In many European regions, rural areas are facing major challenges in economic and social terms, consequence of transformations in the role and meaning of agriculture. The loss of the productive character strongly contributed to the emergence of new roles and functions, particularly related to leisure and tourism. The book aims to discuss questions directly related to the connections between rural tourism and local socioeconomic contexts, presenting diverse theoretical and methodological perspectives and different case studies from various European regions. The book addresses the relationships among rural tourism and the complex interactions, conflicts and innovative processes developing in rural territories as consequence of the implementation of tourism activities. The book responds to some relevant and not yet comprehensively researched aspects within this topic, especially in what extent tourism, in its various forms and processes, might give an important contribution to rural development.
Author(s): Antonio Raschi, Elisabete Maria Melo Figueiredo
Series: Strumenti per la didattica e la ricerca
Edition: 1
Publisher: Firenze University Press
Year: 2013
Language: English
City: Florence
Frontespizio
Pagina del copyright
Fertile Links? Connections between tourism activities, socioeconomic contexts and local development in European rural areas
Part One
Concepts and Visions: Is tourism promoting new ruralities?
Touristic Processes, Generic Rurality and Local Development
Recreating Rurality through Tourism – Visions of hosts and guests in two Portuguese villages
Industrial heritage tourism as the trigger for local development of a post-mining area in the southeast of Portugal: perception of the locals and the visitors
Is rural tourism sustainable? A reflection based on the concept of ‘rural tourism configurations’
Part Two
Conflicts and complementarities: old and new activities, old and new actors
Taming the Village Beast: Rural Entrepreneurship as the art of balance between economic growth and social sustainability.
Requirements for Fertile Links between Farming and Tourism: Matching Supply and Demand
Agritourism in opposition to agriculture? Two Greek case-studies
Part Three
Innovation in rural tourism and local development
Tourism and Agriculture Revival - Flagship initiatives in a fragile region
Rudiments of an innovation system in the rural tourism industry – how systemic features promote innovation
Building fertile links with regional brands: The case of Czech regional products
About the Authors
