ABSTRACT
Rural areas have featured prominently in the development of tourism and leisure and many of the seminal works in rural studies recognized and developed these themes as areas for investigation. The relationship between tourism and the environment is particularly close in rural areas, which necessitates sensitive planning and management of both the resource base and tourism activity. Tourism can result in positive and negative impacts on the rural economy, environment and society. A key feature of accessible rural areas is relative economic buoyancy, with lower rates of unemployment than remoter rural areas and urban areas and growth in employment opportunities. While rural areas are dynamic environments and change is implicit, evidenced by their use of wind farms and green energy, more radical change has been witnessed in the postwar period than at any other time before, relating to social, environmental, political, economic and technological elements of the countryside.
