Resumen

KIEFFE, Maxime. Key topics for the study of community based rural tourism. El periplo sustentable [online]. 2018, n.34, pp.8-43. ISSN 1870-9036.

The global promotion of tourism in rural areas, in the form of community based rural tourism (CBRT), has generated strong expectations of the changes it may facilitate. There is a common misconception in government and international organizations, however, that simplistically links tourism to the fight against poverty on the one hand, and to resource conservation on the other. Current discussion about tourism as a solution to rural development has helped to construct more critical perspectives and shows the need for new models. Thus, the objective of this paper is to define a theoretical-conceptual framework, based on multidisciplinary approaches in social sciences, to further investigate and analyze CBRT, with a holistic perspective. We started by analyzing the existing bibliography relating to theoretical changes in key topics for this study. Field observation, workshops and dialogues with CBRT stakeholders also support this conceptual analysis. We identified of four issues considered essential to the analysis of CBRT, namely: new perspectives on development; rural areas as multifunctional spaces; implementation of tourism in rural areas; and the intercultural role of tourism.

Palabras llave : Community based rural tourism; local development; rural territory; key topics.