This book of cases about rural tourism development in Canada demonstrates the different ways that tourism has been positioned as a local response to political and economic shifts in a nation that is itself undergoing rapid change, both continentally and globally.

Rural tourism represents a merging of perhaps two of the most influential yet contradictory features of modern life. Not only are the forces of economic, social, cultural, environmental and political change working to redefine rural spaces the world over, but broad global transformations in consumption and transportation patterns are reshaping leisure behaviour and travel. For those concerned with both the nature of change in rural areas and tourism development, the dynamics and impacts of integrating these two dramatic shifts are not well known but yet are becoming increasingly provocative discourses for study. This book links changes at the local, rural community level to broader, more structural considerations of globalization and allows for a deeper, more theoretically sophisticated consideration of the various forces and features of rural tourism development. While Canadian in content, the cases and discussions presented in this book can be considered generally relevant to any rural region, continentally and globally, that has undertaken or is considering rural tourism development.

Chapter 1 Introduction to Rural Tourism Development

Chapter 2 Political Economy of Rural Tourism Development in Canada

Chapter 3 The Case of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

Chapter 4 The Case of Port Stanley, Ontario

Chapter 5 The Case of Vulcan, Alberta

Chapter 6 The Case of Canso, Nova Scotia

Chapter 7 Synopsis - From Case Studies to Premises

Chapter 8 The Complex Role of Culture in Rural Tourism

Chapter 9 Changing the Rural Landscape

Chapter 10 Notions of Community

Chapter 11 Sustainability and Rural Community and Sustainable Rural Tourism

Chapter 12 The Role of Public Policy

Chapter 13 Presenting a Process for Planning that Engages Community

Chapter 14 The Way Forward: Re-thinking Rural Tourism Research and Practice