Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
countryside. Lane (1994:9) cites the following seven reasons why it is difficult to produce
a complex definition of rural tourism to apply in all contexts:
• Urban or resort-based tourism is not confined to urban areas, but spills out into rural
areas.
• Rural areas themselves are difficult to define, and the criteria used by different nations
vary considerably.
• Not all tourism which takes place in rural areas is strictly 'rural'—it can be 'urban' in
form, and merely be located in a rural area. Many so-called holiday villages are of this
type; in recent years, numerous large holiday complexes have been completed in the
countryside. They may be 'theme parks', time shares or leisure hotel developments.
Their degree of rurality can be both an emotive and a technical question.
• Historically, tourism has been an urban concept; the great majority of tourists live in
urban areas. Tourism can be an urbanising influence on rural areas, encouraging
cultural and economic change, and new construction.
• Different forms of rural tourism have developed in different regions. Farm-based
holidays are important in many parts of rural Germany and Austria. Farm-based
holidays are much rarer in rural USA and Canada. In France, the self-catering cottage
or gîte is an important component of the rural tourism product.
• Rural areas themselves are in a complex process of change. The impact of global
markets, communications and telecommunication has changed market conditions and
orientations for traditional products. The rise of environmentalism has led to
increasing control by 'outsiders' over land use and resource development. Although
some rural areas still experience depopulation, others are experiencing an inflow of
people to retire or to develop new 'non-traditional' businesses. The once clear
distinction between urban and rural is now blurred by suburbanisation, long-distance
commuting and second home development.
• Rural tourism is a complex multifaceted activity: it is not just farm-based tourism. It not
only includes farm-based holidays but also comprises special-interest nature holidays
and ecotourism, walking, climbing and riding holidays, adventure, sport and health
tourism, hunting and angling, educational travel, arts and heritage tourism and, in
some areas, ethnic tourism. There is also a large general-interest market for less
specialised forms of rural tourism. This area is highlighted by studies of the German
tourism market, where a major requirement of the main holiday is the ability to
provide peace, quiet and relaxation in rural surroundings.
Consequently, rural tourism in its purest form should be
• located in rural areas
• functionally rural—built upon the rural world's special features of small-scale
enterprise, open space, contact with nature and the natural world, heritage, 'traditional'
societies and 'traditional' practices
• rural in scale—both in terms of buildings and settlements—and, therefore, usually small
scale
• traditional in character, growing slowly and organically, and connected with local
families. It will often be very largely controlled locally and developed for the long-
term good of the area; and of many different kinds, representing the complex pattern
of rural environment, economy, history and location (after Lane 1994).
