From Abandonment to Revitalization: Community-Based Tourism and Rural Regeneration in the South of Italy

The phenomenon of abandoned villages in peripheral and isolated areas constitutes a critical socio-economic and territorial sustainability challenge. Despite its relevance within debates on rural resilience and sustainable development, there remains a lack of systematic research examining how tourism can contribute to the regeneration of these fragile contexts. Grounded in the experience economy paradigm, this article investigates how diverse tourism experiences—co-created through interactions between visitors and local communities—can foster sustainable place-based development. Specifically, the study adopts a two-dimensional analytical framework that classifies tourism experiences according to: (1) the level of local community engagement, and (2) the degree of demographic decline and territorial marginalization of the destination. This framework enables the identification and critical assessment of distinct typologies of tourism experiences in relation to their potential to support social, economic, and cultural sustainability. Through a comparative analysis of selected evidence in Southern Italy, the study highlights how community-based and sustainable tourism initiatives can produce differentiated outcomes in addressing rural depopulation, enhancing local resilience, and promoting the sustainable revitalization of abandoned settlements.