Tourism and Migration for Sustainable Living and Regions: Possibilities and Limitations
A special issue of Social Sciences (ISSN 2076-0760). This special issue belongs to the section "International Migration".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2026 | Viewed by 31
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Across the world, many regions are facing common challenges such as economic stagnation, population decline, and environmental degradation. Addressing these issues requires strategies that go beyond locally confined responses and take into account broader dynamics, including global capitalism and planetary environmental change. Against this backdrop, sustainable tourism and lifestyle migration have the potential not only to serve as tools for regional economic revitalization, but also to foster ways of living that are more equitable, environmentally conscious, and socially connected. Such initiatives can also encourage societies beyond the region to reconsider values centered on rapid consumption, short-term gain, and individual status, and to deepen their engagement with environmental conservation, cultural continuity, and inclusive community life.
At the same time, these approaches raise fundamental questions. Can local success stories genuinely contribute to the transformation of society as a whole, or will they remain enclaves open only to certain privileged groups? Historically, lifestyle migration and sustainable tourism have often been accessible primarily to relatively affluent populations in the Global North. In order to deliver benefits to a broader demographic and to harmonize with long-term residents, new models of tourism and migration must be developed. These may include the ethical consumption of local products, support for new migrants, participatory environmental education, and governance mechanisms that safeguard both community well-being and ecological integrity.
This Special Issue aims to examine both the possibilities and limitations of efforts to achieve sustainable regional development through tourism and migration. We welcome submissions employing diverse approaches, including large-scale quantitative analysis, in-depth qualitative fieldwork, theoretical and philosophical engagement with sustainability and degrowth, and computational simulations exploring alternative future societies. In particular, we invite research that bridges local practices with global challenges, and comparative or interdisciplinary studies that clarify the conditions under which tourism and migration can contribute to sustainable and inclusive regional futures.
Dr. Shiro Horiuchi
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- sustainable tourism
- lifestyle migration
- population decline
- environmental conservation
- degrowth
- social inclusion
- ethical consumption
- migration support
- environmental education
- related populations
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