THE ROLE OF COMMUNITY IN RURAL TOURISM DEVELOPMENT AND ECONOMIC IMPACT

Abstract

Local communities around the world are increasingly looking for the ways to be more active in local government and participate in the managing of their local resources. For a region to become a destination for rural tourism and economic development, there must be structured network and collaborative agreements between public sector and private sector actors. The involvement of the community is a key part of tourism and policies decisions. If the decisionsare not made in consultation with the local community during the project phase regarding tourism development in a region, the implementation will be impossible. It is much more vital to identify and involve key stakeholders in the project phase.By enabling the wide participation of different stakeholders in the decision-making process, including the local community, it enables the acquisition new knowledge about other stakeholders, the acquisition of new skills and the exchange of brilliant ideas in rural tourism development and economic impact, which, in turn, fosters and understanding of regional problems and enables exploration of new and innovative solutions in rural tourism development.Rural tourism development is an important part of the economic development and incremental of the country economy in this case of the Peja region. Whether there is sufficient potential for rural tourism development we should evaluate the natural, cultural and socio-historical resources in that country.Peja region has very good opportunities for rural tourism development because it is a place with history, tradition and culture in tourism development, especially rural tourism, because it has many resources.