ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the general concept of rural tourism and agritourism and other forms of nature tourism. Urbanisation, motorisation and computerisation are three global phenomena which have revolutionised the relationship between humans and nature and which have significantly affected the form of contemporary tourism. Tourism is also a human business activity, where the demand side is represented by tourists, and the supply side by tour operators. The goal of tourism is to provide tourism services and sell tourism products. Similarly to general tourism, rural tourism and agritourism fulfil a wide range of very important leisure, health-promoting, didactic, educational, cultural, social, economic, spatial and environmental functions. Different forms of nature tourism, especially rural tourism and agritourism, cater for the essential human need for contact with nature. Every farmer or tour operator providing services in rural areas should consider different aspects of tourism, which correspond to various areas of knowledge or skills.
