Context and Characteristics of Rural Tourism

Rural tourism is a factor affecting the rural regions and the diversification of the Bulgaria's tourist destinations utilising unused resources. The main consumer of its product are the urban people living in a technical environment, losing their personal identity within the urban community and subject to the stress factors of modern occupations. Original elements of the rural tourist product are: the farmyard and the "open air room" consisting of trellis vine, garden arbour; the rural house with its friendly messages and recognition of man's importance; the contacts and communication within the rural community; a specific colloquial language introducing humanism into personal relationships; rural labour as an anti-stress factor stimulating and encouraging the expression of the personality; rural culture, fairs, dances and sports contests, creating opportunities for the expression of the personality and everyone's participation unlike the urban elitist sport; truthfulness of perception - an antipode of modern communications mediated by the media, creating a virtual world of computer screen images, Internet images and telephone voice reproduction; sports and health services in the farmyard including open air water treatment procedures, excursions, riding, hiking and cart trips, bicycle excursions, revived forms of placebo effect of the folk treatment methods, herbal treatment, etc. On the basis of empirical studies, the economic conditions for village people have been analysed, that allow them to make profits, to attain a liquidity level, etc., through rural tourism. By the capitalisation of the house can be activated a number of non-convertible assets, employment among unemployed people, etc.