ABSTRACT
It goes without saying that the negative impact of many modern tourist activities on nature and the environment influences national and international policy. In addition to the negative influences of current activities, there is also the issue of how tourist activities can positively influence the economic development of traditionally agricultural regions which have experienced sharp declines in their agricultural activities in the last decades, though they are attractive rural sites, such as Tuscany, inland Spain and Central France. The crucial question is to what extent communities in these areas are able to organise economic life in such a way that sustainable tourism can be facilitated and promoted to the benefit of the local stakeholders. Bätzing (1991 and 1996) states that tourism development should be based on ecological and landscape limitations. Rural or regional development has to be used as a framework for all problems relating to nature conservation and tourism.
