Rural tourism and sustainable rural tourism

This theme issue of the Journal of Sustainable Tourism is devoted to the issues surrounding the development of rural tourism and of more sustainable forms of rural tourism. They are examined in the context of rural areas in the developed nations of Western Europe. Earlier versions of these papers were presented at the Second International School on Rural Development, held in Galway, Ireland in July 1993, which took rural and sustainable rural tourism as its themes. Consideration is given to developing rural tourism in ways where the supply of tourist facilities and experiences is appropriate to the needs of the host community, the environment and the local suppliers, and where it also matches the requirements of tourists on the demand side. Concern is expressed that rural tourism should not develop as the hapless outcome of inexorable, external forces, and hence prominence is given to the role of local communities and local businesses in shaping rural tourism.