Rural tourism and rural development

This chapter looks at rural tourism as a potential enterprise in rural areas. It also examines how differences in the way in which the organization and the supply of the rural tourism product is approached can affect the kind of outcomes that are achieved in a given area. Rural tourism should be considered in very broad terms and in relation to general local development. The capacity of rural tourism to contribute to the resolution of the many problems faced by rural areas will depend on how a number of critical issues are resolved, issues like how rural tourism is organized in an area, who gets to participate, and the kind of structures that are put in place to actually develop and promote the rural tourism product. It is difficult to divorce these issues from the broader issues concerning the thrust and content of overall local development efforts. A theme running through this chapter is that rural tourism can make a maximum contribution to rural development if it is developed as part of a locally integrated development plan. It is this integrated and coordinated approach which distinguishes rural community tourism from other types of rural tourism initiatives. This integrated approach can also serve as an important mechanism for the management of the tourism-environment relationship at the local level. -from Author