Forward: New Directions in Rural Tourism (original) (raw)

Rural tourism seems to be an appropriate tool to revitalize the reclining rural areas and to ensure their sustainable future by job retention or even job creation, farm support, broadened cultural provision, landscape and nature conservation or the maintenance of rural arts and crafts as attractions for tourists. Rural tourism often provides an incentive for infrastructural development, which then contributes to the growth of other economic activities in the rural areas. It is Important to note that, the growing number of tourists involved in rural tourism and related activities helped the development of many rural settlements, without being limited to areas with high tourism potential and an exceptional attractiveness. The way in which rural tourism is organized and the forms it takes vary from country to country. In some countries, the government or cooperative movement is the main source of investment, while in others it is a private enterprise.