CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Rural tourism is an old and a new phenomenon at the same time. Interest in countryside recreation started to grow already in the 19th century as a reaction to the stress of the increasing urbanization and industrialization. The rural scene was admired by poets and artists. In the then developing countries, the new railway companies transported more and more tourists to the countryside. However, the rural tourism of our era is different. The number of tourists involved has increased significantly and tourism has developed in all types of countryside instead of being limited to areas of exceptional scenic beauty. Rural tourism refers to tourism that takes place in the countryside. However, this definition does not include the complexity of the activity and the different forms and meanings developed in different countries. Hence, more broadly defined, rural tourism includes a range of activities, services, and amenities provided by farmers and rural people to attract tourists to their area in order to generate extra income for their business ( Ganon, 1988, Kloeze, 1994 ). Rural tourism covers not only farm tourism or agritourism, but also special interest nature holidays, touring in rural areas and residential tourism and the services include besides accommodation events, festivities, outdoor recreation, production and sale of handicrafts and agricultural products etc. The term “rural tourism” has different meanings in different countries. In Finland, for example, it usually means renting out cottages to visitors or providing catering services in the countryside. In Hungary, a special term for “village tourism” exists, indicating that only activities and services provided in the village are included in this kind of tourism. In Slovenia, the most important form of rural tourism are family farms, where guests stay either with the farmer family or in a guest house, but visiting farms to have a meal and explore the farmyard is also popular (Verbole, 1995 ). In the Netherlands, the rural tourism product means especially camping on the farm, with most farm services being linked to route-bound activities as cycling, walking, or horse-riding ( Peters, 1994 ). In Greece, the main provision of rural tourism product is bed and breakfast often based on home-made products complementary activities – currently still on a limited scale – include restaurants and refreshment facilities or the organization of cultural and recreational activities ( Turner,

1993 ).

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