Hiking tourism and rural development: The case of the Mondego Walkways, Portugal

During the past decades, the tourism sector has become an increasing important issue for governments and regional agencies searching for socio-economic development. Especially in the Global South the increasing tourism demand has been seen highly beneficial as evolving tourism can create direct and indirect income and employment effects to the host regions and previously marginalised communities, with potential to aid with the poverty reduction targets. This research note reviews the existing policy and planning frameworks in relation to tourism and rural development in Namibia. Especially the policy aims towards rural community development are overviewed with focus on Community-Based Tourism (CBT) initiatives. The research note involves a retrospective review of tourism policies and rural local development initiatives in Namibia where the Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET) initiated a community-based tourism policy. The policy emphasises structures and processes helping local communities to benefit from the tourism sector, and the active and coordinating involvement of communities, especially, is expected to ensure that the benefits of tourism trickle down to the local level where tourist activities take place. However, it is noted that in addition to public policy-makers also other tourism developers and private business environment in Namibia need to recognize the full potential of rural tourism development in order to meet the created politically driven promises at the policy level. In this respect, a national tourism policy could provide an enabling framework, integrating the tourism sector’s development aims to rural and community development needs in future. In addition, there is a need to coordinate a comprehensive vision of what type of rural tourism development or tourism in rural environments holds the most potential to benefit both local communities and the mainstream sector.

Tourism expansion presents development opportunities but also challenges requiring long-term planning and stakeholders’ collaboration. Many destinations face difficulties in translating sustainability principles into tourist satisfaction improvements (Yen et al., 2024) due to limited stakeholder engagement, inadequate long-term planning, and weak integration of local economic development into tourism policies (Coccossis & Koutsopoulou, 2020). Although responsible tourism is important, its mediating role between sustainability practices and tourist experiences remains underexplored, particularly from local stakeholders’ perspectives (Spadaro et al., 2023; Cheer et al., 2021). This study examines how stakeholder-driven sustainability initiatives enhance tourist satisfaction and how responsible tourism impacts sustainable development strategies with positive tourism outcomes along Albania’s Adriatic coast. Data from 185 stakeholders were used to assess the impact of sustainability factors on tourist satisfaction and the mediating role of responsible tourism in destination development. Findings reveal that long-term planning has the most substantial direct effect on tourist satisfaction, followed by local economic development and stakeholder participation. Furthermore, mediation analysis shows that responsible tourism initiatives in terms of local employment, cultural heritage preservation, and community-based service provision mediate the relationship between sustainability and tourist satisfaction. These results highlight the importance of integrating responsible tourism into sustainable destination management to enhance tourist experiences.

Community tensions, participation, and local development: Factors affecting the spatial embeddedness of anaerobic digestion in Poland and the Czech Republic

Tourism has emerged as a key driver of cultural preservation and rural development, particularly in regions endowed with rich cultural heritage. The Tuipuiral Region of Mizoram, rich in archaeological sites, folklore, beautiful landscapes, and traditional villages, remains largely unexplored despite its cultural significance. This study examines the cultural heritage potential of the Tuipuiral Region by identifying major heritage sites, assessing community participation, and evaluating the socio-economic and environmental implications of tourism development. Using both quantitative and qualitative methods, the research draws on primary data from local stakeholders and secondary sources such as government reports, archaeological records, and published literature. Findings reveal that although the region possesses substantial cultural assets, tourism development is hindered by inadequate infrastructure, poor road connectivity, lack of accommodation, limited institutional support, and absence of trained tour guides. Nonetheless, the region shows strong community interest in conservation and tourism promotion, supported by initiatives such as the Rural Homestay Scheme, heritage site maintenance by local committees, and increasing involvement of NGOs. With improved connectivity projects like the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project (KMMTTP) and the Bairabi–Sairang railway that was innaugurated on 13th Sept. 2025. The Tuipuiral Region has the potential to emerge as a major cultural heritage destination. Sustainable planning, community-based tourism models, and systematic heritage management will be crucial for unlocking the region’s socio-economic and environmental benefits.

Purpose – The purpose of the research was to examine the attitudes of local cycle tourism stakeholders towards cycle tourism development in Istria County and its impact on the destination. Also, the goal was to determine local stakeholders’ general opinions and suggestions regarding past and future cycle tourism development. Methodology – The research target group was local cycle tourism stakeholders in Istria County. For the research purpose an online questionnaire was created. The research was carried out online from April 7, 2020, to July 5, 2020. In total, 201 questionnaires were collected. Findings – As the research results show, local stakeholders have a generally positive attitude towards cycle tourism development in the destination. Most respondents evaluated that the local community benefits from cycle tourism development in the destination and that cycle tourism development additionally promotes the destination. Moreover, 30% of local stakeholders consider that they should be more involved in developing and planning cycle tourism in Istria County. Contribution – The paper’s practical value is that research results can be used as a relevant database in future planning of these tourism products. Also, insights obtained by conducting empirical research can contribute to a better understanding of how the local stakeholders can be involved in planning tourism in the destination.

The post-socialist changes in Romania’s communities profoundly changed the rural settlements with similar, contrasting and tensioned trends in the local rural development. The purpose of this study is to focus on the post-socialist rural dereliction. The paper unveils the post-socialist rural transformation in Romania, from the state-socialist interventions in rural industrialisation, to the post-socialist rural identity formation, using both quantitative and qualitative methods. During this process, two sampled case studies were thoroughly analysed, namely the Tomeşti and Margina communes – two rural settlements intensely industrialised under the former state-socialist political regime and with multiple consequences during the post-90s period in their local development. According to recent theories on economic changes reflected in local rural spatial development, the idea of rural dereliction remains peripheral and, at the same time, a hot-spot issue in the contemporary research on rural restructuring. In addition, recent theories on social and economic changes provide useful frameworks in studying the production of rural ruins. With post-socialist deindustrialisation, and under new post-90 capitalist rules in local rural development, rural communities faced multiple problems in creating their own post-socialist identity. Accordingly, this study highlights the local problems of rural deindustrialisation in the inner rural pattern of the investigated sites. While some rural communities embrace slow rural spatial regeneration trends, others remain ruined, marginalised and declined. The findings of the study confirm the presence of derelict abandoned places, thus highlighting the need for further proper interventions in local rural development, and for further fertile scientific dialogues to promote suitable strategies in Romanian rural regeneration on the local scale.

The post-socialist changes in Romania’s communities profoundly changed the rural settlements with similar, contrasting and tensioned trends in the local rural development. The purpose of this study is to focus on the post-socialist rural dereliction. The paper unveils the post-socialist rural transformation in Romania, from the state-socialist interventions in rural industrialisation, to the post-socialist rural identity formation, using both quantitative and qualitative methods. During this process, two sampled case studies were thoroughly analysed, namely the Tomeşti and Margina communes – two rural settlements intensely industrialised under the former state-socialist political regime and with multiple consequences during the post-90s period in their local development. According to recent theories on economic changes reflected in local rural spatial development, the idea of rural dereliction remains peripheral and, at the same time, a hot-spot issue in the contemporary research on rural restructuring. In addition, recent theories on social and economic changes provide useful frameworks in studying the production of rural ruins. With post-socialist deindustrialisation, and under new post-90 capitalist rules in local rural development, rural communities faced multiple problems in creating their own post-socialist identity. Accordingly, this study highlights the local problems of rural deindustrialisation in the inner rural pattern of the investigated sites. While some rural communities embrace slow rural spatial regeneration trends, others remain ruined, marginalised and declined. The findings of the study confirm the presence of derelict abandoned places, thus highlighting the need for further proper interventions in local rural development, and for further fertile scientific dialogues to promote suitable strategies in Romanian rural regeneration on the local scale.

Lists of illustrations List of Contributors Acknowledgements Part 1: Introduction 1. Food Tourism and Regional Development: An Introduction C. Michael Hall & Stefan Goessling Part 2: Local Food Systems, Tourism and Trajectories of Regional Development 2. Value creation in sustainable food networks: The role of tourism (Jan-Henrik Nilsson) 3. Developing regional food systems: A case study of restaurant-customer relationships in Sweden (Stefan Goessling & C. Michael Hall) 4. Growing tourism from the ground up: Drivers of tourism development in agricultural regions (Michelle Thompson & Bruce Prideaux) 5. The role of regional foods and food events in rural destination development: The case of Bario, Sarawak (Samuel Adeyinka-Ojo & Catheryn Khoo-Lattimore) 6. Local foods, rural networks, and tourism development: A comparative study between Michigan, USA and the North Midlands, Ireland (Cecilia Hegarty & Deborah Che) Part 3: The Cultural Economy of Food and Tourism 7. Japanese obsession to noodles and regional development: The Udon Noodle tourism phenomenon in Japan (Sangkyun Kim) 8. Modernology, food heritage and neighbourhood tourism: The example of Sheung Wan, Hong Kong (Sidney C. H. Cheung & Jiting Luo) 9. Regional economic development through food tourism: The case of AsiO Gusto in Namyangju City, South Korea (Timothy Lee & Jang-Hyun Nam) 10. Consuming the rural and regional: The evolving relationship between food and tourism (Paul Cleave) 11. Food tourism and place identity in the development of Jamaica's rural culture economy (Ernest Taylor & Moya Kneafsey) 12. Gastronomy does not recognize political borders (Marisa Ramos Abascal) Part 4: Products, Regions and Regionality 13. Differences in wine tourism development: Description and illustrations from two Old World cases (Elsa Gatelier) 14. Does regionality matter? The experience in Ireland (John Mulcahy) 15. Craft beer, tourism and local development in South Africa (Christian M. Rogerson) 16.Cheese Tourism: local produce with protected designation of origin in the region of Galicia, Spain (Francesc Fuste Forne) Part 5: Barriers and Constraints 17. Barriers and constraints in the use of local foods in the hospitality sector (Hiran Roy, C. Michael Hall & Paul Ballantine) 18. Culinary collisions: The vision of local food use collides with daily restaurant practice (Lotte Wellton, Inger M. Jonsson & Ute Walter) Part 6: Conclusions 19 Conclusions: Food tourism and regional development - new localism or globalism? (Stefan Goessling & C. Michael Hall)

Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals Requires Transdisciplinary Innovation at the Local Scale

ObjetivoHay un debate en curso sobre las herramientas que pueden conducir al turismo sostenible, así como los intentos de implementarlas. En la selección de herramientas, se deben analizar y tener en cuenta las actitudes de los residentes – agentes interesados locales y su grado de aceptación de dichas herramientas. Algunas provocan conflictos, de ahí que el objetivo de este artículo sea el análisis comparativo de tres ciudades (Praga, Cracovia, Braga).Diseño/metodología/enfoqueEl análisis de los tipos básicos de conflictos se realizó utilizando la división propuesta por Moore. La investigación se llevó a cabo entre residentes, expertos que representan el sector turístico. A partir de la revisión de la literatura se formularon tres hipótesis. Se utilizaron pruebas estadísticas para analizar los resultados.ConclusionesLos resultados mostraron un fuerte impacto del conflicto de información y los intereses de quienes dependen del grado de desarrollo de la función turística de la ciudad. Se estableció que en el proceso de lograr un turismo sostenible, para minimizar los conflictos es necesario: prestar atención a la comunicación y a la implicación de las comunidades locales, crear atractivos que beneficien tanto a los residentes como a los visitantes, medir y monitorear el tráfico turístico, apoyar iniciativas de nuevas ofertas turísticas e iniciar debates sobre los problemas de desarrollo, y establecer objetivos comunes para todos los residentes.Originalidad/valorLa selección de las ciudades históricas y el planteamiento de un problema de investigación basado en la misma herramienta permitieron realizar una inferencia comparativa. Los resultados pueden ayudar a configurar la gestión del turismo en las ciudades y la elección de herramientas para su desarrollo sostenible.

This study explores interfaces between tourism and rural development outcomes (constructs) in Panchmul located in Aandhikhola rural municipality of Syangja District. A comprehensive researcher strategy has been applied in this study. The necessary information was collected from 21 participants selected purposively from tourism and rural development programs. This study found functional interfaces or two ways contributions between tourism and rural development outcomes. Similarly, tourism related activities are building social capital, developing rural infrastructures, maintaining community well-being, and conserving biodiversity which are learning platforms to the neighboring villagers and others people. Panchmul can be a model village for rural development if skillful local youths are mobilized in the activities of tourism development, promotional, and management. That’s why there must be transformative interfaces between constructs thus better to apply the strategic interface model developed from this study by the local development stakeholders.

This study examines multiple local stakeholders’ perceptions of film tourism impacts to shed light on the complexities of film tourism planning and development, using a longitudinal exploratory research approach. The Japanese TV series Mare (2015) was chosen as the case study. Qualitative interviews with various local stakeholders were conducted over a 21-month-long period of a film tourism development project in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. The study found that this film tourism project was initiated with high expectations. However, due to several incidents, such as the controversial rebuilding of a local highway road for promotional purposes, the audience’s mixed reception of the series’ storyline, and a sexual harassment scandal involving one of the main actors, the film tourism development did not progress as planned. The study also revealed that consultation which included a diverse range of local stakeholders and long-term planning embedded into a larger regional development strategy were key factors for successful film tourism planning and development. We contribute that an investigation of local stakeholders’ consultation, diversity, inclusion and long-term embedding is reflected in perceptions across the pre-, during- and post-production stages. These four complexities provide valuable insights and even explanations for local’s dynamic perceptions of film tourism impacts.

Stakeholder conflicts in relation to forest decentralization policies were studied in West Kalimantan, Indonesia to determine: • how these policies were understood by local stakeholders, • how they were implemented, and • their impacts in terms of forest management and conflicts. A case study using qualitative methodologies i.e. semi-structured interviews, field observations and workshops, was made. The results show that the implementation of decentralization policies gave rise to conflicts between local and central government as well as among local stakeholders. Despite the goal of benefiting local stakeholders by decentralizing forest management, the central government's subsequent withdrawal of much of the local governments' authority to manage forestry raises new questions on whether the central government is indeed willing to share power. We concluded that central and local governments and relevant stakeholders need to develop better communication and negotiation procedures to address current conflicts appropriately.

Rural development is the second pillar of the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union (EU), with the role of helping the rural areas of the EU and implicitly Romania to address the economic, environmental, and social challenges they face. The purpose of the research included in this paper is to demonstrate the contribution of the LEADER approach to rural development in Romania, with an emphasis on the North-East Development Region. At the same time, the aim was to highlight the innovative nature of this approach: what it means, how it can be applied, and how it was applied. The data studied through the analysis carried out show that the Romanian territory and, implicitly, the North-East Development Region is poor, fragmented, depopulated, or in the process of depopulating, with few opportunities for young people. The innovative character of the LEADER Programme in Romania and implicitly the North-East Development Region results from the degree of novelty that an investment financed through it brings to the targeted territory, without being limiting and without necessarily presupposing a technological innovation, because the innovation must be evaluated relative to the local situation. The main instrument through which the principles of the LEADER approach can be implemented is the Local Action Group. It is the main driving force behind the activities to be carried out in the territory and which will lead to their implementation. The Local Action Groups set up in the North-East Region provide a common communication framework for local communities to develop and implement Local Development Strategies by initiating, developing and financing projects at local level. They contribute to the unity of local communities and their participation in local development. LEADER approach has brought and how its innovative character is highlighted. The questions that informed its development were: Is this concept considered as a model for sustainable rural development in Romania and the N-E Region? Is LEADER a truly innovative approach. In order to achieve the proposed goal, a multi-step working procedure was developed to allow the collection of target data and additional data derived from the initial target data. Thus, the working procedure was structured in the following steps: problem identification and conceptualization, literature review, document structuring, strategy selection, operational planning, data calculation, and interpretation. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used in this work. Thus, from a quantitative point of view, the following research methods were considered relevant for obtaining data: administrative data analysis. As a qualitative method, a bibliometric analysis was carried out, i.e., the literature on sustainable rural development through the use of support measures was analysed by means of the VOSviewer programme, using the Web of Science collections database. Without the implementation of the LEADER Programme in Romania and implicitly in the North-East Development Region, rural areas may be deprived of funding that determines the improvement of conditions in that area, but efforts in the field of implementing sustainable rural development measures must be continued so that the effect of this funding is really visible. Thus, the results of the research carried out in the North-East Development Region of Romania add additional value to the information published in previous studies through proposals for rural reform and concrete examples of innovative projects implemented there.

PurposeThe starting premise of this study is that women's empowerment is the goal for self-realization and that the support that comes from local tourism stakeholders represents an adequate base. In many rural areas, women have established self-help groups (SHGs), which facilitate the interaction with a wide range of stakeholders. The objective of this paper is to investigate the effects of SHGs on female entrepreneurship and self-employment in tourism.Design/methodology/approachTo examine the research question, this study adopted a quantitative research that included a sample of 513 women in a less-advanced rural area in Serbia. For the data analysis, the generalized linear regression model (GLM) was used.FindingsAccording to the results, self-employment is the leading goal of women's empowerment.Research limitations/implicationsThe main limitation in the research and the authors’ suggestion for future research is to increase the sample size of female respondents, so examination of their attitudes and role in the travel business in their local settings might reach higher significance. The second issue that the authors would like to point out is a highly local character of our study, so the future research should involve other rural areas in the country and from abroad (e.g. similar undeveloped countryside with noticeable, active women's role in local entrepreneurship).Practical implicationsThe most important practical implications of this paper are twofold: (1) the results of the research have shown that the tourist potential of rural areas can be enhanced through local tourism stakeholders' support; (2) women without professional interest or jobs in rural areas, especially in the areas where the population is traditionally dominated by men (husband/brother/father), have a chance to earn and to be economically more independent. This research can affect future studies to investigate other aspects of empowerment depending on the difference of regions, from one side, and also alternative opportunities for tourism and local development in less-advanced rural areas, from another side.Originality/valueThe study analyzes the tourism potential of the rural areas (which are less advanced and mostly very poor in developing countries, such as Serbia). In this case, there are opportunities to increase employment, social inclusion of women, development of new tourism strategies, implementation of destination marketing, etc. Moreover, it contributes to future research in the field of stakeholders in tourism strategies.