Rural Tourism in Transitional Russia's Economics: Fake or Real Alternative to Traditional Agricultural Production?

Abstract

This chapter assesses the potential of rural tourism in Russia, addresses such threats to sustainable rural development as unemployment and depopulation, and substantiates the practicality of diversification of traditional rural sources of income by means of tourism and other alternative activities. The system approach is utilized, which envisages systematization and stocktaking of various aspects of sustainable development: available resources, economic conditions of agricultural production, market capacity and demand for agricultural commodities and food, employment and social issues, environmental conditions, and alternative sources of income for rural inhabitants.