Call for abstracts: Navigating rural futures. The role of infrastructure in drive tourism

ITRC is among the organisers of a special session on drive tourism in rural areas at the 33rd Nordic Symposium on Hospitality and Tourism Research, which will be held in Bornholm, Denmark, in September.

When discussing the transformative power of tourism, it is essential to consider the diversity of tourism types and mobilities in the Nordics and beyond, as well as the specific nature of the transformations at stake. This special session focuses on tourism in rural and peripheral regions, where limited public transport makes drive tourism the dominant mode of travel. Generally, drive tourism involves self-driving between service centres, and in rural and peripheral regions, it largely operates outside the core infrastructure typical of urban tourism hubs. Drive tourism can occur with or without established tourist routes, and the level of infrastructure supporting this form of tourism depends on three key factors: the condition and usage of existing rural infrastructure; the presence (or absence) of established tourist routes and; whether a tourist route concept has been thoughtfully designed and implemented in collaboration with various users of the road network. The functionality and sustainability of infrastructure in drive tourism are critical, as infrastructure successes or failures significantly impact the mobilities of both visitors and residents.

Building on work initiated at the 32nd Nordic Symposium and the establishment of the Rural Drive Tourism Research Network (RDTRN), this special session invites researchers to contribute to a growing field and network by emphasizing the crucial role of infrastructure in shaping the futures of rural and peripheral tourism. The session seeks to bring together mobilities researchers, tourism scholars, and practitioners to critically examine how drive tourism, through innovative infrastructural design and development, can foster transformative and sustainable futures for rural regions.

We encourage submissions that explore the following questions:
What types of tourism infrastructure are needed to support self-driving tourists in rural regions while also accommodating local mobility needs?

• How can self-driving tourism contribute to local community well-being, environmental sustainability, and cultural heritage without overburdening existing infrastructure?
• What innovative practices in rural drive tourism have successfully balanced the needs of visitors and local communities?
• What are the emerging challenges and opportunities in the design and management of rural tourism infrastructure?
• What other issues and perspectives are relevant to rural drive tourism and its infrastructure

The session is organised by Tarja Tuulia Salmela from UiT The Arctic University of Norway, along with Þórný Barðadóttir and Eyrún Jenný Bjarnadóttir, researchers at ITRC.

Further information on the conference and abstract submission can be found on the conference website.