what is rural development tourism

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Tourism and Rural Development

UNWTO has designated 2020 as the Year of Tourism and Rural Development . This Year is an opportunity to promote the potential of tourism to create jobs and opportunities . It can also advance inclusion and highlight the unique role tourism can play in preserving and promoting natural and cultural heritage and curbing urban migration.

The theme is shared with this year’s World Tourism Day. World Tourism Day, commemorated each year on 27 September, is the global observance day fostering awareness of tourism’s social, cultural, political and economic value and the contribution the sector can make in reaching the Sustainable Development Goals. 2020 marks the 40 th anniversary of the first World Tourism Day .

‘Tourism and Rural Development’ is more relevant than ever as the global tourism sector faces up to the COVID-19 pandemic. Tourism in rural areas offers important opportunities for recovery, making supporting rural communities facing the economic and social impacts of the pandemic is critical.

A renewed focus on the benefits of tourism to rural communities is timely and important:

Around the world, rural communities with significant tourism activity have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic . Jobs have been lost and small businesses placed at risk as restrictions on travel brought tourism to a standstill.

Rural areas face increasing challenges of aging populations, declines in traditional economic activities and depopulation.

Tourism has been one of the fastest-growing and most resilient socio-economic sectors of our times.

In many places, the benefits of tourism, including enhanced employment opportunities and economic growth, are concentrated in urban areas , particularly cities.

New technologies, innovation and entrepreneurship, a growing interest among travellers demanding experiences connected to the places they are visiting, as well as easier connectivity, open new windows of opportunity for tourism in rural areas.

Harnessing the power of tourism to drive rural development will enhance the sector’s contribution to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals , particularly Goals 1 (no poverty), 5 (gender equality), 8 (decent work and economic growth), 11 (sustainable cities and communities), 12 (responsible consumption and production), and 17 (partnerships for the goals).

The COVID-19 crisis is an opportunity to build back better for the tourism sector investing in models that place a focus on the empowerment and engagement of local communities, inclusion, and the preservation of local natural and cultural resources.

This crisis further stresses the importance of building resilience among communities where tourism is an important share of their income through product and market diversification, fighting seasonality, social protection and building added value experiences.

The Case for Rural Development

Urbanization is a prevalent trend across the world. By 2050, 68% of world population will live in urban areas, while 80% of all people living in ‘extreme poverty’ live in rural communities , not cities.

Globally, most of the 1.8 billion young people in the world live in rural areas of low and middle-income countries. “It tends to be the better-educated, the more highly skilled, the more highly motivated mobile people who are leaving and that is certainly a drain of the human capital.”

Youth in rural communities are three times more likely to be unemployed than adults. Without work, young people are forced to migrate to cities, either in their own countries or across borders. Youth migration to the cities harms rural communities , often irreversibly. As well as towns and villages dying out, local customs and heritage become lost.

Tourism, Rural Development and COVID-19 : Facing up to an unprecedented challenge

Communities in rural areas are, in general, much less prepared to deal with the direct and indirect impact of the COVID-19 crisis. This is due to a variety of factors, including population age, lower income levels, relative lack of economic diversity, the ‘digital divide’, and distance from health centres.

Tourism is a lifeline for many rural communities, most notably in the developing world. According to UNWTO scenarios on the impact of COVID-19, international tourist arrivals could fall between 60% and 80% in 2020 . This will have a massive impact on livelihoods and businesses.

The UNWTO World Tourism Barometer: International tourism down 22% in Q1 and could decline by 60-80% over the whole year

UNWTO foresees that domestic tourism will return before international tourism. Managed well, this could benefit rural communities, most notably through protecting livelihoods and boosting local economies.

To help both governments and the private sector mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on tourism and to drive the sector’s recovery, UNWTO has made available Recommendations for Action and Guidelines to Restart Tourism. This action plan for a sustainable and resilient future emphasises the importance of tourism to rural communities, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 crisis.

Tourism driving rural development: Opportunities and challenges

UNWTO is committed to guiding the tourism sector as a driver of sustainable economic and social inclusion and ensuring that tourism can contribute to ‘ leaving no one behind’ .

Tourism has a unique ability to support the revitalization of rural communities, both in the short-term as they recover from the impact of COVID-19, and in the long-term to promote sustainable and inclusive growth:

• In many areas, economic returns from agriculture are diminishing. At the same time, traditional ways of life are under threat from climate change. Travellers’ demand for new experiences around nature, local culture and products, as well as community engagement, offer immense opportunities for economic revitalization.
• Yet creating new opportunities for jobs and economic activities in rural areas requires proper connectivity, investment, supporting the promotion and preservation of natural and cultural heritage, fostering digital transformation, developing adequate skills and products as well as strong public-public cooperation.
• The creation of value through tourism needs to be approached from an holistic perspective that engages all other sectors and activities in the tourism value chain
• National policies and programmes such as the ‘Magical Towns’ of Mexico are a good example of how rural communities can benefit from tourism.
• Promoting tourism in rural areas spreads the benefits of the sector but also helps reduce pressure on more visited locations in cities.

Infrastructure and education – the role of the public sector

The public sector has an important role to play in boosting tourism’s contribution to rural development. At the local level, it is hard to attract private sector investors and retain population if there has been no public sector investment.

The public sector also has a role to play in ensuring the hard infrastructure is in place to provide well being for communities and allow tourists to easily visit and experience rural areas. Education is also key. Without the “human capital”, rural development will be impossible.

Creating ‘ More and Better Jobs ’ in rural communities Infrastructure and education

Tourism can create jobs in rural and remote areas , not only directly but also indirectly through the preservation and restoration of traditional activities. Often it is one of the few viable economic sectors in these areas. The sector is particularly effective at providing employment opportunities for women and young people .

Tourism is particularly effective at providing employment opportunities for women and young people

However, the tourism sector has a responsibility to ensure that it doesn’t just provide work, but also offers decent and fair jobs . This is particularly relevant in rural communities where employment may be less formal and more flexible. Temporary and part-time jobs are particularly common among women, young people, and the less-skilled who are employed in tourism. They can often lead to decent work deficits, including inadequate social security coverage, low wages and income inequality, and poor working conditions.

New opportunities – technology & innovation

Tourists will expect to have access to the same technology in rural areas as they enjoy in urban destinations . This includes access to fast, reliable wireless internet and the ability to make cashless payments. Access to technology is also critical to provide local business access to the market place and promote the inclusion of providers of all sizes in the tourism value chain. Ensuring rural destinations enjoy the same technology as urban areas and are not ‘left behind’ is a challenge for the public and private sectors to address.

Innovation and entrepreneurship can help drive rural development, by accelerating the access of local providers to global markets, creating new experiences and fostering networks. Attracting talent and innovation to promote rural areas will be central. The use of big data to better understand consumers will also help craft marketable experiences, monitor impact and promote rural areas.

The COVID-19 crisis has accelerated the digital transformation of economies. The rise in remote working, including in tourism-related jobs, as well as distance learning , can help create more opportunities for rural communities around the world.

Skills development, access to finance, infrastructure development, digital transformation, economic diversification, new governance and impact assessment, should be placed at the heart of the recovery plans for tourism in rural communities in order support them navigate through the crisis and emerge stronger.

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Why Rural Tourism Is The Next Big Thing

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Rural tourism is an important part of the tourism industry around the world. From walks in the Brecon Beacons , to climbing Mount Kilimanjaro to eco tourism in The Gambia , many destinations rely on their rural tourism provision to bring in much needed revenue for the local economy.

But what does rural tourism actually mean? What is it all about? In this article I will explain what is meant by the term rural tourism, providing a range of academic and industry-based definitions. I will then discuss the importance of rural tourism, activities commonly found in rural tourism destinations and destinations offering rural tourism. I will also assess the positive and negative impacts of rural tourism.

What is rural tourism?

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Rural tourism is tourism which takes place in non-urbanised areas. These areas typically include (but are not limited to) national parks, forests , countryside areas and mountain areas.

Rural tourism is closely aligned with the concept of sustainable tourism , given that it is inherently linked to green spaces and commonly environmentally-friendly forms of tourism, such as hiking or camping.

Rural tourism is an umbrella term. The rural tourism industry includes a number of tourism types, such as golfing tourism, glamping or WOOFING .

Rural tourism is distinguished from urban tourism in that it typically requires the use of natural resources.

As with many types of tourism , there is no universally accepted definition of rural tourism. In fact, the term is actually quite ambiguous.

When defining the term rural tourism it is important first and foremost to understand what is and what isn’t ‘rural’.

The OECD defines a rural area as, ‘at the local level, a population density of 150 persons per square kilometre. At the regional level, geographic units are grouped by the share of their population that is rural into the following three types: predominantly rural (50%), significantly rural (15-50%) and predominantly urbanised regions (15%).

The Council of Europe further state that a ‘rural area’ is an area of inland or coastal countryside, including small towns and villages, where the main part of the area is used for:

• Agriculture, forestry, aquaculture, and fisheries.
• Economic and cultural activities of country-dwellers.
• Non-urban recreation and leisure areas or nature reserves.
• Other purposes such as housing.

Now that we know a little bit more about the ‘rural’ part, it is also important to understand what is meant by the term ‘tourism’. There are many definitions of tourism , but it is generally recognised that a tourist is a person who travels away from their home residence for at least 24 hours for leisure or business purposes.

It appears, therefore, that a person who travels to an area that is sparsely populated for more than 24 hours for leisure or business purposes is likely to qualify as a ‘rural tourist’.

The World Tourism Organisation , provide a little more clarity. They state that rural tourism is ‘a type of tourism activity in which the visitor’s experience is related to a wide range of products generally linked to nature-based activities, agriculture, rural lifestyle / culture , angling and sightseeing’.

Dernoi states that rural tourism occurs when there are activities in a ‘non-urban territory where human (land-related economic) activity is going on, primarily agriculture’.

The OECD prescribes that rural tourism should be:

• Located in rural areas.
• Functionally rural, built upon the rural world’s special features; small-scale enterprises, open space, contact with nature and the natural world, heritage, traditional societies, and traditional practices.
• Rural in scale – both in terms of building and settlements – and therefore, small scale.
• Traditional in character, growing slowly and organically, and connected with local families.
• Sustainable – in the sense that its development should help sustain the special rural character of an area, and in the sense that its development should be sustainability in its use of resources.
• Of many different kinds, representing the complex pattern of the rural environment, economy, and history.

Gökhan Ayazlar & Reyhan A. Ayazlar (2015) have collated a number of academic definitions of rural tourism. You can see a summary of this below.

Types of rural tourism areas

There are many different types of rural areas that are popular tourism destinations. These may be named slightly differently around the world. Here are some examples from the UK:

There are 15 National Parks in the UK which are protected areas because of their beautiful countryside, wildlife and cultural heritage.

A national park is a protected area. It is a location which has a clear boundary. It has people and laws that make sure that nature and wildlife are protected and that people can continue to benefit from nature without destroying it.

People live and work in the National Parks and the farms, villages and towns are protected along with the landscape and wildlife.

National Parks welcome visitors and provide opportunities for everyone to experience, enjoy and learn about their special qualities.

National Parks were first mentioned in 1931 in a government inquiry, however no action was taken. Public discontent led to a mass trespass on Kinder Scout (in the now known Peak District), five men were arrested. This led the Council for the protection for Rural England making and releasing a film in the cinemas calling for public help.

This public pressure culminates in the 1945 white paper on National Parks, leading to the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949. In 1951 the Peak District became the first National Park.

An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) is exactly what it says it is: a precious landscape whose distinctive character and natural beauty are so outstanding that it is in the nation’s interest to safeguard them.

There are 38 AONBs in England and Wales. Created by the legislation of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act of 1949, AONBs represent 18% of the Finest Countryside in England and Wales. There are also 8 AONBs in Northern Ireland . Gower was the first AONB established in 1956.

Their care has been entrusted to the local authorities, organisations, community groups and the individuals who live and work within them or who value them.

Each AONB has been designated for special attention by reason of their high qualities. These include their flora, fauna, historical and cultural associations as well as scenic views.

AONB landscapes range from rugged coastline to water meadows to gentle downland and upland moors.

Sites of Special Scientific Interests are the country’s very best wildlife and geological sites.

SSSIs include some of the most spectacular and beautiful habitats; wetlands teeming with wading birds, winding chalk rivers, flower-rich meadows, windswept shingle beaches and remote upland peat bogs.

There are over 4,100 Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) in England, covering around 8% of the country’s land area. More than 70% of these sites (by area) are internationally important for their wildlife and designated as Special Areas of Conservation (SACs), Special Protection Areas (SPAs) or Ramsar sites.

Special Areas of Conservation are areas which have been given special protection under the European Union’s Habitats Directive.

They provide increased protection to a variety of wild animals, plants and habitats and are a vital part of global efforts to conserve the world’s biodiversity.

Special Protection Areas are areas which have been identified as being of international importance for the breeding, feeding, wintering or the migration of rare and vulnerable species of birds found within European Union countries.

Ramsar sites are wetlands of international importance, designated under the Ramsar Convention.

Wetlands are defined as areas of marsh, fen, peatland or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six metres.

Read also- – Types of tourism: A glossary – Domestic tourism explained – What is the ‘shut-in economy’? Understanding the basics – Cultural tourism: Everything you need to know – Insta tourism: An explanation – What is globalisation? – Business tourism: What, why and where

Local Nature Reserves are for both people and wildlife. They offer people special opportunities to study or learn about nature or simply to enjoy it.

There are now more than 1400 LNRs in England. They range from windswept coastal headlands, ancient woodlands and flower-rich meadows to former inner city railways, abandoned landfill sites and industrial areas now re-colonised by wildlife. In total they cover about 35,000 ha.

This is an impressive natural resource which makes an important contribution to England’s biodiversity.

Heritage Coasts represent stretches of our most beautiful, undeveloped coastline , which are managed to conserve their natural beauty and, where appropriate, to improve accessibility for visitors.

Thirty-three per cent (1,057km) of scenic English coastline is conserved as Heritage Coasts. The first Heritage Coast to be defined was the famous white chalk cliffs of Beachy Head in Sussex and the latest is the Durham Coast. Now much of our coastline, such as the sheer cliffs of Flamborough Head and Bempton, with their huge seabird colonies, is protected as part of our coastal heritage.

European Geoparks are areas in Europe with an outstanding geological heritage. There are two in England, the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the English Riviera in Devon.

Tourism makes up just one (important) part of the rural economy.

Rural tourism provides valuable commercial and employment opportunities for communities that are confronted with the growing challenge of offering viable livelihoods for their local populations.

Without these opportunities, people may be forced to relocate to more populous areas, often resulting in separated families and economic leakage in the local community.

Let me give you an example- In northern Thailand , many tourists choose to go on hiking tours, staying in homestays and spending their money in the rural communities. This provides local people with work opportunities that they would not otherwise be exposed to. Many women leave their home villages in Thailand to work in the sex tourism industry , where they can earn a far higher wage to support their families. But with the growth of rural tourism, many women have been able to avoid moving to the red light districts of Bangkok and Pattaya and have instead been able to make an income in the rural areas in which they live.

Moreover, rural tourism can help to disperse tourism in highly populated countries. This directs tourists away from some of the more well-known, busy areas and provides work opportunities and economic activity in alternative areas. It also helps to combat the challenge od limited carrying capacities in some destinations and the negative environmental impacts of tourism .

The rural tourism industry interlinks with a range of activity types, thus bringing economic benefit to a variety of areas. This is demonstrated in the figure below.

The roles and responsibilities of organisations involved in the management of rural tourism

Rural areas need to be managed in order to preserve its natural beauty, without limiting activities of economic benefit.

There are many organisations in which have an interest in rural areas and how they are managed and used. These include:

• National Trust
• National Association for Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (NAAONB)
• English Heritage
• Countryside Alliance
• Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)
• Ramblers’ Association

The organisations involved in managing rural tourism will do things such as;

• Promote rural pursuits
• Give information
• Offer advice
• Provide revenue channels
• Legal enforcement
• Protect the environment
• Protect wildlife
• Educate people

Here is some more information about some of the major organisations that are involved with rural tourism:

Natural England is an Executive Non-departmental Public Body.

This means that although they are an independent organisation they have to report their activities and findings back to the Government (Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, DEFRA).

Their purpose is to protect and improve England’s natural environment and encourage people to enjoy and get involved in their surroundings.

They cover the whole of the England and work with people such as farmers, town and country planners, researchers and scientists, and the general public on a range of schemes and initiatives.

Their aim is to create a better natural environment that covers all of our urban, country and coastal landscapes, along with all of the animals, plants and other organisms that live with us.

Natural England is the government’s advisor on the natural environment. They provide practical advice, grounded in science, on how best to safeguard England’s natural areas for the benefit of everyone.

Their work is to ensure sustainable usage of the land and sea so that people and nature can thrive. Yet continuing to adapt and survive for future generations to enjoy.

Their responsibilities include:

• Managing England’s green farming schemes, paying nearly £400million/year to maintain two-third’s of agricultural land under agri-environment agreements
• Increasing opportunities for everyone to enjoy the wonders of the natural world
• Reducing the decline of biodiversity and licensing of protected species across England
• Designating National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty
• Managing most National Nature Reserves and notifying Sites of Special Scientific Interest
• One of Natural England’s initiatives includes Outdoors for All.
• The Outdoors for All programme began in 2008 with an action plan called Outdoors for All?
• This plan was in response to the Diversity Review which showed that some people were less likely to access the natural environment for recreation and other purposes.
• The under-represented groups were found to be disabled people, black and minority ethnic people, people who live in inner city areas and young people.
• In response Natural England are supporting other organisations in projects to get more of these under-represented groups to come to natural areas

VisitBritain is Britain’s national tourism agency, responsible for marketing Britain worldwide and developing Britain’s visitor economy.

Their mission is to build the value of tourism to Britain.

It is a non-departmental public body, funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, they work in partnership with thousands of organisations in the UK and overseas – the Government, the industry and other tourism bodies – to ensure that Britain is marketed in an inspirational and effective way around the world.

Their current priority is to deliver a four-year match funded global marketing programme which takes advantage of the unique opportunity of the Royal Wedding, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the 2012 Games to showcase Britain and attract new visitors from the tourism growth markets of Asia and Latin America and to reinvigorate our appeal in core markets such as the USA, France and Germany. This campaign aims to attract four million extra visitors to Britain, who will spend an additional £2 billion.

In 2010, Deloitte published a report on their contribution to the visitor economy. As part of the findings, the report demonstrates that their activity contributes £1.1 billion to the economy and delivers £150 million directly to the Treasury each year in tax take. They also create substantial efficiency savings – £159 million last year – on the public purse.

The National Trust was founded in 1895 by three Victorian philanthropists – Miss Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley.

Concerned about the impact of uncontrolled development and industrialisation, they set up the Trust to act as a guardian for the nation in the acquisition and protection of threatened coastline, countryside and buildings.

They work to preserve and protect the buildings, countryside and coastline of England, Wales and Northern Ireland , in a range of ways, through practical conservation, learning and discovery, and encouraging everyone to visit and enjoy their national heritage.

They also educate people about the importance of the environment and of preserving heritage for future generations, they contribute to important debates over the future of the economy, the development of people’s skills and sense of community, and the quality of the local environment in both town and country.

The National Trust conducted a survey in which they found that ‘Wildlife is alien to a generation of indoor children’. They found that one in three cannot identify a magpie, one of the UK’s most common and most distinctive birds, while half couldn’t tell the difference between a bee and a wasp.

They also found that just 53% could correctly identify an oak leaf – the national tree and a powerful symbol of England, 29% failed to spot a magpie, despite the numbers soaring three-fold over the past 30 years, only 47% of children correctly identified a barn owl, one in three failed to recognise a Red Admiral; Britain’s best-known butterfly.

When asked to identify fictional creatures, however, children’s abilities suddenly soared with nine out of ten able to correctly name Doctor Who’s enemies, the Daleks, a similar number were able to identify Star Wars’ Jedi Grand Master, Yoda.

The figures are clearly a cause for concern for parents. Asked about their own knowledge of nature, 67% of parents thought they knew more about wildlife when they were youngsters than their children do now, 65% felt that this was partly due to the fact that they spent too little time with their children as a family outdoors.

The survey, carried out across both urban and rural areas across the UK, is part of a major campaign in London to encourage families to spend more time together outdoors.

The Forestry Commission is the government department responsible for the protection and expansion of Britain’s forests and woodlands.

Their mission is to protect and expand Britain’s forests and woodlands and increase their value to society and the environment.

They take the lead, on behalf of all three administrations, in the development and promotion of sustainable forest management. They deliver the distinct forestry policies of England, Scotland and Wales through specific objectives drawn from the country forestry strategies so our mission and values may be different in each.

As you know there are 15 members of the National Parks family in the UK and each one is looked after by its own National Park Authority. They all work together as the Association of National Park Authorities (ANPA).

The UK’s 15 National Parks are part of a global family of over 113,000 protected areas, covering 149 million square kilometres or 6% of the Earth’s surface. We are linked to Europe through the EUROPARC Federation – a network of European protected areas with 360 member organisations in 37 countries.

Each National Park is administered by its own National Park Authority. They are independent bodies funded by central government to:

• conserve and enhance the natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage; and
• promote opportunities for the understanding and enjoyment of the special qualities of National Parks by the public.
• If there’s a conflict between these two purposes, conservation takes priority. In carrying out these aims, National Park Authorities are also required to seek to foster the economic and social well-being of local communities within the National Park.
• The Broads Authority has a third purpose, protecting the interests of navigation, and under the Broads Act 1988 all three purposes have equal priority.
• The Scottish National Parks’ objectives are to also promote the sustainable use of natural resources, the sustainable economic and social development of local communities and more of a focus on recreation.

Each National Park Authority has a number of unpaid appointed members, selected by the Secretary of State, local councils and parish councils. The role of members is to provide leadership, scrutiny and direction for the National Park Authority.

There are also a number of paid staff who carry out the work necessary to run the National Park.

UK ANPA brings together the 15 National Park Authorities in the UK to raise the profile of the National Parks and to promote joint working. Country associations for the English and Welsh National Parks represent the National Park Authorities to English and Welsh governments.

Positive impacts of rural tourism

Rural tourism has many positive economic, social and environmental impacts if it is managed well and adheres to sustainable tourism principles. I have outlined some of the most commonly noted benefits of rural tourism below:

Employment generation is a common positive economic impact impact of tourism .

Rural tourism can create many jobs in areas where they may otherwise not be many employment opportunities.

These jobs may be directly related to the rural tourism industry, for example hotel workers or taxi drivers.

They may also be indirected related to the rural tourism industry, such as builders (who build the hotels) or staff employed to maintain and keep the area clean.

If more people are employed, there is more opportunity for wider economics benefits. This is because employees will likely pay taxes on their income.

Each destination has its own methods of taxation. But one thing that we can be fairly certain about, is that there will be some money made through taxes on tourism products and services.

The money raised through taxes can then be reinvested into other areas, such as healthcare or education. Tourism therefore has the potential to provide a far-reaching positive economic impact.

Rural tourism enables local people to set up and operate businesses. Rural areas often have less of the known chains and brands (think Costa Coffee, Hilton Hotel etc) and more independent organisations.

Businesses that are owned and managed locally are great because it enables much of the income raised from tourism to stay local and prevents economic leakage in tourism .

Rural tourism will often require the development of new infrastructure and facilities.

This is particular prevalent when it comes to transport networks. Inherently, rural areas are not well connected by public transport. Roads are often narrow and windy, meaning that traffic build up is common, particularly during peak times.

Rural tourism often results in the construction of new transport networks and infrastructure, among other public facilities and services. This is beneficial not only to the tourists who travel here, but also to the local community.

Rural tourism encourages cultural tourism and cultural exchange.

Many people from a range of destinations will travel to rural areas for tourism. This provides opportunities for locals and tourists to get to know each other and to learn more about each other’s cultures.

There are many positive social impacts of tourism . One impact is that rural areas are encouraged to share their traditions and customs with the people who are coming to visit the area.

This encourages the revitalisation and preservation of traditions, customs and crafts.

Because rural tourism usually relies on the environment that is being visited, there are often schemes put in place to protect and conserve areas.

This includes giving an area natural park status or declaring it an area of outstanding natural beauty, for example.

It also includes implementing management processes, such as reducing visitor numbers or condoning off particular areas.

Negative impacts of rural tourism

Whilst rural tourism does have many advantages, there are also disadvantages that must be taken into account. Here are some of the most common examples:

Tourism is often seasonal and comes in peaks and troughs. In the UK, for example, countryside areas are busier on weekends than on weekdays and there are more tourists during the school holidays than there are during term time.

This can place lots of pressure on public services. Hospitals may be overwhelmed during the summer months, when hotel occupancy rates are at their highest. Roads may be gridlocked on bank holiday weekends as city-livers flee to the countryside for some fresh air.

The presence of tourism can result in increases in land and housing prices. This can have a negative effect on the local population.

Some people may feel that they need to relocate because they can no longer afford to live in the area, known as gentrification.

Other people may have a lower quality of life (i.e. have a smaller home, less disposable income) than they would have had if there was no tourism.

As I mentioned before, rural tourism can be subject to overcrowding and congestion. This is particularly prevalent during peak times such as Christmas, the summer holidays and weekends.

Another concern of rural tourism is that there may be too much development in an area. This can impact the appeal of a destination to both tourists and locals.

Some development may not be in keeping with the traditions of the area. If a new theme park is built (because they are often in rural areas), for example, this would likely completely change the area. It would bring with it a different type of tourist and the associated developments (hotels, food outlets etc).

Rural tourism management techniques

In order to maximise the positive impacts of rural tourism and minimise the negative impacts, it is imperative that appropriate management techniques are adopted. Below I have outlined that practices that are seen throughout the world:

Unfortunately, many rural tourism areas are not accessible to all. Enabling wide-scale access is an important part of ensuring that tourism is fair and sustainable.

The equality Act 2010 states that ‘Tourism providers should treat everyone accessing their goods, facilities or services fairly, regardless of their age, gender, race, sexual orientation, disability, gender reassignment, religion or belief, and guard against making assumptions about the characteristics of individuals.’

Here are some great examples of accessibility in rural tourism: – New Forest Access for All – Peak District access for All – Parsley Hay cycle centre

As I mentioned earlier, a lack of transport links to gain access to the destination is a common problem in the rural tourism industry. Organisations can work with local and regional governments to improve local infrastructure. They can also organise their own transport options, such as buses or tours.

In some cases, restrictions to access are necessary in order to ensure that areas are preserved. This is the case, for example, at Stone Henge, where the area is roped-off to prevent tourists from touching the stones.

Similarly, many areas will ask tourists to stick to designated paths or walkways, to prevent damage to the natural environment.

In order to encourage sustainable tourism development , many organisations will invest in training programmes and schemes to up-skill members of the local community.

This is common amongst hotels, facilities and attractions should employ people from the local community.

Training helps to ensure that organisations have more satisfied staff, who are more likely to stay in the position. This keeps costs and turnover of staff down for the company. Happy staff are also likely to work harder and be more productive in their job, which in turn helps the organisation and the overall economy to yield greater economic outcomes.

Example: LandSkills East offer a Bursary to suitably qualified and experienced applicants to help meet the cost of higher level training in management, business and leadership skills. Applicants should be interested in developing their skills in order to steer the future of the land based and rural sector in the East of England and the rest of the UK. Bursary funding covers 50% of the cost of the training activity. This can be from £500 to a maximum of £3000 pounds. This could be to attend conferences, workshops, work placements, research, formal training or post-graduate level qualifications in areas related to the industry. The following industries are eligible for bursary funding: -Agriculture and Livestock -Arable and non Food Crops -Food and Production Horticulture -Viticulture -Environmental Conservation -Food Diversification and Supply Chain -Rural Crafts e.g. timber framing, thatching -Land-based Research and Development

Community-based tourism is often found in rural areas. This is because there is often a close-knit community.

Community tourism fosters the growth of locally owned and managed businesses. It also encourages businesses that are directly involved in the tourism industry (i.e. a hotel) to work with other local businesses (i.e. a local farmer).

Partnerships between local business helps to maximise the economic advantages of rural tourism and minimise economic leakage in tourism .

Areas will have traditional artefacts that demonstrate their history, culture and traditions. These could be from, for example, the Celtic, Romans & religious era’s.

Many of these will be protected or put into museums i.e. The Chiltern Open Air Museum , based in the AONB – The Chilterns.

Places that facilitate the promotion of traditional artefacts such as this are often given charitable status. This means that they can obtain money from sponsorship, funding and membership.

As I have mentioned several times throughout this article, public transport infrastructure is often one of the downsides of rural tourism. Therefore, rural tourism destinations can try to implement various strategies and developments in attempt to improve this.

One such technique is the Green Travel Plan. This is an effective Travel Plan helps to reduce pressure on the local infrastructure, contributes to keeping local pollution to a minimum and enables the widest range of people to have good access to work and services.

Areas can also try to encourage sustainable travel.

Sustainable travel is any form of transport that keeps damage to our environment to a minimum and normally has the added advantage of being a healthier alternative for the user.

Methods of sustainable transport include: walking, cycling, public transport and car sharing, or using vehicles that minimise carbon emissions and other pollutants, such as electric and hybrid cars, and cars which run on cleaner fuels such as LPG.

Some destinations will implement traffic management schemes in order to make their tourism sector more sustainable.

This could be in the form of encouraging destinations to have visitor travel plans in place and to work with businesses and accommodation providers to promote things to enjoy that require reduced travel.

Destinations and public transport operators may aim to develop ‘hubs’ from which there is a concentration of car free options with car parking (e.g. walks, cycle hire, bus and rail services). This would integrate with public transport, accommodation and other visitor experiences.

Others may identify and share best practice in rural public transport that meets the needs of visitors and communities e.g. Smart ticketing; electric bikes; car clubs.

A completely car free rural area and low carbon initiatives will be difficult to implement. This means accepting that some car use is necessary for rural tourism but encouraging more initiatives that increase dwell times at destinations, reduce mileage and length of car journey, such as walks and itineraries that are integrated with public transport and visitor experiences.

It is also important to encourage sustainable transport options when visitors arrive at their destination, for example, encouraging accommodation to link to cycle hire firms, cycle racks, and cycle friendly venues for visitors to bring their own bikes.

There are various sites and properties that are protected against demolition and further building but must be preserved and repaired where necessary.

Footpaths are included in the conservation projects and many destinations have developed footpath networks in attempt to protect the larger area from tramping, littering etc.

Example- Today the Lake District attracts over 12 million visitors per year. This large number of visitors puts the environment under great pressure. It has been estimated that over 10 million people use the National Park’s paths annually. Many Lake District paths have become huge open scars, visible from miles away. Eroded paths are not only unsightly, but unpleasant to walk on and can lead to habitat loss as well as damage to the heritage, archaeological and natural history qualities of the area.

Repairing eroded paths is not the statutory duty of the Highway Authority, or anyone else, as long as they are still ‘open and fit for use’. The National Trust, the LDNPA and English Nature have worked together since the late 1970s to manage the problem.

In 1993 they formed the Lake District Upland Access Management Group (AMG). Their aim was to complete a detailed survey of eroded paths in theLake District. The initial surveys, which focused in particular on the popular central fells, identified 145 paths which were in need of repair.

By 1999, the whole of the National Park had been surveyed and 180 paths had been identified as being in need of repair. The huge scale of the problem highlighted the need for a long term management solution.

This led to the formation of the Upland Path Landscape Restoration Project (UPLRP) a 10 year project (2002 to 2011) which sets out to repair the majority of landscape scars caused by the erosion of fells paths in the Lake District.

This technique involves digging stone into the ground to form good solid footfalls. This ancient technique is used extensively in the central fells using stone which is naturally occurring.

There are many different rural tourism activities that people can take part in and many reasons that a person may be motivated to be a rural tourist.

Motivational reasons may include:

Many people choose to undertake rural tourism because they enjoy traditional pursuits. These may include:

There are also a number of modern pursuits that are packaged and sold as part of a rural tourism holiday. These include:

• Mountain biking
• Quad biking
• Water sports
• Team-building

There are also many special interest holidays that take place in rural areas, such as:

• Heritage tours/activities
• Wildlife spotting/visiting/petting
• Sightseeing
• Canal cruising
• Photography
• Horser riding
• Pony trekking
• Winter sports

Lastly, rural tourism can be the perfect ground for educational opportunities, which may include:

• Geography field trips
• Team building

Rural tourism destinations

In recent years I have taken part in rural tourism activities in a number of countries around the world . Here are some of my favourites:

One of my favourite rural travel destinations is Meteora in Greece.

Meteora is an area of Greece that features extraordinary rock formations. The area is abundant with slender stone pinnacles. Many of these pinnacles house ancient Byzantine monasteries on top.

The area is simply magical! And I’m not the only one who thinks so… this part of Greece has been the setting for a number of films, including one of my favourites- Avatar.

Canada offers the perfect rural tourism holidays!

We did a road trip through the Rockies a couple of years back and absolutely LOVED it! There is so much to do and the scenery is just spectacular.

You can read all about our trip to Canada with a baby here.

Rural tourism is very popular in Sri Lanka.

The main area of appeal are the tea plantations. These areas are rich with history and offer a number of tours where tourists can learn about the history, culture and physical production of tea.

This made for a great addition to our Sri Lanka with a baby itinerary.

Rural tourism in Australia is very popular.

Some people choose to visit the mountain or countryside areas for recreation. Others commit to volunteer tourism projects or undertake working holidays. WWOOFING is also very popular in Australia.

Many people choose to visit the ‘outback’, which offers many rural tourism opportunities. Australia is a popular destination for road trips and it is common for tourists to drive around the country using camper vans or other road transport.

It is evident that rural tourism deserves a place in the tourism industry!

Rural tourism is popular the world over and has the potential to have significant economic impacts in rural areas. As I have explained, careful management is important in order to ensure that the positive impacts are maximised and the negative impacts are minimised- there are a number of different stakeholders that play a role in this.

The rural tourism industry has significant value to the tourism industries and economies of countries around the world. If you would like to learn more about rural tourism, I have suggested some texts below.

• Rural Tourism -This book describes, analyses, celebrates and interrogates the rise of rural tourism in the developed world over the last thirty years, while explaining its need to enter a new, second generation of development if it is to remain sustainable in all senses of that word.
• Rural Tourism and Enterprise: Management, Marketing and Sustainability – This textbook examines key issues affecting rural enterprise and tourism.
• Rural Tourism: An International Perspective – This edited collection questions the contribution tourism can and does make to rural regions.
• Rural Tourism: An Introduction – This text provides a comprehensive, stimulating and up-to-date analysis of the key issues involved in the planning and management of rural tourism.
• Rural Tourism and Recreation: Principles to Practice – This book reviews both the theory and practice of rural tourism and recreation.
• Rural Tourism and Sustainable Business – This book provides the latest conceptual thinking on, and case study exemplification of, rural tourism and sustainable business development from Europe, North America, Australasia, the Middle East and Japan.
• Rural Tourism Development: Localism and Cultural Change – This book links changes at the local, rural community level to broader, more structural considerations of globalization and allows for a deeper, more theoretically sophisticated consideration of the various forces and features of rural tourism development. 

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What is rural tourism and what are its benefits?

Rural tourism means travelling to non urbanised places with low population. An incredible chance to connect with local communities, support them and immerse yourself in their local culture.

Joanna Joanna Roams Free - Ethical and Responsible Travel

Apr 18, 2023

A truly authentic and raw way to travel, rural tourism is on the rise, as more people seek tranquility and unique travel experiences. 

What is rural tourism and what are the benefits? 

Rural tourism is a form of tourism that goes beyond city breaks and popular tourist attractions.

Rural tourism is travel to natural places that are non-urbanised, often rely on agriculture and with low populations , such as villages and cottages, homestays, farms, and ranches or eco lodges. 

Possible sctivities when rural travelling are camping, hiking, outdoor sports and spending time connecting with the nature. 

It is related to ethical and sustainable tourism, travelling off the beaten path , outdoor activities and sports and spending time in nature. It has a great potential to make the travel more responsible and richer in experience.

When travelling in rural areas the traveller really gets to observe the local life, stay away from crowds and touristy prices, and grasp the benefits of being outdoors.

In developing countries, rural tourism has a great importance. It brings profit directly to families living in rural, otherwise non touristic, distant locations. It also brings opportunities for development. In developed countries it allows for relaxation and rest from otherwise busy lives. In any country, it helps to reduce bad effects of over tourism.

What are the different types of rural tourism?

Eco-tourism

This is travel to natural areas whilst being sustainable, responsible, and mindful of our impact on the host community and the planet.

This type of travel includes staying in eco lodges or eco hotels or other accommodations that use renewable energy.

It takes place in non-urban locations such as mountains, forests, or watersides , eco-tourism is a fantastic opportunity to connect with nature and travel off the beaten path.

This is a great option for all that   care about the planet and that try to leave as least of negative impact as possible. 

Community based tourism

Community tourism is focused on spending time with the locals. This is achieved by staying in guesthouses in rural locations , often with families that are underprivileged or/and marginalised.

This enables  cultural exchange for both sides. Community based tourism is a great concept for the hosts, as it not only allows them to broaden their horizons by making connections with people from all over the world, but also creates jobs and motivates the society to learn new skills and languages.

In this scenario, money made from tourists stays in the community and allows for development and other projects that will benefit the whole community.

Environmental volunteer tourism 

Being an environmental volunteer means giving back to the earth. It could include gardening, planting plants or trees, conservation, bio construction, clean ups and recycling and more.

An environmental volunteer leaves a positive impact and expands their environmental consciousness. Perfect concept for all nature lovers.  

Volunteering with Worldpackers is a great start, as even if you do not have much gardening experience you can still sign up to projects, and you will learn on the job!

Read this article to find out more about the Worldpackers experience. 

Outdoor sports tourism  

Outdoor adventure tourism takes place in non-urbanised areas such as mountains, lakes, rivers, deserts, or other remote, distant places.

The outdoors offers many different activities such as: bikepacking holidays in the countryside , multiday hikes in the mountains, rock climbing, summiting volcanoes , kayaking, rafting and many, many more!

This is type of rural tourism is a great way to be more active, step out of your comfort zone and try new things! 

Check out this article on how to prepare for your next adventure!

Where to go for rural tourism?

To really get to know the local life , consider staying for longer and volunteering with Worldpackers .

This is an incredible opportunity to really get to know the place, live like a local, be a part of your host family, learn more about the local culture and history, and learn new skills!

The United Kingdom

With 15 National Parks and 38 AONBs , the United Kingdom is the perfect destination for rural tourism.

There are opportunities to practise adventure sports in every park. UK’s National Cycle Network spreads all over the country and allows access to many rural areas that are rich in culture, history, and wonderful, unique landscapes. The British countryside is full of small villages with warm and welcoming communities. 

There are over hundred volunteering opportunities all over the United Kingdom! That includes England , Wales , Scotland and Northern Ireland !

• If spending a month living in rural Scottish village in exchange of some gardening work, sounds like a dream to you consider applying today! 
• If you are an animal lover and would like to explore the local life in Wales you can help at this small and vegan animal sanctuary.
• For those that are inspired to learn more about permaculture and natural farming, and would like to take care of small animals, you can apply for this experience in Northern Ireland. This project will expand your environmental consciousness and allow you to immerse in the local culture and the small, warm communities of rural Northern Ireland.
• There are also opportunities available for those that prefer to be social and enjoy working with people. This hotel in the New Forest National Park, England is looking for volunteers that will take care of their guests. This opportunity is excellent for travellers that enjoy connecting with the locals, or would like to improve their English.

With 64.61% of the country considered rural, India is another great destination for rural tourism.

Travelling through rural India  is an authentic and raw travel. This is where a traveller can really get to see the local life. Learn more about life in India and the struggles of Indians living in rural areas, that are often, unfortunately affected by poverty. Sacrifice some of your time to help local communities or the planet, by volunteering with Worldpackers in India .

• Stay in the heart of the tea plantations and hills, and spend your time at a charity home for underprivileged people of all ages from India. Volunteer’s task include gardening, watering, teaching, housekeeping or nursing.
• Explore the rural Indian Himalayas whilst volunteering with a local NGO. When volunteering at Rural Organisation for Social Elevation you will get the chance to   improve the health and education of underprivileged population of the area.
• If you want to learn more about sustainable living whilst living on farm full of   tea plantations, coffee beans, pepper, cardamom, and fruits, consider this opportunity in rural India. This is a perfect location for those that like peace and tranquillity and spending time in the nature.

The USA is home to some of the most popular and most beautiful National Parks in the world. With 63 of them in total, and a lot of rural states, the USA is a country full of opportunities to practise rural tourism and volunteer at the same time. 

• You can spend your time doing organic farming in the Matanuska Valley of Alaska. This is an incredibly beautiful part of this rural state, and this project will allow you to connect with nature and expand your environmental consciousness.
• If you prefer to be warm, you can help with gardening in the Arizona desert. This activity helps to mitigate the impacts of the changing climate.
• Live the ‘Wild West’ experience and help with daily activities at a ranch in Texas. Activities include taking care of animals, growing food all whilst living with a local family.
• If your dream is explore the gorgeous Hawaiian state, you should consider becoming a farming helper on a sustainable and organic farm in Hawaii. A fantastic opportunity to learn more about sustainability, connect with nature and explore Hawaii on a budget .
• Learn more about regenerative farming, tree corps and gardening when volunteering in a small village in Ohio. Great way to give back to nature, and connect with the local communities.

Read about the experience of traveling in the USA as a work exchanger in this article.

Here I mentioned some opportunities in the UK, India and USA, but there are tons of projects of rural tourism to volunteer around the world .

Rural tourism, when well-managed, can really be successful and beneficial for local communities and the traveller.  However, there can be some negative impacts of rural tourism that are worth mentioning.

Some areas are not prepared or educated enough to host tourists. This can cause damage to the environment or directly to the communities. Most troubling negative effect of rural tourism is that it can increase housing prices and other living costs for the local communities. If badly managed, it can cause overcrowding and damage to the natural area. 

Hopefully this article has inspired you to widen your horizons and go beyond the tourist trail. Be a conscientious traveller and give back to the planet and hosts on your next trip by volunteering with Worldpackers. 

Subscribe to the Worldpackers Community for free and start saving your favorite volunteer positions until you are ready to get verified. 

Join the community!

Create a free Worldpackers account to discover volunteer experiences perfect for you and get access to exclusive travel discounts!

Joanna Nowak

Joanna Roams Free - Ethical and Responsible Travel

Hey! My name is Joanna, and I have been travelling full time for over 3 years now. During my travels I like to explore the social, political and economic affairs of the countries I visit. I love to learn more about locals and their lives in their homes. I love to dive deep and get off the beaten path to see what the country is really like when the tourists are not looking. I value and always prioritise responsible and raw travel that leaves positive impact on the society and myself.

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Bachelor's degrees, dual bachelor's degrees, master's degrees, dual master’s degree, how can tourism contribute to rural development.

This question has been answered by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in the document UNWTO Recommendations on Tourism and Rural Development. A Guide to Making Tourism an Effective Tool for Rural Development.

This question has been answered by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in the document UNWTO Recommendations on Tourism and Rural Development . A Guide to Making Tourism an Effective Tool for Rural Development.

As stated in the guide:

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the role of tourism in rural development is more relevant than ever. Tourism in rural areas offers important opportunities for recovery as tourists look for less populated destinations and open-air experiences and activities. At the same time, communities in rural areas are, in general, much less prepared to deal with the direct and indirect impacts of crisis.

Urbanization is a prevalent trend throughout the world. According to the United Nations, by 2050 68% of the world population will live in urban areas and cities will produce 85% of global economic output, leaving behind a staggeringly high human and environmental impact and imposing a high cost on surrounding rural areas. This trend contrasts with the fact that 80% of all people living in extreme poverty live in rural communities.

Rural youth are one of the most vulnerable groups due to the lack of gainful employment and entrepreneurial opportunities in agriculture and related rural economic activities. At the same time, they are also the most crucial when addressing rural development. Nearly 1 billion of the world’s 1.2 billion youth aged 15-24 reside in developing countries and 88% of youth in developing countries live in rural areas; 75 million of them are unemployed.

Tourism has proven to be a tool for economic diversification and a major employment engine with a multiplier effect on other sectors that contribute to rural development . Tourism in rural areas can particularly benefit traditionally disadvantaged groups such as women – who make up 54% of the workforce in the tourism sector compared to 39% for the whole economy – youth and Indigenous people.

The recommendations proposed by the UNWTO are grouped into the following areas:

• Placing tourism as a strategic pillar in policies for rural development
• Tourism for the benefit and wellbeing of rural communities: building a fair, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable sector
• New opportunities for tourism and rural development: innovation, technology, and digitalization
• Product development and value chain integration for a sustainable and enhanced travel experience
• Fostering sustainable policies and practices in rural destinations  

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Home > Books > Peripheral Territories, Tourism, and Regional Development

Rural Development and Rural Tourism: The Impact of Infrastructure Investments

Submitted: 04 December 2020 Reviewed: 22 December 2020 Published: 29 April 2021

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.95610

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Peripheral Territories, Tourism, and Regional Development

Edited by Rui Alexandre Castanho, Gualter Couto and Rossana Santos

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Rural and peripheral development is still a matter of concern in several western countries. Depopulation, low density of business activities, younger people emigration and better-qualified individuals feeling that such regions have been abandoned by the government, and incapable of moving on, are among the key indicators to “understand” rural and peripheral areas. Rural tourism has long been understood as an effective catalyst of change in depressed and deprived (of entrepreneurial capacity) areas and to explore a unique set of amenities. Because of funds directed to help private investment projects in rural tourism facilities, most peripheral areas are now relatively well endowed with key infrastructures. Nevertheless, the tourism lead approach produced mixed results due to low levels of demand in some areas and lack of a cooperative behavior among providers to maximize the opportunities offered by the wide range of attractions. In this paper, we investigate to what extent investments in infrastructure helped the rural tourism sector to attract more visitors in Madeira. Based on the panel-data approach, this paper provides insights to analyze the development path of rural tourism in Madeira and to explores how local policy makers may be the “missing link” needed to improve the sector prospects based on tangible and intangible amenities.

• rural tourism
• investment in infrastructure
• nature based tourism
• regional development

Author Information

António almeida.

• Universidade da Madeira, Portugal

Luiz Pinto Machado *

• Universidade da Madeira and CEFAGE-Center for Advanced Studies in Management and Economics

*Address all correspondence to: [email protected]

1. Introduction

The economic development of rural areas is still a pressing issue in most western countries, especially in peripheral areas coping with high levels of unemployment, declining farm income, depopulation and emigration of the younger and better-qualified individuals [ 1 , 2 ]. In general, such regions suffer from limited options with regards to economic development outside agriculture [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ], which led policy makers to re-think strategically the social and economic fabric of rural areas [ 7 ]. Policy measures aiming at diversifying rural economies through the development of new sectors/products [ 2 , 8 ] have also been conceptualized by regional governments on islands, in an attempt to reverse the trend of decline in terms of quality of life that has been felt across rural areas. Such approach is strongly encouraged by the European Union, to “fill the gap” between the over-developed coastal areas and the rural hinterland [ 9 ].

To improve the competitiveness of the primary sector and protecting the environment and countryside, several measures were introduced as the third axis of the EU rural development program that aimed to enhance the quality of life in rural areas and to encourage the diversification of economic activity [ 10 ], in order to improve the rural area’s capacity to provide goods and services demanded by the wider society, and to invest in the livelihoods of those residents in rural areas. According to the European Evaluation Network for Rural Development (ENRD), axis 3 consists of three modules aimed at (i) sustainable eco-nomic development, which includes the diversification of farm holdings and rural tourism promotion; (ii) life quality and viability of the rural community; and (iii) the acquisition of specific skills [ 11 , 12 , 13 ].

Past research suggests that agro-tourism and rural tourism RT have played an important role in the development and revitalization of the economic base of deprived and marginal areas partially based on “positive linkages” between agriculture and tourism [ 10 , 14 , 15 , 16 ].

RT enables a complete tourism experience with representation of accommodation and attractions. On the other hand, creates spatial attachment on visitors and encourages them to some loyalty. RT helps to product enlargement and innovation and can draw in new capital form for a region and countries [ 17 ].

Today, RT is supported in all EU countries due to its socio-cultural, economic, spatial and environmental functions and positive effect on developing vernacular building sector in rural area [ 18 ].

There is also evidence to suggest socio-cultural gains in terms of villagers “adding value to families’ capabilities and skills, enriching their lives in non-pecuniary ways” [ 1 , 10 , 19 , 20 , 21 ], but most studies tend to be the result of analyses applied to the context of mainland areas in Western Europe. Zasada and Piorr [ 10 ] analized the German Bradenburg area and concluded that generally, diversification into non-farming activities represents, to some extent, a rarity in the rural periphery of Brandenburg, where large agri-businesses and co-operatives prevail, and where the demand for rural goods and services is limited. They concluded, in contrast, that measures where public authorities play a more important role, such as in tourism development and village renewal, show a stronger responsiveness to framework conditions, especially to the rural community characteristics. This indicates the effect of substantial political targeting. As the village renewal measure is absent in urban and economically advantageous communities, it truly represents a rural domain for addressing disparities among regions with structural weaknesses and are prone to demographic change.

In a Different vision Lekakis and Dragouni [ 22 ] explore the texture and values of rural heritage, by drawing on empirical evidence from Naxos island in Greece and critically examines the character and significance of this composite past that is made up from an assemblage of tangible and intangible elements interwoven with the island’s agricultural life as recently as the mid-20th century, the man-made and natural components of the islands’ rural landscape form together a heritage ‘in the making’, a process of bottom-up heritage designation by the surrounding communities, an act of ‘mnemeiosis’ outside the official narrative and cultural management practice. As Madeira Island offers an interesting and unique Natural heritage (part is UNESCO heritage), reinforced by the original rural landscape characterized by small plots of cultivated land, well demarcated and arranged in terraces that unfold to sea level, can add some value to the countryside attractiveness.

López-i-Gelats et al. [ 23 ] assets that farm diversification have become prevalent throughout the European countryside”, and Fleischer and Pizam [ 21 ] considers RT as “the dominant factor in the rural economy of [some areas in] Western Countries”. According to Briednham and Wichens [ 24 ] “RT is increasingly viewed as a panacea, increasing the economic viability of marginalized areas, stimulating social regeneration and improving the living conditions of rural communities” [ 24 ]. However, with few exceptions, there has been very little research about tourism development in the rural hinterland on islands.

There is an obvious bias in writing on RT towards the Western European, which can be easily explained by the long established tradition of farm tourism in the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Austria [ 23 ]. Consequently, the possibility of transferring the theoretical models of RT development is problematic, “at least not without substantial modifications”. In fact, there are only a few empirical studies testing the tourism led growth hypothesis for rural areas on islands. Nonetheless, the normative discourse concerning rural areas on islands is impregnated.

Further research is also needed to analyze the impact of the absence of a central government policy on direct funding of RT facilities. By definition, RT is “specialist and small scale” [ 14 ] but also over-dependent on government subsidies. However, in times of declining public budgets, issues of financial sustainability are of the utmost importance and further investments must be linked to profitability rations and personal savings.

The main contributions of this paper, first is to analyze how the visitors´ attitudes towards farming is of the utmost importance to understand the alleged “shared destiny” of farming and RT in rural areas. Secondly, this paper elicits consumers´ preferences towards key attributes of the RT product based on a choice experiment, which has rarely been done before. We are especially interested in providing a measure of visitors´ preferences for farming activities, in order to provide useful insights to help to define priorities in terms of investment. Most papers assume a close linkage between agricultural activities and RT and explore the causal relationship running from farming activities to tourism development. In this paper, we explore RT development from an alternative point of view, as we investigate if rural tourism development can be accelerated by investments in farming facilities, or other types of infrastructure and complementary activities.

Both negative perceptions about the current economic status, due to Covid19, and positive expectations for the near future of rural areas in the service economy, knowing that tourists will look for more quiet, less frequented locations, preferably for non-shared use lead to an over-optimism about the impact of RT, with over-optimistic assumptions about the alleged potential of tourism to foster economic development.

This study offers an opportunity to document and understand the dynamics of RT development in the European periphery, a poorly studied geographical setting. Though some studies highlight the growing importance of RT on islands, the specificities of RT development on non-tourism spaces have not yet been rigorously examined in the literature.

2. Tourism, agriculture, and the regeneration of rural areas

It is now well documented that farming is not a key component of the RT experience, which means that the provision of a farming facilities may not be a necessary condition to offer a high-quality tourism experience. However, the sector needs to further meet visitors´ expectations and tackle the low occupancy rate problem. While it is doubtful that a “single silver bullet” (RT development) may spur economic dynamism in rural areas, small islands´ development options are limited, and clearly dependent upon agriculture and tourism. Consequently, there is an urgent need for experimentation in terms of local development approaches, business concepts and “alternative” attraction factors, that may or may not include offerings in terms farming facilities.

With regards to Madeira Island, RT emerged only in the 90s, with positive links between farming and RT yet to be developed. Tourism sector in Madeira reveals other interesting characteristics. Being one of the oldest tourist destinations in Europe, with about 30,000 Hotel beds distributed mainly on the south coast of the Island, it has surrendered to the dominance of the major tour operators, concentrating its tourist activity in its capital Funchal, and peripheral cities, forgetting for many years the countryside and the interior of the island.

In contrast to the mass tourism that seeks the great centralities, RT attracts minorities, especially individual tourists or small groups that seek tranquility and natural environment, staying in small hotel units or private houses (local accommodation, Airbnb etc..) and therefore a business uninteresting for large traditional tour operators.

Traditional RT, according to the terminology of Pina and Delfa [ 7 ] and Molera and Albaladejo [ 20 ], linked to homecoming connotations and city dwellers looking for short breaks [ 25 ], was never a key motivation attracting tourists to the region. Furthermore, rural tourism is not linked to farm tourism, as elsewhere in Europe [ 4 , 26 ]. In most cases in Europe a rural house facility is whether a symbol of prestige and a subsidy-backed strategy to re-built the family heritage and property or just a normal business venture. Rural houses Owners cannot be considered as the “guardians of the countryside” [ 4 ], and while farmers in North-Europe may resist to the diversification due to an “anticipated loss of identity or social/cultural rewards” [ 4 , 24 ], problems of “identity” on islands may arise because generally, managers have no experience in new information technologies and business models blending agriculture values with tourism services.

Regarding technology, in rural areas with limited infrastructure and technical knowledge, how could technology be made people more friendly to propagate its use needs to be discussed in depth [ 27 ], for example, how to have direct and easy connections with the new tourism distribution channels and allowing guests to book directly from their mobile apps to the owners, based upon accommodation offer, or through the new apps launched by strong web sites like Airbnb, VRBO, booking etc…,

As most islands economies only highlights in the tourism industry, attempts to diversify from the 3-S product are rather common nowadays [ 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 ]. However, an increase in the numbers of visitors and the development of new market niches does not depend only on bold and generic statements about innovative policies but above all on the effective enhancement of concrete policy measures. Quite often the “the lack of political mechanism to translate policy into practice” [ 2 ], and the “unusual context of small islands politics [ 32 ] along with the optimist and voluntaristic discourse about the alleged benefits of tourism are leading islands in the opposite direction, i.e., a “fatalistic path” in terms of over construction of infrastructures in coastal areas and overconsumption of scarce natural resources in rural areas compounded by returns below expectations in the new brand market niches [ 29 ].

In fact, several constraints have been identified in the literature. The first one regards the widespread adoption of a one size fits all approach, based on the Western European experience. RT in the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Austria evolved in association with farming-tourism based on the coexistence of farming activities and accommodation facilities. With regards to non-Western European geographical settings, recent studies provide mixed evidence regarding the level of symbiosis between tourism and agriculture and the extent to which RT may promote economic progress in depressed peripheral areas is still the subject of controversy [ 8 ]. Nonetheless, high levels of public funds have been poured in rural areas to support “the redevelopment of redundant farms buildings into accommodation facilities” [ 4 ] and to help to convert old family houses into accommodation facilities.

One of the important things to receive a vibrant and sustainable tourism in rural area is the conservation of rural cultural landscape and vernacular architecture to protect the natural and cultural values [ 33 ]. Consideration to the development as an issue on the agenda only could be expanded by the sustainability in natural and cultural benefits for their local communities. Developing this special tourism would be performed by responding to new markets, new lifestyles, and new product development opportunities [ 17 ].

Vernacular architectural structures in terms of contribution to the RT have been reviewed by [ 18 ], were this element seem to be capable to making an important contribution to RT, something that can be followed by the Madeira Island Authorities, as the typical architecture in Madeira is based in nice basalt stone houses with little touches of good taste in the doors and windows, with very comfortable interiors, some with nice fire places and terraces.

The voluntaristic approach adopted by most governments may not be completely illogical. Even if the tourism literature “is replete with seemingly contradictory observations” [ 34 ], tourism is an anchor for the islands’ economy and, from a theoretical point of view, the development of a close relationship between agriculture and tourism seems rational, due to the size of the two sectors.

Since the adhesion of Portugal (and Madeira Island) to the EU in 1986, agriculture began to lose its importance as a source of employment and added value in the local economy. Agriculture today represents less than 2% of regional value added, but still about 10% of employment. The rural restructuring process has continued since then, and the Madeiran agriculture presents clear problems of competitiveness, linked the predominance of small-scale units and the difficult orography, being high protected from outside market forces and subsidized via EU programs.

Similarly, as Rodríguez and Pose [ 35 ] noted in Galicia, Madeiran agriculture is dominated by ‘mini farm’ model, that is, small patches of land divided from generation to generation. The most significant agriculture contribution undoubtedly concerns the ecological and social balance of the region. The extremely fragile nature of the ecosystem, along with an increased risk of the occurrence of natural disasters justifies the protection of agricultural areas.

In fact, the economic importance of agriculture lies within its subsistence value, crucial especially in times of Covid 19 crisis but also in the generation of aesthetical pleasant landscapes.

Another constraint faced by policy makers and entrepreneurs regards the specificity and originality of sector. Problems of lack of professionalism and skills gaps in critical areas of competence were also reported by Sharpley [ 14 ]. Farm diversification demands “new skills and competencies” and therefore a new “mentality and identity” Brandth and Haugen [ 24 ]. Another matter of concern regards the incompatibility of agricultural values with the provision of accommodation services. Most farmers exhibit difficulties in combining agricultural practices with guest-oriented values, which leads to the unwillingness or inability to apply a tourism led agenda. Burton also reports “loss of identity” associated with non-agriculture activities, and Sharpley [ 14 ], based on the analysis of RT development in Cyprus, highlights the difficulties to “combine the commodification of agricultural traditions through tourism with the industry of tourism”, where there is no established tradition.

In general, the research available demonstrates that RT is a risky business [ 36 ], prone to “relatively poor financial success” [ 21 ] which is well exemplified by the over-reliance over financial assistance and subsidies [ 14 , 25 , 26 , 37 ].

In Cyprus, Spain and Israel, financial assistance to help owners to restore and convert family houses and “unutilized farm buildings” into RT facilities was critical to ‘persuade’ managers to ‘invest’ in RT [ 14 , 21 , 38 ] found that “the financial returns in RT investments most often do not measure up to either the expectations of the politicians or that of farmers”, and Barke [ 25 ] reports a high rate of failure at the early phases of the development of RT in Spain.

As “public assistance” is increasingly problematic, rural houses owners are required to finance further investments based on their own resources. Under such circumstances, decisions on investments tend to be based solely on expected returns and under-sized firms with limited financial capacity may feel constrained in making risky investments. In the opposite side, Zasada and Piorr [ 10 ] analyzed the German Brandenburg area and concluded that measures where public authorities play a more important role, such as in tourism development and village renewal, show a stronger responsiveness to framework conditions, especially to the rural community characteristics.

In the Small Economy - SME context, financial constraints favor investments with an immediate/visible financial return, and not distant from their “established technological” base. In fact, most firms operating in this sector, are “generally small, independent and family-run establishments”, traditionally operated and “lacking the resources to promote themselves adequately and they have difficulties in adapting to current market mechanisms, which are becoming extremely competitive” [ 21 , 39 ].

With regards to farming, most papers stress the increasing difficulties to apply a RT agenda informed by agricultural values. Some recent academic research suggests an ever-decreasing importance of agriculture to RT and other studies just see farming activity as a decorative and supporting role.

However, this does not mean the complete absence of a wide range of indirect links between agriculture and the quality of the tourism experience. Walford [ 40 ] suggests that agriculture indirectly relates to tourism via their contribution to esthetically attractive surroundings, and to the built-up of a relaxing atmosphere in the countryside and Frochot [ 41 ] asserts that “if farm and rural life are not consumed directly by all visitors, it probably remains a central component to the visual and social images of the countryside, particularly for urban dwellers”. Farming produces valuable externalities of the “neighborhood effect”, which amounts to an indirect effect of farming upon tourism. According to Fleisher and Tchetchik [ 42 ], artificial attractions and other firms operating in complementary sectors in rural areas “might be part of the experience and thus can benefit the entrepreneur”.

On the contrary, visitors eager to learn and experience rural lifestyles would enjoy the liveliness of a typical village farm.

Osti and Cicero [ 43 ] revealed that tourists particularly enjoy the presence of a landscape comprising orchards, flowery/grassy meadows and vineyards.

Undoubtedly, RT can help make low-intensity agriculture more sustainable, while it can serve to attract new investors from the city or even foreigners interested in living in a calmer, more natural and safer environment. The question is to know, in addition to the rural landscape, the natural heritage and the typical local architecture (which must be protected with support that allows it to be enhanced), that other investments must be made in addition to farming. Improving the “levadas” system (channel irrigation network around the island with more than 2500 km) and mountain trails, making them safer and more accessible, can attract more tourists who love tracking’s and mountain biking, in addition to bird watching, study of endemic flowers and plants among, in addition to the creation of viewpoints, sports and cultural spaces and support for the trade of typical food and drinks. Further research is also required to determine the ideal number of facilities that are required to guarantee a high quality experience. The industry´ actors would also be appreciative of further guidance on identify priority areas for investment.

3. Recent evolution of the rural tourism sector

The evolution of the number of establishments was multiplied by 15 between 1995 and 2019, which points to an annual growth rate of 12%. Based on the official statistics recorded since 1995, the RT sector has experienced considerable growth over the last 24 years, and the share of this market niche in the total number of visitors grown from 0,1% to 2,8%.

The traditional market for the region has been Western Europe, and in particularly, Portugal (mainland), Germany, United Kingdom and France and Scandinavia.

In the RT context, it’s not only the number of visitors that matters, but also how these visitors are distributed over the year ( Table 1 ). The period comprising June to September account for 39,1% of the total number of tourists concerning the RT sector and the same period corresponds to 42,7% of the total number of guests.

Four main markets in rural and seasonality tourism Madeira (2019).

Source: Authors.

While the sector has succeeded in recording an impressive growth rate, occupancy levels are still quite low.

According to 2019 data, the RT sector had an occupancy rate of 39,8% compared to 58,0% for the sector a whole, which correspond to 68,56% of the former. The highest occupancy rate is achieved in August when half of the rooms were occupied. The average occupancy levels recorded in this market niche lead to a number of concerns notably in terms of the financial viability of the sector. While in several cases the sector can charge a higher price, data available suggests that the ADR (Average Daily Rate) for this market niches is 69,28€ compared with an average of 68,38€ for the tourism sector. Therefore, the prices charged by the sector are slightly below average, which appears in contradiction with the fact that the sector is aimed at the middle/high income market segment. While one may suggest that higher prices would lead to below average occupancy rate, this is not the case in Madeira.

The data available indicates that the RT sector has been able to create job opportunities in the rural hinterland. However, while the number of guests was multiplied by 67,5 between 1995 and 2019, the same figure for the number of jobs directly employed by the sector was multiplied only by a factor of 51,97. The data suggests that it takes an extra 1000 guests to get 5,3 extra jobs. Nevertheless, the same figure for the industry as a whole is 2,5, which suggests that the sector is more labour-intensive.

Data on length of stay indicates that on average each visitor stays for 3,72 nights ( Figure 1 ). Visitors from abroad are highly likely to stay for a weeklong period, unlike Portuguese national that can stay for a couple days. Nevertheless, it is still difficult to explain such a low figure, unless we consider the visitors stays just for short period before moving out to another establishment elsewhere on the island.

Length of stay in tourism and rural tourism in Madeira Island. Source: Authors.

Data on daily expenditure for the tourism sector suggests that visitors spend marginally on items such as cultural, sportive and entertainment relative activities. As the RT sector in intrinsically linked to a wide range of cultural, learning and outdoor it matters to check if rural visitors are more inclined to participate in such activities. Owners and operators may not know how to accurately evaluate benefits and costs of initiatives and measures aimed at increasing the overall quality of the product. In all evidence, they cannot charge higher prices to compensate for higher operational costs. The sector is under increasing pressure from the local lodgement sector. Data referring to 2019 shows that traditional hotel establishments (including hotels, apart-hotels, self-catering apartments, holiday villages and inns and Quintas da Madeira) account for 83,62%, the RT sector 3,31% and the local lodgement sector for 13,07% of the total number of beds.

4. Methodology

The data used in this study was obtained through a self-administered questionnaire survey carried out from August to November of 2018 in Madeira Island. To contact a large number of respondents, questionnaires were left with rural houses owners affiliated to the Madeira Rural Association (MRA).

More than 800 questionnaires were distributed across all the MRA members in the island and were collected and validated 360 questionnaires which constitutes an overall response rate of 45%.

Stata software and Discrete choice experiment model (DCE) was used to analyze the data, as this model is a technique for eliciting consumers´ preferences, provide valuable insights about the way individuals value the tourism product and the different attributes, that have been extensively applied to model and predict consumers´ behavior in different economic fields such as transport, economics, marketing, environmental and health economics. Louviere et al. [ 44 ] and Hensher et al. [ 45 ] provide a detailed analysis of the discrete choice methodology, which is based on the random utility theory and on the Lancaster’s economic theory of value [ 44 , 46 ].

Lindberg et al., [ 47 ] employed a choice experiments to assess residents’ attitudes towards the costs and benefits of increased tourism on a Danish community. Hearne and Santos [ 48 ] assessed tourists’ preferences towards measures designed to manage in a sustainable manner a protected area in Guatemala.

The DCE approach is based on a choice-based questionnaire that presents a number of choice sets comprising two or more alternative packages asking respondents to make trade-offs between newly developed attributes/levels and their respective acquisition cost. According to McLeod et al. [ 49 ] the key assumption informing the DC approach is “that the value of an option depends on the value of its attributes”. The major limitation of the DCE approach lies in the necessity of restrict the number of attributes selected for analysis, which implies previous knowledge/identification of the most important attributes. The literature suggests the number of attributes analyzed in a DCE ranges from 2 to >10, “with a mean of 5” [ 49 ]. In terms of sample size, Orme [ 50 ] recommended sample sizes with a minimum of 200 respondents- Marshall et al. [ 51 ] reported an average of 259 in health care studies with 40% of the sample sizes in the range of 100 to 300 respondents [ 52 , 53 ]. This case study focuses on a small number of key attributes and levels identified in the literature as it was deemed inappropriate to ask respondents to analyze a several attributes in each choice profile. Quite often “researchers must rely on a limited array of profiles in the final DCE” [ 54 ]. For example, with 5 attributes, 4 of them with 2 levels and a fifth one with 3 levels, if all possible combinations of attributes and levels were to be compared in a two-alternative design, then there would be 48 (2 4 *3) different profiles and 1128 different combinations of two-alternative choice questions [ 54 ]. In this study we used a design with 8 choice sets with 2 choices profiles per set [ 55 , 56 ].

The survey instrument in this study was designed to help respondents to answer the questions promptly and correctly, “in order to minimize the time spent by a respondent to complete it”. As each choice comprises an alternative characterized by changes in one or more attributes and the status quo “current situation”, with all attributes defined by its basic levels, the model is binary [ 47 ].

Usually, respondents are also invited to answer several questions about their socio-demographic background and to express their opinions. The questionnaire includes a few lines of text with information regarding the experiment and the different attributes and levels considered to better illustrate the process. A choice experiment is prone to be regarded as too complex and a very attention demanding task, which may be the case with respondents with low level of basic skills in terms of academic qualifications. “Choice models have a reputation for being difficult to interpret.” [ 57 ]. However data available on the sociodemographic profile of visitors traveling to Madeira suggests that in light of the fact that we included only 5 attributes to be compared, we could be confident about respondents’ ability to effectively appraise the alternative packages under analysis ( Table 2 ).

Detailed package Share of different types of expenditure per stay.

The identification of possible market development demands, in an initial phase, a thoroughly analysis of local concerns and needs, to identify attributes for analysis in a second stage, based on the choice experiment. Local operators voiced their concerns over increased competition from the local lodgment sector. These operators suggested several improvements such as extra number of amenities to diversify the current offer with extended holidays in view. A certain number of ideas and worries were identified such as the high tax burden and competition from other sectors. Some operators stressed the need for “family activities” being available to the sector as a whole. Based on the opinions voiced by operators, a preliminary draft of survey instrument was developed based on the attributes deemed more import and levels chosen for empirical analysis and pretested among tourists. The full factorial experimental design included in total 24X3 combinations. The full factorial design was reduced based on fractional experiment design computed via SPSS. In the end, eight different alternatives were compared with the current situation. As usual in the literature, the combination of attributes in each scenario, and the combination of “choice” scenarios forming each choice sets followed a number of criteria such as orthogonality and “level balance between attributes”.

Choice experiments as a stated preference technique are employed to examine visitors’ preferences vis a vis with several hypothetical market developments based either on the introduction of a range of new attributes or on upgrades of the current offer. Choice experiments also allows the estimation of visitor’s willingness to pay for such developments. As mentioned above, the concept of choice experiment is based upon two key theoretical foundations, the Lancasterian consumer theory and random utility theory. Lancasterian theory postulates that utility derives from the attributes embedded in a particular product or service. Random utility theory theorizes that individual utility (U) comprises two components: a systematic or deterministic component (V) that can be measured and an unobserved or stochastic component (ε). The level of utility enjoyed by an individual in scenario A can then be expressed as follows:

Moreover, the systematic component can be expressed as a linear function of explanatory variables. Therefore, the deterministic component can be defined as follows:

The econometric analysis of the deterministic component is based on maximum likelihood estimation methods and on the assumption of independently and identically distributed (i.i.d.) Type 1 extreme value error terms, with a scale factor μ and a variance σ2, where μ > 0 and σ2 = π2/6 μ2. Based on the i.i.d. type I hypothesis it is possible to use the multinomial logit model.

The outline of a DCE design requires attention to the identification of the most important attributes and the assessment of the possible levels. An experimental design was constructed by using the orthogonal option available in SPSS. We considered only 5 attributes to avoid the risk of over complexity and to ensure adequate “levels of length, layout, specific wording and comprehensibility” [ 49 , 58 ].

The questionnaire included questions about respondents’ socio-demographic background in terms of age, gender, income, professional background and marital status in order to test the influence of individual heterogeneity on stated preferences. They were asked to rate their degree of interest in extra services such as a meal service and to rate their impressions about the sector range of tourism facilities and experiences. Similarly, respondents were invited to rate, on a 1–5 Likert scale, the extent to which they think the sector offered price advantages. We defined the following attributes: farming and related activities; outdoor activities; cultural and learning activities; loyalty program. In relation to each of the eight different choices presented in the survey, respondents were invited to choose between two alternatives, one being the package of with upgrades in one or several attributes, but at a higher daily price, and the other being the current situation, in terms of the facilities provided at the current daily prices. As visitors preferences are expected to vary between individuals, owing to their own preferences and inclinations, as well as in different levels of income and age, we also tested the impact of a number of interactions between the main attributes and certain segments.

The questionnaire provided a certain amount of background information to illustrate the nature of the experiment. The econometric analysis was performed on STATA version 16. We first conducted the analysis based on the traditional McFadden’s choice model, multinomial logit model, in order to determine the signal and magnitude of the coefficients β1, β2, β3, β4 and β5 in order to determine the relative importance of each of the attributes, based on the following equation:

However, to account for the presence of heterogeneity across respondents we also estimated a mixed-logit model that included random effects as well as fixed effects “because the random effects can often account for potential variation in relative preferences across participants [ 59 ]”.

Regarding demographic characteristics of the respondents, approximately %51, of the respondents were male, Portuguese nationals (6%), German nationals and had at undergraduate level of education (91.4%). Approximately 46% of the sample is retired. Data concerning respondent’s activities carried out while on the region suggest that less than 50% undertakes recreation activities such trekking/walking along the levadas (43%), visits to museums (28,4%), go to the beach (17,2%), visits to monuments (29,6%) and tours around the island (28,44%) and visits to touristic routes (31,3%) and boat trips (2.3%). Only tasting sessions organized around the local gastronomic attract a high number of visitors (64,%).

Only 300 completed questionnaires were eligible for the econometric analysis. The sample cannot be considered as representative of entire the RT segment as we included only rural establishments willing to participate in this research. Therefore, the results must be interpreted as merely indicative but deemed helpful to support operators access to accurate “data” on visitors’ preferences.

In line with Louviere et al. [ 44 ], Hearne and Salinas [ 58 ] we estimated the McFadden’s choice model, which is a specific case of the more general conditional logistic regression model. In this study, we focus our analysis of the relationship between the choice of an upgrade version of the current product booked by visitors and respondents’ preferences in a number of key attributes as well as a number of respondents socio-demographics characteristics.

Farming, outdoor, are defined as discrete changes in the level of the attribute, meaning that the coefficients can be interpreted as reflecting the impact of discrete changes from one level to the next, as with dummy variables [ 58 ]. The significance and sign of the coefficients reported in Table 3 , as well as the related results in Table 4 , follow expectations. Each of the attribute coefficients has the expected sign and is highly significant. The coefficient of price is negative, which indicates that the probability of choosing the alternative scenario decreases as the prices increases. The negative coefficient of the variable “price” also reflects visitors’ preferences for lower daily rates, which confirmed the fears expressed by a number of operators. The coefficients of the variables “farming”, “outdoor”, “promotions” and “information” are positive, indicating that respondents´ probability of choosing the alternative scenario increases with increased levels of attribute supply.

Results of the conditional logit (McFadden’s) choice model.

Willingness to pay measures (euros).

The results indicate that the sign for age and income is negative mean that both older and well-off visitors were less likely to be interested in alternative scenarios offering access to extra experiences as a result of “less need for experiences” or simply “resistance to change generally”. Moreover, the higher the level of interest in “rest and relax”, the higher the probability of supporting the status quo.

Moreover, the results imply that respondents had a significant preference for greater access to information, outdoor and farming and rural activities. As the base alternative refers to the business as usual scenario, the positive coefficient associated with the variable “family” indicates that if a respondent travels in family, such visitor is more likely to choose the alternative over the business as usual scenario. The impact of age is negative; therefore, younger people are more likely to support the alternative compared to older people, probably as a result of a more pro-activity stance. The relationship between income and probability of choosing the alternative scenario is not consistent, though respondents with the highest level of income are most likely to opt for the alternative scenario, which does not apply to the remaining levels of income. In fact, the relationship between income and the alternative is negative for levels 5 and 6 and not significant for the remaining levels. The expected probability of a respondent reporting the level 7 of income (the highest) is 0,365. The is, we expected 36,5% of the individuals with a level of income of 5000€ or more to choose the alternative. As income increases from 1 to 6, respondents are less likely to choose the alternative. The degree of interest in alternative scenarios decreases as the level of income goes up. It is worth to mention that increases in income from level 1 to 2, and so on, do not lead to significant different probabilities of choosing the alternative scenario. Therefore, increases in income from each level to, the immediately following one do not lead to significantly different probabilities of choosing the alternative scenario.

Only highly well-paid individuals are ready to consider upgrades of the current version of the product being supplied by the sector.The results also indicate that males are less likely to pick the alternative scenario than females (relative-risk ratio 0,769). Older visitors are the least interested in choosing an alternative scenario based on upgrades.

Table 4 indicates that the effect of reporting a age level of 2 instead of 1 is 0,02 decrease in the expected probability of choosing the alternative scenario. In a similar vein, reporting an age level of 7 instead of 6 leads to a decrease in the expected probability of 0,0176. Both effects are significant at 1% level of significance.

Model 2 estimates the impact of interactions among the attribute variables and other variables. The interaction price*age was significant, which suggests that the negative impact of price is partially offset by age. On the opposite direction, the interest on promotions decreases with age.

The values of the Willingness to Pay (WTP) suggests the visitors display a relatively high WTP for “information” and “promotions”. The results displayed in Table 4 indicate that visitors are ready to pay an extra of 4,496€ for information, which corresponds to 6,61% of the average daily rate. Another interesting observation corresponds to the significance that respondents ascribe to access to outdoor activities in the vicinity of the establishment. This is translated into a willingness to pay 4,28€. The access to higher levels of outdoor activities would increase respondents’ level of utility by 4,28€. Regarding the provision of rural activities, visitors would be willing to pay 3,5€ per day for the introduction of such activities.

The results provided so far indicate that respondents value to a certain extent hypothetical development in the product being offered. Nevertheless, in this assessment, account must be taken, that from the point of view expressed by respondents, a large majority just prefer the status quo. In fact, the results indicate that 22,9% of the respondents will choose the alternative scenario, while 70,1% will choose the business as usual scenario.

The evidence from this study suggests that visitors prefer the status quo (in 70% of the cases), which suggests the operators must develop the sector in a way that does not compromise the integrity of the experience sought by respondents. In general, visitors understand the RT experience as an opportunity to relax and gaze. This is in contrast to how the sector and the literature are inclined to interpret visitors´ needs. Operators should direct their attention to developing a product based on increased information because visitors are prepared to pay to find out more about the region’s offer and to allow greater choice. Developments in this regard must take into account that any changes must place the visitor’s needs as the focal point of product development. For the time being visitors prefer the status quo even if they are ready to pay a slight increase in the daily rates to have access to textured layers of information. The discussion provided so far indicates that a consumer-oriented approach is paramount in this study as far development is concerned. Given the low WTP computed, the increased focus on upgrades should not be pursued at the expense of financial viability and comfort issues.

Tourists explicitly stated they prefer the status quo because increased levels of price would contribute to lower levels of utility and to decreased probability of choosing the alternative scenario. As German and French nationals, represent almost 50% of the sample, their preferences must be examined in detail, and changes planned accordingly.

The results provided so far could assist us in putting forward a few suggestions. Operators should be encouraged to develop cooperative strategies in order to promote the sector and to share resources and fixed costs by negotiating with other (tourism agencies, operators). Past studies highlight aspects such as lack of attractiveness [ 14 ]; in such circumstances, “simply providing accommodation facilities does not guarantee demand” [ 14 ], and thus operators are required to develop a “package must be sufficient to attract and keep tourists, offering suitable opportunities for spending [ 51 ]. Another key issue to bear in mind related the fact that the development of new services “may require a significant investment either beyond the means of the business owner or greater than justified by potential returns” [ 14 , 26 ]. Issues of lack of capacity to meet obligations in terms of high standards in “guest-service values” and quality of products and services matching tourists’ demands and expectations have been also reported in the literature [ 21 ]. In several cases, the owner does not master certain key skills in terms of marketing, innovation and design of product. More importantly, the process of renovating or converting old proprieties or developing from scratch new amenities/services may involve prohibitive costs. In addition, most businesses report revenues below average and low occupancy levels. The figures for 2019, occupancy vary between 25,1 per cent in January and 55,5 per cent in August.

In the relation to the daily prices rates, and for those tourists making a reservation at an establishment outside the capital city, we must add the cost of hiring a car, which imposes an increase of *% in relation to average daily rate. In a number of cases, rural establishments lack a sufficient number of facilities and amenities in their villages and surrounding areas, which forces visitors to rely on a rent a car to travel around, otherwise they had little choice but to carry out a very limited number of in-situ activities. Visitors interested in experiencing several activities such as are forced to travel to a number of specific locations.

As regard the price, account should be taken that around one third of the total cost’s correspondent to price of air tickets. As a result of the high prices of the air tickets most respondents are facing budgetary constraints. Data available on the sector (as of 2016) shows that visitors spend on average 2,07% on cultural, sportive and entertainment related activities. Accommodation, transport and restaurants account for 77,55%. Data referring to the year 2015 and to tourism satellite account at regional level points into same direction. The share of the item “cultural, recreational, entertainment and other services” stands at 2,2% of the total amount of visitors´ level expenditure.

6. Conclusions

RT is expected to act as a key agent of local development in rural areas, in line with the regional development research. Contrary to the experience elsewhere, with the beginnings of RT taking place decades ago in close link with farm-tourism and homecoming visits, RT in Madeira is exclusively focused in offering accommodation since its inception and exhibits signs of decline after ten years in the market.

Based on the results of the choice experiment, it is shown that most visitors are interested in farming activities but over-value “price cuts” and price discounts (loyalty reward programs). Furthermore it is also shown that visitors would appreciate further improvements in terms of outdoor activities and information available. However, visitors are willing to pay, on average, very small amounts for further improvements. Consequently, investments in farming facilities are likely to be too costly, and a likely threat to the economic viability of the sector. In line with the evidence provided based on other geographical setting, the recovery of the initial investment highly unlikely. Therefore, further developments at the micro level should be preceded by sound economic analysis (in terms of cost–benefit) and realistic assessment of the sector´ potential to attract a high number of visitors and their and willingness to pay for improvements. However, even if we accept that firm are exposed to significant business risk (further investments involves a high risk of business failure), the evidence of slowing or stagnant growth suggests that further action is needed to reduce the over-dependence upon basic pricing strategies leading to exaggerated price cuts. Managers cannot expect to charge higher prices, in an attempt to recover its investment, but they may succeed in adding new features (based on outdoor activities and cultural events) to the standard product. The preference for extra information, which includes tips about indoors and outdoors activities, cultural events, gastronomy and facts about rural lifestyles suggests that visitors value “diversity” in terms of rural activities and are anxious to know better all the options available. In that sense, a high density of natural and attractions in rural areas, may offer an opportunity to increase the quality of the tourism experience and to minimize the current focus on price cuts.

The traditional financing mechanism based either in retained profits to invest or public funding are unlikely to generate sufficient resources leading to an appropriate level of investment in infrastructure, facilities and e-business models. “Funds” are only a small part of the problem. Policy makers, industry actors, need to understand the big picture. Agriculture is an issue of common interest to the public and private sector, with long term impacts on rural areas.

The analysis of RT as a catalyst for growth cannot be detached from discussion of the ´new´ regional policy philosophy, which emphasizes endogenous development, the intensification of the economic-social modernization processes taking place in the global arena and the affirmation of the neo-liberal paradigm. Due to the growing resistance to further financial transfers (From the European Union), it may eventually be impossible to justify further public investment. However, some peripheral regions may not ever reach minimum levels of economic and social viability, and any progress in terms of minimization of market inefficiencies, (a key argument of the neo-liberal orthodoxy against the current state of affairs on islands), optimal policy formulation and efficient application of all funds available will demand further “public investment”. A sudden reduction in the amount of financial transfers in the middle of an on-going process of modernisation may stop the momentum in terms of economic and institutional modernisation. Further research is needed to understand tourism development in line with the new development paradigm faced by islands and further research is needed to estimate how much people are willing to pay for maintaining aesthetical pleasant landscapes.

In conclusion, RT is not performing the expected “developmental/regenerative” role [ 14 ], neither is a “counterpoint to mass, package-type tourism”. The evidence provided so far, rejects the over-optimistic approach regarding RT [ 25 ] as the sector impacts only marginally upon the economic prosperity of rural areas. If successful, the RT sector may offer a rescue to the overall tourism industry in Madeira facing increasing pressure from cheaper and more dynamic destinations.

Operators should be encouraged to develop cooperative strategies in order to promote the sector and to share resources and fixed costs by negotiating with other (tourism agencies, operators).

Tourism development offers the opportunity to test new business models. This study offers an excellent opportunity to examine the current efforts to develop alternative market segments in a mature and consolidated destination. And this study also pledges for an integrated approach to understand RT development.

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Rural tourism and the sustainable development goals. a study of the variables that most influence the behavior of the tourist.

• 1 Economics and Business Management Department, Faculty of Economics, Business and Tourism, Universidad de Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, Spain
• 2 Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, Universidad de León, León, Spain

Tourism is an activity that contributes directly and indirectly to the development of rural areas. But this development needs to be sustainable. To do this, appropriate policies that positively influence these areas from an economic, social and cultural point of view must be implemented. All this in accordance with the Sustainable Development Goals. This study will analyze the contribution of rural tourism to develop and implement policies to promote sustainable tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and products. The variables that most influence the tourist behavior, motivation, the destination image, and the satisfaction obtained by the tourist will be analyzed. After an exhaustive review of the literature, an empirical investigation was carried out with 1,658 valid surveys among rural tourists in Soria, a Spanish province with one of the highest levels of depopulation. A structural equation model was drawn up to discover the relationships between the variables. The results demonstrated the importance of the motivation in the formation of the destination image, as well as satisfaction with the trip. In the same way, we will verify which component of the image of the destination (affective or cognitive) has the most influence on their formation, and how the image of the destination, like motivation, influences tourist satisfaction. The proposed model could be used in many studies that analyze the different variables that influence consumer behavior since its reliability and predictive capacity have been proven. The results of the study can also be used by the authorities to design or modify the most appropriate strategies that influence rural tourism, specially promoting the destination image as a variable that positively influences tourist satisfaction.

Introduction

This study is an original investigation of the rural tourists' behavior, attending to the most important variables that help to understand this behavior. It is analyzed how policies focused on rural tourism should be in line with Sustainable Development Goals defined by the UN in 2017, especially with objective 8 “Decent Work and Economic Growth,” to promote sustainable tourism, which creates jobs and promotes culture and local products, as can be seen in the goal 8.9 of that goal number 8.

Rural tourism has gained broad acceptance in Spain. The wide range of accommodation and activities included in the definition of “Rural Tourism” makes it a very attractive option to consumers. In Spain, it is now an important alternative to sun and beach tourism, which has traditionally been a very popular choice of vacationers.

As a consequence, for depopulated and depressed areas in Spain, this kind of tourism has become an additional economic activity, so they no longer depend exclusively on primary activities such as agriculture and livestock. There are extensive opportunities for agrotourism, combining tourism with agriculture-related activities, which indicate the potential synergies between them. The local authorities managing rural tourism must therefore implement policies to promote its development. For Polo (2010) , the development of the rural tourist activity is very suitable for improving the development of the rural areas, likewise Marzo-Navarro (2017) stated that rural tourism promotes the development and economic growth of the destination areas, for which it is a priority to achieve the objectives of economic, sociocultural, and environmental sustainability. The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) (2021) has recognized that “tourism is one of the driving forces of global economic growth and is currently responsible for the creation of 1 in 11 jobs. By giving access to decent work opportunities in the tourism sector, society, in particular, young people and women, can benefit from improved skills and professional development. The sector's contribution to job creation is recognized in target 8.9: by 2030, devise and implement policies to promote sustainable tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and products.” To this end, it is thus very important to analyze a range of variables and components that may influence rural tourism behavior.

Among the most influential variables, satisfaction is a key factor that indicates what the trip has meant to the tourist. Many studies have demonstrated the importance of perceived value and satisfaction in tourist behavior ( Barsky and Labagh, 1992 ; Tam, 2000 ; Choi and Chu, 2001 ; Tian-Cole and Cromption, 2003 ; Petrick, 2004 ; Yoon and Uysal, 2005 ; Hutchinson et al., 2009 ; Kim et al., 2009 ; Jin et al., 2013 ; Asgarnezhad et al., 2018 ; Chin et al., 2019 ; Penelas-Leguía et al., 2019 ; Castro et al., 2020 ). Several studies considered “word-of-mouth” a very important factor to explain the future behavior and it is the link between satisfaction and loyalty ( Hutchinson et al., 2009 ; Kim et al., 2009 ; García, 2011 ; Lai et al., 2018 ; Xu et al., 2020 ). It is, however, essential to discover how the tourist's image of their destination, and their other motivations, drive them to choose that destination. To Tasci and Gartner (2007) , destination image is a key factor in successful tourism development. To Ejarque (2016) , this image has a vital importance in tourists' selection processes. And a tourist's motivation has an important impact on destination image formation, as Li et al. (2010) and Sancho and Álvarez (2010) explained in their studies. It is, however, interesting to investigate the influence motivation has on overall visitor satisfaction, as per Albayrak and Caber (2018) .

Conceptual Framework and Hypothesis

Research framework.

In this research, we reviewed the literature on the variables that affect tourist behavior (motivation, image and satisfaction). We then used the results of this review to lay the foundations of a behavior model using Structural Equations, with Partial Least Squares (PLS) as the chosen method, as you can see in Figure 1 . This will indicate the links between those variables and the strength of these relationships. Thus, the main objective of the research is to analyze the links between tourist motivation, destination image and vacation satisfaction. And as secondary objectives, which complement the analysis, we expose:

- To research how motivations influence destination image formation.

- To analyze the link between destination image and satisfaction with rural tourism

- To research the importance of the affective and cognitive components of the image in forming the overall destination image.

Figure 1 . Proposed theorical model.

Research Hypothesis

Motivation has been widely studied by various authors and in different areas, from psychology to sociology and marketing. Motivation is the driving force of the process. A consumer can have a positive attitude to the purchasing process, an excellent image of the product or service, but if they aren't strongly motivated, the process doesn't begin. A motive, as Santesmases (2012 , p. 261) explains, is “the reason why the consumer purchases the product.” Consumers buy something because they get a benefit, and those benefits satisfy needs. Motivation is therefore, according to Santesmases (p. 261), “a general disposition that leads to the behavior aimed at obtaining what the consumer wants.” Kotler (2016 , p. 199) defines motive as “a need that is sufficiently pressing to drive the person to act.”

From the tourism point of view, motivation is one of the most important and most extensively studied variables. Wong et al. (2018) , point out the influence that motivations have on the tourism process, especially on the tourist. One of the early studies was by Dann (1977) . He attempted to explain the reasons why people travel, as well as their choice of destination. This was the first-time push and pull factors were discussed.

One of the most relevant and important studies of this topic is by Crompton (1979) . This author found nine key motives for a tourist's choice, seven of which were categorized as socio-psychological (escape from a perceived mundane environment, exploration and evaluation of self, relaxation, prestige, regression, enhancement of kinship relationships and facilitation of social interaction), and two cultural motives (novelty and education). The socio-psychological motive, also referred to as “push” motives, explain the wish to take holidays, while cultural motives, also called “pull” motives, explains the choice of the destination or the kind of destination. In addition to this author, Crandall (1980) , based on Crompton's work, continues the explanation of the value of motivation in tourist behavior, and list seventeen personal motives. These are, clearly, an extension to Crompton's nine motives.

Other authors, such as Line et al. (2018) , focus on the importance of motivations in tourist behavior. They explain the importance of motivation, with a special link between motivation and sustainability programs. González and Vallejo (2021) , they also explained that importance. Polo et al. (2016) evaluate the motivations with influence in the rural tourist in Spain, their behavior and the different strategies, and Prebensen et al. (2010) study tourist behavior, in this case, the sun and sand tourist and the link between motivations to travel, tourist satisfaction and intentions to communicate with others by word-of-mouth.

Regarding the practice of rural tourism, Penelas-Leguía et al. (2019) classified the different motivational factors into which tourist motivation is divided. These factors were natural and cultural motivations, social motivations, personal motivations, novelty motivations and escape motivations, reaching the conclusion that natural and cultural and social motivations are the ones that have the most influence on the formation of tourist motivation. Buffa (2015) , also focused on the study of cultural and natural motivations in rural tourism practice, concluding that tourists, especially the youngest, feel motivated when traveling to discover new cultures, new natural spaces, contemplate the natural and artistic heritage, be in contact with the local population and contact with nature. Han et al. (2017) , continues in this line, on the importance of nature and natural heritage in tourism decision-making. Luo and Deng (2007) , exposed the environment and nature as one of the main reasons that move tourists to visit a tourist area, while Gnoth and Zins (2010) and Kim and Prideaux (2005) , considered that motivation cultural and knowing the cultural heritage of the area, were the main reason that moves the tourist. Regarding social motivations, several studies point out this type as the main factor when making decisions by tourists. Van der Merwe et al. (2011) exposed the great importance of these motivations, after an exhaustive review of the literature. Lee et al. (2004) and Park et al. (2008) , focused their studies on the key importance of social motivations in the tourist's behavior. Moreno et al. (2012) , exposed the three main types of motivations that move tourists, highlighting cultural motivations and social motivations, as well as those of “self-expression.”

Therefore, we observe the importance of natural and cultural and social motivations in tourist decision-making, so we propose the following hypotheses:

Hypothesis 1.1 (H11): “Cultural and natural motivation is the main dimension of the tourist motivation.”

Hypothesis 1.2 (H12): “Social motivation has an important relevance in the formation of tourist motivation.”

About the link between tourist motivation and destination image, several authors have studied this influence. For Li et al. (2010) , destination image is an essential component of tourist destination success, because if the place has a recognizable image, it will be more likely to be chosen by tourists as a place for recreation and leisure. In this study, they recognize three motivational factors: intellectual, belonging and escape. Each of them has a direct effect on the cognitive component of the image, but for the escape dimension of the motivation, this effect is negative. For the affective component of the image, the relationship is direct if we focus on the escape motivation as well as on the cognitive component.

Sancho and Álvarez (2010) point out the importance of motivation in the decision-making process of going on a trip and determining where to go. They consider five main motivations: past experiences, physical, cultural, interpersonal, social and prestige. They concluded that interpersonal and social motivations have a direct effect on the cognitive component of the image and on the overall image. They also found that the cognitive component has a direct effect on the affective component, which in turn affects the overall image. Madden et al. (2016) also analyzed this link, carrying out an exhaustive analysis of the literature, as did Dagustani et al. (2018) , Pereira and Hussain (2019) and Santoso (2019) , who presented a behavior model studying the relationship between motivations, destination image and tourist satisfaction. In addition to these authors, many others have studied the close relationship between motivations and destination image, and we would highlight the studies by Mayo and Jarvis (1981) , Michie (1986) and Gong and Sun Tung (2017) . It is also worth highlighting the study of Hwang et al. (2020) , who study the relationship between the destination image and the tourist motivations, but inversely, how the destination image influences the formation of the tourist motivations.

We therefore conclude there is an important link between tourist motivations and destination image formation. Thus, we define the following as hypothesis:

Hypothesis 2 (H2): “Tourist motivation significantly positive influences destination image formation.”

Image is a key factor when tourists are choosing their destinations, and crucial when planning a trip ( Marine-Roig and Ferrer-Rosell, 2018 ). As Beerli and Martín (2002) point out, the image has an important impact on tourist behavior, and varies from person to person. In the same way, Foroudi et al. (2018 , p. 97) explain that “a positive image is much more likely to be taken into consideration and probably chosen in the decision process.” But this image has to be protected, because it can turn into a negative variable, as Bachiller et al. (2005) explain when they state the problem that overcrowding causes in the destination image. Additionally, Alrawadieh et al. (2019) , point out that this feeling of overcrowding doesn't influence the image, but does influence intentions to visit the place again.

What does “destination image” mean? Many authors have contributed their own definitions. To Crompton (1979) , destination image is “the sum of all beliefs, ideas and impressions that people associate with a destination.” In 1993, Echtner and Ritchie (1993 , p. 3) defined it as “perceptions of individual destination attributes, as well as, total, holistic impressions.” Baloglu and McCleary (1999 , p. 870) considered destination image to be “an individual's mental representation of knowledge (beliefs), feelings and global impression about an object or destination.” Sanz (2008) , p. 98 explains to us that destination image is “the global perception of a destination, in other words, the representation in the tourist's mind of what he or she feels and knows about it.” And López-Sanz et al. (2021b) defined destination image as the overall mental impressions each person has of a place or destination formed by knowledge as well as by the feelings the destination produces in them.

All these definitions have a common link. Destination image is made up of two components: the cognitive and affective components. Baloglu and McCleary (1999 , p. 870) defined both. For them, the cognitive component “refers to beliefs or knowledge about a destination's attributes,” whereas the affective component “refers to feelings about a destination, or attachment to it.” Many other authors, however, have written about the difference between the cognitive and affective components. Beerli et al. (2003) explain that the affective component is “individuals' feelings toward a destination or as an emotional response of individuals to a place,” while the cognitive component “is knowledge about a destination.” To Lee et al. (2008 , p. 814), the cognitive component “derives from factual information,” while the affective component “can be viewed as one's diffuse feelings about a specific tourism destination.” Other authors, such as Zhang and Zhang (2020) , emphasize this division of destination image. We can therefore state that destination image is formed by the link between two components: cognitive, related to beliefs and knowledge acquired from external information sources or experience; and the affective component, related to feelings. These are strongly linked, in such a way if that the cognitive component changes after the first vacation, the affective response will also be affected. The overall image is made up of these two components. A destination choice depends on the overall image, and when we refer to destination image, we mean the overall image.

We have analyzed the components into which the overall destination image is divided. It is now necessary to focus on the elements that influence the tourist in forming that image. Several authors have discussed these variables. For Baloglu and McCleary (1999) , the variety and type of information sources, and the tourist's age, education and motivation all influence destination image formation. For Beerli and Martín (2002) , the perceived image of a place is formed by the interaction of several factors, such as the tourist's motivations, previous experience, preferences and other personal characteristics (sex, age, etc.); other psychological factors such as values, personality, lifestyle, etc. also have an influence. To Sirakaya et al. (2001) , consumers' choice processes are influenced by their motivations, attitudes, beliefs and values, as well as other types of factors, such as time. Gunn (1993) states that destination image undergoes a constant process of modification. For this author, there are several steps in image formation. First of all, a destination image is generated from previous information (documentaries, acquaintances' experiences, etc.). Later, due to promotional information such as brochures, an induced image is generated. Nowadays, for those referred to as “2.0 tourists,” the importance of “on-line reputation” is increasing, so innovation is essential to building an initial image of destinations, especially the more traditional ones. For some places, destination image may be reinforced by heritage-related cultural events that are publicized over social networks ( Campillo-Alhama and Martínez-Sala, 2019 ). This image may help individuals choose a destination, depending on their motivations. After the vacation and the tourist's personal experience, a final image is generated. For Um and Crompton (1990) and Ugarte (2007) , the perceived image of a place will be formed by the interaction of the projected image (the destination image the promotional information projects) and the individual's needs, motivations, experience, preferences and personal characteristics, and this image is very resistant to change, even in times of economic crisis ( Gkritzali et al., 2018 ). Thus, we propose the following hypotheses:

Hypothesis 3.1 (H31): “Affective destination image has a positive influence on destination image formation.”

Hypothesis 3.2 (H32): “Cognitive destination image has a positive influence on destination image formation.”

Overall satisfaction with the vacation is a very interesting variable, because, depending on the level of satisfaction or dissatisfaction, the degree of tourist loyalty to both the geographical area and the accommodation can be calculated. For Serra (2011 , p. 122), after the vacation the tourist, through introspection, evaluates the experience and a feeling of satisfaction or dissatisfaction is created. As a result, a post-trip attitude is generated. This modifies several factors, such as the tourist's perception of the destination and attitude toward it, and these in turn influence the destination image for the tourist and his or her relatives and friends. The development of a more digitalized and responsible economy is also highlighted from the point of the view of the influence on other consumers, as explained by Moreno-Izquierdo et al. (2018) , in which the collaboration between citizens and tourists is the frame of reference. Sevilla and Rodríguez (2019) emphasize the emotion caused by viewing the landscape during the journey and stay, which produces a satisfactory or unsatisfactory response to the tourist's expectations. Park et al. (2018) concluded that providing additional information before each visit can improve tourist satisfaction. Fernández-Herrero et al. (2018) , state that tourist “autonomy improves overall satisfaction with the destination,” while Rojas-De-Gracia and Alarcón-Urbistondo (2019) explain the link between satisfaction and the decision-making process.

In studying tourist satisfaction, it is very important to perform multilevel analysis. This enables us to see the “big picture” of the factors affecting overall tourist satisfaction ( Radojevic et al., 2017 ). The link between destination image and satisfaction has been widely researched. The study by Olague de la Cruz et al. (2017) focuses on the link between tourist motivation, destination image and satisfaction. They explain how motivations influence both cognitive and affective image, and both of this influence tourist satisfaction. For Rajesh (2013) , destination image has a direct influence on both overall satisfaction and destination loyalty. Additionally, tourist satisfaction influences destination image—in other words, the new destination image a tourist generates after the vacation depends on the level of satisfaction. It's important to review the research by Martín et al. (2016) , into the influence of destination image on satisfaction, and of satisfaction on loyalty. Herle (2018) , Cruz et al. (2018) , Machado et al. (2009) , Huete and López (2020) and López-Sanz et al. (2021a) also researched this relationship. And we wish to highlight the study of Nysveen et al. (2018) , who found a link between “green destination image” and tourist satisfaction. The expectancy disconfirmation theory will be used to explain the relationship between variables. This theory is very popular in consumer satisfaction research ( Elkhani and Bakri, 2012 ; Kim et al., 2014 ). Positive disconformation happens when the final result is higher than initially expected, while negative disconformation happens when product performance and the final result is lower than expected at the beginning. Thus, we define the following hypothesis:

Hypothesis 4 (H4): “Destination image has a positive influence on overall trip satisfaction.”

Correia et al. (2013) , explain that there is a relationship between the motivational “push” and “pull” variables and overall tourist satisfaction. Battour et al. (2012) , who concluded that tourist motivation positively influences vacation satisfaction, should also be reviewed. For their part, Hidalgo-Fernández et al. (2019) also conclude in their study that there is a relationship between the motivations or interests of the tourist and satisfaction with the trip, turning this satisfaction into recommendation of the destination. This relationship is also found in their study Forteza et al. (2017) and He and Ming (2020) .

The decision to choose the Spanish province of Soria was taken because of several factors. First, this is Spain's least populous province [a population of 88,658 in 2020 ( Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE), 2021 )], and this area is suffering a worrying level of depopulation. And, on the other hand, it is a province with great potential from the touristic point of view, because it has a wide variety of natural and cultural resources. The province includes many very different areas: the highlands, with a special landscape and similar weather to the Scottish Highlands (hence its name); cities with an important cultural heritage, such as El Burgo de Osma and Soria itself; very interesting archeological areas including Numancia, La Dehesa's Roman Villa and the ancient village of Tiermes; and attractive natural sites such as La Laguna Negra, the Lobos River Canyon and the Fuentona sinkhole.

This province therefore can and must leverage the Rural Tourism boom in Spain and implement rural development based on the service sector, not only in terms of the increasing amount of accommodation available, but also through all the related activities. This includes promoting tourist routes, both cultural through the province's many heritage sites, and natural routes, that can in turn link with adventure and sports tourism. The province can also promote “experience-based tourism,” as explained by Mazarrasa (2016) . This kind of tourism offers some activities which are relatively passive, such as visiting a winery to observe the steps in wine production. There are also, however, activities for which the tourist can actively participate in the experience.

The significance of this study lies in the fact that it can be a starting point for the right marketing actions to improve Rural Tourism in the area and prevent depopulation to the extent possible. To be successful, these actions must be supported by the national, local, provincial and regional authorities.

Survey Design

This research is based on a descriptive study using primary data from a questionnaire used on a representative sample of tourist over 18 years old who visited the province of Soria (Spain) and stayed in a rural tourism establishment. The primary selection of the different items of constructs was based on a review of the literature. Previously, the items had been carefully chosen, and before sending out the survey, preceding qualitative research was carried out through a focus group, which included five professors who are experts in tourism and consumer behavior. As a result of this qualitative research, the final questionnaire was achieved, consisting of four constructs with a total of 16 items: five for cognitive image ( Baloglu and McCleary, 1999 ); two for affective image ( Baloglu and McCleary, 1999 ); seven for tourist motivation ( Crompton, 1979 ) and two for tourist satisfaction ( Lee, 2009 ). In order to obtain data to analyze, 1,658 valid questionnaires were completed by adult tourists who stayed in a rural tourism establishment in the province, between January 2016 to January 2017, which implies a sampling error of ± 2.45% (with a confidence interval of 95.5% and p = q = 0.5) (see Table 1 ).

Table 1 . Technical details of the study.

The data was collected through personal surveys. All items of the questionnaire used the same 4-point Likert-type scale, where 4 = a lot and 1 = little bit, except affective image and satisfaction items, where the scale was a 5-point Likert scale where 5 = strongly agree and 1 = strongly disagree (see Table 2 ).

Table 2 . Scales of the model's constructors.

A pretest of this questionnaire was performed on 50 people who had visited the province and stayed in a rural tourism establishment, to evaluate if the scales were well-constructed and the multiple questions on the questionnaire were understood. After checking that everything was correct, the data were collected personally in the tourist areas of Soria province.

Sample Size and Composition

The total sample consisted of 1,658 valid questionnaires of visitor over the age of 18 who were staying in a rural tourism establishment in the province of Soria (see Table 3 ).

Table 3 . Sample information.

The purpose of analyzing the information collected is to transform it into relevant information that assists the decision-making process. Several statistical techniques were applied to the data collected in the research, including Principal Component Analysis (PCA), and a model was prepared using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The programs used were IBM SPSS Statistic, DYANE 4 ( Santesmases, 2009 ) and SmartPLS 3.2.28 ( Ringle et al., 2015 ). Hair et al. (2011 ; p. 144) recommend selecting PLS-SEM if the research is exploratory or an extension of an existing structural theory. Hair et al. (2014) also recommend using PLS-SEM when formatively measured constructs are part of the structural model, the structural model is complex (many constructs and many indicators) and the data are non-normally distributed. It is possible to find these issues in this model, including a very complex structural model that was presented in the first moment.

Factor Analysis of Variables

To facilitate the analysis of some of the variables studied, a factor analysis was performed. The chosen technique was Principal Component Analysis (PCA), a factor analysis technique that reveals the underlying dimensions or factors in the relationships between the values of the variables analyzed ( Harman, 1976 ). It is a statistical method used to summarize and structure the information of a data matrix to reduce the number of variables ( Lozares and López, 1991 ). The aim of this method is to reduce the number of dimensions by obtaining linear combinations with maximum variance that are uncorrelated to the original variables ( Aguilera et al., 1996 ). In this study, we have used this technique to reduce the number of variables for the destination image and motivations constructs, due to their high number of variables. After our analysis, the cognitive destination image, which started with 31 variables, had just five factors, “variety of natural attractions vs. situational elements,” “cultural interest,” “entertainment and luxury,” “restful and attractive environment,” and “attractive accommodation.” Regarding affective image, we started with four variables that were reduced to two factors, “internal affective image” and “external affective image.” Finally, for motivations, the initial 23 variables were reduced to five factors, “cultural and natural,” “social,” “personal,” “novelty,” and “escape.”

Having retained the relevant information in the factors, as mentioned above, this research aims to find possible links between motivations, rural tourism destination image and tourist satisfaction for Spain's Soria province. The research focuses on studying the direct and indirect relationships between the variables. To analyze the cause-effect relationships between latent constructs ( Hair et al., 2011 ) the Partial Least Squares (PLS) technique, which enables researchers to examine the structural component of a model ( Gefen et al., 2000 ), was chosen. PLS-SEM has advantages over other SEM tools, such as LISREL, because PLS can be applied to explore the underlying theoretical model ( Gefen et al., 2000 ). PLS-SEM doesn't require restrictive distributional assumptions about the data ( Compeau et al., 1999 ), and the use of consistent PLS (PLSc) corrects the behavior of relationship coefficients between latent variables in reflective constructs. If, as in our study, the results are very similar, it is not necessary to apply this algorithm, but the deviations of the model's path coefficients are minimized ( Dijkstra and Henseler, 2012 ).

Behavior Model

The research studies the links between seven measured variables ( Figure 1 ). This required a selection to be made.

For tourist motivations, we started with five factors ( Table 4 ), but only cultural and natural motivations, and social motivations, have a loading of at least 0.3. The other ones (personal, novelty and escape), don't reach the required level. The valid items of every motivation factor are shown in Table 4 .

Table 4 . Rotated components matrix (Varimax method).

The destination image variable may be composed of the factors of the cognitive and affective images ( Table 4 ). Of the seven factors obtained for the cognitive and affective images, only variety of natural attractions vs. situational elements image, for cognitive image, and internal affective image, for affective image, have a loading of at least 0.3 or more on their constructs, resulting in seven valid items ( Table 2 ). To measure the satisfaction, tourist perception was used, based on the abovementioned theoretical discussion, with two items: destination satisfaction and satisfaction in terms of expectations.

Using all these factors, we presented a theoretical model, as seen in Figure 1 . The abovementioned link, between motivation, image and satisfaction is shown, as well as the factors that affect them most strongly.

The questionnaire was designed to measure seven different latent constructs: motivation (a second order construct with two dimensions), destination image (a second order construct with two dimensions) and satisfaction. The factor analysis was run to separately validate the measurement of those constructs. The Varimax rotation was used to assist in understanding the initial factor model. The factorial loads (see Table 4 ) provide evidence for the factorial validation of the scales.

The PLS measurement model is evaluated in terms of the inter-construct correlations, the correlations between items, Cronbach's Alpha, the reliability and the average variance extracted for every construct (AVE). In this case, the seven latent variables (two of which are second order constructs) are made up of scales with reflective items. The reliability, internal consistency and discriminant validity of every component in this study are assessed below.

The reliability assessment examines how each item is linked to the latent construct ( Table 4 ). In this respect, the most generally accepted and widely used empirical rule is the one proposed by Carmines and Zeller (1979) , who state that, to accept an indicator as part of a construct, it must have a loading ≥0.707. In this case, only one of the 16 indicators used ( Table 2 ) doesn't reach this acceptable reliability level. However, as Chin (1998) and Barclay et al. (1995) explain, a loading of at least 0.5 can be acceptable if other indicators that measure the construct have higher assessed reliability. Furthermore, Falk and Miller (1992) propose a loading of 0.55—in other words, 30% of the variance of the manifest variable is related to the construct. The loading-−0.64—that didn't exceed the first condition did exceed these latter proposed levels and has a higher loading in its construct than in any other. These results strongly support the reliability of the reflective measurements (see Table 5 ).

Table 5 . Model cross loading.

Finally, motivation and image are valued as second-order reflective constructs for a molar model ( Chin, 2010 ). The above discussion provides a basis for supporting the quality of the measurements of the components of these second order variables. The loadings of the dimensions of these constructs are also of interest. The statistics for all the dimensions were as expected, except for affective image, whose loading as a second order variable of image is 0.587 and therefore doesn't reach the AVE level of 0.707, although it exceeds the value of 0.55 (see Table 6 ).

Table 6 . Internal consistency and AVE.

With respect to internal consistency, two measurements are taken into consideration, Rho value (rho_A) and Composite Reliability (see Table 6 ). Nunnally and Bernstein (1994) suggests 0.7 as a level indicating “modest” reliability which is suitable for the early stages of research, and a stricter one of 0.8 for basic research. As shown in Table 6 , both indicators exceed the 0.8 value (except affective image, for which composite reliability is > 0.7 and Rho value is under 0.3).

Absolute fit indices determine how well a priori model fits the sample data ( McDonald and Ho, 2002 ). These measures provide the most fundamental indication of how well the proposed theory fits the data. Included in this category is the Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR). The SRMR is an absolute measure of fit and is defined as the standardized difference between the observed correlation and the predicted correlation. Thus, it allows assessing the average magnitude of the discrepancies between observed and expected correlations as an absolute measure of (model) fit criterion. A value < 0.10 or of 0.08 are considered a good fit ( Hu and Bentler, 1999 ). For this research model SRMR is 0.069 (below 0.08). Incremental fit indices, also known as comparative ( Miles and Shevlin, 2007 ) or relative fit indices ( McDonald and Ho, 2002 ), are a group of indices that do not use the chi-square in its raw form but compare the chi-square value to a baseline model. One of these indices is the Normed Fit Index (NFI). This statistic assesses the model by comparing the chi-square value of the model to the chi-square of the null model and values > 0.95 are recommended ( Hu and Bentler, 1999 ) for a good fit. After the analysis it was found a NFI of 0.987 indicating a good fit.

The discriminant validity is obtained in two ways. First, the Average Variance Extracted (AVE) is examined, which indicates the amount of variance captured by the construct in relation to the variance due to measurement error. The value must exceed 0.50 ( Fornell and Lacker, 1981 ). As shown in Table 6 , all the AVE values exceed that value, except for image construct, which is close to it (0.492). Secondly, the square root of AVE (in the diagonal of Table 10 ) is compared to the other constructs (below the diagonal in Table 7 ). These statistics suggest that every construct is stronger in its own measurement than in the measurements of other constructs.

Table 7 . Correlation and square root of AVE for first order latent variables.

Collectively, these results support the quality of the measurements. Specifically, the statistics suggest that the components of our measurements are reliable, internally consistent and they have discriminant validity.

Results of SEM

A PLS estimated model allows us to establish the variance of the explained endogenous variables by the constructs that predict them. Falk and Miller (1992) suggest that the explained variance of the endogenous variables ( R 2 ) should be ≥0.1. Related to this model, the indexes (see Table 8 ) explain the large variance of the second order variables, because the R 2 values of the dimensions (both image and motivation) exceed 0.5 (except in the case of the affective image, which exceeds 0.3). The R 2 value for satisfaction also exceeds 0.3. Stone-Geisser's Q 2 value must exceed 0, and this suggests a predictive relevance related to the endogenous construct model ( Chin, 1998 ). In this case, all the variables exceed that value (the lowest is satisfaction with a value of 0.2).

Table 8 . R square and stone-geisser.

To obtain indications of external validity, image and tourist satisfaction need to be significantly linked with motivation, as the theory explains ( Bagozzi, 1994 ). Based on this literature, a model in which motivation is a precedent and has a positive relationship with destination image was estimated, and this is also a precedent of satisfaction (see Figure 2 ).

Figure 2 . Results.

Table 9 shows that the path coefficients are significant ( p < 0.001) since there aren't any non-significant coefficients. The significance of the coefficients was estimated using PLS bootstrapping with 500 samples, an appropriate quantity to obtain reasonable estimations of standard error ( Chin, 2010 ).

Table 9 . Significance of the coefficients.

And since one of our hypotheses focuses on the indirect effect of the motivation with satisfaction variable, we can observe the existing relationship (0.47) through the results of Table 10 .

Table 10 . Direct and indirect effects of the coefficients.

In summary, in the model there is a direct and strong link between motivation and destination image (0.853). Motivation thus seems to be an important element influencing destination image. We have therefore proven that our hypothesis 2, “Tourist motivation significantly positive influences destination image formation” is correct (see Table 11 ).

Table 11 . Summary of hypothesis verification.

Regarding the hypotheses 1.1 and 1.2, “Cultural and natural motivation is the main dimension of the tourist motivation” and “Social motivation has an important relevance in the formation of tourist motivation,” the dimension of cultural and natural motivation is the one that reflects motivation (0.837) better than the other dimension of motivation, social motivation (0.251). It is possible that the type of motivation that is most influential will vary depending on the characteristics of the destination. In this case, motivations related to nature and culture are the most significant (see Table 11 ).

It is the cognitive image dimension that best reflects destination image (0.905) and there are some problems in considering the affective image to be a good reflection of destination image. The hypothesis 3.1, “Affective destination image has a positive influence on destination image formation” is therefore incorrect, while hypothesis 3.2, “Cognitive destination image has a positive influence on destination image formation” is correct. There is also a positive and direct link between destination image and satisfaction (0.556), and as a result we can accept the hypothesis 4, “Destination image has a positive influence on overall trip satisfaction” (see Table 11 ).

On the other hand, and indirectly, a relatively important link (0.470) between motivation and satisfaction has been found (see Table 10 ), especially if we consider the current difficulty in influencing satisfaction. This is a consequence of a strong link, which is direct and positive, between motivation and destination image. This relationship between tourist motivations and satisfaction was studied by Correia et al. (2013) , explained that there is a relationship between the motivational “push” and “pull” variables and overall tourist satisfaction. Battour et al. (2012) , who concluded that tourist motivation positively influences vacation satisfaction, should also be reviewed. For their part, Hidalgo-Fernández et al. (2019) also conclude in their study that there is a relationship between the motivations or interests of the tourist and satisfaction with the trip, turning this satisfaction into recommendation of the destination. This relationship is also found in their study Forteza et al. (2017) and He and Ming (2020) . Thus, we can check that motivation seems to be an important element in influencing both destination image and satisfaction, which has significant entrepreneurial consequences.

Discussion and Conclusions

Theorical discussions.

This study aims to analyze how rural tourism, in line with the Sustainable Development Goal number 8 of the UNWTO ( World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), 2021 ), can serve to sustainably develop the most depopulated rural areas ( Marzo-Navarro, 2017 ). We must focus on the social and economic sustainability of this type of tourism, which should translate into improving the quality of life of the indigenous population of the area ( Pérez de la Heras, 2004 ), and culturally and socially enriching the local population ( Rytkönen and Tunón, 2020 ). The social well-being of local economies is linked to tourism in those areas ( Tasci, 2017 ) and increases the sustainability of the local population.

The analysis of rural tourism has been carried out through the relationship that exists between the motivations that move the tourist ( Dann, 1977 ; Wong et al., 2018 ), which is one of the most important variables for decision-making in tourism ( Prebensen et al., 2010 ; Polo et al., 2016 ; Line et al., 2018 ; González and Vallejo, 2021 ); the image of the tourist destination, a key factor when tourists are choosing their destinations, and crucial when planning a trip ( Marine-Roig and Ferrer-Rosell, 2018 ); and satisfaction with the trip, a relationship studied by Forteza et al. (2017) , Hidalgo-Fernández et al. (2019) and He and Ming (2020) . This relationship has served to study the behavior of rural tourists related to sustainable development goals, especially goal number 8 “decent work and economic growth.”

From an academic point of view, the proposed Structural Equation Model could be used in many studies researching the links between the three variables studied (tourist motivation, destination image and trip satisfaction), because its reliability and predictive capacity have been proven, as shown by the results obtained. It is not only useful for research into rural tourism, but also for general tourism research, as well as for research into other kinds of rural tourism that have recently become popular, such as adventure tourism, sport tourism, cultural tourism and, in countries with a traditional wine industry, wine tourism.

Summary, we have demonstrated the importance of these three variables in the study of the rural tourism behavior and, thanks to this study, real and effective measures can be taken for the sustainable development of the rural area and thus be able to meet the objective number 8 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Managerial Discussions

From a managerial point of view, this research can assist all those authorities that influence rural tourism policies in Spain's Soria province and the rest of Spain, when making policies to promote this kind of tourism, specially promoting the cognitive image that each of us have of a tourist area. We have seen the importance to these rural areas, the country's most depopulated, of tourism ( Flores and Barroso, 2012 ) as a complement to their more traditional activities (principally agriculture and livestock). Depopulation in these areas is a critical problem ( del Romero, 2018 ), since in some places, including some that offer rural, cultural, and natural attractions, the population has almost completely disappeared. This also leads to a loss of heritage for the province and for the country in general.

The results obtained demonstrate the importance of studying the variables used, especially the image of the tourist destination ( Beerli et al., 2003 ), for the promotion of the tourist area. This promotion seems very important, as explained by Baloglu and McCleary (1999) and Zhang et al. (2018) . And as we have verified, this image is formed especially as a result of the knowledge we obtain about the destination ( Sanz, 2008 ), much more than from the feelings that the destination causes in us.

It is also important, as Prebensen et al. (2010) , Polo et al. (2016) , Line et al. (2018) , and González and Vallejo (2021) explained, to analyze the motivations that drive tourists. Sancho and Álvarez (2010) point out the importance of motivation in the decision-making process. Therefore, the different administrations involved in tourism policies, as well as the owners of rural establishments, should consider the different motivations that influence decision-making ( Wong et al., 2018 ), as well as the formation of the community destination image ( Mayo and Jarvis, 1981 ; Michie, 1986 ; Gong and Sun Tung, 2017 ). In addition, due to the indirect but strong link between tourist motivations and satisfaction with the trip ( Fernández-Herrero et al., 2018 ), the need to cover these motivations must be considered, especially cultural, natural and social motivations ( Penelas-Leguía et al., 2019 ), so that the tourist has a satisfactory trip, which will positively influence loyalty with the destination ( López-Sanz et al., 2021b ) and will have an impact on better business results for tourist establishments of the area ( Moliner et al., 2009 ).

From the point of view of the Sustainable Development Goals, especially Goal 8, “Decent Work and Economic Growth,” the development of rural tourism can directly help to achieve this SDG ( Alcivar, 2020 ), as well as to avoid depopulation that threatens these regions of Spain so much ( Maroto and Pinos, 2020 ), promoting quality employment and avoiding exodus to the city and to other richer areas.

Limitations and Future Research

The main limitation of this study is that we have focused on a Spanish province. It would be convenient to apply this methodology to a complete study, focusing on the Autonomous Community of Castilla y León, to which Soria belongs, or even the entire Spanish state. A comparative study could also be made with other provinces with similar levels of depopulation in Spain, to compare both the strategies that are carried out in each of them, as well as the differences in the motivations that move tourists to those other provinces like the image that each one projects.

Another future line of research would be to extend the study to other different motivational factors, not only natural and cultural and social, to obtain other conclusions about tourist behavior. In addition, due to the discovery of the strong indirect effect that tourist motivations have on satisfaction, the study could be extended toward loyalty with the destination, and check if this indirect effect also applies between the tourist motivations and loyalty with the destination.

Finally, a similar study could be carried out by directing the questionnaire to tourists who focus on nature tourism, to discover any differences between them and rural tourists.

Conclusions

Therefore, if we look at in the principal and secondary objectives, the proposed model ( Figure 2 ) below, shows the direct link between the motivations that drive a tourist and his or her perceived destination image, as well as between image and overall tourist satisfaction with the trip. A link between motivations and satisfaction has been demonstrated, although it is indirect. These relationships demonstrate the importance of these three variables in the rural tourist behavior.

This study is important to be able to make decisions, especially from the point of view of local, regional and national tourism policies, to promote sustainable rural development and economic growth in the area, promoting job creation, to meet the Goal number 8 of Sustainable Development. With this economic development, a sustainable social development is directly achieved that is one of the pillars for the eradication of inequalities and poverty in rural areas.

Data Availability Statement

The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation.

Author Contributions

All authors contributed to conception and design of the study, organized the database, performed the statistical analysis, wrote the first draft of the manuscript, wrote all the sections of the manuscript, contributed to manuscript revision, read, and approved the submitted version.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher's Note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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Keywords: motivation, destination imagen, satisfaction, rural tourism, SDG

Citation: López-Sanz JM, Penelas-Leguía A, Gutiérrez-Rodríguez P and Cuesta-Valiño P (2021) Rural Tourism and the Sustainable Development Goals. A Study of the Variables That Most Influence the Behavior of the Tourist. Front. Psychol. 12:722973. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.722973

Received: 09 June 2021; Accepted: 23 June 2021; Published: 23 July 2021.

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Copyright © 2021 López-Sanz, Penelas-Leguía, Gutiérrez-Rodríguez and Cuesta-Valiño. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: José María López-Sanz, jm.lopez@uah.es ; Pedro Cuesta-Valiño, pedro.cuesta@uah.es

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