Metropolitan development and responsible tourism. The case of Italian Mygrantour.

In the last two decades, a variety of labels have been introduced to debate forms of tourism that are opposite to mainstream tourism. Often, these “alternative” products and practices are also considered socially beneficial to local communities and apt to provide economic benefits in deprived areas. This paper investigates the case study of Mygrantour, a form of responsible tourism that approaches foreign communities rooted in the main Italian cities. Mygrantour offers half-day trips in neighbourhoods that are not generally explored through mainstream tourism itineraries. By exploring “ethnic diversity”, tourists can “tour the world” in a day accompanied by a migrant guide in the name of intercultural exchange. Aim of this paper is twofold: on one level, it will consider the capacity building of Mygrantour not only in neighbourhoods within certain metropolitan areas, but also in networking with other cities at national and international level. On a second level, the paper will analyse the metropolitan counter-hierarchy that Mygrantour fosters by re-envisioning core-periphery dialectics.