Destination Governance: marginal Rural Areas in Europe

The emerging challenges of the tourism market determine a strategic and urgent need to introduce the sustainability paradigm into destination planning in order to pursue balanced development and achieve or maintain a long-term competitive advantage. This chapter focuses on destination governance to build projects on the principles of sustainability by involving local stakeholders in decision making. The discussion on the application of an embedded governance model relates to marginal rural areas of Central European countries (Italy, Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovenia), where the European Project Listen to the Voice of Villages leverages sustainable tourism to improve the welfare and quality of life of local communities.