The importance of sustainable tourism in reversing the trend in the economic downturn and population decline of rural communities

              © PASOS. Revista de Turismo y Patrimonio Cultural. ISSN 1695-7121
Vol. 12 N.o 3. Special Issue. Págs. 549-563. 2014
www .pasosonline.org
Abstract: Across the world there is an ever increasing trend of human migration from rural areas and in
particular small settlements to urban centres. Migration to urban centres is most prevalent in the young
adult age groups, which affects traditional industries such as agriculture and associated services, and thus
threatens the sustainability of rural settlements. In some rural towns, a decline in population and agricul-ture
has led to their social and economic deterioration. This paper presents small settlements, two in Italy
and two in Australia, which have leveraged locality very effectively to develop a thriving tourist industry.
The study provides a comparison and evaluation of data on visitor numbers and tourism expenditure in
these regions demonstrating success and growth trends. It is shown how various industries other than tour-ism
often in conjunction with unique characteristics or assets of an area create a major draw card for tour-ists.
Thus providing significant economic, social and environmental benefits to these areas.
Key Words: rural tourism, population trends, sustainable tourism, resilient communities, rural economic
growth, socio­‑economic
sustainability, rural assets
La importancia del turismo sostenible en la reversión de la tendencia de la desaceleración
económica y la población declive de las comunidades rurales
Resumen: A nivel mundial existe una tendencia cada vez mayor de desplazamiento de personas en zonas
rurales, particularmente en pequeños asentamientos, a los centros urbanos. Este desplazamiento es más
común en grupos de edad jóvenes, afectando industrias tradicionales como la agricultura y sus servicios aso-ciados,
amenazando por ende la sostenibilidad de asentamientos rurales. En algunos pueblos de zonas rura-les,
la disminución de población y reducción de la agricultura ha conducido a su deterioro social y económico.
Este artículo presenta el caso de pequeños asentamientos, dos en Italia y dos en Australia en los cuales se
ha eficazmente fortalecido la localidad para desarrollar una próspera industria del turismo. Este artículo
provee una comparación y evaluación de los registros del número de visitantes y el aporte del turismo en
estas regiones, demostrando su éxito y tendencias de crecimiento. También se presenta como a menudo
otras industrias, aparte del turismo en conjunto con características únicas o activos de una zona, crean un
atractivo importante para los turistas. De este modo se están proporcionando beneficios económicos, sociales
y ambientales significativos a estas áreas.
Palabras Clave: Turismo rural, tendencias demográficas, turismo sostenible, comunidades sólidas, creci-miento
económico rural, sostenibilidad socio­‑económica,
valores rurales.
The importance of sustainable tourism in reversing
the trend in the economic downturn and population
decline of rural communities
Rebecca Goulding*
Edmund Horan**
Lee Tozzi***
University, Melbourne (Australia)
Rebecca Goulding, Edmund Horan, Lee Tozzi
* PhD. RMIT University, Melbourne (Australia), E­‑mail:
rgoulding@beagle.com.au
** PhD. RMIT University, Melbourne (Australia), E­‑mail:
edmund.horan@rmit.edu.au
*** MSc Student. RMIT University, Melbourne (Australia), E­‑mail:
leetozzi@internode.on.net
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550 The importance of sustainable tourism in reversing the trend in the economic downturn…
1. Introduction
Across the world there is an ever increasing trend
of human migration from rural areas and in parti-cular
small settlements to urban centres. A paper by
Tozzi and Horan (2012) details the trend of human
migration from rural areas to cities and the drain on
human capital and associated socio economic stresses
on rural regions and small towns, with a particular
focus on trends in Europe and Australia.
Tozzi and Horan (2012) explain that ‘broad de-mographic
trends across Italian and French regions
reveal that many, which have historically featured
a large number of small rural settlements and
towns, have experienced depopulation at various
times post World War Two, driven by migration
to larger urban centres. This has been due to
the declining viability of traditional agricultural
activities and a lack of alternative employment
opportunities (Kneafsey, 2000; Philips, 2003, p
465) Furthermore, Tozzi and Horan (2012, p 465)
describe a similar trend in Australia with small
towns experiencing population stagnation or decline
over the last several decades. Possible reasons
for this decline are listed in Regional Victoria’s
Trends and Prospects 2010 (McKenzie and Frieden,
2010, p 3) and include: ‘capital intensification of
agriculture requiring fewer workers; rationalization
of services into fewer, larger centres; increased
personal mobility allowing people to access goods
and services further away; and increasing economic
and social attractiveness of urban lifestyles.’
Figure 1. Population of 18­‑30
years old in
Umbria, Central Italy.
60000
62000
64000
66000
68000
70000
72000
74000
76000
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
Y e ar
Population
Males
F emales
Source: Italian Institute of Statistics (2009)
Population loss from small towns is often most
prevalent in the young adult age groups. An exam-ple
of this trend in the region of Umbria in central
Italy, a mountainous area containing many small
towns and villages, is presented in Tozzi and Horan
(2012). Umbria experienced a 10 percent decline
in the number of young people 18 to 30 years of
age (as shown in Figure 1) up to the year 2001,
compared with an increase of more than 30 percent
in people over 70 years of age (refer to Figure 2).
Figure 2. Population of 70+ year olds in
Umbria, Central Italy.
0
10000
20000
30000
40000
50000
60000
70000
80000
90000
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
Year
Population
Males
Females
Source: Italian Institute of Statistics (2009)
A similar trend can be seen in Australia. This
is demonstrated in Figure 3, which shows the
hollowing out of the 20 to 34 year age profiles for
outer regional areas in Australia. On the other
hand, major cities within Australia have a much
higher youth retention and thus proportion of
young adults. This trend of youth migration out
of rural settlements has serious implications to
the sustainability of these townships. The loss of
traditional services such as agriculture is under
threat and a large reproductive potential, asso-ciated
with young adult groups, is lost to rural
populations (McKenzie and Frieden, 2010; Tozzi
and Horan, 2012).
1.1. Impacts and Benefits of Rural Tourism
In some rural settlements, a decline in popula-tion
and traditional services such as agriculture has
led to the social and economic deterioration of these
settlements. Tozzi and Horan (2012) describe how
some small settlements in Europe have leveraged
their unique characteristics through tourism and
successful primary production industries unique
to an area to create sustainable socio­‑economic
townships. In Australia, with the decline of many
traditional industries, tourism is becoming a major
contributor to rural and regional economies.
Cities, particularly international gateway cities,
are often the dominant destinations for many tou-rists.
For example, Sydney, Australia’s largest city,
is the country’s most visited tourist destination
(Hunt and Prosser, 1998). However, often prominent
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Rebecca Goulding, Edmund Horan, Lee Tozzi 551
tourist attractions and landscapes are located
outside major cities. Furthermore, many niche
tourism markets such as agri­‑tourism,
eco­‑tourism,
wine tourism, health and wellness tourism are also
centered in regional areas. For example, 72% of
wellness tourism services in Australia are located
in regional areas (Voigt et al., 2010).
The development of tourism surrounding these
unique characteristics and attractions in rural
areas provides major assets to these settlements
through the potential to increase economic activity
(Carlsen et al., 2008). Additionally, tourism can
have other flow on effects on a township, such
as the requirement to improve communication
infrastructure and training facilities and the
development and maintenance of transportation
(Bolin and Greenwood, 1998).
When tourism is well planned and managed,
rural areas can benefit not only economically but
also socially and environmentally (Hunt and Pros-ser,
1998). The latest regional tourism strategy for
regional Victoria, Australia (Tourism Victoria, 2009,
p 17) suggests that social benefits may ‘include
generating community cohesiveness, facilitating
regional pride and contributing to the revival of
regional towns’. Furthermore, the strategy explains
that ‘tourism also promotes sustainability through
communicating the value of natural and built
heritage, providing the incentive for environmental
improvements or rehabilitation of areas and raising
awareness of environmental issues.’ A summary of
some potential economic, social and environmental
benefits is outlined in Table 1.
The economic benefits of rural tourism can be
seen in a new form of development, which has
recently been put into practice and is reversing
rural decline in some villages of Italy. The concept
of ‘albergo diffuso’ is a simple but radical approach
to revitalising impoverished and derelict villages.
As the Italian term suggests, it involves a hotel
distributed or scattered throughout the village – the
village becomes a hotel. Without changing the
historic built environment of the village, indivi-dual
homes and buildings are transformed using
traditional materials.
The concept is the brain child of Daniele Kihl-gren
and company Sextantio Albergo Diffuso, which
involves purchasing whole villages and two have
already been developed. One village, Santo Stefano
di Sessiano in the Abruzzo region, is a traditional
hilltop village established in the middle ages. It
once had a population of 3,000 which had dwindled
to 100 at the turn of the century (Bain, 2013), when
Kihlgren commenced purchasing property. In the
Basilicata region of southern Italy the village of
Sassi di Matera has also been transformed by
Sextantio Albergo Diffuso. In some instances in this
village, caves formerly used for habitation by cave
dwellers or as pens for stock have been converted
to expensive hotel accommodation.
The economic benefits for the village and re-gion
are significant. The emphasis on the use of
traditional materials means that local builders
and craftsmen are engaged in the renovations.
The hospitality industry employs local people.
Local agricultural produce is used in restaurants.
Local food produce and craft are sold to tourists.
Historical backdrops for staging and theatre pro-vide
employment as well and in turn bring more
tourism to the district.
Rural tourism, whilst it has the potential to
provide significant benefits to rural communi-ties,
if managed poorly can negatively impact on
the socio­‑economic
sustainability of townships.
For example, the form of development applied
by Sextantio Albergo Diffuso raises fundamental
questions such as aesthetic integrity and even
the raison d’etre of the practice. These villages
Figure 3. Population Pyramids for Broad Regions of Australia, 2001.
Source: (Australian Research Council Research Network in Spatially Integrated Social Science, 2007)
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552 The importance of sustainable tourism in reversing the trend in the economic downturn…
are being transformed far beyond any original
expectations. Established as basic habitation for
peasants over centuries, they now offer high level
accommodation and cuisine for tourists. Fallen into
decay and deserted by most or all of the inhabitants,
now only wealthy tourists reside for one or two
nights for leisure. The question can also be asked
as to what type of experience is being formed.
And can the risk of these developments becoming
excessive caricatures of a now non­‑existent
lifestyle
be avoided. As this type of tourism development
is very new, only time will tell if an appropriate
balance can be maintained.
Rural tourism impacts on the environment
through the consumption of goods and services.
Ecologically, we are aware of the issues of urba-nisation
such as the use of non­‑renewable
energy,
the need for conserving resources such as water
and the huge waste generation from a society and
economy based on the production and consump-tion
of goods and services. Nowadays, the rural
townships enjoy similar infrastructure for energy,
water and waste and living conditions to those in
larger conurbations.
One activity which creates a major environmen-tal
impact is the production and consumption of
food. However, only in rural areas can food produced
in the region be consumed locally. In addition,
many villages have access to small garden plots in
the vicinity. Here produce can be grown including
olives, grapes, fruit and vegetables. Consequently, it
could be assumed that food transport impacts would
be less. However, in regard to mass produced and
distributed food, a limited range of food is available
from the local mini­‑markets
in rural areas and
then residents as well as tourism suppliers must
travel to the conventional supermarkets at the
larger urban centres thus increasing the transport
burden for those particular products.
In regard to waste, the generation of waste is a
result of the production and consumption economy
of our society which has also permeated the rural
areas. All modern day products purchased from
regional centres find their way to the remotest
settlement and the packaging and discards are
disposed of into wheelie bins and dump master
bins for collection as in the large cities. So waste
is collected in the same manner as in the cities.
It is trucked away and disposed of in landfill. The
recycling of waste can be limited in rural areas,
as the major recycling plants are usually located
in larger regional centres.
Traffic congestion and parking problems are
among the most common negative aspects of rural
tourism reported. In fact transport in general con-tributes
significantly to the environmental impact
of rural tourism. As a society we have embraced the
choices that mobility affords us. Transport now is
a vital component of developed economies. While
we rely on low environmental impact services
such as IT and telecommunications as a vehicle
for purchasing and booking rural tourism, these
are but a catalyst for physically participating
in rural tourism. Rural tourism employees can
reside in regional centres and travel to work in the
countryside. Conversely, employees living locally
in the village or town travel to regional centres to
purchase at department and specialty stores. They
need to attend medical, legal, financial services.
Visiting the library or municipal offices can require
an extensive transport commitment.
So, the car has become an essential component
of everyday village life and rural tourism. For-tunately,
in most cases, the internal street and
passageway system of rural villages and towns
has remained intact. Largely due to their isolation,
through traffic had no reason to pass through
most villages, especially the hill­‑top
villages, and
so many villages escaped the carnage of having
a main road constructed through their centres.
Even so, the car is shaping the geography of
the village and rural town. Rural tourism and
hospitality operators and employees own cars.
However, parking availability is often restricted
especially in the hilltop villages where there is little
space for cars or even gardens. Also the land can
be on such a slope that, to gain sufficient flat land
for parking cars, parking areas are grafted around
Table 1. Potential Benefits of Regional Tourism
Economic Social Environmental
Increased non­‑agricultural
income
Use of visitor facilities for
community purposes
Preservation of the natural
landscape
Diversification of the region’s
economic base Greater community cohesion Increased interest in repairing
environments
Improved employment
opportunities
Opportunities for cultural
exchange
Enhancement of the built
environment
Source: (Commonwealth Department of Tourism, 1994 referenced in Hunt and Prosser, 1998)
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Rebecca Goulding, Edmund Horan, Lee Tozzi 553
the edge of the hilltop village cantilevered out over
the edge of the village. Often these unsightly car
parks provide the initial visible perspective on
approach to an historic village.
Public transport connects rural areas and regio-nal
centres. However, as an area is more remote,
the availability of these services becomes scarcer
and the resourcing implications are too large for
the smaller demand compared to large cities.
Other commonly reported negative impacts
from rural tourism include rising house prices,
disturbance and litter. A summary of some other
negative impacts, which may result from rural
tourism are provided in Table 2. It is important to
keep in mind that the impact of rural tourism is
diverse, just as in large urban centres, and there
can be considerable variations in impact for di-fferent
rural areas. It is a very complex issue and
certainly an area which would benefit from data
collection, industry surveys and further research.
In order for rural tourism to be beneficial it
needs to be managed appropriately balancing the
economic benefits with the conservation of the
environment and the needs of the community.
Tozzi and Horan (2012) discuss key factors which
underpin the successful socio­‑economic
turn around
and prosperity of small settlements in Europe.
Some of the critical factors discussed included a
high level of local government support to deve-lop
and leverage locality, and high levels of both
bonding and bridging social capital. Tozzi and
Horan (2012) go on to present the ‘Associations of
the Most Beautiful Villages’ as an example of an
effective bridging platform that has facilitated the
sustainable development across many culturally
significant small settlements in Italy and France.
The not­‑for­‑profit
‘Association of the Most Beautiful
Villages’ of France was created in 1982, with the
objective of both stimulating tourism and promoting
sustainable development with respect to cultural
heritage and quality of life. The ‘Associations of
the Most Beautiful Villages’ innovatively and crea-tively
marketed small rural settlements in France
and Italy, playing a pivotal role in developing a
thriving tourist industry in these rural townships
and enhancing the socio­‑economic
sustainability
of these communities.
However, Tozzi and Horan (2012) describe that
there were also some tensions inherent in these
small rural settlements competing for tourism in
the international market place. The local popu-lation
acknowledged the positives the presence
of international tourists meant for the enhanced
reputation of their villages, however they are also
concerned that attracting too many international
visitors would dilute and break down traditions
and heritage (Gülümser et al., 2009).
Tozzi and Horan (2012) additionally show various
Australian rural settlements where attempts at
improving rural tourism and the socio­‑economic
status of townships have not been successful. This
was largely where the focus was on marketing a
particular image of the town by a few motivated
individuals without the backing of a strong and
united community vision, and without the support
of bonding and bridging social networks. More
successful were those rural towns which emulated
rural settlements in Europe focusing on their unique
locality features, which have strong support across
the community. They effectively leveraged their
networks with local, state and federal governments,
local and regional businesses and other rural towns
and institutions to sustainably develop their commu-nities
– socially, environmentally and economically.
2. Case Studies
This section presents several case studies
of rural communities in Europe and Australia,
Table 2. Potential Negative Impacts of Rural Tourism
Economic Socio­‑cultural
Environmental
Encourages dependence on
industry prone to uncontrolled
change
Creates feeling of invasion by
tourists: overcrowding and traffic
Increases wear and tear on
landscape features
Encourages part­‑time,
seasonal
or low grade employment and
public service costs
Increases crime
Creates need for new
development which may not be in
keeping with local area
Incurs development Reduction in local services e.g.
food shops replaced by gift shops
Increases pollution (noise, visual,
air, water, litter, traffic)
Leads to local land and house
price inflation
Import of new cultural ideas­‑challenges
existing way of life Affects local biodiversity
Source: (Page J and Connell, 2006)
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554 The importance of sustainable tourism in reversing the trend in the economic downturn…
which have successfully leveraged their unique
characteristics to improve the socio­‑economic
sus-tainability
of their townships or districts. These
include the district of Val d’Orcia and the township
of San Gimignano in Siena Province, Italy and
the townships of Castlemaine and Daylesford in
Victoria, Australia. Common to these localities is
the development of cultural identities and indus-tries,
which are a major draw card for tourists,
and at the same time, provide significant economic
support to rural settlements in their own right.
The role of tourism in revitalizing and sustaining
these locations is discussed along with other key
success factors including: differentiating the area
from other rural destinations, development of
robust industries and services often unique to the
area, and innovative community and government
promotion of townships and districts.
There are many important factors, which can
be measured to assess success in tourism. In this
paper details on visitor numbers, which are a direct
and objective means of assessing success in tourism
(Dupeyras and MacCullum, 2013), and visitor expen-diture
are focused on and provided in this section.
Overnight stays, which better reflect the impact
of tourism on the economy than visitors’ arrivals
or day trips (Dupeyras and MacCullum, 2013) are
included. A comparison of one year’s figures with
the next is used to convey growth or decline.
2.1. Siena Province, Central Italy
This section has principally been adapted
from Tozzi and Horan (2012). Siena Province is
in the region of Tuscany in central Italy. It has
significant cultural, historic and economic value,
as demonstrated by the four UNESCO world
heritage recognised sites located here. Yet like
Umbria and other agricultural regions of Italy, the
province was subject to progressive depopulation
and abandonment of agricultural activities in
the 1970’s, particularly by young people as they
migrated to the industrial lowlands and regional
plains of Tuscany (Allessandro Sorbello, 2010;
Philips, 2003). However by 1999, Siena province
was ranked 9th among 103 Italian provinces for
quality of life (Pulselli et al., 2006), and in 2009
boasted the highest wine production in Tuscany,
producing 35% of the region’s total wine volume
(99 million litres). Siena province also specialises
in cheese making (pecorino di Pienza) and olive
oil production, and had the highest number of
registered agri­‑tourist
farms in Tuscany in 2009:
1,034 out of a total of 4,046 (Italian Institute of
Statistics, 2009).
The rise of the agri­‑
tourism industry in Siena
has seen an increase in international and domestic
(Italian) visitors to agri­‑tourist
farms in the province.
Figure 4 shows that from 2003 to 2010 the average
annual growth rate of arrivals or day trip visitors
to agri­‑tourist
destinations was 6.6% and 5.2%
per annum for international and domestic visitors
respectively. Figure 5 shows a much higher number
of visitors, particularly international visitors staying
overnight in these establishments. The number
of overnight visitors also grew between 2003 and
2010, with a growth rate of 5.4% per annum for
both domestic and international tourists.
Figure 4. Number of domestic (Italian) and
international arrivals to agri­‑tourist
farms
in Siena, Italy from 2003 to 2010
Source: Osservatorio Nazionale del Turismo, 2009b
*AAG=average annual growth
Figure 5. Number of domestic (Italian)
and international visitors staying
overnight at agri­‑tourist
farms in Siena,
Italy from 2003 to 2010
Source: Osservatorio Nazionale del Turismo, 2009b
*AAG=average annual growth
Figure 6 shows the number of domestic arrivals
to all accommodation establishments in Siena
between 2003 and 2010. The number of domestic
arrivals grew in this period at a rate of 3.5% per
annum. The growth in the number of overnight
visitors was smaller at 1.2% per annum. These
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Rebecca Goulding, Edmund Horan, Lee Tozzi 555
growth rates were less than those for visitors to
agri­‑tourist
farms alone (refer to figures 4 and 5).
Figure 6. Number of domestic (Italian) ar-rivals
and overnight visitors to all accom-modation
establishments in Siena, Italy
Source: Osservatorio Nazionale del Turismo, 2009b
*AAG=average annual growth
Similarly, the growth of international visitors
to Siena was below that of visitors to agri tourist
farms. In fact, figure 7 shows a small decrease in
the growth rate of overnight international tourists
of 0.4% per annum between 2004 and 2012. Figure
7 shows that expenditure by international tourists
follows a similar trend to the number of overnight
visitors. Hence, between 2004 and 2012 there was a
small decrease in overnight expenditure of 0.2% per
annum. The similarity in trends between overnight
visitor numbers and overall expenditure points to
the importance of attracting overnight visitors to
an area, as they provide a much larger economic
contribution than daytrip visitors.
Figure 7. Number of international travellers,
overnight visitors and total expenditure for
Siena, Italy between 2004 and 2013
Source: Osservatorio Nazionale del Turismo, 2009a
*AAG=average annual growth
The healthy growth of visitors to agri­‑tourism
farms, despite a more moderate growth in domes-tic
visitors, and the recent plateau in growth of
international tourists demanding accommodation
units in the region, highlights the popularity of
these farms. Therefore, the ability of these farms
to attract visitors suggests they can provide great
benefits to an area associated with all the flow on
effects of a healthy tourism industry. The following
case studies refer to some of the areas in the pro-vince,
which have benefited from the development
of agri­‑tourist
farms.
2.2 Val d’Orcia
A 2011 study by Lorenzini investigated the role
of culture in the socio­‑economic
sustainability of
the world heritage recognised Val d’Orcia district,
a regional park located in Siena Province (shown
in figure 8) of just under 67,000 hectares and a
population of 13,500. It found that since the late
1980’s the area had adopted a strategy of valori-sing
culture­‑based
goods and services linked to
local history or traditional local customs. Civil
organisations such as Cooperatives, Consortia and
professional associations collaborated closely with
public authorities and community groups to develop
and manage territorial brands such as the DOCG
and DOC for local wines like Brunello, which is
now a significant contributor to the local economy.
Productive partnerships with organisations such as
the not­‑for­‑profit
‘Associations of the Most Beautiful
Villages in Italy’ has helped Val d’Orcia build an
attractive image and leverage synergies with other
culturally significant areas to creatively market
their appeal at a global level.
The result of this approach was that instead
of younger generations leaving the Val d’Orcia
district, they stayed to carry on local traditions
because of the national and in some cases inter-national
status achieved by certified products
and brands. Producers now took great pride in
the businesses they developed through their
craft as part of the global market value chain.
The markets’ increasing interest in traditional
local products and the link with a notable cultural
area has contributed to a more positive image
of farm life. The spread of agri­‑tourism,
such
as holiday farms, has helped diversify farmers’
activities which has further attracted young
people (Lorenzini, 2011).
Lorenzini suggests that Val d’Orcia has expe-rienced
a high rate of inter­‑sectoral
integration
with many links forming in the last twenty years
between tourism, agriculture, handicrafts, the
construction industry and services. Holiday and
agri­‑tourist
farms required qualified builders
and furniture which stimulated local firms,
craftsman found a market for their products in
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556 The importance of sustainable tourism in reversing the trend in the economic downturn…
visiting tourists, and agricultural products were
served in the many restaurants, inns and wine
bars which sprang up. A good proportion of the
inputs to the tourism and export industries as
well as community services, are supplied locally,
thus building resilient socio­‑economic
networks
which foster a strong sense of local identity and
self­‑sufficiency.
The study concludes that this
social capital has been essential in strengthening
the authority of local institutions, such as the
Val d’Orcia s.r.l. (the organisation that manages
the area), which have promoted an integrated
identity for Val d’Orcia and that, in turn, these
institutions have strengthened Val d’Orcia’s
social capital. Nonetheless Val d’Orcia’s success
as a premium tourist destination has not been
without its problems. The study found that a
lack of cooperation between private enterprises,
government and civic institutions has weakened
participation in planning processes leading to
variable quality standards in holiday farm de-velopment
and rising real estate prices creating
affordability issues for locals. These trends could
impact the socio­‑economic
sustainability of the
region in the future (Lorenzini, 2011).
Figure 8. Location of Val d’Orcia and San
Gimignano in Siena Province, Tuscany,
Italy.
Source: Adapted from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Italy_
provincial_location_map.svg
2.3. San Gimignano
San Gimignano (shown in figure 8) is another
of the Siena Province world heritage listed sites
which has a unique regional cultural character
and identity that its citizens are passionate about.
Philips (2003) studies San Gimignano in her book
investigating what characterises ‘sustainable place’
as an example of a small village economy which
has benefited from the growth in Europe of agri­‑tourism
associated with traditional specialty food
industries. Similar to other towns in the Siena
province, San Gimignano was a peasant farming
town prior to World War Two. However, in the
1940’s and 50’s, poor returns on crops and higher
taxes forced peasants off the land. Over the last four
decades, properties and surrounding small farms
have been bought by wealthy northern Europeans
(Swiss, Germans, English) and Italians who had
become disillusioned with the quality of life in the
industrial towns. By the 1980’s the area attracted
artists, craftsmen, academics and wine producers,
bringing an influx of revenue and better farming
methods. An exclusive wine variety, Vernaccia, was
developed which earned the prestigious DOCG
(Denominazione di Origine Controllata & Garan-tita)
label in 1993. Strict building conservation
regulations have ensured historic buildings in the
town are sensitively renovated using traditional
materials, protecting their heritage. These are pri-marily
used to sell high quality luxury arts, crafts
and food delicacies to tourists. Tourists are also
attracted by the unique and attractive appearance
of San Gimignano as a walled, hilltop conurbation,
little changed from when it was built in 1100 –
1300, and surrounded by villas, farmhouses and
a lush landscape of Cyprus pines, olive groves and
vineyards (Philips, 2003).
However Philips notes there are signs that
tourism is increasingly monopolising the township
leading to detrimental effects which may threa-ten
the ongoing social and economic health of the
community. While tourist numbers have increased
significantly (in 1993, 233,845 foreign and Italian
tourists visited and stayed; by 1995 this number
had increased to 381,116), the permanent popula-tion
decreased from 4121 in 1971 to 1760 in 1996.
This appears to be due to the increasing ownership
of residential buildings by non­‑permanent
resi-dents
– those who use the property as a holiday
home or who rent it to tourists. Local residents,
including those earning their living as producers
and artisans, have come under pressure to sell
their properties at the greatly inflated prices offe-red
by newcomers, or are under threat from ever
increasing rents demanded by landlords. While
the existing town facilities do accommodate some
public or community needs, such as a library and a
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Rebecca Goulding, Edmund Horan, Lee Tozzi 557
small hospital, the trend has been to move health,
welfare, education and social services out of San
Gimignano to larger centres, which acts to exclude
some community members particularly the young
and the elderly from the town. There are strong
social bonds within local community groups that
have formed around common concerns, however
these can be narrowly self­‑interested,
elitist and
lack alignment with other groups and the general
community. In addition, incentive structures and
collaboration between local government and the
community to support resource saving and environ-mental
preservation is weak. This lack of balance
between the economic benefits generated by tourism
with other important social and environmental
needs could ultimately erode the very regional
character and identity that the tourism industry
in San Gimignano has been founded on (Philips,
2003), therefore requiring a careful integrative
planning approach.
2.4. Victoria, Australia
This section has principally been adapted from
Horan et al. (2013). Victoria is located in the south
east of Australia and is the country’s smallest
mainland state ­‑
roughly the size of the British
Isles. The state’s major city, Melbourne, continues
to have a faster growing population than regional
Victoria. However, there is a wealth of diverse regio-nal
areas and attractions, which can be leveraged
through tourism and other industries to ensure a
sustainable future for rural settlements. Daylesford
and Castlemaine are two examples of rural towns
in Victoria that have achieved this successfully.
2.5. Daylesford, Australia
The rural townships of Daylesford and Hepburn
Springs are located in central Victoria just 90
minutes from Melbourne (refer to figure 9). The
region contains 80 percent of Australia’s natural
mineral spring reserves. The Hepburn area is also
renowned for its natural beauty and character,
which reflects its early Victorian heritage when
Swiss­‑Italian
miners and other immigrants settled
in the area (Hepburn Shire Council, 2013). The
region has a history of agriculture, timber cutting,
and goldmining. It has also been a popular tourism
destination for over 130 years when people would
travel to Daylesford and Hepburn Springs to “take
the waters”(Voigt et al., 2010). An icon of the region
is the Hepburn Bathhouse and Spa, which was
developed in 1895, and caused the area to be known
as the spa capital of Australia.
Figure 9. Location of Daylesford in
Victoria, Australia
Source: Adapted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daylesford,_
Victoria
A decline in visitors and population in these
townships occurred from the 1930s due to the
popularity of other tourist destinations. At this
time regional Australia was experiencing higher
levels of unemployment in the traditional sectors
of agriculture, forestry, mining and clothing ma-nufacturing.
By the 1970s these hardships showed
with empty shops and rundown buildings in the
region (Voigt et al., 2010).
In the 1980s, the unique character and attrac-tion
of the area and the tourist draw of the mineral
springs prompted entrepreneurial development
of high quality tourist and hospitality operations
including the award winning Lake Resort. So began
the revitalization of the township and overtime a
diverse range of health and wellness practitioners
were attracted to set up services in the area, ce-menting
the town as a health destination. Tourism
Victoria (2005), referenced in Voigt et al. (2010,
p143) confirmed that ‘the region has more than
85 different therapies available and a community
of practitioners unlikely to be found anywhere in
Australia’. Resident and visitor population expan-ded
and services to meet the growing population
increased. Agriculture also revived with a demand
for locally grown produce to supply local businesses
(Voigt et al., 2010) and today Tourism Victoria
has identified food and wine as a strength of the
area (Tourism Victoria, 2009). Daylesford has also
developed a unique cultural identity and is known
for its festivals and arts and culture (Tourism
Victoria, 2009). Victoria’s Regional Tourism Action
Plan 2009­‑2012
(Tourism Victoria, 2009, p 27) has
found ‘in recent years sectors such as the arts,
retailing, food, wine and health and community
services are rapidly growing components in the local
economy’. The population of the region continues
to grow today with a growth rate of 0.5 percent
(Department of Planning and Community Develo-pment,
2012). Several significant re­‑development
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558 The importance of sustainable tourism in reversing the trend in the economic downturn…
and improvements to the existing iconic bathhouse
including most recently in 2008 has also helped
promote economic growth in the area.
The economic importance of tourism to Daylesford
and Hepburn Springs (Spa Country) is 14.3 percent of
the local economy, which is well above the Australian
benchmark of 3 percent, highlighting that tourism is
important to the region’s economy (Tourism Research
Australia, 2011). The economic importance of tourism
to the Daylesford and Hepburn Springs region was
determined from the ratio of the region’s total tourism
expenditure or output to its total output. The ben-chmark
for Australian tourism regions was derived
by dividing the tourism output across all tourism
regions by the total output across all tourism regions
(Tourism Research Australia, 2011). In Daylesford and
Hepburn Springs, tourism employment grew by 49.7
percent over the period 1997­‑1998
to 2002­‑2003,
by
far the largest growth in regional Victoria (Regional
Tourism Research Centre, 2008). Since the 1990s
the key economic sectors supporting Daylesford and
Hepburn shifted from primary production to service
activities supporting tourism according to the 2001
census (Gibson and Connell, 2011). Today the top
two industries of employment in the Daylesford and
Hepburn Springs area are cafes, restaurants and
takeaway food services and accommodation both
of which would be heavily supported by tourism
(Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2011).
Table 3 shows the region received an estimated
485,000 domestic overnight visitors for the year
ending December 2012. This was an increase of
15.2% from 2011 to 2012. The average annual
growth of overnight domestic visitors from 2000
to 2012 is 0.6 % per annum. Visitor numbers since
2008 still increased however growth slowed slightly
to 0.3% per annum. This is less than regional Victo-ria
generally, which since 2008 had an increase in
domestic overnight visitation of 0.9% per annum.
Although visitor numbers for domestic overnight
tourists have remained fairly stable, with small
growth over recent years, the figures are a marked
increase on those for the previous two decades or so.
The region received an estimated 9,700 inter-national
overnight visitors for the year ending
December 2012. Despite a decline in international
overnight visitor numbers from 2011 to 2012, in-ternational
overnight visitors to the region have
grown at an average annual rate of 2.1% since
2008, compared to a decline of 0.4% per annum
for regional Victoria overall.
The vast majority of tourist expenditure in
Daylesford is derived from domestic tourists.
Therefore, domestic tourist expenditure is a
good measure of the performance of the tourism
industry in the region. Table 4 shows that over-night
expenditure from domestic visitors has
increased from 2012 to 2013 by 3.9 %, however
there has been a decline in the average annual
visitor spending since 2008 of 2.2 % per annum.
The daytrip visitor spending from 2012 to 2013
has had a marked decrease of ­‑14.1%.
The average
annual growth rate of visitor spending since 2008
has increased by 2.9% per annum. This coincides
with a healthy growth rate per annum in visitor
numbers over this period (refer to Table 3). Total
visitor spending since 2008 is slightly down due to
a decrease in overnight spending. As early strong
growth appears to be plateauing, a challenge for
the area may be to attract more international
and domestic overnight visitors. It is particularly
important to increase overnight visitors, which
provide a greater economic contribution than day
trip visitors (Dupeyras and MacCullum, 2013).
The Victorian Government has recognized ‘tou-rism
as one of the most important contributors to
the growth and character of the region’ (Regional
Tourism Research Centre, 2008). Consequently,
it has supported the ongoing development and
marketing of the region as an attractive tourist
Table 3. Domestic and international visitation to Daylesford and the Macedon Ranges
Year Ending
December 2008 2011 2012 AAG
00/12
AAG
08/12
% change
11/12
Domestic
Overnight
Visitors (000s) 480 421 485 +0.6% p.a. +0.3%p.a. +15.2%
Daytrip
Visitors (000s) 1365 1566 1677 +1.0% p.a. +5.3% p.a. +7.1%
International
Overnight
Visitors (000s) 8.9 10.9 9.7 +3.0% p.a. +2.1 %p.a. ­‑10.8%
(Adapted from Tourism Victoria, 2012a) *AAG=average annual growth
PASOS. Revista de Turismo y Patrimonio Cultural. 12 N° 3. Special Issue. Mayo 2014 ISSN 1695-7121
Rebecca Goulding, Edmund Horan, Lee Tozzi 559
destination. In particular, it seeks to leverage
the region’s unique wellness and rejuvenation
strengths. Daylesford has been picked as the hero
destination in a new major interstate regional
campaign. Launched in 2009, the ‘Daylesford.
Lead a Double Life’ campaign focuses on positio-ning
regional Victoria as a leading destination in
spa and wellbeing (Tourism Victoria, 2009). As
part of the campaign in 2013, a new destination
iPhone app for the region, Discover Daylesford,
was launched to provide visitors with accessible
tourism information. Wellness tourism is one of the
fastest growing tourism sectors (Voigt et al., 2010).
Due to the depth of the mineral springs, world
class resort and spa facilities and high number of
wellness services in this the region it is likely it
can increase its share of this market.
Castlemaine is a township located in the goldfiel-ds
region of Victoria, Australia, 120 kms northwest
of Melbourne (refer to figure 10). The town began as
a gold rush boomtown after gold was first discovered
in 1851 (Mt Alexander Shire Council, 2013). The area
contained the richest shallow alluvial gold diggings
the world had ever seen (Frost, 2002). A year after
the discovery of Gold in 1851 there were 20,000
diggers working the alluvial beds (Mt Alexander
Shire Council, 2013). At its height it was briefly
larger than Melbourne, as the city’s population
moved to Castlemaine to seek for gold. The alluvial
gold soon began to peter out and as the area lacked
the gold­‑rich
quartz reefs of other centres such as
Bendigo and Ballarat (The Age, 2008) underground
mining never developed. Therefore, after the gold
rush, there was not much development and as such
the town has retained much of its early heritage
dominated by civic and commercial buildings form
the mid to late 19th century (Frost, 2002).
Following the gold rush the population declined,
however the town did not decline drastically due in
large to secondary industries at the time such as
breweries, iron foundries and a woollen mill (The
Age, 2008). Today Castlemaine still has a strong
manufacturing industry some of which are endowed
from its mining past where many took the opportu-nity
to locally supply the miners and their families
with all their needs (Mt Alexander Shire Council,
2013). The ability of these businesses to adapt to
the changing requirements of the community over
the years has meant they are still going strong
today. Some of the main manufacturers include
small goods, foundries and carpet spinning mills
(Mt Alexander Shire Council, 2013). Castlemaine
is the business centre of Mt Alexander Shire and
in addition to its manufacturing industry is well
serviced by a vigorous retail sector and many
wholesalers and artisans (Mt Alexander Shire
Council, 2013). Unemployment is 3.2 percent, which
is lower than regional Victoria’s rate of 5.2 percent
(i.d consulting Pty Ltd., 2013a). The population
of the greater Castlemaine area today is 9112 (i.d
consulting Pty Ltd., 2013b); this is an increase of
623 people since 2001. The Victorian population
bulletin cited a 0.1 percent increase in population
for the year ending 2011 (Department of Planning
and Community Development, 2012). Therefore,
in recent times the population is increasing, but
slowly.
Figure 10. Location of Castlemaine in
Victoria, Australia
Source: Adapted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castlemaine,_
Victoria
Table 4. Domestic tourism expenditure in Daylesford
and the Macedon Ranges campaign region
Year Ending December 2008 2012 2013 AAG
2008/2013
Yearly Change
2012­‑2013
Domestic
Overnight Expenditure(million AUDs) 164 141 147 ­‑2.2%
p.a. 3.9%
Daytrip Visitor Expenditure 91 123 106 2.9%p.a. ­‑14.1%
Total Domestic expenditure 255 264 253 ­‑0.2%
p.a. ­‑4.4
(Source: Tourism Victoria, 2013a) *AAG=average annual growth Castlemaine, Australia
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560 The importance of sustainable tourism in reversing the trend in the economic downturn…
Castlemaine is renowned for its art and cultural
scene. The Mt Alexander Shire describe the arts
industry as the heart and soul of the region and
list it as one of its key industries supporting the
local economy (Mt Alexander Shire Council, 2013).
Artists include world­‑renowned
musical instru-ment
makers, sculptors, furniture makers, glass
blowers and authors. There are many galleries that
show the local works and live performance from
musicians, actors, singers and dancers are also
prominent and often perform at historic venues
such as the Theatre Royal in Castlemaine. This
theatre was first established in gold rush times
to provide entertainment for the miners and their
families. Castlemaine is home to the oldest regional
arts festival in Australia and attracts performers
and audiences from around the country and inter-nationally.
In addition to its economic value, the
arts industry provides important social benefits
to the community. Artists have expressed how
the many artistic hubs become vibrant gathering
spaces for the community (Australian Centre for
Moving Image, 2010)
Unsurprisingly, the art culture in Castlemai-ne
has long been a major draw card for tourists,
attracted both for the art itself and the vibrant
atmosphere that surrounds it. In addition to the
allure of its art, since the 1960s Castlemaine has
developed as a heritage tourist destination with
much of its appeal lying in its intact landscape
(Frost, 2002). More recently it is developing a
reputation as a fine food destination (Tourism
Victoria, 2013b). Castlemaine has been described
as having a thriving tourist industry (Cegielski
et al., 2000) and the level of employment in retail
trade and accommodation and food services is
testament to this. Retail trade is one of the main
industries of employment and accommodation
and food services is the 5th highest industry of
employment in the Castlemaine area (i.d consulting
Pty Ltd., 2013a). Retail trade and accommodation
and food services are the two industries likely to be
supported greatly by tourism. For instance Tourism
Victoria found cafes, restaurants and takeaway
food services accounted for the largest share of
direct tourism employment (27 percent), followed
by retail trade (19 percent) and accommodation
Table 5. Domestic and international visitation to Goldfields region
Year Ending
December 2008 2011 2012 AAG
00/12
AAG
08/12
% change
11/12
Domestic
Overnight Visitors
(000s) 1,117 1,346 1,435 ­‑0.6%
p.a. +6.5% p.a. +6.6% p.a.
Daytrip Visitors
(000s) 3186 3649 4024 +0.3% p.a. +6.0% p.a. +10.3%
International
Overnight Visitors
(000s) 34.2 36.8 40.0 0.5 %p.a. +4.0%p.a. +8.9%
(Adapted from Tourism Victoria, 2012c) *AAG=average annual growth
Table 6. Domestic tourism expenditure in the Goldfields campaign region
Year Ending December 2008 2012 2013 AAG
2008/2013
Yearly
Change
2012­‑2013
Domestic
Overnight Expenditure (million AUDs) 307 421 392 +5.0%
p.a. ­‑6.8%
Daytrip Visitor Expenditure 315 421 455 +7.6%
p.a. 8.2%
Total Domestic expenditure 622 842 847 +6.4%p.a. 0.7%
Source: Tourism Victoria, 2013a *AAG=average annual growth
PASOS. Revista de Turismo y Patrimonio Cultural. 12 N° 3. Special Issue. Mayo 2014 ISSN 1695-7121
Rebecca Goulding, Edmund Horan, Lee Tozzi 561
(13 percent) (Tourism Victoria, 2012b). A study
aimed at assisting communities to develop heritage
tourism opportunities, found much of the economic
contribution occurs through spending on meals
and accommodation whilst staying in the region
(Jones et al., 2007).
Table 5 shows there were an estimated 4.0
million domestic daytrip visitors to the Goldfields
region in the year ending December 2012. The
number of domestic daytrip visitors increased by
10.3% from 2011 to 2012. Since 2008, domestic
overnight visitation to the region has grown at
an average annual rate of 6.0%. The Goldfields
region received an estimated 40,000 international
overnight visitors for the year ending December
2012. This was an increase of 8.9% from 2011 to
2012. Since 2008, international overnight visitors
to the region have grown at an average annual rate
of 4.0%, compared to a decline of 0.4% per annum
for regional Victoria generally.
As with Daylesford, the vast majority of tou-rist
expenditure in Castlemaine is derived from
domestic tourists. Therefore, domestic tourist
expenditure is a good measure of the performance
of the tourism industry in the region. Table 6 shows
that domestic visitor expenditure has also grown
in the region. Since 2008, domestic overnight and
daytrip expenditure in the region has grown at an
average annual rate of 5.0% and 7.6% per annum.
This has led to an annual average growth rate of
6.4 % for total domestic expenditure since 2008.
3. Conclusion
In recent times rural areas around the world
have experienced sometimes dramatic decreases
in population as people migrate to urban centres.
Migration to urban centres is most prevalent in the
young adult age groups, which affects traditional
industries such as agriculture and associated servi-ces,
and thus threatens the sustainability of these
settlements. In some rural settlements, a decline in
population and agriculture has led to their social
and economic deterioration, as particularly visible
in the here presented case studies.
On the other hand, rural areas can leverage
unique characteristics, landscapes and attractions
to develop vibrant tourism industries targeting
new markets attracted to the particular features
of many rural areas (Lane, 2009). Furthermore,
rural areas have the features needed to create
niche tourism markets such as agri­‑tourism,
eco­‑tourism,
wine tourism, adventure tourism and
health and wellbeing tourism. With the decline
of many traditional industries, the potential for
tourism to provide increased economic activity
is particularly important to rural and regional
economies. Tourism may also have other indirect
effects on a township, such as the requirement
to improve communication infrastructure and
training facilities and the development and main-tenance
of transportation (Bolin and Greenwood,
1998). Tourism can also provide important social
and environmental benefits to rural areas such
as improving community pride and cohesion,
providing opportunities for cultural exchange
and increasing preservation and awareness of
the natural environment and heritage (Hunt and
Prosser, 1998).
Rural tourism, whilst it has the potential to
provide significant benefits to rural communities,
if managed poorly can negatively impact on the
socio­‑economic
sustainability of townships. Some
of the most common negative aspects of rural tou-rism
reported include traffic congestion, parking
problems, rising house prices, disturbance and
litter (Page J and Connell, 2006).. In order for
rural tourism to be beneficial it needs to be mana-ged
appropriately balancing the economic benefits
with the conservation of the environment and the
needs of the community (Philips, 2003) The small
settlements of Val d’Orcia and San Gimignano in
Siena province of Italy have leveraged locality very
effectively to develop a thriving economy based
on tourism, however both need to ensure that the
tourism industry is sustainable and does not lead
to the social and ecological degradation of the local
area. Daylesford and Castlemaine in Victoria,
Australia are also thriving tourist destinations. In
each of the four settlements vibrant and successful
industries were created using the strengths of
the local area. It was shown that the creation of
successful industries often in conjunction with
other unique characteristics or assets of an area
are a major draw card for tourists. Subsequently,
the benefit to the rural settlement is twofold with
both the industry and the tourism generated as
a result of the industry contributing to the socio­‑economic
sustainability of the area (Horan et al.,
2013). Other key factors for a successful tourist
industry, which each of the case studies possessed
included a unique identity and being renowned
for this, development of robust industries and
services often unique to the area, and innovative
community and government promotion of the area.
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Recibido: 04/11/2013
Reenviado: 12/12/2013
Aceptado: 04/01/2014
Sometido a evaluación por pares anónimos