Henrietta Nagy

The role of tourism types in the context of rural development in Hungary

Various expressions are used in the international literature for tourism in rural areas, which mainly reflect what activities they focus on while realizing tourism. By national and international researchers and authorities, rural tourism is usually interpreted as a part of rural, agricultural, regional, environmental and tourism development as well, highlighting the interaction between these fields. The aim of our study is to have an overview on the role of tourism in the rural development, by collecting the various approaches. In our paper, we also focus on the situation of Hungary, since many rural areas consider tourism as a way to catch up, even if they do not have the necessary economic and social conditions and resources. Tourism is thought as the easiest development possibility for areas lagging behind, but it is a misleading concept. We believe that in many cases tourism can be an appropriate tool to revitalize rural areas, to keep and create rural jobs and to maintain services, but without an overall and long-term concept it is not possible to achieve sustainable development in the sector.