Sustainable Tourism and the Cultural Landscape in Rural Areas

Dear Colleagues,

Cultural landscapes represent the dynamic interaction between people and their environment, reflecting centuries of social, economic, and ecological processes. In rural areas, these landscapes are not only repositories of natural and cultural heritage but also vital spaces where communities maintain their identity, traditions, and livelihoods. At the same time, rural territories face significant challenges, including depopulation, climate change, land degradation, and pressures from mass tourism. The promotion of sustainable tourism within rural and cultural landscapes is therefore crucial, both to safeguard their integrity and to support resilient local development.

This Special Issue of Sustainability, titled “Sustainable Tourism and the Cultural Landscape in Rural Areas”, seeks to provide an international platform for advancing theoretical perspectives, empirical research, and innovative practices related to the sustainable development of rural destinations. Contributions are invited that explore how cultural landscapes can be preserved, interpreted, and integrated into tourism strategies that balance economic benefits with environmental responsibility and socio-cultural well-being.

We welcome interdisciplinary approaches that connect geography, tourism studies, environmental sciences, rural sociology, heritage management, and related fields. By gathering diverse perspectives, this Special Issue aims to highlight best practices and critical challenges in aligning cultural landscape conservation with sustainable tourism. The insights obtained will be of particular value to policymakers, practitioners, and researchers working to strengthen the resilience of rural areas and to ensure that tourism serves as a tool for inclusive, balanced, and long-term development.

Topics of Interest

Potential topics for this Special Issue include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Cultural landscapes and rural identity;
• Sustainable rural tourism models;
• Heritage conservation and tourism development;
• Community-based and participatory approaches;
• Tourism of special interest in rural areas (e.g., ecotourism, agro-tourism, wine tourism, adventure tourism, pilgrimage tourism);
• Landscape management and environmental sustainability;
• Socio-economic impacts of tourism in rural areas;
• Policy, planning, and governance in rural tourism;
• Climate change and resilience in rural destinations;
• Digital tools and smart tourism in rural landscapes.

Prof. Dr. Darjan Karabašević
Dr. Aleksandra Vujko
Dr. Aleksa Panić
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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