The origin of Italian Tourism Law and the publication, in 1919, of "Il Diritto Turistico" by Bortolo Belotti

"Il Diritto Turistico", written by Bortolo Belotti, and printed in 1919,may be considered one of the first attempts to expose Italian Tourist Law. The Volume may be also considered one of the events that, together with the first Italian Law on Tourism (1910), the founding of ENIT (1919) and the founding of the Touring Club Italiano(1894), mark the origin of Italian Tourism Law. In reality Bortolo Belotti’s "Il Diritto Turistico" has not left a durable spur. On the contrary, we may say that it was almost forgotten. Copies of the volume are difficult to find, and it has almost disappeared from the University or public library. The goal of the present article is to ripropose this work to the scientific community. Reading the over 600 pages give controversial emotions. Several chapters have only historical value, and may satisfy only the mere curiosity of the scholar that desire to reconstruct the legal system of the beginning of the past century. But some pages preserve some actuality and are worth to be read again. Whatever may be the value of the book, the "Il Diritto Turistico" by Bortolo Belotti deserve to take its place in the history of Italian Tourism Law as the first attempt to expose it.

Vincenzo Franceschelli, Le origini del diritto del turismo e "Il Diritto Turistico" di Bortolo Belotti in "RIVISTA ITALIANA DI DIRITTO DEL TURISMO" 2/2011, pp 45-48, DOI: 10.3280/DT2011-002004