FiturNext Observatory announces the winning initiatives of the 2024 Challenge

FiturNext has announced the winners of the fifth edition dedicated to how tourism can contribute to the fight against depopulation. Genalguacil (Pueblo Museo, Recartografías and Camino del Cid are the award-winning initiatives in the categories of revitalising tourism services, management of depopulated territories and promotion of territories, respectively. The awards ceremony will take place on 24 January at FITUR.

The research to evaluate the initiatives has been carried out following two replicability and impact barometers developed by the Observatory. The first one analyses the possibilities for the initiative to be adapted and replicated in different contexts, resources and actors, the second one measures the potential of the projects by measuring the degree of participation in the project, the previous work carried out and the impact on the environment where it operates, among other aspects.

Demographic, social and economic revitalisation of rural areas

The three winning initiatives aim to fight against depopulation by promoting the territory through their tourism activities.

The local project in the province of Malaga (Spain) Genalguacil (Pueblo Museo), winner of the revitalising tourism services category, fuses art, culture, tradition and nature in a museum village that boosts repopulation and tourist attractions. Genalguacil has become a year-round open-air museum with more than 20,500 visitors in one year.

In particular, Recartografías, winner of the category management of depopulated territories, is an association from Teruel (Spain) which, through tourism services, workshops and training talks, restores and revitalises the village using endogenous resources and values. A relevant figure is that the opening of the Farmhouse and Rural Memory Museum in San Agustín (village of 100 inhabitants) went from 0 visitors in 2016 to 1,000 visits per year.

Finally, the consortium Camino del Cid, winner of the category promotion of territories, promotes a cultural tourism route of about 2,000 km that runs through territories of low demographic density, thus promoting their economic and social development. It favours the generation of economic resources and job creation. As a result, more than 100,000 travellers and a growing trend, with a repetition rate of 96%.

In addition to the winners, here are the finalist initiatives

Nine finalist projects have been selected for the FiturNext 2024 Challenge that stand out for their contribution to revitalising territories in rural areas.

• Best Tourism Villages by UNWTO, offers annual awards for rural villages that stand out for their cultural and natural assets, promote community values, products and lifestyles with a commitment to sustainability.
• Montañas vacías, through a network of bicycle routes, raises awareness of the demographic situation in the mountain areas around Teruel and highlights the value of endogenous resources.
• Jachal Tierra Adentro, a community tourism association made up of small tourism entrepreneurs that seeks to promote the small villages in the area by giving them visibility through tourism.
• Eurovelo promotes a network of 17 long-distance cycling routes, with more than 90,000 km of itineraries that connect and unite the entire European continent, passing through territories suffering from depopulation.
• Escuela de Herreros, by means of on-site courses in a small village in the province of Toledo, they involve the local population and promote endogenous products so that the students get to know the territory.
• Mamá Uma viajando con niños Ecuador, an initiative that creates tourism activities with the participation of local indigenous communities based on local culture and ancestral values.
• Abriendo pueblos (T guío), provides tailor-made guided tours of very depopulated localities in Maestrazgo. In this way, it contributes to maintaining the cultural heritage of the territory and allows the maintenance of different buildings that would otherwise remain closed to the public due to a lack of visitors.
• Centro expositivo Rom, develop, publicise and safeguard the Monastery of Santa María la Real. Through guided tours, they promote Romanesque art by fusing the use of new technologies and theatre.
• AlmaNatura, a rural immersion laboratory that promotes innovative, sustainable initiatives and rural teleworking immersions in an old restored mill in the Sierra de Huelva.

FiturNext 2024 programme underway

As it does every year, the Observatory is organising an agenda of talks, presentations and round tables with experts in tourism and territorial revitalisation from 24 January to 27 January. Among the highlights will be the awards ceremony and the presentation of the 2024 report.