Fighting human desertification in rural Europe with networks of People-First Tourism entrepreneurs

In Europe rural tourism is dominated by small enterprises, most of them in the form of independent family-owned businesses and there is a multi-actor complexity of the destination that needs to be taken into account.  Global brands, multinational retailers, and tour operators have been exerting a growing pressure on small and medium enterprises, which are facing difficulties in forming a unique destination image and are struggling to sell their products widely. In this context, new forms of interaction between different tourism stakeholders have emerged recently.  These include actors from the public and private sector, as well as local populations and entrepreneurs - all with common interest in the development and development of tourism destination networks.

Joining forces with multiple partners permits the integration of resources and creation of more comprehensive offerings thereby improving the effectiveness of marketing strategies.  Such a collaborative approach to competitiveness is thought to reduce the isolation of small rural businesses, to enable them to use resources more effectively, and to ultimately enable their success as tools of rural development. 

The European Tourism Village network includes 5 regions in Europe; namely Alentejo in Portugal, Trento in Italy, Lapland in Finland, Arad in Romenia, and Lomza in Poland.  Like in many other regions of
the world, in Europe there are marginal rural areas facing great limitations in terms of development, caused by an increase in isolation, degradation of economic activities and the consequent increase in unemployment. In addition these regions are suffering from an aging population and human desertification. Many of those born in these regions are unwilling to remain, resulting in rural to urban migration. Since it is also difficult to attract new residents, a growing depopulation is the consequence, leading even to the eventual disappearance of some rural communities.

These factors fuel an underdevelopment vicious cycle - in order to stem this tendency, it is necessary to
promote initiatives that contribute towards the sustainable development of these rural regions. In spite of the aforementioned constraints, these regions show strong potential in areas such as environmental
preservation and the richness of the cultural and ethnographic heritage.

This project created a brand “Genuineland” and has been acting as a resort chain; the difference is that each resort location is a living village with various independent businesses providing tourism services (e.g., lodging, guided hikes, crafts, traditional stories). The brand allows networks of rural entrepreneurs to promote themselves together.  Additionally, this project demands a level of collectivism in the co-offer of tourism experiences, therefore, the project has fomented improved community spirit, not only within each village network but also between the various village networks across Europe.  For to improve the work in network of small entrepreneurs all over the world and projects like Genuineland it is necessary to develop and improve practical and accessible tools at technical and technological level that could allow these projects to
share knowledge, to maximize their available resources and to reach the right markets.

We're excited to see development in People-First Tourism, and hope to remain involved collaborators of the project.


Aurea Rodrigues, Genuineland & Universidade de Aveiro