Rural Tourism: A Local Economic Development

Abstract

Rural Tourism is a potential sector in the development of both urban and rural areas. In rural environments, tourism destinations help in communities’ empowerment as well as attaining a sustainable local economic development. The development of rural tourism destinations is carried out based on the villages’ potential as a tourism product attribute. The community itself is not passive but an active meaning it is not only the destination of tourism activities the organizer. They become an inseparable part of tourism products, distinctive local wisdom. The research used descriptive qualitative techniques, and the population was selected using purposive and accidental sampling. Expectedly, the sample villages have very distinct characteristics and potential tourist destinations. The social, economic and cultural factors can add to tourism potential, although the two can also be obstacles in developing the village's strategic plan to transform the village into a tourism community. The strategy produced is related to sustainable economic, environmental, development, and community approaches.

Keywords

• rural tourism
• strategy
• local economic development
• indonesia
• community empowerment
• sustainable development