Return Migration and Tourism Sustainability in Portugal: Extracting Opportunities for Sustainable Common Planning in Southern Europe

Abstract

This study contributes to the knowledge of decision-makers on how tourism, small and medium-sized enterprises, return migration, and cooperation strategies can contribute to growth and sustainable development in rural areas. More specifically, it uses the Portuguese case to answer the following question: can the expectations and perceptions of emigrants provide directions for sustainable tourism development and common planning in order to contribute to rural development? The results obtained in a study developed in Portugal, through the application of a questionnaire survey of 5157 Portuguese emigrants, confirm the validity of this question. It is concluded that there are the emigrants at an active age (29–39 years old) and with a house in a rural area that have a greater propensity of returning, investing, and gaining employment in the area of tourism in Portugal, and they also have more training and professional experience in this area. Similarly, considering the experiences and migratory characteristics of these emigrants, it is argued that there is a strong probability that the return of emigrants from Southern European countries will contribute to the development of tourism in the rural areas of these countries. Besides, the study enables the identification of recommendations and directions for sustainable common planning in the political–strategic, financial–economic, resource sustainability, and sociocultural fields.

The Impacts of COVID-19 Crisis over the Tourism Expectations of the Azores Archipelago Residents

“…As previous authors affirm [28,30,31,38], there is considerable potential for the growth and development of rural and slow tourism in the Azores Archipelago. Additionally, this typology of tourism is seen by many authors (see: [39][40][41][42][43][44][45] Additionally, tourism in the Azores is a strategic sector for the regional economy and growth. Moreover, adventure and nature tourism are the frontline merchandise of this model in the region, which increases the relevance of the obtained data for the territorial planning and management of the Archipelago.…”

Territorial Management and Governance, Regional Public Policies and their Relationship with Tourism. A Case Study of the Azores Autonomous Region

“…It is recognized that agriculture plays an essential role in less competitive territories and regions. This problem is even more apparent in Southern European countries [14]. These countries' insular territories are not an exception.…”

“…Thereby, the archipelagos of Canary Islands, Madeira, Cabo Verde, or the Azores are just some examples. In fact, this issue earns additional importance in those ultra-peripheral regions [14]. With regard to these singular areas, Labrianidis and Thanassis [38] describe: "( .…”

“…Considering this type of growth, and particularly for territories with socio-economic bases inevitably linked to tourism, regional planning policies can present impacts of a grander scale than areas where the socio-economic basis does not depend solely on tourism [14,15].…”

Spatial Analysis of the Rural-Urban Structure of the Spanish Municipalities

“…The population emigrates from the rural areas furthest from the urban spaces, since those who live in towns near the main communication routes and dynamic urban centers [14] continue to live in their hometowns and travel daily to work. This emigration is more pronounced in the young and female population groups [15][16][17], which produces the aging of agricultural spaces [18], masculinization, and a tendency for them to disappear because achieving generational replacement is difficult due to low birth rates [19][20][21].…”