Advances in Sustainable Rural Tourism: Methods, Strategies and Practice

Dear Colleagues,

In modern societies, consumers are visibly reorienting towards ecological products; this reorientation also includes the tourism field, highlighting the interest in the rural environment, whose characteristics give it individuality, specificity and authenticity, and its resources, which are the "main strong points" of rural areas, are at the same time the "must haves" that tourists are increasingly demanding, in this way guaranteeing the obtainment of ecological tourist products as well as products with a high degree of originality. Rural tourism activity can also ensure the preservation of the viability and stability of rural localities because the phenomenon of depopulation and the abandonment of old households and land is present and evident in many areas.

The meeting between the rural environment, a particularly fragile environment, and the dynamism imposed by the tourist phenomenon generates certain risks. The sustainable development of the rural environment and the capitalization of local resources through tourism activities requires a smart holistic approach of the economy, society, and the environment, through different methods and techniques, the final effect of this approach being the achievement of strategies that generate competitiveness and development with a focus on sustainability, so as to generate an alternative for agriculture problems and ensure the improvement of the life quality of local communities by diversifying the economy and maintaining economic stability.

Therefore, the interest of Special Issue, entitled “Advances in Sustainable Rural Tourism: Methods, Strategies and Practice”, is oriented towards original research/studies and focuses on concrete proposals regarding the capitalization stage of specific resources of the rural environment through rural tourism, specific strategies intended to highlight the role of rural tourism in ensuring sustainable development, case studies exploring different methods and strategies applied in different areas for the development of rural tourism, the proposal of strategies for capitalizing on local community resources with an emphasis on sustainability, etc.

For this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Case studies regarding the development of rural tourism activity in a particular area;
• Proposing concrete directions/strategies for capitalizing on the resources of the rural community through rural tourism;
• Studies to analyze the impact of rural tourism on the local community using specific methods;
• Analysis of the openness of local communities towards rural tourism activity;
• Presenting/proposing examples of sustainable rural tourism entrepreneurship;
• Innovative proposals for "branding" the rural environment through rural tourism.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Ramona Mariana Ciolac
Prof. Dr. Tiberiu Iancu
Prof. Dr. Gabriela Popescu
Dr. Tabita Cornelia Adamov
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. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2400 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
• smart development strategies
• sustainability
• rural resources and community development
• branding methods for rural environments