Ecotourism, Agro-Tourism and Rural Tourism in The European Union

Ecotourism, agro-tourism, rural tourism are forms of tourism that emerged in the last century, becoming increasingly important sectors of the tourism industry worldwide. The new kinds of life-style, the evolving tourist behaviour and continuously changing customers’ preferences coupled with the widespread concern about environment, industrial heritage and sustainable development are all factors that led to the expansion of these niche market types of tourism. The objectives of this paper are to research important implications and identify significant trends of ecotourism, agro-tourism and rural tourism in the European Union, focusing on the New Member States area, as there is a lot of potential for the expansion of these forms of tourism in the region. The Old Member States earn significant income from agro-tourism, while in the New Member States this is rather an unexploited opportunity, despite the fact that the cultural heritage and number of unspoilt natural areas is much more abundant than in the West. This paper will also look at the policies in this field, as the European Union is very interested and active in supporting agro-tourism and sustainable development, and many policies, programmes and initiatives address the three types of niche tourism. Key features, economic, environmental and socio-cultural benefits, as well as current and future challenges for ecotourism, agro-tourism and rural tourism in the entire European Union, but more thoroughly in the New Member States will also be addressed, with the purpose of creating a comprehensive paper, able to convince the scholars and practitioners in the field to pay more attention to this rather new topic, as a proactive approach can enable investments and attract more tourists to the area.