INTERNATIONALJOURNALOF TOURISM RESEARCH
                Int. J. Tourism Res. 6, 119–124 (2004)
                Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI: 10.1002/jtr.478
                Editorial
                Rural Tourism —10 Years On
                Richard Sharpley and Lesley Roberts
                INTRODUCTION                                              The special edition of JoST was not, of
                                                                        course, the first publication to address issues
                      he rural, a diminishing global resource,          related to tourism in rural areas; indeed, the
                      provides us with an increasingly impor-           relationship between tourism or, more gener-
                T
                      tant environment for tourism. On the              ally, recreation and leisure, and the country-
                supply side, its impacts, both positive and             side has long proved to be a fruitful area of
                negative, are well documented, widely                   research and, by the early 1990s, there existed
                debated and the subjects of an increasing liter-        a significant literature on the subject (see Lane,
                ature. Often overlooked, however, are the ben-          1993). However, the 1994 special issue was
                efits to rural visitors, the welfare effects of          notable for, arguably, being the first publica-
                improved mental and physical well-being that            tion that attempted to identify and define rural
                are the widely sought (if imagined) effects of          tourism as a specific form of tourist activity as
                assimilating the restorative and curative               well as exploring in some depth the processes
                powers of nature. The convergence of supply             and challenges of integrating tourism into 
                and demand, the phenomenon loosely called               sustainable rural development. In other 
                ‘rural tourism’, takes differing forms, develops        words, although a variety of specific issues,
                within a vast range of physical, social and polit-      such as farm diversification (Frater, 1983), rural
                ical environments, and results in a wide diver-         resource management (Pigram, 1983), the
                sity of outcomes. Rural tourism is a dynamic            socio-cultural implications of rural tourism
                phenomenon, both creating and reflecting                 development (Bouquet and Winter, 1987;
                change within its reach.                                Perdue et al., 1987) and the concept of ‘rurality’
                  Perhaps rather ambitiously, this special              (Hoggart, 1990), as well as international com-
                edition has a twofold purpose. First, the con-          parisons of rural tourism (Grolleau, 1987), had
                tributions reflect an international perspective          been addressed previously, this was the first
                that aims to identify common themes and also            attempt to construct a theoretical framework
                to highlight the multifaceted and interdis-             for the study of rural tourism development. In
                ciplinary nature of ‘rural tourism’ across conti-       particular, Bernard Lane’s (1994) paper ‘What
                nents, and to illustrate its varying roles within       is rural tourism?’ was ground-breaking in its
                wider development agendas. Second, a decade             attempt to define and clarify rural tourism.
                on, it offers something of a reflection on earlier         During the decade since the publication of
                perceptions of rural tourism as they were iden-         the special issue, increasing attention has been
                tified and defined in the 1994 special edition of         paid to rural tourism development within 
                the Journal of Sustainable Tourism (JoST).              the tourism literature (see, e.g. Sharpley and
                                                                                     Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
           120                                                                                          Editorial
           Sharpley, 1997; Butler et al., 1998; Roberts and     development. At the same time, and drawing
           Hall, 2001a), and commensurate with the con-         on Patmore’s (1983) earlier work, Lane sug-
           tinuing decline in the contribution of agricul-      gests that, mirroring concepts of rurality, the
           ture to rural communities and economies,             nature of rural tourism can be represented by
           efforts to realise the potential contribution of     a continuum. Thus, countryside on the urban
           tourism to rural development have been in            fringe enjoys a ‘strong day-visitor trade’; con-
           ever greater evidence in many Western coun-          versely, peripheral regions may attract lower
           tries. The experience in Britain with respect to     levels of visitation although they may offer
           the 2001 outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease          opportunities for more traditional or ‘pure’
           (FMD), however, would suggest that the sig-          rural tourism activities.
           nificant economic contribution and the scope             Importantly, two interrelated subthemes are
           of tourism in rural areas remains largely            implicit here. Firstly, it is suggested that the
           unrecognised, manifest in the continuing bias        demand for rural tourism is related directly to
           within national rural policy towards the agri-       the particular characteristics of rural areas 
           cultural sector (Sharpley and Craven, 2001).         and, secondly, it is assumed that the principal
           Therefore, this special issue explores, through      motivation for visiting the countryside is to
           a comparison of rural tourism in a number of         experience rurality. In other words, a causal
           different countries, the extent to which the con-    relationship is seen to exist between the rural
           cepts, principles and themes highlighted 1994        environment and tourism, justifying the defin-
           still present us with issues 10 years on.            ition of rural tourism as an identifiable type of
             Anumber of common themes emerge from               tourism, and rural tourism is an end in itself —
           the papers in this collection that both reinforce    to experience the countryside.
           and challenge earlier ideas. The purpose of this        From this contemporary snapshot of the
           editorial is to identify what the editors see as     state of (rural) play, it would appear that prob-
           the early core themes and to review the con-         lems with definition and conceptualisation
           temporary contributions in relation to them.         persist. Barke’s paper clearly articulates how
           Essentially, three overarching issues are iden-      the lack of clarity with regard to definition has
           tified relating to definition and conceptualisa-       influenced data collection resulting in only
           tion, sustainability, and rural tourism as an        partial information on rural tourism in Spain
           agent of rural development.                          with regard to both scope and scale. Brieden-
                                                                hann and Wickens comment on the way in
           RURALITYAND RURALTOURISM—                            which concepts of ‘rural tourism’ have grown
           ISSUES OF DEFINITION AND                             and Gartner suggests that this has happened
           CONCEPTUALISATION                                    alongside accelerated ‘demand for touristic
                                                                use of rural areas’. The notion of pure rural
           Perhaps the most widely cited paper in the           tourism as an end in itself is not a focus of any
           1994 issue remains Lane’s consideration enti-        of these papers. Barke identifies the develop-
           tled ‘What is rural tourism?’ Certainly, his         ment of ‘active’ pursuits as one major change
           analysis of the characteristics of rural areas       in countryside use in Spain. Indeed, rural
           and his ‘typology’ of rural tourisms are             tourism’s wider conceptualisation suggests
           referred to in all subsequent key publications       that it may be more commonly accepted as any
           on the subject in the English language and           form of tourism in a rural area, potentially
           more widely at an international level.               extending Lane’s continuum and placing a
             Lane suggests that ‘rural tourism’ exists as a     focus on activities that contrast with the ‘pure’
           concept, albeit a diverse one. The notion of a       product and are a means to an end rather than
           ‘pure’ rural tourism is introduced; tourism that     ends in themselves. The rural may indeed have
           is located in rural areas, is rural in scale, char-  become another playground.
           acter and function, reflecting the differing             If, as is suggested by most of the contribu-
           and ‘complex pattern of rural environment,           tors to this journal, rural tourism is largely a
           economy, history and location’ (Lane, 1994) —        domestic phenomenon, the disparate nature of
           interestingly, this forms the basis for many of      the industry and the multiple ways in which it
           the principles of sustainable rural tourism          is perceived across continents may be no more
           Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.                               Int. J. Tourism Res. 6, 119–124 (2004)
                Editorial                                                                                              121
                than an academic debate. A tourism that is              the need to implement sustainable manage-
                ‘rural’ in scale, for example, is a concept             ment systems to protect fragile areas; (ii) the
                unlikely to be shared by North Americans and            need to mediate between the conflicting aims
                Europeans although there may be more under-             of conservation and development; (iii) the
                standing of it in South Africa or in Australia. It      need to encourage balanced, broad-based but
                may appear, therefore, that useful definitions           community focused economic growth; and 
                of rurality depend not upon particular combi-           (iv) the need to maintain the ‘rurality’ of rural
                nations of functional elements such as popula-          areas. These principles are, of course, common
                tion density or land use, for example (Lane,            throughout the sustainable tourism literature
                1994), but rather are socio-cultural constructs         and a number of other papers in the 1994 issue
                that reflect people’s learned perceptions of that        suggest means of operationalising them.
                which represents rurality and which are, there-           Effectively, therefore, rural tourism is seen 
                fore, culturally bound. Beeton’s paper on rural         to be synonymous with sustainable tourism
                image in the Australian film industry suggests           development, with all that is implied for the
                that such socially constructed meanings are             nature, scale, character and ownership of
                influenced (perhaps even created?) by popular            tourism development. However, the concept of
                media such as cinema. Thus, images of rural             sustainable tourism development as a univer-
                Australia as threatening and unforgiving; a             sal blueprint for ‘appropriate’ tourism devel-
                place to be respected and even feared have              opment remains contested both generally and
                resulted in a perception of Australians that            within the rural tourism context (see Roberts
                reflects strength, defiance and pride in place.           and Hall, 2001a). Perhaps of more relevance 
                Beeton suggests that change in the tourist gaze,        to the present discussion, it is based upon 
                even within one country, is a dynamic process           three fundamental assumptions: firstly, that all
                that is subject to an increasing range of social        tourists visit the countryside primarily to ex-
                influences.                                              perience rurality; secondly, that sustainable
                  For Hall, imaging and, in particular, re-             tourism is the most effective (and universally
                imaging, have an importance for countries               appropriate and acceptable) means of achiev-
                that wish to recast images tarnished by                 ing economic growth; and, thirdly, that the
                conflict. Rural areas provide opportunities for          character and quality of rural areas should 
                the promotion of countries of central and               be protected or held stable while the world
                southern eastern Europe to promote them-                around them transforms or progresses. Cer-
                selves as tourist destinations through portray-         tainly in the case of the British countryside,
                als of bucolic timelessness synonymous with             much planning and policy making appears
                sustainability.                                         guided by a ‘countryside aesthetic’ (Harrison,
                                                                        1991) that seeks to maintain a nineteenth
                RURALTOURISM AS                                         century Wordsworthian countryside in a
                ‘SUSTAINABLE’ ACTIVITY                                  twenty-first century world.
                                                                          Hjalager’s paper on the Randers Fjord area
                The influences of the Brundtland Commission              in Denmark, which analyses the concept of
                and the Rio Summit are, of course, evident in           leisure life modes and their influence on rural
                the content of the JoST papers. As Bramwell             tourism development, focuses on the impor-
                (1994) observed in his introductory paper, ‘a           tance of socio-cultural aspects of sustainability.
                crucial point in many developed countries is            The convergence of local and visitor lifestyles
                the specially high regard in which the coun-            is proposed as an essential element of sustain-
                tryside is held: it is seen as special and there-       able development, ensuring local participa-
                fore particularly worthy of protection’. The            tion and resulting in ‘a change-resistant
                focus of any tourism development in rural               tourists–locals’ alliance.
                areas, therefore, should be on sustainable                As pointed out by Hall, well-integrated,
                development that protects or retains the intrin-        rural tourism can provide an important com-
                sic qualities of the countryside. Lane (1994)           plement and counterbalance to coastal mass
                goes on to provide four further reasons for             tourism that has characterised many countries
                adopting sustainable development policies: (i)          with warm climates such as in south and
                Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.                                   Int. J. Tourism Res. 6, 119–124 (2004)
           122                                                                                        Editorial
           southeastern Europe. However, the fact that         drawing more stakeholders into development
           rural tourism was pioneered in northern Spain,      processes.
           where tourism activity was relatively low,            Briedenhann and Wickens’s paper is a study
           before its importance was recognised in the         of rural tourism within a context of social,
           south might suggest that it is seen as a devel-     political and economic transition in South
           opment substitute rather than an alternative,       Africa, and suggests a development pattern
           demonstrating a lack of understanding of its        not unlike that experienced in former CEE
           potential.                                          countries in the 1990s. The tourism industry
             Views of sustainability as the luxury of ide-     has been seen as a central support for the
           alism remain, and these are, of course, to be       Reconstruction and Development Programme,
           found in countries grappling with political,        although, as the authors point out, its mani-
           economic and social crises. De Villiers, cited in   festo is not yet being implemented in any
           Briedehhann, eloquently and simply puts the         meaningful way at municipality level. The
           case: ‘how can someone whose children are           focus of this paper is rural tourism’s potential
           without food be expected to care about ele-         as a development tool, and a number of con-
           phants?’                                            straints are identified that will be familiar to
             Issues of sustainability, therefore, although     many involved in rural development. In citing
           still prominent in the rural tourism literature,    Greffe (1994), amongst others, the authors
           have expanded to incorporate a wider range of       point to the lack of experience and training
           issues that appear to draw tourism into widen-      amongst the industry’s providers as one of a
           ing policy concerns, and the achievement of         number of constraints to the achievement of
           ‘sustainable’ rural tourism becomes ever more       development potential. As they point out, this
           elusive.                                            is not unique to South Africa. Also more
                                                               widely recognised is the existence of a ‘depen-
           RURALTOURISM AS AN AGENT OF                         dency mindset’ where rural (agricultural?)
           RURALDEVELOPMENT                                    development funding traditionally has been
                                                               forthcoming from the state. That funding
           The third and, perhaps, central theme within        sources reflect fundamental development
           the 1994 issue is that of the potential roles       rationales may not be well understood by
           of tourism in rural development. Reflecting          potential providers — another issue familiar 
           a broader recognition of the relationships          to rural developers in a number of countries.
           between tourism and development, a number           Despite such challenges, however, the rural
           of papers addressed strategies for developing       tourism industry in South Africa is already
           sustainable rural tourism, although those by        recognised as an important factor in an attitu-
           Greffe (1994) and Gannon (1994) consider most       dinal shift that recognises the validity of
           explicitly tourism’s role in economic and social    African history and culture and sees these as
           development. According to Greffe (1994), there      democratising features as rural tourism
           are five reasons why ‘the authorities’ should        becomes more accessible to previously disen-
           intervene in the development of rural tourism,      franchised groups.
           these being the protection of potentially attrac-     From a different perspective, the issue of
           tive areas, the modernisation of supply struc-      state involvement is raised in Hjalager’s
           tures, marketing, training, and the widening        account of development in Denmark.
           of opportunities for participation in rural         However, because the study area is one of low
           tourism. The latter appears to be a dominant        population (and tourism) density, public sector
           and recurring theme in the contemporary             involvement distorts the economy so that busi-
           papers.                                             ness operators do not need to behave as profit
             Barke’s study of Spain suggests that even         maximisers, relying on the existence of public
           where public sector capacity and experience         provision, subsidy and transfer payments.
           exist, the outcomes of intervention, although         As pointed out by Gartner, however, public
           positive in a number of ways, do not always         and private sector activities in the rural
           benefit local people, and he cites networking        spheres of many economies are inextricably
           as an inclusive practice that has the effect of     linked because declining agricultural incomes
           Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.                              Int. J. Tourism Res. 6, 119–124 (2004)