ABSTRACT
Rural tourism and agritourism services and offers, especially where the development of either of them was strongly supported by public policies, were often created not according to the organic growth of demand, but following largely theoretical considerations. All resources of rural submetropolitan areas that have potential for attracting visitors should ideally be unified under ‘destination management’ with a holistic perspective. Rural tourism supports local sustainable development and meets the leisure demands of modern society through a new social solidarity of the city and the country. A rural tourism product is the result of combining a much wider set of elements, where individual services are only one element among many others. Demand patterns, preferences and values are undergoing continuous evolution, and so must be all rural tourism products and services. General perspectives for the future development of rural tourism – both as short-term recreation around bigger cities and as a main holiday product – are very promising.
