|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The development of Rural Tourism in the eighties was a response to the socio-cultural
development of an urban society demanding this kind of touristic offer, in response
to the economical context (decrease of agricultural activity, incomes, rural depopulation)
and the entry of women into the job market.
Rural tourism development can stop the rural depopulation, create alternative income
opportunities, foster sustainable development, and give response to new market trends.
The quick rise of rural tourism activities was triggered by the strong support of
the European programme Leader I, Leader II & Leader Plus and the Spanish variant
"PRODER". This generated an unsustainable growth of capacity from practical
0 establishments in 1990 to more than 14,000 legally registered (plus about twice
as many unregistered) accommodation units in 2009. Annual rates of increase in capacity
were around 20%.
Domestic demand for rural tourism makes for more than 90% of the total number of visitors, basically from the middle class, and is based on weekend trips and short breaks during long week-ends. There is yet no relevant habit of spending main holidays in the countryside, except in some areas of the North Coast. International demand is concentrated on few areas (Balearic and Canary Islands, Andalusia, and Cantabria sum more than 50% of all foreign visitors).
Different legislation is in force in each of the 17 regions, and more than 70 different official denominations amongst rural B&B, hotels, and self-catering – meant to highlight the specificities of regional culture and architecture -- are mostly confusing even for national clients.
Restrictive and complex legislation that considers accommodation service as full business, if anything different from pure room rental is offered, generates a considerable “grey market” of holiday homes that are not legally registered. Maximum capacity varies from 8 – 20 bed-places per establishment (depends on regional legislations), above this limit the accommodation is considered either as hotel/guesthouse, or as apartments.
|
|
Definition and Mission | Qualification System for Accommodations |
|