Return Migration and Tourism Sustainability in Portugal: Extracting Opportunities for Sustainable Common Planning in Southern Europe

Rossana Santos, Rui Alexandre Castanho and Sérgio Lousada
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Rossana Santos: College of Technologies and Management, University of Madeira, 9000-082 Madeira, Portugal
Rui Alexandre Castanho: CITUR-Madeira-Centre for Tourism Research, Development and Innovation, 9000-082 Madeira, Portugal
Sérgio Lousada: CITUR-Madeira-Centre for Tourism Research, Development and Innovation, 9000-082 Madeira, Portugal

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 22, 1-21

Abstract: This study contributes to the knowledge of decision-makers on how tourism, small and medium-sized enterprises, return migration, and cooperation strategies can contribute to growth and sustainable development in rural areas. More specifically, it uses the Portuguese case to answer the following question: can the expectations and perceptions of emigrants provide directions for sustainable tourism development and common planning in order to contribute to rural development? The results obtained in a study developed in Portugal, through the application of a questionnaire survey of 5157 Portuguese emigrants, confirm the validity of this question. It is concluded that there are the emigrants at an active age (29–39 years old) and with a house in a rural area that have a greater propensity of returning, investing, and gaining employment in the area of tourism in Portugal, and they also have more training and professional experience in this area. Similarly, considering the experiences and migratory characteristics of these emigrants, it is argued that there is a strong probability that the return of emigrants from Southern European countries will contribute to the development of tourism in the rural areas of these countries. Besides, the study enables the identification of recommendations and directions for sustainable common planning in the political–strategic, financial–economic, resource sustainability, and sociocultural fields.

Keywords: tourism; return migration; sustainability; Portugal; common planning; Southern Europe (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 (8)

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