March Trends Chat 2021

This month, we had two amazing guests, who brought their expertise and perspectives, explaining how they are working on developing rural tourism as an opportunity for growth for destinations.

Innovation & Growth in Rural Destinations

This month's Trends Chat was all about how to drive growth by developing and supporting the tourism industry in small, off-the-beaten-path destinations. It is sometimes hard to define the term "rural" and we often tend to use it to identify what is not "urban". During the chat, we have heard about many different approaches to drive people to less-known destinations and convey the authenticity and uniqueness of living and experiencing these places.

This month, we had two amazing guests, who brought their expertise and perspectives, explaining how they are working on developing rural tourism as an opportunity for growth for destinations.



Dèlia Montesinos

Brand Manager of Rural Tourism at the Catalan Tourist Board




Ulf Sonntag

Head of Market Research at the Institute for Tourism Research in Northern Europe



Rewatch the chat Edoardo Cantoni and I had with our guests ▶️

Dèlia shared how the Catalan Tourist Board is investing in promoting Catalonia for its natural beauty, culture, traditions and history, bringing the attention of travellers, who would most definitely know about Barcellona and the Mediterranean coast, to less-known destinations across the region.

In particular, they have just started a new initiative called Gran Tour of Catalonia which "takes the audience along the scenic roads of Catalonia, weaving together the art, history, gastronomy, landscapes, people and traditions of a unique territory nestled between the Mediterranean and the Pyrenees".

Dèlia highlighted that the itineraries and activities designed are enhanced by digital and have sustainability at the core. One of the highlights of this project is definitely the application of gamified experiences, aimed at engaging the audience through digital on a whole new level.


Ulf has definitely brought to the table a lot of recommendations and expertise but also really valuable learnings that he acquired working on the CHARM project.


Friedrichstadt is one of the villages that jumped on board and joined the CHARM villages project. Again, we received really great insights on how to create a network that systematically provides guidance and support to different destinations, which are at different levels of development and have different needs but one unique goal: develop and grow sustainably for the benefit of residents and tourists.

The DTTT has worked on the CHARM project designing a guide for promotional practices of destinations, that you can download here.

On our side, we have two great examples of business models that have been designed with the vision of creating opportunities for communities and travellers in rural destinations.

Discover the story of Fogo Island Inn, a social enterprise developed with a clear purpose in mind: helping the local community to thrive, unite and succeed through sustainable economic development and the preservation of the local cultural and natural heritage.

Fogo Island Inn - A Community-Empowered Business

Hipcamp is often referred to be 'the Airbnb of camping'. Albeit not 100% accurate, this definition gives an idea about the business model adopted by the company: similarly to its more popular counterpart, Hipcamp allows private individuals (in this case landowners) to supplement their income by renting out accommodations to guests (in this case campers).

Hipcamp - Applying the Airbnb model to Camping

Innovation & Growth in Rural Destinations

This month's Trends Chat was all about how to drive growth by developing and supporting the tourism industry in small, off-the-beaten-path destinations. It is sometimes hard to define the term "rural" and we often tend to use it to identify what is not "urban". During the chat, we have heard about many different approaches to drive people to less-known destinations and convey the authenticity and uniqueness of living and experiencing these places.

This month, we had two amazing guests, who brought their expertise and perspectives, explaining how they are working on developing rural tourism as an opportunity for growth for destinations.



Dèlia Montesinos

Brand Manager of Rural Tourism at the Catalan Tourist Board




Ulf Sonntag

Head of Market Research at the Institute for Tourism Research in Northern Europe



Rewatch the chat Edoardo Cantoni and I had with our guests ▶️

Dèlia shared how the Catalan Tourist Board is investing in promoting Catalonia for its natural beauty, culture, traditions and history, bringing the attention of travellers, who would most definitely know about Barcellona and the Mediterranean coast, to less-known destinations across the region.

In particular, they have just started a new initiative called Gran Tour of Catalonia which "takes the audience along the scenic roads of Catalonia, weaving together the art, history, gastronomy, landscapes, people and traditions of a unique territory nestled between the Mediterranean and the Pyrenees".

Dèlia highlighted that the itineraries and activities designed are enhanced by digital and have sustainability at the core. One of the highlights of this project is definitely the application of gamified experiences, aimed at engaging the audience through digital on a whole new level.


Ulf has definitely brought to the table a lot of recommendations and expertise but also really valuable learnings that he acquired working on the CHARM project.


Friedrichstadt is one of the villages that jumped on board and joined the CHARM villages project. Again, we received really great insights on how to create a network that systematically provides guidance and support to different destinations, which are at different levels of development and have different needs but one unique goal: develop and grow sustainably for the benefit of residents and tourists.

The DTTT has worked on the CHARM project designing a guide for promotional practices of destinations, that you can download here.

On our side, we have two great examples of business models that have been designed with the vision of creating opportunities for communities and travellers in rural destinations.

Discover the story of Fogo Island Inn, a social enterprise developed with a clear purpose in mind: helping the local community to thrive, unite and succeed through sustainable economic development and the preservation of the local cultural and natural heritage.

Fogo Island Inn - A Community-Empowered Business

Hipcamp is often referred to be 'the Airbnb of camping'. Albeit not 100% accurate, this definition gives an idea about the business model adopted by the company: similarly to its more popular counterpart, Hipcamp allows private individuals (in this case landowners) to supplement their income by renting out accommodations to guests (in this case campers).

Hipcamp - Applying the Airbnb model to Camping

This month's Trends Chat was all about how to drive growth by developing and supporting the tourism industry in small, off-the-beaten-path destinations. It is sometimes hard to define the term "rural" and we often tend to use it to identify what is not "urban". During the chat, we have heard about many different approaches to drive people to less-known destinations and convey the authenticity and uniqueness of living and experiencing these places.

This month's Trends Chat was all about how to drive growth by developing and supporting the tourism industry in small, off-the-beaten-path destinations. It is sometimes hard to define the term "rural" and we often tend to use it to identify what is not "urban". During the chat, we have heard about many different approaches to drive people to less-known destinations and convey the authenticity and uniqueness of living and experiencing these places.

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