The Role of Rural Tourism in Economic Development: Example of Turkey

Involvement in the tourism movements has been rising every passing day along with the globalization concept. Tourism sector contributes doubly to economy. One of them is interpreted as social activity, and the other one as economic activity or industry. Ultimate purpose of tourism is marketing a particular service to an individual who participates either as a day tripper or as a recreationist. In this respect tourism sector is a commercial sector. Today, tourism has gone beyond sea, sun and sand. A variety of tourism forms exist; such as nature tourism, adventure travel, science tourism, eco-tourism, cultural tourism, alternative tourism and rural tourism. Rural tourism plays a vital role in tourism sector. This study aims to emphasize among other tourism forms rural tourism is an accelerator power for developing countries like Turkey. Ultimately, rural tourism prevents rural immigration and is a significant medium for the publicity of Turkey; which can be integrated in various forms of tourism, which has assorted authentic recreational activities those can be done in all seasons, which contributes to the protection of natural and cultural heritage, which serves sustainable tourism concept. The paper also includes; the rural tourism policies which are applied, and applications of rural tourism. Moreover SWOT analysis for Turkey’s rural tourism will be carried out.