Rural tourism development and economic resilience after 2008

Sage Handbook Of Tourism Studies Came Out in 2009

Tourism studies

Rural tourism in the Sage handbook of tourism studies

Tazim Jamal and Mike Robinson, authors of The SAGE handbook of tourism studies refrain from offering a clear and cut definition of rural tourism, but argue that this can be divided into three specific categories:

Economically integrated areas for rural tourism

Intermediate areas for rural tourism, and last

Remote areas for rural tourism.

Rural tourism has for years been undergoing numerous processes of change, generated by forces such as advancing technologies, telecommunications, market powers, environmental pressures or changes in the global markets. These factors are increasing in intensity and creating more pressures for the rural side of tourism.

Rural tourism is as such increasing in size and popularity. It comes to generate an important portion of overall tourism revenues and it employs more individuals across the world. It represents "a new economic opportunity to rural areas that, since the industrial revolution, had lost the manufacturing sector, and had not gained jobs in the service sector" (Jamal and Robinson, 2009, p.358).

The impacts of rural tourism upon the rural communities include the creation of new opportunities for women, an increase in rural incomes, the creation of new uses for heritage or the contribution to the repopulation of rural areas. Still, negative impacts were also presented and these include the demise of the environment due to touristy actions. "[O]f al noxious animals, the most noxious is the tourist" (Jamal and Robinson, 2009, p.359). At the overall level of the industry, the development of rural tourism has supported the general growth of the touristy industry through the creation of more alternative options.

3. Education and training in tourism

"The new vocational training certificate program helped Omar become a model of what the Siyaha project wanted to accomplish -- rather than rejecting a career in hospitality, he is excited by it. He now sees a bright future ahead and looks forward to completing a six-month internship in the industry. Part of the Vocational Training Center's training program, the internship will give Omar a chance to hone his hospitality skills in one of Jordan's prominent hotels" (Chemonics)

The changes which have recently occurred within the economy -- and subsequently within the touristy industry -- have also generated more salient impacts. One of the more relevant examples in this sense is represented by the field of touristy training and education.

The fields were traditionally focused on training current and future employees on how to attract and interact with the foreign visitors. The employees in tourism were requested to speak several foreign languages so that they could easily communicate with the tourists. All in all, the central feature in tourism training and education was represented by the need to possess skills and abilities to serve the foreign customers.

As the economy changes however, more and more tourists are domestic, rather than foreign. This virtually means that the efforts to tourism training and education are reshaping to no longer center on the foreign visitor, but to also include the domestic visitor.

The emphasis on foreign tourists is not eliminated from the training and educational programs, but these are adjusted to include more focus on the national tourists. All in all then, the training and education programs in tourism are coming to place more emphasis on knowing and serving the national tourists, who are already familiar with the region. In such a setting, more importance is granted to the quality of the experience, rather than just that of the touristy attraction. Gradually then, the field would come to emphasize more on the quality of the touristy service and this would support the development of the sector and an increase in the effort to satisfy customer needs and wants.

4. Rural tourism in Nigeria

"Nigeria offers a wide variety of tourist attractions such as extended and roomy river and ocean beaches ideal for swimming and other water sports, unique wildlife, vast tracts of unspoiled nature ranging from tropical forest, magnificent waterfalls, some new rapidly growing cities and climatic conditions in some parts particularly conducive to holidaying. Other attractions include traditional ways of life preserved in local customs; rich and varied handicrafts and other colourful products depicting or illustrative of native arts and lifestyle, and the authentic unsophisticated but friendly attitude of many in the Nigerian population" (Online Nigeria, 2011)

Nigeria is one of the most developed African economies. Its revenues are supported by oil operations, but the country is faced with tremendous problems of corruption, political instability, poor macroeconomic management or a weak infrastructure (Central Intelligence Agency, 2011).

From the standpoint of tourism, Nigeria is often sought by the foreign populations and it is valued for its rich cultural and environmental heritage. In this context, rural tourism is flourishing in the region.

People from across the world travel to Nigeria to experience the nature and the culture. The visitors are mostly people from developed economies, where the environment and the culture have been seconded by industry and development. The tourists as such look for the authentic Nigerian experience, the nature and the crafts. And rural tourism presents the country with the opportunity to provide these services to the foreign customers. Furthermore, rural tourism in Nigeria would be a suitable solution to offer the country a chance at economic revival and social development.

"Hence rural tourism is the area where Nigeria has the comparative advantage to create a niche and attract tourists enough to bring about the economic and social development of our rural areas there by ending a steady rural to urban migration of youths looking for scarce white-collar jobs"(Abari, 2010).

Rural tourism is as such an answer not only to attracting more visitors to the region, but an actual means of generating more revenues, decreasing the dependence on oil and supporting the overall socio-economic development of the country.

References:

Abari, Y., 2010, Rural tourism is the best option for Nigeria, News Tower, http://newstoweronline.blogspot.com/2010/10/rural-tourism-is-best-option-for.html last accessed on December 8, 2011

George, E.W., Mair, H., Reid, D.G., 2009, Rural tourism development: localism and cultural change, Channel View Publications, ISBN 1845410998

Jamal, T., Robinson, M., 2009, The SAGE handbook of tourism studies, SAGE Publications Ltd., ISBN 1412923972

Pillai, S.K.B., Govindas, B.A., Klaus, W., Feng, C.R., 2010, Rural tourism: catalyst of socio-economic transformation in the face of global warming and financial crisis -- a case study of Goa, Asia Pacific Journal of Research in Business Management, Vol. 1. No. 2

2011, The world factbook -- Nigeria, Central Intelligence Agency, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ni.html last accessed on December 8, 2011

2011, Tourism in Nigeria, Online Nigeria, http://www.onlinenigeria.com/travel/index.asp last accessed on December 8, 2011

Terms and definitions, Ecotourism in America, http://www.ecotourisminamerica.com/tools/definitions / last accessed on December 8, 2011

Training changes attitudes towards tourism industry in Jordan, Chemonics, http://www.chemonics.com/projects/default.asp?content_id=%7B60d85324-bae7-422b-939b-64cc8cb836c1%7D last accessed on December 8, 2011