Summary

other studies stress the positive effects that tourism can bring to quality of life issues, including a greater “sense of place” for rural residents, an upgrading of local cultural facilities, or anenhancement of regional conservation efforts. Frequent mention is made of different strategies

employed in rural tourism, including heritage tourism, nature-based tourism/ecotourism, and

agritourism.

Other studies caution that effective rural tourism requires careful planning and development and

Peru destinations

Cusco Tours

typically employs well thought-out marketing approaches. Even well-designed tourism

areas, especially those that are more isolated or more sparsely populated, lack the resources

required to establish a successful tourism program

Paquetes en Peru

Most studies reviewed in this report deal exclusively with rural areas, although some urban

citations have been included when the issues involved had relevance to nonmetro America. The

focus is community-based tourism development, with an emphasis on how local communities

can more effectively develop a viable tourism strategy. Also, while the studies were mainly

conducted since the early 1990’s, some citations from the 1980’s have also been included.

In recent years, rural tourism has gone through significant changes. What was once an activity

primarily focused on usage of national parks has evolved into an area of interest now deemed to

have considerable potential for rural development. One aspect of this change in status is the

vocabulary used to describe various types of rural tourism activities. For example, some studies

The remainder of this report is divided into two sections. First is a discussion of the main issues

related to rural tourism and tourism strategies, with relevant research cited. Second is the

annotated bibliography, organized by topic. All references cited in the discussion section can be

found in the area of the annotated bibliography addressing the topic described

Marketing of tourism poses special challenges for many rural areas. Frequently, rural

communities lack the name recognition associated with more populated areas. Different

strategies can be pursued to achieve greater name recognition among potential visitors.

Commonly, this involves targeting potential visitors to an area. For example, Henning (1996)

demonstrates that survey methods in a rural Louisiana community have been effective in

targeting the area to seniors, who are among the most frequent visitors. Often regional

marketing makes the most sense given the limited resources available to many rural areas

(Shields and Schibik, 1995). However, Sadowske and Alexander (1992) caution that prior to

implementing an expensive marketing strategy, communities should be aware of other costs

associated with tourism development. They also argue that the key to success in tourism often

lies in communities striking a balance between the private and social costs and benefits of rural

tourism development.

Tourism can be an important force for developing disadvantaged rural areas. In particular, rural

communities with few other options for development may perceive that tourism represents a

panacea for growth. While tourism can certainly be an important component of a sound

development plan, this is not always the case. For example, Bontron and Lasnier (1997) note

that the local tourism impact varies greatly among rural regions and depends on a host of factors

including work force characteristics and seasonality issues. Local support, however, is usually a

necessary component for a successful tourism strategy, as noted by Bourke and Luloff (1995),

and echoed by Brass (1996), Burr (1995), and Woods (1992). That is why tourism strategies

must be consiste