Rural Tourism

Introduction

Rural America is a popular tourist destination. According to a recent study, nearly two-thirds of all adults in the Nation, or 87 million individuals, have taken a trip to a rural destination within the past three years (Travel Industry Association of America, 2001a). Almost nine out of ten of these trips were for leisure purposes. Overall, the travel industry is big business in America.
Travel expenditures within the U.S. totaled nearly $564 billion in 2000, making the travel and tourism industry the third largest in the Nation (after health services and business services), and accounting for total direct employment of over 7.8 million (Travel Industry Association of America, 2001b).
Tourism has many potential benefits for rural areas (Frederick, 1992). Tourism can be an important source of jobs for nonmetro communities, especially for those that are economically underdeveloped. Because jobs in the tourist industry often do not require advanced training, local residents with few skills can readily work as food servers, retail clerks, and hospitality workers. Tourism also not only offers business opportunities to local residents, but it can serve as a vehicle for marketing a place to potential residents and firms, as today’s tourist may return
later to retire or start a business locally.