Rethinking tourism: towards fair, creative and sustainable tourism practices in rural and remote areas.
Dates: 26th to 29th of April 2026
Host organization: CeRPHAAL – Centre for the Research and Promotion of Historical-Archeological Albanian Landscapes
Location: Upper Vjosa Valley pilot area, in the town of Përmet, SE Albania
Context and goal
Across Europe, the cultural, economic, social and environmental negative impacts of mass tourism are becoming increasingly evident. Tourism, however, remains a major source of revenue and can be much more than a simple passatempo, when it is perceived a symbiosis between authentic travel experiences and profound respect for cultures, nature, and people.
Within the SECreTour project, we explore how tourism can both diversify the income of territories and communities and enhance the visibility, recognition, and protection of cultural and natural heritage in rural and remote areas. The project is developing a Fair, Creative and Sustainable (FaCS) tourism approach, with practices tested in various rural European contexts, developing models that seek to reduce tourism pressure by empowering local communities, diversifying tourism offers, and promoting innovative and alternative business models.
The workshop on FaCS tourism brings together SECreTour partners to discuss pilots research results from eight different European territories, highlighting current tourism challenges and present innovative solutions that can work as possible replicable model to apply to similar territories.
The workshop is divided into three main thematic sessions that discuss issues on FaCS tourism, along with an additional session dedicated to development of business model prototypes that involves the presence and collaboration with local actors.
