1164 | 592 | Rural, and second home tourism: is it a (second) chance for rural development or catalysator of tourism gentrification instead? | Kyra TOMAY, PhD – Gusztáv NEMES, PhD
Rural tourism has become a fast-growing industry in recent decades. This development direction is essentially small-scale, relying on local resources, while bringing economic revitalisation and life to depopulated villages, thus it has been recognised and actively applied by rural policies as a panacea for territorial development and solving rural problems. In some regions, such as Toscana and Provence, rural tourism has converted whole areas into small economic miracles. However, our research shows that the local consequences of the ‘tourism industry’, even for (economically) successful localities, raise a number of economic, social and environmental dilemmas, and dangers too. COVID-19 increased the demand for green areas and private spaces, and many urban dwellers ‘escaped’ to rural areas (especially to their second homes) during the lockdowns. The steady flow of second-home owners into rural areas, however, posed a significant challenge to local infrastructures and the maintenance of public services for local rural communities._x000D_
Our presentation discusses the role of rural tourism in the gentrification of the countryside, its successes, and dilemmas. Aiming a deeper understanding of the processes in the framework of two interlinked research more than 150 semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with key actors, newcomers, locals, tourists, and visitors between 2019-2023 in three different territories of Hungary. In the presentation we will examine the following questions: What are the consequences of the urban upper and middle-class invasion for local society, the economy, culture, and the environment? What was the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the existing processes: does it modified only temporarily the preferences and motivations, or does it reinforced the already steady trend of rural gentrification or new challenges and problems occurred as a consequence? _x000D_
Kyra TOMAY, PhD – Gusztáv NEMES, PhD
Department of Sociology, University of Pécs, Hungary ; Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, Budapest, Hungary
ID Abstract: 592