Recommendations and proposals for improvement in rural cultural destinations: The case study of the Book Town of Urueña (Valladolid, Spain)

Abstract

Literary tourism is a specific form of cultural tourism that is relatively recent in Spain and widely consolidated in different European countries, where it has grown in importance to the point of whole destinations being built around the same, often in rural landscapes. Book Town initiatives have been positioned as a variation of literary tourism and consists in a plethora of bookshops in small towns that serve as the nucleus for regional economic and social development. This paper offers qualitative research on the subject, the result of in‑depth interviews with two experts in cultural tourism. From the subsequent analysis, it is clear that management and marketing strategies are essential, among other aspects, for the success and consolidation of rural cultural destinations. The analysis centres most specifically on the Book Town of Urueña (Valladolid) as the Spanish reference for this type of tourism.