Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Plate 6.1:
Souvenir shop, Leyden, The
Netherlands. To what extent does
tourism lead to cultural stereotyping
and changed perceptions of cultural
identity by both locals and tourists?
Much of the research on rural tourism has been published in a diverse range of social
science journals (e.g.
Sociologia Ruralis, Rural Studies, Tourism Recreation Research
),
reports and edited collections of essays which have been poorly disseminated as well as
one or two specific texts (e.g. Sharpley 1993; Butler et al. 1998). Consequently, rural
tourism has continued to be peripheral to the focus of tourism research while remaining
poorly defined. It continues to be a general term which encapsulates a wide range of
interest groups not only from tourism studies, but also from economics, planning,
anthropology, geography, sociology and business studies. There has also been a lack of
integration between these interest groups, each cultivating its own view and approach to
rural tourism. As a result few researchers have attempted to define the concept of rural
tourism.
