Dear Colleagues,

Broadly speaking, rural tourism refers to the movement of people to rural areas to carry out several activities, based on nature, on agriculture, and on rural lifestyles. Thus, rural tourism may be related to various forms of environment and countryside, small towns, and some kind of interaction with the local population (concerning their work activities, their cultural heritage, etc.).

In recent years, this form of tourism has grown significantly in several world regions. The reasons of this growth can be linked to both the demand and supply. The tourist flows are looking for new forms of experiences outside of traditional circuits, and their “new” needs are often “inspired” towards sustainability and responsibility principles. These needs have probably been amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic, for example increasing the search for less crowded places. In relation to its complexity, from the point of view of supply, a wide range of “rural touristic products” can be identified and developed, some centred on “adventurous” or sport practices, some on food tasting and cooking, some on artistic experiences, some on social rituals, etc. In all these products, the different forms of hospitality—in particular small accommodation facilities—play a crucial role. 

The new trends in tourism demand have been considered an important factor in promoting local development of rural areas and to lead socio-economic and environmental changes in them. Rural tourism can offer job opportunities to rural populations, but also to maintaining the rural landscape, to enhance local heritage, to create new value in agriculture, to guarantee family employment, to include women in paid work, etc. Rural tourism is increasingly considered as an element of revitalization of depressed areas, as well as an opportunity for diversification of local firms, especially in case of farms.

In this context, several policies have been developed, at various scales, aiming to promote rural tourism.  Nonetheless, it is difficult to set universal guidelines for such kind of interventions, considered the need to comply with specific areas and communities.

This Special Issue aims to attract innovative contributions, both from scholars and stakeholders, to provide theoretical and empirical analysis on rural tourism by the supply, demand, and institutional perspectives. The editor encourages original research, review articles, notes, and commentaries with particular reference to submission that take into account economic, social, cultural and environmental implications related to rural tourism, also in an interdisciplinary approach.

Dr. Fabio A. Madau
Prof. Dr. Corrado Ievoli
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Tourism and Hospitality is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• rural tourism destinations and flows
• rural tourism experiences and products
• rural small accommodation facilities
• rural tourism and consumers’ needs
• tourism and multifunctional farms
• rural lifestyle, culture and tourism
• covid-19 and tourism reshaping
• rural areas and cultural heritage exploitation