O presente trabalho investiga se a sustentabilidade ambiental da região dos Campos de Cima da Serra do Rio Grande do Sul pode ser alcançada através do turismo rural, pois este é considerado como fator importante no processo cultural, econômico, social e principalmente da preservação do meio ambiente em comunidades. Dessa forma, o turismo rural torna-se uma alternativa para se obter o desenvolvimento sustentável, por conciliar a relação dicotômica entre preservação do meio ambiente e desenvolvimento. Assim, este trabalho propõe apresentar esta relação de preservação versus desenvolvimento, através do turismo rural que está sendo implementado na região estudada, por esta apresentar rica diversidade ambiental propiciando uma das mais belas paisagens do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul. / This study shows that the environmental sustainability of the region of Campos de Cima da Serra do Rio Grande do Sul can be achieved through rural tourism, as this is considered as an important factor in cultural, economic, social and especially the preservation of the environment in communities. Thus, rural tourism is becoming an alternative to achieve sustainable development by reconciling the dichotomous relationship between environmental preservation and development. Thus this work proposes to present the relationship of preservation versus development, through rural tourism that could be implemented in the region studied by the present environment providing a rich diversity of the most beautiful landscapes in the state of Rio Grande do Sul.

This research investigates the potential incentives have on driving behaviour change towards the adoption of sustainable business practices by rural tourism operators in British Columbia (BC), Canada. Even though operators in rural BC have recognized the importance of making their business practices sustainable so that future generations are able to enjoy living and visiting these communities, they claim there is a lack of incentives from the industry. To support the BC rural tourism industry in attaining its aspiration to enhance the social/cultural, environmental and economic well being of the province, a model and corresponding recommendations on how to better support operators through strategic incentives was developed. Using the lens of strategic sustainable development, understanding the mechanisms of behaviour change and the role of operators as early adopters of sustainable practices, this research takes a whole systems perspective to identify in what ways sustainability can be encouraged by the tourism industry through the use of incentives in the context of rural BC.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / In Brazil, the non-agricultural rural activities have been growing more and more. This change has originated from the continuous decline of the capacity of agriculture in maintaining as well as generating working vacancies and income. This study analyses rural tourism as a way to generate job opportunities and also income, by studying the direct commercialization as a tool for promoting and valuing the local food products in the Touristic and Gastronomic Route Santa Maria Silveira Martins, starting with the identification of producers inserted in the Route, the kinds and origins of the commercialized foods, the motivations for the commercialization of the products, the profile of the consumers (tourists) and their reasons for consuming the products. Thus, the investigation has sought to discover to what extent the touristic activity has been contributing for the local development, through the direct commercialization of the food products (transformed and In natura ). The study has been based in qualitative and quantitative/descriptive methods, being that the data collection has been carried out through interviews and questionnaires with informers responsible for the touristic places of interest and questionnaires applied to the consumers/tourists present in these places during the field research, besides the data obtained through a consult in folders, reports and other documents. The obtained results reveal that the touristic activity and the commercialization of the products in the Route have brought about great benefits not only for part of the population directly involved with the activity, but also for a part indirectly involved, since the great majority of the commercialized products com from this region. Nevertheless, in terms of local development, the activity still demonstrates being insufficient for its promotion. It is considered that the development of tourism in this locality requires a greater specialization, which means the necessity of a broad planning of the activity, investments in infra-structure and in human resources, in the quality of the commercialized products and in other aspects such as a bigger involvement of the local population where the activity is developed. / No Brasil, as atividades não-agrícolas rurais vêm crescendo cada vez mais. Essa mudança advém do contínuo declínio da capacidade da agricultura em manter e gerar postos de trabalho e renda. Este estudo analisa o turismo rural como uma forma de geração de ocupação e renda, estudando a comercialização direta como instrumento de promoção e valorização de produtos locais alimentares na Rota Turística e Gastronômica Santa Maria Silveira Martins, a partir da identificação dos produtores inseridos na Rota, dos tipos e origens dos alimentos comercializados, das motivações para a comercialização dos produtos, do perfil dos consumidores (turistas) e suas razões para o consumo dos produtos. Assim, a investigação procurou saber até que ponto a atividade turística vem contribuindo para o desenvolvimento local, através da comercialização direta de produtos alimentares (transformados e in natura ). O estudo se baseou nos métodos qualitativo e quantitativo/descritivo, sendo os dados coletados através de entrevistas e questionários com informantes responsáveis pelos estabelecimentos turísticos e questionários aplicados aos consumidores/turistas presentes nos locais durante a pesquisa de campo, além de dados obtidos através da consulta em folders, relatórios e outros documentos. Os resultados obtidos revelam que a atividade turística e a comercialização de produtos na Rota vêm trazendo grandes benefícios tanto para uma parcela da população diretamente envolvida com a atividade, quanto para uma parcela indiretamente envolvida, já que a grande maioria dos produtos comercializados possuem procedência municipal. Porém, no que se refere ao desenvolvimento local, a atividade ainda demonstra ser insuficiente para a promoção do mesmo. Considera-se que o desenvolvimento do turismo nesta localidade requer uma maior especialização, necessitando de um amplo planejamento da atividade, investimentos em infra-estrutura e nos recursos humanos, na qualidade dos produtos comercializados e em outros aspectos tais como um maior envolvimento da população do local onde a atividade se desenvolve.

Many actors are taking advantage of the flexible barriers to entry of the tourist industry to engage in the production of varied forms of tourism closely related to their lifestyle, professional and communal ambitions. With the increased popularity of forms of tourism bringing the guest close to the host, it becomes relevant to ask questions related to lived experiences and close encounters in tourism scholarship. This is a moral conviction that the plurality of human experiences and critical reflexivity matter in the conception of tourist spaces and their management. In this thesis, I look for new ways to conceptually embed local people in their living spaces by approaching forms of tourism displaying non-economic elements as phenomena that create new and complex relations imbued with various implications. Tourism geography highlights the negotiated and fragmented nature of tourism, and its performative and embodied character. I apply relational geography to apprehend the multiple relations that make up local spaces and identities. With its post-structural character, relational geography uncovers voices once neglected in research, and proposes new ways of being in the world. My two qualitative case studies reflect my interest in exploring the northern European context. Firstly, I investigate craft-artists on Bornholm, Denmark and their relation to the tourist season. I do this through interviews and narrative analysis. My second case study, a focused ethnography at Sólheimar eco-village, Iceland, centres on the management of host and guest interactions.  In terms of spatial formation, results show that local actors have the agency to form networks and redefine their identities in the wake of tourism development. They form a hybrid space by fulfilling goals related to their lifestyle, livelihood and professional ambitions simultaneously. Moreover, mundane practices are presented as an integral part of a tourist landscape. In terms of management, results show that the various spatial complexities faced by communities exacerbate host and guest relations. This will require a commitment from local coordinators and managers to promote a reflexive and critical exchange during these close encounters. I ultimately argue for the imagination of tourist spaces as living spaces, where I conceptualize tourism as a mundane, yet complex, material and social experience for those living in tourist spaces. I propose two new discursive anchors that reflect the metaphor of the living space: dwelling in the tourist landscape, and sincere encounters. I contend that researching living spaces finds its moral grounds in its openness to the various ways local people dwell and encounter during tourism, and to the diverse ways researchers make sense of these practices, and of their own.

The first chapter of thesis focuses on definition of sustainable development and sustainable tourism based on the short historical context and the set of sustainable development indicators. The second chapter deals with definition of forms of rural tourism such as ecotourism, agrotourism, ecoagrotourism, hippotourism and cyclotourism. The third chapter contains the characteristic of the South Bohemia Region and evaluation of its tourism potential. The fourth and fifth chapters present the evaluation of sustainable tourism in the South Bohemia Region. This evaluation is based on the indicators of sustainable tourism and questionnaire research in four different groups: Regional authority, tourists and visitors, residents and tourism entrepreneurs in the South Bohemia Region.

This thesis analyzes implementation of support for rural tourism and agritourism in Czech Republic. The aim of the thesis is evaluation of existing financial support of rural tourism and agritourism in LAU 2 units (municipalities) from Rural Development Programme and Regional Operational Programmes. Theoretical part regards rural development in context of Common Agricultural Policy, and tourism, which is one of the factor of development in rural areas. Practical part evaluates subsidies to rural tourism and agritourism and their micro-regional allocation by categories of projects, like accomodation and catering, sport, multifunctional, and other facilities and trails. Primary data are received from the State Agricultural Intervention Fund and internet portal risy.cz. In this thesis descriptive, comparative, analytical and statistical methods are used.

The thesis deals with the potential use of the family farm for agro-tourism. The family farm is located in the region of South Bohemia. Therefore there is assessment of the potential of this region for tourism and for agro-tourism. It is also described how the property could be used for the needs of accommodation services. The last but not least is an analysis of the nearest competitors. For the overall evaluation is used method of the SWOT analysis.

The master's thesis deals with drawing up a rural tourism business plan for the establishment of a family business. This business connects providing services within the rural family pension with an agricultural production. The aim of the thesis is to design the business plan on the basis of analysis, plans and risk assessment as decision support tool for future realization.

The thesis is about rural tourism, which serves as a potential tool for sustainable development of the territory. Tourism is an alternative to agriculture and forestry. The rural residents may realize themselves in rural tourism. This may be an area of new jobs and education. The sustainability of development, respectively its development is a problem for all EU countries. These countries solve this problem by redistributing help through their strategic and programming documents. In this work there are collected and compared Czech and Slovak strategic and programming documents in the section of tourism and development. The village Čierny Balog is chosen as an example. On this example is shown as is related state and government and also as is related self-government to the strategic and programming documents of the Slovak Republic. The potential of rural tourism is also analyzed in this document. The analysis of potential follows up analysis of tourism, which monitors, if this potential is properly used. At the end there are compared questionnaire results from the village Čierny Balog and VUV (Voluntary union village) ?umavské Podlesí. The results show a comparison of the different situation in the tourism, respectively rural tourism in both areas. From this comparison based initiative for further...

This paper presents a master’s thesis research project that aimed to explore the attitudes of members of Lithuanian hiking community and derelict building owners towards the possibility of adapting country’s abandoned rural buildings into a network of recreational ‘travelers’ huts’. Participants’ opinion on the need of such network as well as their management, location, building age, type, and other preferences were considered. During the two-phase mixed methods research project data was gathered through online questionnaire filled in by 624 members of Lithuanian hiking community and 10 in-depth interviews with derelict building owners, members of country’s hiking community and caretakers of two already operational travelers’ huts. The findings indicate that majority of research participants support the implementation of such project in Lithuania, preferring potential locations of huts in more remote and natural areas. Regarding type of buildings, it was given less significance than the location aspect, however a potential renovation of old wooden huts of traditional vernacular architecture was preferred slightly more than that of modern or Soviet-era buildings. Findings of the study also highlighted rather strong participants’ concerns regarding a diverse spectrum of issues: lack of history and ‘heritage’ of hiking and hutting in Lithuania, potential maintenance and management of the huts, safety, vandalism, privacy, and other. Qualitative data analysis provided evidence that many of those concern can be linked to low levels of social capital within Lithuanian society. Questions of huts’ management approaches, especially those of openness and accessibility of such buildings, showed rather unanimous opinions, suggesting a network of differently managed huts to cater divergent hikers’ needs might be a reasonable solution in Lithuania.