 2018Comune di Martina Franca, Department of Productive Activities and Participation — Internship
- 2017–2020“Paese Vivrai” newspaper — Editor
Research and publications
- Publications
- Tourism Economics · Current Issues in Tourism · Routledge Handbook of Tourism Economics · SRM Annual Report on Tourism and Territory 2025 and 2026 · etc.
- International conferences
- ERSA · RSA · SIEPI · SIET
- Research group
- AQR (Regional Quantitative Analysis), Universitat de Barcelona · LEA (Laboratory of Applied Economics), University of Bari
Awards
- BIG You Up!
- National first prize, CFMT Milano 2020
- Ready to START wake-UP
- First prize, Rotary International 2018
- Excellence scholarships
- DAAD (Germany) · Erasmus+ (Spain) · Bloomsbury (London)
Skills
- Data analysis
- R · STATA · QGIS · Python
- Methods
- Applied econometrics · spatial machine learning · impact evaluation
- Languages
- Italian (native) · English · German · French · Spanish · Catalan
Our Mission
We support tourism destinations and businesses in attracting their ideal travellers through an ethical, transparent, data-driven approach. We put privacy protection and responsible data management at the heart of every analysis, turning information into decisions that create lasting value for territories and businesses.
Our Vision
To become the reference point in tourism intelligence applied to territorial development, supporting destinations and businesses in their transition towards conscious, resilient, and data-driven growth.
