Tourism promoting sustainable regional development: focusing on rural and creative tourism in low-density and remote regions

Resumen

This study, based on the analysis of the existing bibliography, as well as the result of the appreciation of a low-density and remote case studies located in the Azores Archipelago, seeks to identify a theoretical nexus regarding rural and creative tourism and regional sustainable development in the post-COVID-19 scenario. In this regard, the authors applied analytical descriptive and inductive deductive methods. Contextually, the study aims not only to understand the subject in more prominent detail but also to clarify new tendencies, approaches, and potential guidelines that allow the actors implicated to design and drive sustainable regional development in the long term. The remote and low-density territories are the most appealing destination for this new tourism dynamics. Also, the paper shows that it is possible to establish that in this ultra-peripheral territory, the tourism sector was already presuming relevance in 2019, benefiting from a large sample of entrepreneurs and actors in the tourism sector in the Portuguese Autonomous Region of the Azores. Some potential implications may include the following: (i) Increased economic benefits: Creative tourism can bring in additional revenue for local businesses and organizations and individual artists and craftspeople; (ii) Preservation of cultural heritage: Creative tourism can help to support and preserve traditional cultural practices and crafts, which can be an essential aspect of island communities’ identity; (iii) Job creation: Creative tourism can create new job opportunities for locals, such as tour guides, workshop instructors, and artists.