Limitations of Rural Tourism as an Economic Diversification and Regional Development Instrument. The Case Study of the Region of La Vera

Francisco Javier Castellano-Álvarez, María de la Cruz del Río-Rama, José Álvarez-García and Amador Durán-Sánchez
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Francisco Javier Castellano-Álvarez: Economy Department, Faculty of Business, Finance and Tourism, University of Extremadura, 10071 Cáceres, Spain
María de la Cruz del Río-Rama: Business Organisation and Marketing Department, Faculty of Business Administration and Tourism, University of Vigo, 32004 Ourense, Spain
José Álvarez-García: Financial Economy and Accounting Department, Faculty of Business, Finance and Tourism, University of Extremadura, 10071 Cáceres, Spain
Amador Durán-Sánchez: Financial Economy and Accounting Department, Faculty of Business, Finance and Tourism, University of Extremadura, 10071 Cáceres, Spain

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 12, 1-19

Abstract: In the mid-1980s, at the same time as the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reforms resulted in a decrease in agricultural employment, the Single European Act transformed the reduction of regional differences into an objective of European regional policy. The LEADER Initiative and the PRODER Program were two of the instruments chosen by the European Commission to deal with the effects that these new challenges would have for the rural environment. This research studies the scope and limitations of these programs. For this, we analyzed their implementation, resorting to the case study of the region of La Vera, Extremadura (Spain). The results show that although the structure of these programs is consistent with the purpose of developing and diversifying rural economies, their application must overcome a number of risks, including an excessive concentration of investments in the tourism sector, which stands out from the rest. In addition to highlighting the limitations of tourism as an axis of development, this research detects some aspects that should be taken into account when implementing these programs.

Keywords: rural tourism; economic diversification; PRODER program; LEADER initiative (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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