Every year on September 27, World Tourism Day is celebrated, this time under the theme: "Tourism and Rural Development".
On this occasion, tourism is going through a critical moment caused by the pandemic. The countries have developed various strategies for the recovery of tourism; rurality has been one of the strategic focuses, however, it is necessary to be aware that not all rural territories are prepared for tourism activity. Furthermore, not all processes of tourism development in rural areas generate opportunities, and some may even cause significant damage.
On this day of tourism, we need to rethink the capacity of tourism to be sustainable; the pandemic has left us with great lessons, such as not to prioritize tourism over other activities and not to make tourism the only source of development for a territory.
This is probably a good time to reflect on the following: How can tourism activity be sustainable in a capitalist system? How can tourism activity in rural areas integrate and benefit communities?
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