EU rural policy and tourism

SELASETUR WORKING REPORT NO. 0202

vew report here

EU rural policy and tourism –

Farm tourism reinvestigated

by

Per Åke Nilsson

Rural tourism has shown a structure different from rural primary activities, like agriculture, forestry and fishery: it is expanding, labour intensive, and maintains the service base in the region.Farm tourism is an example of rural tourism. It has ideological roots in the romanticism of nature and social tourism. It has played a greater role in the conceptualisation of tourism industry than its character signifies, and the reason for that seems to be a set of exogenous and endogenous development motors, driving farm tourism: diversification of agriculture, gender issues, and promotion of farming interest groups.

This paper looks for the EU impact on the driving forces of farm tourism, distinguishing it from rural tourism.

Keywords: rural / farm tourism, romanticism, perception, diversification, gender, farming interest groups.