Why do some regional economies merely resist and recover from shocks, while others adapt or even transform? Drawing on qualitative fieldwork in Tyrol, Austria, and Chiang Mai, Thailand, this talk presents findings on the resilience of agritourism economies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Resilience was mediated by uneven access to formal and informal support networks, the capacity to diversify income, and the ability to self-organise – shaped throughout by socio-economic inequalities and the development legacies of rural mountain regions. The comparison invites critical reflection on the Global North–South divide and on alternatives to growth-driven, firm-centric models of resilience.
