Title: European destination regions and social exclusion challenges

Authors: Antonio Paolo Russo; Riccardo Valente

Addresses: URV Department of Geography, Rovira i Virgili University, GRATET Research Group, C. Joanot Martorell 15, 43480, Vila-seca (Tarragona), Spain ' URV Department of Geography, Rovira i Virgili University, GRATET Research Group, C. Joanot Martorell 15, 43480, Vila-seca (Tarragona), Spain

Abstract: This paper presents a typology of European regions according to the type, mix and magnitude of human mobilities attracted over the 2008-2018 period, tourists being one of them, but extending to the related movement of different cohorts of migrants. Regional clusters are then assessed in terms of their social performance in domains such as health, material conditions, housing, and labour. Significant associations between regional types and social trends are interpreted in the light of potential factors affecting these outcomes. Results point to the uneven repercussions of housing unaffordability in the fastest growing destination regions, on the polarisation of living conditions in the European 'star destinations' and on the challenge of precarious labour, especially for migrant workers, in established mature destinations. In a stage of reignition of tourism activity after the COVID-19 crisis, these insights are meant to contribute to the recovery debate, informing about key social issues and vulnerabilities which, in specific regional contexts, could have been amplified by the current crisis.

Keywords: tourism mobilities; attractiveness; European regions; social exclusion; policy challenges.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTP.2022.128133

International Journal of Tourism Policy, 2022 Vol.12 No.4, pp.372 - 391

Received: 13 Oct 2021
Accepted: 02 Mar 2022

Published online: 06 Jan 2023 *

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