Rural tourism - development challenges of selected Mediterranean countries

Turizam predstavlja pojam s kojim su se gotovo svi na svijetu barem jednom susreli, te označava putovanje neke osobe, te njihovo provođenje vremena u nekom prostoru, koji nije njihovo stalno prebivalište. Ovo putovanje ovisi o različitim faktorima, od financijske mogućnosti i slobodnog vremena do interesa osobe koja putuje. Ti različiti interesi dovode do različitih želja što dalje dovodi do nastanka različitih oblika turizma, putem kojih se svim osobama žele ispuniti te želje. Jedan od takvih posebnih oblika turizma je i ruralni turizam. On predstavlja turizam koji se odvija unutar nekog ruralnog prostora te uz koji se vežu aktivnosti tipično pronađene na farmama ili u selima. Kratkim pregledom sektora turizma u Hrvatskoj, Italiji i Turskoj, prelazi se na ruralni turizam unutar tih zemalja. U Hrvatskoj dominira kupališni turizam, no u posljednjim desetljećima javlja se interes za razvoj drugih oblika turizma koji nisu povezani uz more. Jedan takav je i ruralni turizam, čiji lagani uspon predstavlja nadu za razvojem kontinentalnih regija te smanjenja tereta koji turizam stavlja na pomorske gradove. U Italiji ogroman interes za ruralni turizam počinje desetljeće ranije, te se javlja zbog velike depopulacije u ruralnim regijama. Od tada se ruralni turizam, odnosno agroturizam, u Italiji širi i razvija stabilnim tempom. Razvoj ruralnog turizma u Turskoj započinje planom za diverzifikaciju turizma Turske, nakon kojeg nastaje interes za taj oblik turizma. Sa velikim udjelom teritorija koji se koristi u poljoprivredne svrhe, Turska ima dobru podlogu za njegov razvoj, te se pokretanjem projekata i osnivanjem organizacija vezanih uz ruralni turizam postiže upravo to. Naravno, uz razvoj ruralnog turizma se javljaju i izazovi koji ga sprečavaju. Time se, nakon prethodnih analiza turizma te ruralnog turizma, prikazuju problemi unutar svake od zemalja. Od sezonalnosti, različite razvijenosti regija do premalog marketinga, nedostatka istraživanja, suradnje i standardiziranja. Svaki problem se razlikuje od države do države no, stvaranje kvalitetne strategije koja se fokusira na ruralni turizam bi te izazove smanjio.Tourism is a term that almost everyone in the world has encountered at least once and denotes the journey of a person and the time they spend in a place, which is not their permanent residence. This visit depends on various factors, from financial opportunity and free time to the interests of the person. These different interests lead to different desires, which leads to the emergence of various forms of tourism, through which the persons desires will be fulfilled. One of such forms of tourism is rural tourism, which takes place within a rural area and includes activities typically found there. After a brief overview of the tourism sectors in Croatia, Italy and Turkey, the analysis changes to rural tourism within these countries. Croatia is dominated by coastal tourism, but in recent decades there has been interest in the development of other forms of tourisms that are not sea related. One such is rural tourism, whose slow rise represents the hope for the development of continental regions and the reduction of the burden that tourism places on maritime cities. In Italy, the huge interest in rural tourism begins a decade earlier and occurs due to large depopulation in rural regions. Since then, rural tourism, or agritourism, has been expanding and developing at a steady pace. The development of rural tourism in Turkey begins with a plan to diversify Turkey's tourism, after which there is interest in this form of tourism. With a large share of territory used for agricultural purposes, Turkey has a good basis for its development, and the launch of projects and the establishment of organizations related to rural tourism achieves just that. Of course, in addition to the development of rural tourism, there are challenges that prevent it. After previous analyses of tourism and rural tourism in each of the countries, those challenges are presented. From seasonality, uneven development of regions to the lack of marketing, research, cooperation and standardization. Every problem varies from country to country but, creating a quality strategy that focuses on rural tourism would reduce these challenges