Digital Platforms to Promote Sustainable and Authentic Tourism in Low-Density Territories of Southern Europe: Challenges and Opportunities

Jorge Nunes, Diogo Mata, Fernando Ribeiro and José Metrôlho ()
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Jorge Nunes: School of Technology, Polytechnic Institute of Castelo Branco, 6000-081 Castelo Branco, Portugal
Diogo Mata: School of Technology, Polytechnic Institute of Castelo Branco, 6000-081 Castelo Branco, Portugal
Fernando Ribeiro: School of Technology, Polytechnic Institute of Castelo Branco, 6000-081 Castelo Branco, Portugal
José Metrôlho: School of Technology, Polytechnic Institute of Castelo Branco, 6000-081 Castelo Branco, Portugal

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 13, 1-21

Abstract: Tourism in low-density regions has gained increasing attention as travelers seek more sustainable and authentic tourism experiences. However, despite their cultural and environmental richness, these territories often face structural challenges such as limited visibility, fragmented promotion, and inadequate digital infrastructure. This study explores how digital platforms can support sustainable tourism development in such contexts, combining a systematic literature review with an exploratory analysis of commercial applications. The analysis focuses on academic initiatives that propose IT-based solutions for promoting tourism in sparsely populated areas of Southern Europe, while the platform analysis assesses functionalities and limitations of widely used applications. The findings reveal that most academic solutions remain at the prototype stage or have yet to be tested in real-world contexts, with limited evidence of large-scale implementation or practical validation. Accessibility for people with functional limitations is also largely neglected in both academic and commercial platforms, despite its importance for inclusive tourism. In addition, the digital landscape remains fragmented, with few solutions effectively designed to bring together diverse local stakeholders or to meaningfully enable user-generated content. The study concludes by identifying key challenges, such as fragmentation, lack of accessibility features, and limited deployment, and outlines future directions for developing scalable, inclusive, and culturally sensitive platforms tailored to the realities of low-density territories.

Keywords: digital platforms; low-density regions; tourism promotion; accessibility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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