Rural businesses and communities often consider tourism to be both a positive economic benefit for some and a potential threat to the local environment and communities. Such dual perspectives are evident in both developed and developing nations and lead us to ask how rural tourism could be measured in terms of social, environmental and economic sustainability. With increasing leisure time and disposable incomes, many ‘tourists’ are seeking increasingly unusual and exotic holiday experiences, leading to greater and more frequent travel. Some are beginning to question, however, the sustainability of globalised tourism and are looking to offset the impact of this.

Given these conflicting aspects of rural tourism, this pathway examines the importance of rural tourism in development and explores the sustainability of the sector from a range of perspectives including rural communities in developed and developing economies, tourist perspectives and the role of policy in delivering sustainability.

On this pathway, you will study the following focus module and any two others (in addition to the five core modules) and carry out a research investigation within this theme:

Sustainable Rural Tourism

This module explores the sustainability of tourism in terms of the potential contribution of this industry to development in the UK and overseas. The sustainability of tourism is evaluated in relation to policy frameworks such as the UN’s Global Code of Ethics for Tourism, and government policies; from business and market perspectives, including the adoption of international standards, and in relation to the impacts of tourists on communities and vice versa. The module then explores strategies for sustainable rural tourism development.