This chapter explains the overviews of tourism, sustainable development, sustainable tourism, and rural tourism; the perspectives on rural tourism destination; rural tourism and entrepreneurship; the importance of sustainable tourism in the global economy; and the importance of rural tourism in the global economy. The fulfillment of sustainable tourism and rural tourism is necessary for modern tourism organizations that seek to serve suppliers and customers, increase business performance, strengthen competitiveness, and achieve continuous success in the global economy. Therefore, it is essential for modern tourism organizations to promote their sustainable tourism and rural tourism and develop a strategic plan to regularly check their practical advancements toward satisfying customer requirement. The chapter argues that promoting sustainable tourism and rural tourism has the potential to enhance organizational performance and gain sustainable competitive advantage in the global economy.
TopBackground
The concept of sustainability has been used to preserve the limited resources due to the rapid increase in population and tourism development (Samsudin & Maliki, 2015). Sustainability can be the policy goal for almost all kinds and scales of tourism activities and environments (Moscardo, 2008). Sustainability has become a practical concept that is beneficial to the progress of tourism development (Chen, 2015). Sustainability is a driver for tourism sector development (Simão & Partidário, 2012). The goal of sustainability-oriented tourism development requires a number of human resource development (HRD) strategies aimed at the tourism industry personnel, host community, and the tourists, and established by the concepts and practices of sustainability (Jithendran & Baum, 2000).
Sociocultural sustainability includes human capital (e.g., awareness, experience, knowledge, skills, and behavior), and incorporates basic human rights (Cottrell, Vaske, & Roemer, 2013). Socioeconomic growth and developments have led to human communities toward the creation of tourism opportunities, which are likely to be considered as ways of spending leisure and reducing the impacts of tensions resulting from a rigorous urban and industrial life (Erfani, Afrougheh, Ardakani, & Sadeghi, 2015). Emissions from tourism and their contribution to climate change significantly set a major challenge for the sustainability of international tourism (Hall, Scott, & Gössling, 2013). Performing the environmentally friendly operations allows a tourism entity to build its image as an operation that cares about the living environment of human beings (Chiu, Lee, & Chen, 2014).