Rural Tourism: The Essence and Aspects of Concepts and Terminology

Abstract

Many scientists work on the research of various aspects of the rural tourism functioning, but despite this, in the scientific field still remains the problem of uncertainty and ambiguous interpretation of the definitions in rural tourism, which is primarily due to the multidimensional nature of this type of activity and the lack of understanding of its essence. Therefore, the objective of this article is to study and generalize the terms and concepts that occur in the conceptual field of rural tourism. Different approaches are applied to determining the essence of rural tourism not only in Ukraine but also abroad. The most common of them is the definition of rural tourism as one being implemented within rural areas. But, in our opinion, this approach is controversial and cannot claim to be the most objective, as in the practices of dif ferent countries there is diversity not only in the types and forms of rural tourism, but also in relation to the territorial size of rural administrative units, their definition by population etc. And the peculiarity of rural tourism is not only in its implementation in the countryside, but also in the specifics of tourist services that are provided. The article analyzes the definition of the “rural tourism” concept proposed by different authors, specifies the use of the terms “rural tourism” and “rural green tourism” in the scientific field, describes the foreign approaches to the definition of rural tourism. The relationship between the concepts of “rural tourism”, “agro-tourism” and “ecotourism”, which is often debatable, is also defined. It can be argued that rural, agro- and ecotourism have different contents and imply different goals of activity. But in the field of science there is a commonplace approach to understand rural tourism as a kind of synthesis of three varieties - eco-tourism (green), agro-tourism (farmer) and rural tourism. At the same time, the concept of “rural tourism” in its contents is much broader than the concept of “agro-tourism”, which acts as one of its most common organizational forms, and to a certain level correlates with the notion of “ecological tourism”, although they are not identical. The article proposes a generalization of the essence, specific features and functions of rural tourism, based on modern research in this direction and the asser tion that the main service of rural tourism is not just providing tourists with temporary residence in the country farmstead, but provision of a comprehensive service for tourists, as well as taking into account its role as an instrument for ensuring sustainable socio-economic development of rural areas