ABSTRACT
The promotion of recreation and tourism has been both praised and criticized as a rural development strategy. This study uses regression analysis to assess the effect of recreation and tourism development on socioeconomic conditions in rural recreation counties. The findings imply that recreation and tourism development contributes to rural well-being, increasing local employment, wage levels, and income, reducing poverty, and improving education and health. But recreation and tourism development is not without drawbacks, including higher housing costs. Local effects also vary significantly, depending on the type of recreation area. With their high rates of growth, rural recreation counties represent one of the main rural success stories of recent years. During the 1990s, these places-whose amenities attract permanent residents as well as seasonal residents and tourists-averaged 20% population growth, about three times that of other nonmetropolitan counties, and 24% employment growth, more than double the rate of other nonmetro counties. However, tourism-and recreation-based development has been viewed as having negative as well as positive economic and social impacts, leading some local officials to question recreation development strategies.
