Resilient Rural Areas and Tourism Development Paths: A Comparison of Case Studies

Antonietta Ivona, Antonella Rinella, Francesca Rinella, Federica Epifani and Sara Nocco
Additional contact information
Antonietta Ivona: Department of Economy and Finance, University of Bari, 70100 Bari, Italy
Antonella Rinella: Department of History Society and Human Studies, University of Salento, 73100 Lecce, Italy
Francesca Rinella: Department of Economy and Finance, University of Bari, 70100 Bari, Italy
Federica Epifani: Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Salento, 73100 Lecce, Italy
Sara Nocco: Department of History Society and Human Studies, University of Salento, 73100 Lecce, Italy

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 6, 1-22

Abstract: In the settlement network of Italian small towns (the so-called “borghi”, with a population ceiling lower than 5000 inhabitants), not lacking in discontinuities and patches, a “common thread” is increasingly noticeable, which allows to look optimistically beyond several weaknesses (economy depending on a relatively unprofitable or declining agriculture, social and economic stasis, demographic decline and consequent contraction of public and private services, hydrogeological instability, etc.): we are talking of the firm, pigheaded determination of an increasing number of local communities to become sustainable and responsible realities, get involved, and undertake a process of “hot authentication” of their milieu . Since 2013, such resilient attitude is at the heart of the National Strategy for Inner Areas (SNAI, Strategia Nazionale per le Aree Interne) aimed at promoting coordinated, multi-scalar projects of self-enhancement; in April 2019, the above innovative form of territorial planning was selected by the European Parliament as a model for the 2021–2027 programming period of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).This paper reviews the original and creative bottom-up enhancement process being implemented in several towns of the “Monti Dauni” sub-region, a pilot marginal area identified by Apulian regional authorities within the SNAI. In these small towns, local players aim at maximizing the opportunities of sustainable, experiential tourism by offering an uncontaminated environment, ancient knowledge, genuine flavours and deep emotions to all visitors who wish to achieve a deeper knowledge of the territorial identity instead of being mere spectators, by adopting an active and engaged attitude.

Keywords: marginal areas; National Strategy for Inner Areas (SNAI; Strategia Nazionale per le Aree Interne); sustainable local development; experiential tourism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/6/3022/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/6/3022/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:6:p:3022-:d:514164

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().