ABSTRACT
As a focal point for geographical research, the recreational and tourism potential of rural areas is not a new theme for geographers to consider. The interest in rural areas has a long tradition (Owens 1984) but the problem remains that much of the research conducted, with a few exceptions (Page and Getz 1997; Sharpley and Sharpley 1997; Butler et al. 1998; D.R.Hall and O’Hanlon 1998), is now dated, fragmented and continues to view rural areas as either a recreational or a tourism resource. It fails to adopt a holistic view of the rural resource base as a multifaceted environment capable of accommodating a wide range of uses (e.g. agriculture, industrialisation, recreation and tourism) and values. As Patmore (1983:124) recognised, ‘recreation use must compete with agriculture, forestry, water abstraction, mineral extraction and military training’ within the rural environment which has both spatial implications for competing and complementary land uses as well as for the identification of the ways in which recreation and tourism may be accommodated in an ever-changing rural environment.
