GEOGRAPHICAL SUPERLATIVES AS POTENTIAL FOR PROXIMITY TOURISM MARKETING? THE EXCEPTIONAL POSITION OF THE MONTAGNA FRIULANA IN THE ALPS

The following study should be seen as a contribution to applied regional geography and at the same time to integrative geography. During our various scientific activities in the Alps as well as demographic and socio-economic analyses in Friuli Venezia Giulia, Italy’s northeast region1, we noticed the largely uncharted, special geographic position of the Friulian mountains, specifically the diverse exceptional position of its northern part within the Alps. This gave rise to the idea of a regional geographical synthesis with which new and application-oriented insights can be gained through compilation. These relate to natural and cultural geographic issues, which we have brought together from various analytical studies. Such an integration of nature and society in form of a synthesis is the essential characteristic of regional geography.