Rural tourism: Nurturing prosperity and community resilience

Rural tourism entails visiting rural regions for leisure, recreation and cultural immersion. It is valued for its potential to generate economic opportunities, preserve cultural heritage and conserve natural resources while empowering local communities. It offers potential for economic development by creating employment opportunities and generating income for rural residents through various tourism-related activities. This paper investigates the benefits to local communities of rural tourism development through a comprehensive review and insights from community stakeholders. The research was based on existing literature and employed a survey using a structured questionnaire and rigorous data analysis techniques. The survey included three well-known villages for their tourism experiences in the Korça region located in the southeastern part of Albania. The primary research targeted 200 members of the local communities aiming to analyze their perceptions of the benefits that rural tourism brings to their communities both in terms of income generation and socio-economic benefits. The study revealed that rural tourism has positively contributed to the economic development of these communities through revenue growth, the generation of employment and self-employment opportunities as well as the improvement of infrastructure through the lens of community perspectives. Rural tourism holds considerable promise for advancing sustainable development by offering economic, social and environmental benefits to rural regions. However, careful planning, community involvement and adherence to sustainable tourism principles are required.