Enhancing the tourist attractiveness of small and fascinating villages

The INTERREG MED project “SUSTOWNS” – Enhancing SUStainable tourism attraction in small fascinating small TOWNS, has as its main objective to promote the rejuvenation of small fascinating tourist destinations in rural territories and islands, through the exchange of good practices and promoting the development of Sustainable Tourism Action Plans addressed to regional, national and international tourism authorities in the intervention area (MED).

SUSTOWNS focuses on three types of target groups:

1 – Second home owners – These are people with personal or family ties who, usually for work reasons, do not live in the territories concerned and only visit (especially during long holiday periods). The specific objective is to increase the frequency of visits from 1 or 2 times a year on average to 2 additional weekends a year in order to achieve a multiplier effect both on the local economy and on the visibility and strengthening of personal links with these municipalities.

2 – New residents – The objective with this public is to integrate them into the population and to introduce them to all the activities and possibilities offered by the territory in order, on the one hand, to reinforce their links with the population and, on the other hand, to provoke a pull effect.

3 – Pensioners – Attract them and make them residents, as they could find the ideal environment to enjoy a high quality of life.

To achieve this, the project is divided into three phases:

• Phase 1: Identification of the people who make up each of the target groups and categorisation by interests.
• Phase 2: Creation of direct communication channels with them.
• Phase 3: Consolidation of monthly agendas of activities aligned with the identified interests.

The countries involved in the SusTowns project are Spain, Italy, Slovenia, Greece, Albania, Croatia and Portugal.

For more information about SusTowns: