This book reviews the theory and practice of tourism and recreation in rural areas in Europe. Including numerous case studies , 9 chapters cover: the changing nature of recreation and tourism provision in rural areas; the emergence of sustainability in the development debate; the different levels of policy influencing recreation and tourism development, and emphasizing the connectedness between local and global processes; the role and influence of the local community in recreation and tourism; changing patterns of tourism consumption; the changing nature of tourism supply; and the processes relating to the convergence of supply and demand.

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. Contributors include 29 leading researchers, practitioners and commentators from ten countries around the world. Subjects covered include the ongoing evolution of rural tourism as a genre; its numerous niche markets, and market trends; community involvement, and its impacts on rural landscape conservation and society. Special attention is paid to product development in rural tourism, including food and beverage tourism, avitourism and landscape appreciation. Management Issues are also dealt with, as is the impact of internet booking systems on both commercial performance and regional and national rural tourism governance. There is a review of trends in academic research in rural tourism with an analysis of 1848 refereed and published research papers since 2000. This book is a worthy successor to Bramwell & Lane’s pioneering 1994 publication, Rural Tourism and Sustainable Rural Development. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Sustainable Tourism.