The northern portion of Belgium, a region known as Flanders, is one of the most densely settled, industrialized areas in the world. Existing in small, isolated tracts, are "green spaces" mainly devoted to agricultural output. The Flemish way of life and environment has become increasingly "urbanized." Tourism commissions operating in the countryside have drawn on Flemish heritage and identity, as well as the rural landscape to act as marketing tools. In terms of perception and the notion of a distinctly Flemish rural "space'" how are tourist flow patterns influenced? Does the process of perception result in an exclusive urban to rural pattern, or is there deviation (e.g. rural to rural)? Finally, what mechanisms are utilized by the tourism industry to create the demand for rural tourist activity -- is culture invented, or does an emerging Flemish identity reveal itself as part of the linguistic movement?

Abstract Rural Tourism was first found in Europe in the 19th century; Industrialization coupled with the market economy had accelerated urbanization process and brought negative effects, which created an atmosphere of intense competition, leading to urban residents long for the quiet rural life and beautiful countryside.  Rural tourism development is so striking, inseparable from its particular historical background. Since more than a century of industrialization and urbanization process accelerates and the economic and political status of rural undergone great changes. In particular, in the last 50 years, because of technological advances, production continues to improve, but agricultural labor demand declined at the same time.  The relocation of population in many rural areas, leads to depression of rural services and rural communities in decline. With the move of young people, rural aging has become increasingly prominent. Development issues in rural areas attracted the attention of Western governments of developed countries, while the development of tourism and rural economic structure to change an important way. Ping Tung industry is rich in resources, and in recent years, urbanization and recreational needs of pressure, Industry and Tourism of vigorous growth. This study explored cases around the world for the rural tourism development and strategy, through France, England, UK, Germany and other rural tourism development strategies and models of case analysis, induction suitable for a rural tourism development in Ping Tung County, The results displays that the county¡¦s rural tourism development is in line with modern green tourism, environmental protection and tourism trends in the world of national tourism policy for the current major driving directions. In the future, Ping Tung County, needs to establish the development of village tourism brand, the government initiates to promote counseling, and with the whole city and the county of Ping Tung County and Tourism marketing strategy to achieve sustainable tourism development in Ping Tung County, Ping Tung County can look forward to the development of rural tourism by attracting foreign experience to come to Taiwan, and also increases the visibility of ping Tung county in the world.

According to the Statistics from Council of Agriculture in 2005, the proportion that agriculture occupied in the industrial structure of Taiwan has already dropped to 1.5%. After Taiwan joined the World Trade Organization in 2002, the government constructively attempted to encourage the farmers to transform to the suppliers of the recreation services. It¡¦s promoted the developed types of rural tourism changes from the early orchards and leisure farms to combine closely with local characteristics. The study aims to investigate the situations of rural tourism in Taiwan and to develop the workable strategies to revive the local economy. Use in-deep interview and the survey of questionnaire in Delphi method to collect the opinions from the industrial businessmen, government officials and academic experts. It has found that economical, social, and environmental dimensions obviously affect rural tourism in reviving local development. Furthermore, the strategies of rural tourism to regenerate local development could be divided into short-term and long-term strategy. For short-term strategy, there six recommends of the government are as followed, amending legislative laws and policies, adequately improving infrastructures, providing in-job training, and so on. And there are three about rural tourism suppliers. They are promoting the uniqueness rural resources, participating in communities¡¦ development, and upgrading the qualities of service. For long-term strategies, experts suggest the government in three dimensions, and four for the rural tourism suppliers. In conclusion, rural tourism is one of the most popular domestic recreation activities. In the future, the participations from business, governments, residents, and tourists are all very important to achieve the sustainable management goals. It¡¦s expected that development of Taiwan rural tourism could attract international tourists and improve the Taiwan¡¦s visibility in the international tourism market.

Abstract Rural tourism can not only benefit the local economy, rural development and environmental improvement, but also concretes rural dwellers¡¦ identities and senses of belonging. Therefore, rural tourism is regarded as an important policy for rural development and local regeneration in Europe, United States, and Japan. Rural tourism is recently released in many countrified regions in Taiwan by combining community identities and taking advantages of special local resources to attract tourists. Among these cases, some successfully achieved the goal of regenerating local development, but some failed and resulted in ¡§creative destructions¡¨. The extremely different results are the motivations of this study. This paper explores the essential elements for developing rural tourism and the purpose of sustainable development strategies. This research takes Dashu Township as the case. Through in-deep interviews, observation, and documental analysis, I collected documental information and viewpoints and suggestions of participators that related to rural tourism. I, according to overall interview results which were assisted with references from documents and correlative information, blueprinted the rural tourism development strategy for Dashu Township. My conclusion of the development of Dashu Township¡¦s rural tourism strategy is divided into four parts according to governmental mechanism, tourist resources, tourist service, and operation and management. I. Governmental mechanism: Setting up a favorable rural tourism environment under government¡¦s support and driving can bring about communities¡¦ mutual connection and create local consensus to arouse inhabitants¡¦ identities and participation. The government can also integrate tourist resources with participators. II. Tourist resources: Tourist resources can be discussed in three dimensions which are conserving natural resources to develop ecotourism, activating art activities to develop cultural tourism, or boosting up industrial resources and passing down industrial culture. III. Tourist service: Tourist service can be improved by planning sound travel schedule, operating accommodations, promoting local dishes, improving transportation equipment and public facilities, and providing detail information for the travelers. IV. Operation and management: Developing delicate products with local features and marketing them creatively. Strengthening human resource training and enhancing the ability of maintenance and management. In accordance with the study discussion and conclusion, the main suggestion for Dashu Town ship to set up rural tourism policy including the following parts which are formulating the development plan and putting administration in practice, insisting on local specialties and local-identity, cooperating with cities in order to reach sustainable value, operating in small scale to fulfill each group¡¦s needs, selecting a particular scenic point and developing profound tourism to form clusters effects in the future , and returning to basic construction to create high quality surrounding.

Rural tourism is an increasingly recognized tourism sector in southern Africa, and with increasing tourist visitations to local communities it has a great potential to benefit local development and well-being. In order to maximize the benefits and minimize the costs, rural communities should be able to participate actively in all aspects of tourism, including planning and management. The main purpose of this study is to analyse the perceptions of local communities and their awareness, involvement in and benefits from tourism. This was approached on the basis of survey and interview materials from local rural communities and local authorities (nature reserve managers, tourism officers, environmental/conservation officers and Conservation Committee Forum members) in the Katse and Mohale Tourism Development Area of Lesotho. Thus the mixed method research design was selected, using qualitative and quantitative approaches to derive descriptive statistics. Non-probability, purposive and convenience sampling approaches were used to gather the data. The study was conducted in three villages adjacent to the T‟sehlanyane Nature Reserve - Ha „Mali, Bokong Nature Reserve -Ha Lejone and Liphofung Nature Reserve - Phelandaba. The information gathered was used to formulate a model of the elements influencing rural tourism benefit-sharing processes in rural local community contexts. Such model could be beneficial as without a strong emphasis on local benefit-sharing, Lesotho people, especially in the rural areas, would probably not receive the potential benefits of tourism development in the future. Such a model would support communities‟ awareness of and participation in tourism development, leading to wider benefit-sharing in rural tourism. Based on the results, the surveyed community members of Ha Lejone indicated having a relatively good awareness of the benefits of tourism. They also perceived that their environment attracted tourists and thus perceived that they could benefit more from tourism. By comparison, the respondents in Phelandaba perceived few benefits while the Ha „Mali respondents showed slightly more benefits. The results indicate that among the respondents from the villages, the Ha Lejone respondents were the most knowledgeable. Ha „Mali and Ha Lejone respondents recognized community members‟ participation but the Phelandaba respondents generally disagreed that the communities were involved in planning, as they indicated not being consulted in any planning about tourism. Phelandaba respondents agreed regarding the negative impacts of tourism, while those of Ha „Mali partially disagreed and Ha Lejone disagreed. Respondents from all three villages would prefer greater involvement and decision-making power in the management of tourism. The study concludes that there should be provision for basic training and continuing educational workshops on tourism for all stakeholders, which could promote tourism awareness and positive perceptions of and attitudes towards tourism. Government should not merely construct conservation and tourism development areas but should also empower local communities to participate in all stages of planning, development and management. Involving community members in as well as formulating supporting tourism regulations, implementation, monitoring and evaluation procedures would be beneficial for sustainable rural tourism development. Partnership amongst all tourism-related stakeholders in rural tourism management is an ideal tool for promoting rural tourism. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / tm2015 / Tourism Management / PhD / Unrestricted

B-Tech Tourism Management (Vaal University of Technology) / Tourism is one of the fastest growing and largest service industries in the world that occupies the centre of the stage in the socio-economic, environmental and political fields. In South Africa the case is no different where the tourism industry makes a substantial contribution to the country‘s economic growth and almost all nations are in recent times recognizing the importance of tourism and embracing it. Both praised and despised as a development option, rural tourism is increasingly viewed as a remedy, increasing the economic viability of marginalised areas, stimulating social regeneration and improving the living conditions of rural communities. Tourism in the rural areas of developing countries is expanding at a rapid pace and is often a primary means of income in these areas. In many cases, destinations take reasonable advantage of this dynamic industry as a major income, employment, private sector growth and infrastructure development. However, some research endeavours indicate that tourism will never come to dominate all rural areas, particularly in the developing world – there are vast swathes of rural areas for which tourism is not relevant for the foreseeable future. These necessitate the need for the industry to be sustainable. Sustainable tourism development should aim at improving the residents’ quality of life by optimising local economic benefits, protecting the natural and built environment and providing a high-quality experience for visitors. This should also provide a long-term economic linkage between destination communities and industries. It should aim to minimise the negative effects of tourism on the natural environment and improve the socio-cultural well-being of the destination communities. This notion serves as a motivation for this study which aim is to analyse the perceptions of selected tourism stakeholders in the Vhembe district with reference to the community, tourism business owners and local government concerning rural tourism development in this region. Attention was given to the economic, social and environmental influences of tourism by focusing on both positive and negative aspects as well as aspects related to tourism development. The secondary objectives of this study were: (i) to describe different roles, relationships, responsibilities and expectations of stakeholders in tourism by means of an in-depth literature review; (ii) to analyse rural tourism with reference to community involvement in tourism, business contribution, local government support and identify types of resources integral to tourism in the rural areas by means of a literature review; (iii) to empirically analyse the perceptions of selected tourism stakeholders by assessing economic, environmental and social aspects as well as their level of participation, success factors and challenges; and (iv) to draw conclusions and make recommendations on mechanisms that might contribute towards the sustainable development of rural tourism with the focus on relevant stakeholders. To achieve the objectives, this study followed a mixed-method approach where both surveys (quantitative research) and interviews (qualitative research) were conducted. Two surveys were done; one in the community and the second one at tourism businesses in the Vhembe region. It was clear from the results that residents are fairly positive towards the tourism industry and acknowledge the contributions (both economically and socially) to the community and area. There is however room for improving the rural tourism product in order to attract higher numbers of tourists. Government is contributing to the development of the industry but it seems that a lack of skills and marketing campaigns are huge challenges. The business owners are interested in the economic gains from this industry but there is a need for training and mentoring so that the business can grow to such an extent that it becomes an employer to a number of residents. The natural and cultural uniqueness of this area was evident as well as the potential as a tourism attraction. The selected stakeholders however emphasise the importance of cooperation and integrated planning to grow the tourism industry.

Bakalauro baigiamajame darbe nagrinėjama Zarasų rajono kaimo turizmo sodybų siūlomų paslaugų įvarovė ir nustatomos paslaugų vystymo galimybės Zarasų rajone. Kaimo turizmo tema aktuali praktikai tuo, kad Zarasų rajone gausu gamtinių ir kultūrinių išteklių siūlant atitinkamas paslaugas. Pirmoje darbo dalyje teoriniu aspektu nagrinėjama turizmo samprata, turizmo klasifikacija, turizmo plėtra, ekonominė nauda regionui, kaimo turizmo esmė, raida ir ypatumai, paslaugų vystymo galimybės. Antroje darbo dalyje pristatoma metodologija ir organizavimas, atliekama tyrimo metu gautų duomenų analizė ir pateikiami tyrimo rezultatai. Trečioje yra tiriamoji darbo dalis, kurioje analizuojamas kaimo turizmo paslaugų vystymas Zarasų rajone remiantis atliktos anketinės apklausos duomenimis. Šio darbo išvados ir rekomendacijos gali būti panaudotos sodybų savininkams nustatant tikslus ir strategijas. Pateiktos priemonės klientų pritraukimui. Pagrindiniai rezultatai ir išvados: respondentai siūlomų veiklų įvairovę ir pasiūla kaimo turizmo sodybose Zarasų rajone įvertino neigiamai; siūlomos paslaugos Zarasų rajone neišnaudoja esamo gamtinio ir kultūrinio potencialo turizmo paslaugų plėtrai; siūlomų paslaugų kompleksas kaimo turizmo sodybose yra siauras, dažniausiai siūlant tik vandens pramogas; Zarasų rajone trūksta specializuotų kaimo turizmo sodybų; sodybų savininkai turėtų siūlyti daugiau pažintinių paslaugų, tokių kaip amatų mokymas ir ekskursijų po lankytinus objektus; populiariausios sodybos... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The Bachelor's thesis concentrates on the analysis of the variety of rural tourism services in Zarasai district and on identifying oportunities of service development in Zarasai district. The issue of rural tourism is relevant, because Zarasai district is rich in natural and cultural resources, wich are not used while providing the services. The first part of the paper examines the theoretical aspect of the concept of tourism, classification of tourism, the development of tourism and its economic benefits for the region, the essence of rural tourism, its development and features, oportunities of service development. The second part presents the research methodology and the structure of the study, the analysis of the data of the research, and, based on these data, analysis of the rural tourism development in Zarasai district is provided. The conclusions and recommendations may be useful for the owners of rural tourism homesteads identifying objectives and strategies for the development of their businesses as well as customer attraction. The main results and conclusions: respondents have evaluated the variety of the activities and the supply of rural tourism homesteads negatively: the scope of services in Zarasai district does not exhaust natural and cultural resources in the tourism services development; the scope of services is narrow, often only offering water activities; Zarasai district lacks specialized rural tourism homesteads; the owners of rural tourism homesteads... [to full text]

Kaimo turizmas – viena perspektyviausių veiklų šiuolaikiniuose kai kurių Europos sąjungos valstybių kaimuose, teikianti gyventojams ne tiktai alternatyvios, skirtingos nuo daugelio metų bėgyje nusistovėjusios ir tapusios įprasta, veiklos vystymo, bet ir papildomų pajamų gavimo galimybes. Kaimo turizmas apima visas turizmo rūšis, susietas su kaimo aplinkos pažinimu ir poilsiu joje. Kaimo turizmo esmę sudaro poilsio paslaugų, kurių įvairovė susijusi ne tik su konkrečios sodybos šeimininkų nuosavų išteklių panaudojimu, bet ir su visa kaimo infrastruktūra bei socialine aplinka, kaip prekės visuma. Darbo tikslas - Įvertinti Raseinių rajono kaimo turizmo potencialo panaudojimą rajono darnaus vystymo programose, bei pasiūlyti jo plėtros, optimizavimo galimybes. Darbo objektas – Raseinių rajono kaimo turizmo potencialas. Baigiamojo magistro darbo dėstomąją dalį sudaro 3 skyriai. Pirmajame skyriuje apibūdinta dabartinė kaimo turizmo situacija Lietuvoje, atskleista valstybės politika šio verslo reglamentavimo srityje bei darnaus kaimo turizmo samprata. Antrajame skyriuje įvertintas Raseinių rajono kaimo turizmo potencialas, atliktas tyrimas, kurio metu išsiaiškintas specialistų požiūris į kaimo turizmo verslą ir jo plėtros galimybes rajone. Trečiajame skyriuje pateikiamos kaimo turizmo plėtros ir optimizavimo galimybės darnaus vystymosi programų kontekste, numatytos priemonės, kryptys, vykdytojai. Siekiant darbo tikslo tyrimui panaudota literatūros, dokumentų, duomenų analizės metodai... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Rural tourism - one of the most promising activities in some of the modern villages of European Union , providing not only the alternatives different from many well-established throughout the year and become a normal, operational development, but also additional revenue opportunities. Rural tourism covers all types of tourism that is associated with the rural environment and the rest in it. Rural tourism constitute the essence of leisure services, a variety not only with the specific homestead owners own the use of resources, but also to the whole rural infrastructure and social environment as a whole goods The goal – to evaluate the potential of rural tourism in Raseiniai District for the area’s sustainable development programs, and to propose the optimizing and developing opportunities. The object - Raseiniai District Rural tourism potential. The final Master's work consists of 3 sections. The first section described the current situation of rural tourism in Lithuania, disclosed the policy of the business regulatory environment and sustainable rural tourism concept. The second section: estimated Raseiniai District Rural tourism potential, a study with a professional approach to clarify the rural tourism business and its opportunities for the development of the area. The third section presents the rural tourism development and optimizing opportunities for the sustainable development programs context, the instruments, directions, principals. There were used the literature... [to full text]

Tęstinių universitetinių/magistrantūros studijų baigiamasis darbas 60 puslapių, 15 paveikslų, 5 lentelės , 67 literatūros šaltiniai, 2 priedai lietuvių kalba. RAKTINIAI ŽODŽIAI: kaimo turizmas, paslaugos, plėtra. Tyrimo objektas – Šilutės rajono kaimo turizmo sodybos. Tyrimo dalykas – kaimo turizmo paslaugos. Darbo tikslas – išsiaiškinti kaimo turizmo paslaugų vartotojų poreikius ir pateikti siūlymus kaimo turizmo paslaugų plėtrai Šilutės rajone. Uždaviniai: 1) teoriniu aspektu atskleisti kaimo turizmo paslaugų esmę; 2) išanalizuoti kaimo turizmo paslaugų formavimą lemiančius veiksnius; 3) nustatyti vartotojų reikalavimus kaimo turizmo paslaugoms; 4) remiantis atlikta teorine analize ir empiriniais tyrimais, pateikti siūlymus kaimo turizmo paslaugų plėtrai Šilutės rajone. Tyrimo metodai: mokslinės, statistinės literatūros analizė, apibendrinimas, anketinė apklausa, analizės ir sintezės metodai. Tyrimo rezultatai: • pirmoje darbo dalyje pateikta lietuvių ir užsienio autorių mokslinės literatūros analizė. Išnagrinėta kaimo turizmo paslaugos samprata, vartotojų motyvacija ir poreikiai, kaimo turizmo plėtros kliūtys, prielaidos; • antroje dalyje atliktas tyrimas Šilutės rajone. Pateikta tyrimo rezultatų metodika, būklės pristatymas ir tyrimo rezultatų apibūdinimas; • trečioje darbo dalyje pateikta tyrimo rezultatų analizė, bei pateikti pasiūlymai kaimo turizmo plėtrai Šilutės rajone; • kaimo turizmo plėtros sėkmė priklauso nuo sodybos šeimininkų sugebėjimu numatyti ko tikisi... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Final thesis of Master Studies, Continuing Education, 60 pages, 15 figures, 5 tables, 67 references, 2 appendices, in Lithuanian. Key words: rural tourism, services, development. Research object: Rural tourism homesteads of Šilutė District. Research subject: Rural tourism services. Research aim: To analyse the needs of the consumers of rural tourism services and to provide proposals for the development of rural tourism services in Šilutė District. Objectives: 1) To reveal the nature of rural tourism services from theoretical aspect; 2) To analyse the factors determining the formation of rural tourism services; 3) To identify the requirements of consumers for rural tourism services; 4) To provide proposals for the development of rural tourism services in Šilutė District based on the theoretical analysis and empirical research. Research methods: Analysis of scientific, statistical literature, summarising, questionnaire survey, methods of analysis and synthesis. Research results: • The first part of the final thesis provides scientific literature analysis of Lithuanian and foreign authors. The concept of rural tourism service, motivation and needs of consumers, obstacles and prerequisites for rural tourism development are analysed; • The second part includes the research conducted in Šilutė District. Methodology for the research results, an introduction to the state and the description of the research results is provided; • The third part introduces to the analysis... [to full text]

Magistro darbo „ Kaimo turizmo verslo plėtros galimybių įvertinimas Šiaulių apskrityje“ tikslas yra moksliniais metodais įvertinti kaimo turizmo būklę Šiaulių apskrityje. Pritaikyti kaimo turizmo plėtros hipotetinį investicinį projekto modelį, panaudojant ES struktūrinių fondų paramą, ir nustatyti kaimo turizmo plėtros galimybes Šiaulių apskrityje. Šiam tikslui pasiekti analizuojama kaimo turizmo plėtros strategijos koncepcija, paremta ES struktūrinių fondų ir valstybės paramos lėšomis, padeda įgyvendinti kaimo turizmo plėtrą Lietuvoje ir Šiaulių apskrityje. Anketinės apklausos, apie kaimo turizmo paslaugas, analizės duomenimis sudaromas hipotetinis investicinio projekto modelis, kurio efektyvumo rodikliai padeda numatyti šio verslo plėtros perspektyvas Šiaulių apskrityje. / The aim of master thesis „The assessment of the possibilities of rural tourism business development in Siauliai circuit“ is to asses the state of rural tourism in Lithuania and Siualiai circuit by using scientific methods. After the assessment is performed to apply the investment model of rural tourism development by using the support of EU structural funds and to determine the possibilities of rural tourism development in Siauliai circuit.Theoretical part analyses the conception of the strategy of rural tourism development, which together with EU structural funds and State support helps to implement rural tourism development in Lithuania and Siauliai circuit. On the basis of the analysis of the questionnaires about the services of rural tourism, the model of investment project; which is evaluated by using various methods of efficiency estimation, is created and then the prospects of the development of the business of rural tourism in Siauliai circuit are foreseen.