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Rural Development and Sustainable Rural Tourism

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2020) | Viewed by 13500

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Faculty of Business and Communication, International University of La Rioja, 26006 Logroño, Spain
Interests: sustainable tourism; social sustainability; sustainable development; peer to peer business models

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Guest Editor
Department of International and Spanish Economy, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain
Interests: local and regional development; efficiency and productivity; banking industry

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In recent decades, in numerous countries, rural tourism has grown from being a secondary commercial activity to establish itself as an independent sector. It is a growing activity, particularly in areas where agriculture is not especially competitive in economic terms. Rural tourism is largely a domestic phenomenon that is disparate in nature across countries and continents. This diversity explains why the current literature on rural tourism includes a significant number of case studies on countries and rural tourism attractions in different countries. We can identify two main lines of research in rural tourism: analysis of rural tourism as sustainable economic activity and its potential as a tool of development. Among the benefits of tourism, one can stress its ability to be more respectful of the rural environment than alternative forms of development, as well as its commitment to some degree of conservationism as a goal. Other benefits may be underscored, namely, the diversification of the local economy, creation of new companies, upkeep of local services, external contact with isolated communities, or repopulation. However, it is also true that potentially negative impacts exist that must be identified and countered, such as impacts on the natural and social environments. The magnitude of these impacts will depend on factors such as the volume of tourists, activities tourists perform, fragility of the natural environment, and robustness of the local culture. Rural tourism should respect and preserve the environment in which it is developed, while also supporting economic diversification in a viable way in the long term. Along these lines, this Special Issue will evaluate the capability of rural tourism to act as a tool for sustainable development. The issue will consider contributions based on applied studies that expand the current knowledge on the relationship between sustainable tourism and rural development. Hence, appropriate papers for this issue should deal with case studies, macroanalysis, and even theoretical studies that are able to provide an overview of the existing literature.

Dr. José María Martín Martín
Dr. Francisco Javier Sáez-Fernández
Guest Editors

References:

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Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • rural tourism
  • sustainable tourism
  • social sustainability
  • sustainable development
  • economic sustainability
  • ecological sustainability
  • economic diversification

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 808 KiB  
Article
Impacts of Educational Agritourism on Students’ Future Career Intentions: Evidence from Agricultural Exchange Programs
by Tang-Ping Chen, Ku-Yuan Lee, Pegdwende Moise Kabre and Chi-Ming Hsieh
Sustainability 2020, 12(22), 9507; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12229507 - 15 Nov 2020
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 4347
Abstract
Destination tourists are a critical stakeholder for developing sustainable tourism. Exchange students as tourists have become a growing segment of the international tourism market. Students undertake courses, internships, or exchange programs at an overseas university for a period of time. Student exchange programs [...] Read more.
Destination tourists are a critical stakeholder for developing sustainable tourism. Exchange students as tourists have become a growing segment of the international tourism market. Students undertake courses, internships, or exchange programs at an overseas university for a period of time. Student exchange programs (SEPs) through educational tourism offer exchange students ample learning opportunities from local universities, industries, and other stakeholders. The purpose of this research was to assess the relationships between experiential benefits (including practical business benefits, rural environmental benefits, and personal sociocultural benefits), professional identity, career choice intentions, and support for educational tourism via SEPs. This study surveyed students from Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, Japan, Vietnam, and others who attended exchange programs in the field of agriculture in Taiwan and other host countries during the last 15 years and are back in their respective countries. Primary data on exchange students were collected using an online questionnaire survey with a sample size of 326 respondents. The results indicated that professional identity has a full intermediating influence on relationships among experiential benefits, career choice intentions, and support for educational tourism via SEPs. The findings are expected to contribute to the understanding of agricultural students’ SEP behaviors, and to provide suggestions for planning and managing relevant policy to encourage more students to join SEPs overseas. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Rural Development and Sustainable Rural Tourism)
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16 pages, 392 KiB  
Article
Determinants of Residents’ Support for Sustainable Tourism Development: Implications for Rural Communities
by Dunja Demirović Bajrami, Adriana Radosavac, Marija Cimbaljević, Tatiana N. Tretiakova and Yulia A. Syromiatnikova
Sustainability 2020, 12(22), 9438; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12229438 - 13 Nov 2020
Cited by 43 | Viewed by 5392
Abstract
One of the key factors for success of sustainable tourism industry in all areas, including rural, is the support of community members. The paper aims to analyze how rural residents’ perceptions of sustainable tourism development (expressed through economic, social, environmental, and physical benefits) [...] Read more.
One of the key factors for success of sustainable tourism industry in all areas, including rural, is the support of community members. The paper aims to analyze how rural residents’ perceptions of sustainable tourism development (expressed through economic, social, environmental, and physical benefits) can affect residents’ intentions to support tourism. The second aim was to determine if attachment to the particular community and perceived quality of life can have influence on attitudes towards sustainable development of tourism in rural communities. Using a sample of 881 residents living in rural areas of the Republic of Serbia, the results highlighted that perceived values of tourism were important for evaluating how tourism is developed, if it is sustainable for a community, and how it affects quality of residents’ life. The study provided better understanding of factors that can have impact on residents’ attitudes in relation to tourism and highlighted the importance of paying attention to local community as significant player for tourism development, especially in those regions that want to boost its economy by developing sustainable tourism. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Rural Development and Sustainable Rural Tourism)
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16 pages, 252 KiB  
Article
Can Proper Funding Enhance Sustainable Tourism in Rural Settings? Evidence from a Developing Country
by Gordana Radović, Marko D. Petrović, Dunja Demirović Bajrami, Milan Radovanović and Natalia Vuković
Sustainability 2020, 12(18), 7797; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12187797 - 21 Sep 2020
Cited by 20 | Viewed by 2820
Abstract
Rural tourism is often considered to be a factor in the development tendencies of rural space, a factor in the development of agriculture, as well as a factor in reducing rural depopulation. The primary aim of the research was to look at the [...] Read more.
Rural tourism is often considered to be a factor in the development tendencies of rural space, a factor in the development of agriculture, as well as a factor in reducing rural depopulation. The primary aim of the research was to look at the problems in financing sustainable rural tourism in the case study of Serbia. The secondary one was to analyze the factors that may influence the self-financing capacity of rural tourism service providers. The findings confirmed the main hypothesis that financial resources are a significant limitation of the development of sustainable rural tourism. It was found that there is a high correlation between the amount of income generated and the structure of the workforce. The results verified that rural tourism entities were not making sufficient investments due to lack of financial resources, i.e., adequate financing modalities. It can be concluded thatin order to develop sustainable rural tourism, financial investments are needed, both at the level of service providers and at the macro level. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Rural Development and Sustainable Rural Tourism)
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