Best Tourism Villages by UN Tourism Network – Village Talks: Voices from the Ground
31 August 2026 | 13:00–14:30 CEST
The second session of the Best Tourism Villages by UN Tourism Network’s Village Talks series – Voices from the Ground – was held on 31 August 2026, under the theme “Partnerships in Action: Different Pathways to Collaborative Rural Tourism.”
The session explored how partnerships among public institutions, businesses, communities, producers, and other stakeholders can support sustainable tourism development in rural destinations, strengthen local value chains, improve market access, and ensure that tourism benefits are more widely shared within rural communities.
The session brought together St. Johann in Tirol, Austria, Hosszúhetény, Hungary, and Bohinj, Slovenia, showcasing three different approaches to building effective partnerships for sustainable rural tourism development. It also featured the launch of the first Good Practices Factsheet of the BTV Network under the theme of“Leveraging Tourism for Inclusive and Resilient Rural Communities.”
Sharing Good Practices Across the Network
Mr. Ibrahim Abdou, Senior Project Specialist, Tourism for Rural Development Programme at UN Tourism, highlighted the role of the Best Tourism Villages Network as a platform for knowledge exchange and practical learning. He presented the Network’s mechanism for collecting and documenting good practices and explained how these are shared through three key knowledge outputs: thematic factsheets, Village Talks sessions, and the publication of selected good practices on the Best Tourism Villages website.
The factsheet “Leveraging Tourism for Inclusive and Resilient Rural Communities” showcases practical approaches to using tourism as a tool for inclusion, community resilience, and sustainable rural development.
The factsheet presents selected practices and key insights in a structured format, providing destinations with examples that can be adapted to their own local contexts. It reinforces the importance of ensuring that tourism contributes to local livelihoods, community well-being, and long-term resilience, not simply visitor growth.
St. Johann in Tirol: Connecting Tourism with Quality of Life
St. Johann in Tirol, Austria, presented its “Tourism & Living Space” dialogue process, a proactive approach designed to involve residents more actively in tourism development and address sensitive issues including mobility, housing, second homes, nature, and local identity.
Led by the Tourism Association of St. Johann in Tirol in cooperation with the municipalities, the process brings together residents, businesses, public institutions, and other stakeholders through surveys, moderated dialogue formats, and workshops.
The process has helped translate stakeholder input into concrete themes and starter projects, while contributing to the Tourism Association’s evolution towards a broader “living space management” role.
Hosszúhetény: Turning Recognition into Market Opportunities
Hosszúhetény, Hungary, presented an approach focused on translating its recognition as a Best Tourism Village into tangible opportunities for the local community.
Led by No Planet B – Travel with B, the initiative builds partnerships with other recognized villages, including Dongbaek Village in the Republic of Korea and Miyama and other villages in Japan.
Through these partnerships, local experiences are integrated into responsible international travel programmes, connecting visitors with accommodation providers, guides, artisans, restaurants, and women-led businesses. The example demonstrates how private-sector expertise, market knowledge, product development, and distribution can help rural destinations reach international markets while generating direct opportunities for local stakeholders.
Bohinj: Strengthening Local Food Systems
Bohinj, Slovenia, presented “Building a Multi-Stakeholder Platform for Local Supply Chains,” showcasing its approach to connecting tourism with agriculture and local food production.
Led by Tourism Bohinj in partnership with the Municipality of Bohinj, the initiative brings together farmers, an agricultural cooperative, agricultural advisory services, hospitality providers, schools, and other local institutions.
Through a multi-stakeholder working group, Bohinj has strengthened connections between local producers and buyers, contributing to increased production and sales while reinforcing the links between tourism, agriculture, local livelihoods, and landscape preservation.
Partnerships as a Driver of Rural Resilience
The experiences shared by St. Johann in Tirol, Hosszúhetény, and Bohinj demonstrate that there is no single model for collaborative rural tourism. Partnerships can take different forms depending on local needs and capacities—from institutional dialogue and private-sector cooperation to multi-stakeholder platforms.
Despite these differences, the three examples share common foundations: clear objectives, defined roles, trust, continuous communication, and long-term commitment.
Together with the insights presented by UN Tourism and the new Good Practices Factsheet on “Leveraging Tourism for Inclusive and Resilient Rural Communities,” the session demonstrated how the Best Tourism Villages Network supports its members beyond recognition through knowledge exchange and practical learning.
The session highlighted a clear message: when partnerships are built around local needs and shared responsibility, tourism can become a powerful driver of inclusive, resilient, and sustainable rural development.
Publication: Leveraging Tourism for Inclusive and Resilient Rural Communities,
