Students and retirees who move abroad: tourists or migrants?

The paper focuses on two forms of long-term tourism whose main actors are the elderly, and the young. Both groups are expected to increasingly move abroad because of longer life expectancy and more active ageing, and the development and availability of communication tools and European cultural policies favouring the mobility and integration of young people. In both cases, increasing the flows to southern Italy would foster employment and contribute to sustainable economic growth. The paper is structured as follows. First, the concept of human mobility is discussed, along with the emergence of flexible forms of mobility - ranging from territorial temporary moves to longer even permanent stays. The second section examines international retirement migration as a form of consumption-related temporary mobility of elders. The third section focuses on younger movers and analyses the specific case of seasonal educational travel. The article provides insights into the conditions allowing destinations to attract long stay students and retirees and suggests an in depth exploration of the social aspects of such movements with special attention to intercultural dynamics and integration into the host communities.