Rural tourism development opportunities : case study of Marijampole region

Straipsnyje pateikiama Marijampolės apskrities kaimo turizmo paslaugų plėtros galimybių ir alternatyvų analizė, remiantis atliktu tyrimu, kurio metu buvo apklausti poilsiautojai bei kaimo turizmo sodybų savininkai. Tyrimo duomenys panaudoti sudarant kaimo turizmo paslaugų plėtros galimybių schemą bei išskiriant plėtros alternatyvasRural tourism is a growing and evolving process related to the natural, cultural, social and economic resources for business development. The satisfaction of tourists’ needs and expectations by offering wider range of services encourages customer loyalty and attract new customers, strengthen competitive positions. One of the main problems for rural homesteads owners is holiday service development. This problem is the lack of attention, not being used to the environmental conditions and potential opportunities. The aim - the analysis of rural tourism activities in Marijampole county and offer of rural tourism development measures and policies. In order to assess the needs of holidaymakers and farms operating characteristics, from December 2012 till February, 2013 were conducted two questionnaire surveys. One was for the tourists’ needs clarification, the other – for disclosure of rural tourism specific activities and variety of services in Marijampole county to identify possibilities for performance improvement. Based on data were provided rural tourism development guidelines for the scheme and alternatives. Marijampole rural tourism services missing complexity – conference rooms, good food. There is also a lack of homesteads that could accommodate a large number of vacationers. Service offerings insufficient: tourists need more entertainment, but not much Marijampole county homesteads could offer that. Near homesteads are just few rides, swings, insufficient good accommodation conditions. Almost all Marijampole rural tourism homesteads located near rivers or other bodies of water, often near or next to the homestead is a forest. Marijampole county rural tourism results in recent years significantly decreased, so in order to properly evaluate Marijampole county rural tourism activities, authors have been carried out a questionnaire survey. [...]Vytauto Didžiojo universitetasŽemės ūkio akademij