SECreTOUR workshop on Fair, Creative and Sustainable Tourism in Rural and Remote Areas

First part of the meeting involved a general consortium discussions focused on issues related to the overall project performance, as well as upcoming milestones and deliverables, and were presented and moderated by the project coordinating team from University of Granada.

The workshop on FaCS tourism, titled: Rethinking tourism: towards fair, creative and sustainable tourism practices in rural and remote areas, and designed by CeRPHAAL, was structured into three sessions, each involving two rounds of interactive group discussions.

First session: ‘Inclusive tourism: Empowering and engaging communities’, focused on identifying key barriers that limit long-term community involvement, as well as on exploring practical ways to identify, engage, and empower Heritage Communities with the mindset of using tourism as a tool to increase their well-being and support eco-systems restoration.

Second session: ‘Designing Innovative Tourism Solution that Work for Communities, Heritage, and Places’, focused on developing creative and innovative tourism examples that build on the potentials of local-territories (place-based), are centered on living communities, and contribute to the restoration, regeneration and sustainability of the living ecosystems.

Third session: ‘Policy Strategies and recommendations for a Fair, Creative, and Sustainable tourism in rural areas’, focused on translating the ideas from the previous sessions into possible policy recommendation and strategic actions. The aim was on identifying gaps and propose policy tools and strategies to support the implementation of FaCS tourism in rural areas.

Participants worked in four groups, resulting into insightful ideas that were recorded in a versatile digital application with the purpose of storing and analyzing the group results discussions.

The programme also included site visits across the Upper Vjosa Valley pilot area offering the participants a closer connection to the local landscape and heritage. On the first day, participants walked along a section of the Vlach transhumance route, a cultural hiking itinerary proposed and designed by the Vjosa Valley pilot partner during the SECreTOUR project. On the second day, they explored the historic town of Përmet through a guided tour, including a visit to a traditional house operating as a family run guest house, enjoying locally produced delicacies and a warm introduction to local hospitality.