BIODIVERSITY AND TOURISM ALONG THE COASTAL AREA OF CHIETI PROVINCE (ABRUZZO, ITALY): IMPACT OR CONVERGENCE? 
This paper analyzes the relationship between tourism and natural areas in the coastal sector of Chieti province (Abruzzo-IT) and aims to evaluate if the local tourism supply and demand depend on natural protected areas distribution and biodiversity hot spots occurrence. In this research we develop a methodology for reading the interconnections between biodiversity, protected areas and local tourism supply and demand, in order to identify a set of indicators based on a multi-sector approach. The methodology used for data analysis is the Canonical Correlation Analysis. The work has highlighted the occurrence of a signifi cant complementarity between local tourism supply and demand and presence of areas of high naturalistic value in the case of Vasto municipality, even if this involves an environmental vulnerability due to the strong seasonality of the local tourism. On the other hand the complementarity is less confl icting for Rocca San Giovanni municipality for the occurrence of many accommodation structures at low environmental impact and for the low tourism seasonality. 
Keywords: biodiversity, tourism, protected areas, indicators.