On 1–5 December 2025, Dr. Goda Lukoševičiūtė representing Institute of Economics and Rural Development (IERD), Lithuanian Centre for Social Sciences (LCSS) attended a research and teaching visit in Mauritius, hosted by the Malaysia Consortium for Education in Mauritius (MCEM). The visit was part of the research project “Sustainable Rural Area Development Via Recreational Trails,” funded by the Research Council of Lithuania. Focused on the theme “Trail Tourism in Rural Areas,” the initiative strengthened international academic cooperation on sustainable tourism, rural development, and community resilience, engaging local academics, policymakers, tourism professionals, students, and community representatives.
A key element of the programme was Dr. G. Lukoševičiūtė’s open lecture and seminar at the MCEM. Her sessions explored how trail tourism can serve as a catalyst for sustainable rural development by enhancing visitor experience and well-being while also generating socio-economic benefits for host communities. Through conceptual discussion, interactive reflection, and practical case insights, participants examined the factors that drive economic empowerment through trail tourism, strategies for retaining local value and reducing economic leakage, and the ways visitor behaviour can contribute to long-term rural resilience. The visit also included engagement with national tourism stakeholders, including a meeting with the Minister of Tourism of the Republic of Mauritius, underlining the policy relevance of trail-based rural development.
In addition to the lectures, the week-long visit included stakeholder meetings on rural development and recreational tourism, a field trip to observe local trail-related tourism contexts, and academic exchange with undergraduate social science students. These activities supported knowledge sharing on research approaches and opened opportunities for future collaborative studies, including potential data collection among visitors and tourism-related businesses along rural recreational trails in Mauritius. Overall, the visit reinforced the partnership between LCSS and MCEM and advanced the international visibility of Lithuanian trail tourism research as a pathway toward sustainable, community-centred rural futures.
This project has received funding from the Research Council of Lithuania (LMTLT), agreement No S-MIP-24-43.
Project duration: September 2024 – August 2027
Project team:
Dr. Goda Lukoševičiūtė goda.lukoseviciute@ekvi.lt
Dr. Vitalija Simonaitytė vitalija.simonaityte@ekvi.lt
Dr. Erika Ribašauskienė erika.ribasauskiene@ekvi.lt