Rural areas have long played an important role in tourism and leisure within the developed world. It has been estimated that in 1990, 75 per cent of the population of England visited the countryside at least once.
Various factors attract tourists to rural regions natural features such as rivers, lakes, forests or cultural ones such as picturesque features. Tourists spend their holidays in the countryside as a change from urban areas seeking peace and relaxation which a rural environment can offer.
Others come for more active pursuits fishing, walking, boating, etc. The country has come to be defined in terms of qualities which are absent in urban life.
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There is a rural opportunity continuum in the countryside as the location of a wide range of outdoor leisure and tourist activities, although over time the composition of these has changed.
The dominant mode of transport is the private car. Tourist’s development in rural regions is characterized by multiplicity of small-scale developers.
The construction of the countryside as a tourist zone necessarily results in a number of sharp contradictions. The first of these is that in most developed countries, the vast majority of rural lands are in private ownership which severely constrains accessibility.
Second, there are many social constructions in rural areas as pastoral idylls, as areas of recreation and as production zones. All of these may come into conflict with each other. There is a potential for host-guest conflicts. Finally, there is the question of the rural residents’ own access to recreation.
Second Homes:
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One issue in the use of the countryside is second homes. In the developed countries second home ownership is widespread. For people living in London, New York and other large cities, a rural home is used at the weekend as a complement to a city apartment.
Parisian families own second homes in the South of France and German families own second homes in Austria. In such cases visits may be made less frequently and may involve seasonal long stays.
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Farm Tourism:
Whereas second home development generally involves a transfer of land and buildings from rural to non-resident ownership, farm tourism represents continuing ownership and active participation by the farmer in small scale tourism ventures.
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In farm tourism, the tourist activity is closely intertwined with farming activities. In Europe, the term ‘farm tourism’ applies only to operations, where besides the hospitality function and active agriculture is also providing income to the host family.
‘Vacation farm’ is the term used in the USA to refer to an active, working farm on which extra rooms in the home or extra houses on the farm are rented to guests.
In Europe, farm tourism takes two main forms the provision of accommodation in farm premises or the supply of accommodation on the farmer’s land in the form of cottages and camping grounds.
The most widespread is the letting of accommodation (bed and breakfast) with the second form being more characteristic of northern Europe.
Austria is generally recognised as being the country where farm tourism is the most extensive with 100,000 guest rooms on 30,000 farms being made available in 1970.
Four main factors influence the farmers, decision to provide accommodation—to increase income, to offset falling income from agriculture, to utilize disused resources and to enjoy the visitors’ company.
While farm tourism depends mainly on individual initiatives, farmers in many countries are supported by the State by way of development grants.
The farm tourism market is already substantial but it is also subject to strong growth. On the demand side, this is stimulated by the growth in the short-break holiday market, by the demand for more activity-based holidays, and by the growth of number of critical consumers reacting against mass tourism.
On the supply side, the global crisis of agricultural over-production is contributing to a drive to farm diversification with tourism being one of the more significant options available to farmers.