The role of women in spa tourism in Spain: an invisible issue for rural development?

The purpose of the article is to substantiate the innovation and investment principles of green tourism in rural areas in the context of decentralization with a combination of production systems in order to explore opportunities and provide proposals for further functioning of the national economy. Methodology research is to use a set of methods: economic-statistical, monographic, system, economic- mathematical, abstract-logical and others. The scientific novelty of the obtained results is the introduction of innovative, economically feasible and research meth- ods with regard to sustainable development of green tourism in rural areas in decentralization, which are associated with the adaptation of theories, principles and rules of great importance for sustainable rural development of green tourism in the context of global transformations. Conclusions. The modern principles of effective functioning of green tourism in rural areas in the conditions of decen- tralization at a combination of production systems are substantiated. The tools of the general research methodology with regard to sustainable development of green tourism in rural areas in the context of decentralization are proposed. Adaptation of a system of theories, principles and rules that are essential for the formation of sustainable rural development are related. Key words: rural areas, decentralization, green tourism, innovations, branch, sustainable development, aquaculture, tools, methods.

This study investigated the intersection of healthy and sustainable human settlement, and land use for spa tourism in rural areas. Recognizing the crucial role of youth in shaping the future of tourism, this research aimed to provide an insight into the young local rural community representatives’ perception of sustainable spa tourism development and to identify whether these attitudes are shaped by their socio-demographic characteristics. The applied methodology was the Sustainable Tourism Attitude Scale (SUS-TAS). A total of 254 respondents took part in this research. Using SPSS 30.0.0, the gathered data were subjected to additional analyses based on factor analysis, descriptive statistics, and the general linear model. The results showed a general positive attitude of local community members towards the further development of spa tourism in their communities. The especially important factors were the following: long-term planning of development, environmental protection, negative attitudes towards spa tourism development, economic benefits, as well as community participation. By providing an empirical analysis based on the use of robust tools for measuring youth attitudes, this research offers valuable insights for policymakers, planners, and community leaders into how they can design and implement tourism strategies that align with sustainability principles while fostering local economic development and environmental stewardship. The ultimate goal is to contribute to the broader discussion on developing healthy, sustainable human settlements that balance economic benefits with ecological and social well-being. Synergy/harmony between communities and their natural surroundings is essential for the social, economic, and environmental sustainability of rural human settlements. Mineral springs and spas facilitate sensory experiences for individuals (both tourists and residents) through the utilization of natural resources and the environment.

The development of tourism businesses based on private homesteads in rural areas is an essential economic tool in solving the social and economic problems of the local population. Changes caused by globalization and new trends in the development of the modern world make it increasingly necessary to preserve cultural and historical features. Preservation of traditional agricultural activities using tourism business in rural areas is a unique opportunity for the formation of niche and exclusive tourism products, as well as for not forgetting historical activities and for creating new jobs in rural areas. In Adjara, one of the regions of Georgia, the tourism business in rural areas is developing inconsistently. State bodies do not participate in the intensive and sustainable development of tourism in rural areas. There is no rural tourism business development model according to which accommodation, food, and other related service elements would be formed. The local population with little knowledge and less intellectual capacity creates low-quality tourism products in rural areas. The problems mentioned above lead to the slow development of tourism in rural areas, due to which the rural population is still actively experiencing many economic issues. The purpose of this work is to show the importance of raising the education of the rural population for the sustainable and intensive development of the tourism business in Adjara, which will contribute to the rapid growth of tourism in the rural areas and solve the socio-economic problems of the local population. The article discusses the challenges related to the sustainable development of tourism in rural areas, which refers to the lack of education in the relevant direction of the local population. The article presents the original ways of solving the above-mentioned problems.As a research method, we used the method of systematic analysis and questionnaire, in which we studied the tourist facilities located in the villages of Adjara, and the knowledge and skills of the local population in the direction of business management. Based on the research objectives, a questionnaire was developed in advance by us, which included the research statements. The main part of our research was to collect information about the education of people living on the homestead, which is a prerequisite for sustainable and intensive development of tourism business in rural areas.

This study conducts in-depth research on geographic information visualization and the sustainable development of low-carbon rural slow tourism under artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze and discuss the visualization of geographic information and the sustainable development of low-carbon slow tourism in rural areas. First, the development options related to low-carbon tourism in rural areas are discussed. Then, a low-carbon rural slow tourism recommendation method based on AI and a low-carbon rural tourism scene recognition method based on Cross-Media Retrieval (CMR) data are proposed. Finally, the proposed scheme is tested. The test results show that the carbon dioxide emissions of one-day tourism projects account for less than 10% of the total tourism industry. From the proportion, it is found that air transport accounts for the largest proportion, more than 40%. With the development of time, the number of rural slow tourists in Guizhou has increased the most, while the number of rural slow tourists in Yunnan has increased to a lesser extent. In the K-means clustering model, the accuracy of scenario classification based on the semantic features of scene attributes is 5.26% higher than that of attribute likelihood vectors. On the Support Vector Machine classifier, the scene classification accuracy based on the semantic features of scene attributes is 19.2% higher than that of the scene classification based on attribute likelihood vector features. CMR techniques have also played a satisfying role in identifying rural tourism scenarios. They enable passengers to quickly identify tourist attractions to save preparation time and provide more flexible time for the tour process. The research results have made certain contributions to the sustainable development of low-carbon rural slow tourism.

Explanation of the Culture-Oriented Tourism Strategy in Fashaphouieh-Kolain Dehestan

An Analysis on Development Challenges of Cultural Tourism in Rural Areas (Case Study: Binaloud County)

The article substantiates the reasons for the development of recreational tourism in rural areas based on analysis of the concepts and functions of recreation. The article reveals the biomedical and educational functions of recreation. The article demonstrates imbalances in the population distribution in the Northwestern Federal District, which exacerbate the recreational needs of large cities, including recreational tourism. The author gives a brief analysis of the operating experience of rural tourism facilities in Europe, considers recreational potential of countryside in Leningrad region, and characterizes the municipal districts with well-developed infrastructure of rural tourism. The role of government in the reorientation of the population preferences of major cities to the countryside is shown. Guest houses as the examples of successful projects of recreational tourism in rural areas in the region are considered. The problems of development of infrastructure and tourism service are specifies. The article examines the complex of factors needed for successful development of rural tourism in the regions and municipalities. Author emphasizes the need of creation the mechanisms to manage the risks of entrepreneurs, which operating in the tourism sector in rural areas. The author defines the target group of people interested in the development of recreational tourism in rural areas (town dwellers and rural population, regional and municipal authorities) and on the statistical basis shows a significant resource and territorial development potential of recreational tourism in rural areas. The key issues, which hinder development of recreational tourism in rural areas, including, among other factors, the lack of a unified development concept of this type tourism in the region are identified.

This study measures the implementation process for the implementation of sustainable tourism, which generally aims to maintain ecological tourism destinations in a long time, getting feasibility economically, ethically and socially equitable for local communities.The Ministry of Tourism in Act No. 10 of 2009 explicitly pouring ideas and support in the development of sustainable tourism that is "necessary efforts to increase tourism's contribution to economic development, public welfare, strengthening of social values and culture, and environmental protection.In accordance with the definition of sustainable tourism development as stated in the Charter for Sustainable Tourism (1995) is, supported development of ecologically well as economically viable, ethically and socially equitable for society.The tourism sector has not contributed real and direct the economy of local communities in tourism destinations.The development of tourism in Indonesia should be able to increase the quality of life (particularly local), to create added value and strengthen the local culture and social values and local wisdom.The assessment will look at the main aspects that should be considered in the development of sustainable tourism.Phasing and assessment measures and methods that will be pursued are: to prepare the standards and criteria for sustainable tourism development that is intended to be applicable at the destination.This study will generally see an outline of the three phases of activity in the development of sustainable tourism which is done through the process of STD, STO and STC.This study will limit the scope of stages Sustainable Tourism Observatory (STO) to get to the Sustainable Tourism Certification (STC).Sustainable Tourism Development (STD) in the study aims to maintain ecological tourism destinations in a long time, getting feasibility economically, ethically and socially equitable for local communities as well as having an output convergence meeting, coordination meetings and research meeting in these destinations.Sustainable Tourism Observatory (STO), is an activity that is conducted with the cooperation between the ministries of tourism, local governments and higher education area that aims to provide recommendations for the development of sustainable tourism, both the central government, local governments, local communities and other stakeholders , The focus of this study is the implementation of the Sustainable Tourism Observatory (STO) that uses the basics of votes according to the criteria of sustainable tourism for destinations.Whatever method of determining the assessment criteria consist of several parts, namely: a) sustainable management of effective management; b) maximize the economic benefits to the local community and minimize negative impacts; c) maximize the benefits to the community, visitors, and culture; minimize the negative impacts; d) to maximize the benefits to the environment and minimize negative impacts.This methodology explicitly used to design, assess, monitor, evaluate and mitigate and understand the paradigm framework of thinking in the development of sustainable tourism were planned and carried out at tourism destinations.The final results of this study provide recommendations after the criteria are met by the development of sustainable tourism for tourist destinations.The recommendations provide a reference methodological and recommendations in the field of tourism sustainability.Support capacity building on tourism stakeholders to foster participation / public participation, policy trends and the impact of tourism through the development of sustainable tourism as a standard and criteria for Sustainable Tourism Observatory (STO) that can be applied in Indonesia.The application emphasizes the principles of sustainability, which refers to aspects of environmental, economic and socio-cultural development of tourism, and an appropriate balance must be established between these three dimensions to guarantee long -term sustainability.

Developing tourism in rural areas is found as a panacea for many developing countries to alleviate poverty and overcome many other developmental challenges. Although tourism, a non-traditional developmental intervention accrue some economic benefits for local settings, negative impacts of tourism exacerbates the positive impacts. On the one hand Tourism is politically sound development strategy in recapturing and regenerating the development in rural areas on the other hand it challenges the sustainability in the rural development process. This study intended to appraise the role of policies and procedures in Sustainable Rural Tourism Development (SRTD) with the naturalistic evidences from tourism development in rural Sri Lanka. It employed critical qualitative research design to bring forth the interpretations from natural setting through personal interviews, direct observation and field notes in addition to a wide documental review. Documental reviews illuminate a number of ideals of SRTD in supporting local community empowerment, regenerating rural livelihoods, preserving and conserving socio-culture and environment. However, in reality socially constructed world of rural Sri Lanka reveals that the sustainable rural tourism development is curtailed by the inappropriate and unsteady policy formulation and implementation. Weaken policy formulation and implementation in real world of rural tourism development averts the ideals of SRTD.

Community-led sustainable tourism represents a paradigm shift that emphasizes the role of local residents in shaping tourism initiatives that not only promote environmental stewardship but also enhance local economies and preserve cultural heritage. The research focused on two rural wine destinations, Banoštor in Serbia and Radda in Chianti, Italy, utilizing a constructivist epistemological approach to understand community-led tourism. The study aimed to assess how community involvement enhances the competitiveness of rural destinations, evaluates the social, cultural, and economic empowerment of local communities, and examines the role of community participation in sustainable tourism development. The factor analysis identified three key factors—destination competitiveness, local empowerment, and community participation—that collectively account for 86.25% of the variance in sustainable community-led tourism. This model highlights how community-led initiatives can enhance the competitiveness of rural destinations by attracting eco-conscious travelers and ensuring that economic benefits remain within the community, thus preserving local culture and traditions. Furthermore, active community participation in tourism planning is crucial for sustainability, as it fosters a sense of ownership and aligns tourism development with local values, ultimately leading to long-term benefits for both the community and the destination. To enhance competitiveness, Banoštor must improve wine offerings, invest in marketing, and develop infrastructure while empowering local communities through tourism initiatives, ensuring that local voices are heard and tourism revenues benefit residents.

The article reveals the trends in tourism activities and analyzes the existing opportunities to improve its structure and territorial organization based on developing green tourism in rural areas. The natural conditions and resources of the picturesque rural areas, as well as the unemployed rural population are defined as resources. Forms, sources and mechanisms of organizing green tourism, as well as proposals for the provision and expansion of the range of services are suggested. Prospects for using the EU experience and the benefits of European integration processes for Ukraine are revealed. Recommendations for the establishment of ventures and other tourist associations in the countryside are developed. Research ss conducted in agricultural development; solving employment, organizational and economic problems related to the reproduction of labor potential in the agricultural sector; appearance of new trends in the production and marketing of agricultural commodities. Systemic approach to studying the formation and development of green tourism in the rural areas of Ukraine together with favorable natural potential and surplus labor make up the methodological basis for the work. It is concluded that the development of green tourism in rural areas helps to solve such socio-economic problems in the countryside as unemployment of the rural population. Green tourism in rural areas provides additional income to the rural population, expanding employment opportunities for farmers not only in the manufacturing sector but also in the services sector. With the increase in the number of vacationers it becomes necessary to meet their diverse needs, thus stimulating the development of services: excursions, communications, trade, livelihoods, recreation and entertainment, and so on.

Rural tourism is widely used to activate rural areas. However, the development of tourism in rural areas should not be narrowed down only to this type of tourism. Cultural tourism is promising in this regard. The purpose of this study (using the example of the North- West of Russia) is to assess the resource potential of cultural tourism in rural areas, to identify main problems and prospects for its development. It is revealed that rural territories have a sufficient number of cultural heritage sites suitable for exhibition (hereinafter CHS). 70% of all CHSs of the North-West of Russia are located in rural areas. Of the total number of CHSs in rural areas, 13.4% are of federal importance. The regularity of obtaining a greater effect from cultural tourism in places with a high density of CHSs has been established. The most promising rural areas for cultural tourism have been identified. The resources of cultural tourism on Kizhi Island (Republic of Karelia) and in the village of Izborsk (Pskov region) are considered in detail. The positive practice of activating cultural tourism on the example of the Izborsk fortress has shown the presence of a multiplicative effect for the development of rural areas. However, the development of cultural tourism is hindered by the difficult transport accessibility of the CHSs, insufficient level of their quality condition and limited budget funds intended for the restoration of architectural monuments. The content of the official websites of a significant part of cultural tourism objects does not contribute to the formation of their image and creation of a brand. Prospects for the development of cultural tourism are associated with solving these problems by preservation of existing and creation of new subsidy mechanisms, attraction of private capital.

Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to identify the organisational challenges of cultural tourism development in rural areas and to discuss and address those challenges using the principles of a community-based tourism concept. Methodology – A desk research was conducted to investigate cultural tourism in rural areas and the community-based tourism concept. Then, the case study of Gorski Kotar was introduced as an example of a rural area with potential for further cultural tourism development. Secondary data on Gorski Kotar was gathered from various sources and processed using qualitative approach for the purpose of identifying and analysing the key organisational challenges of cultural tourism in rural areas. Those challenges are discussed in the context of a shift towards community-based tourism and its main principles. Findings – Key organisational issues in the management of cultural tourism in rural areas have been identified and linked to rural community capacities in terms of insufficient social and human capital. In line with the fact that cultural tourism assets are usually an inseparable part of local identity, community-based tourism as a model of tourism developed, owned and controlled by the local community, can be very useful in overcoming organisational problems involved in creating and sustaining tourism products based on local culture. Originality of the research – This paper deals with the rather unexplored topic of analysing organisational elements and challenges as potentially the main causes of success/failure of cultural tourism in rural areas

Purpose: the tourism industry, its development requires adequate knowledge and understanding of the economic, social and cultural issues and factors. : The present study has an effort to evaluate the facilities and infrastructure that needs to development of tourism. It also identify and analysis the factors that affecting in sustainable development of tourism industry in rural area of Jiroft. Methodology: This research is an applied study that has been done whit descriptive - analytical approach. Data and information in this study is collected with the both documentary and field methods. Finding: The results showed that the views of experts, the development of infrastructure and facilities that tourism development are needed them, in the rural area of Jiroft have not been satisfactory and the difference of between the average satisfaction levels and the level of expert’s satisfaction is significant. It also showed that the development of tourism and economic development in this region there have a significant relationship. But the development of tourism in the current situation it has not been able to affect in economic development of this region as it should be. Research limitation: The main limitation of this study is the lack of adequate data and statistics of infrastructure and tourist facilities. Practical implications:The development of communication infrastructure, diversify in residence places, appropriate advertising, creation of tourism villages and etc., employing the skilled manpower, The use of local materials in the construction of hotels and resorts, the increasing of local production of food items, expand production and sale of local handicrafts and conservation and restoration of monuments and historical sites, Including the strategies for sustainable development of tourism in this region. Original/value: The article innovations are in the analysis factors and offering the guidelines for tourism sustainable development in rural areas of Jiroft.

Portugal is considered one of the renowned worldwide destinations where tourism makes a significant contribution to its national economy. Gifted with a long coastline, the country has numerous coastal areas that attract different types of tourists. However, seasonality is still a challenge, where institutions and businesses need to adopt approaches to secure year-round tourism activities. With the changing travel demands such as unique experience and diverse destinations, creating initiatives aimed to boost new local economies and promote quality of life among residents can pave tourism growth and development in different areas, especially those located in the peripheral areas, in this case, where ‘sun-sand-sea’ tourism occurs. Tourism in rural coastal areas acknowledges any opportunity in creating new markets and unique co-creating experiences such as heritage, gastronomy, nature, etc. In order to understand the development of studies about the topic “coastal tourism in rural areas”, a bibliographical review was made by analyzing articles from selected books and journals in the SCOPUS database. This chapter concludes that a dearth of literature exists regarding the main themes linking tourism, tourism in coastal zones and rural tourism. Most studies are still recent, and it is believed that this work would ultimately contribute to the existing literature.