Green tourism as an economic activity, unlike the typical return journey of people to the rural environment in certain periods of the year, is a very recent phenomenon,, according to Carlos Antonio Albacete Sáez, Professor of Business Management of the University of Granada who, in his book “Service quality in rural lodgings”, which has just been published by the Publishing House of the University of Granada, says that this economic activity started to develop in Spain around the middle of the eighties; northern regions where the first to develop this sort of tourism.
“To the contrary –the author of the book says- in some European countries, green tourism is a long tradition economic phenomenon. Thus, in France, Austria and England, this has been a consolidated activity for more than fifty years, generating wealth and employment. It has been estimated that about 25% Europeans spend their holidays in a rural environment (Assam, 1993)”.
According to Professor Carlos Antonio Albacete, the strong development in certain European countries and the backwardness in Spain is in the great development of sun and beach tourism in our country, a product that has placed Spain as a world leader. This sun and beach leadership has given rise to a priority dedication of the Public Administration to that product, relegating other alternative tourism forms as green tourism, which need a strong support of the Administration.
The book, which includes from green tourism concepts to unequal development, by communities, in our country and an assesment of service quality or the characterisrics of the sector, points out that green tourism immaturity together to its fast development has caused, in Spain, an unequal stablishment in the different Autonomus Regions.
“This situation–Carlos Antonio Albacete says – has given rise to different conceptualizations and typologies when regarding to rural lodgings. This way, we can talk about hamlet houses (casas de aldea) in Asturias, hostelries (hostelerías) in Galicia or inns (posadas) in Castile and León, to refer to similar lodgings. There is a lack of uniformity if we observe other well-consolidated sectors such as hotels, boarding houses, restaurants, etc.
Green tourist
The Andalusian Council, by its Decreto 2012002 of the 29/01, defines rural houses as those located in a rural environment and offer a maximum of 20 hotel beds. Lodgings in flats, it is to say, independent apartments in a several-floor building, not situated in a traditional house, are not rural houses.
According to Professor Carlos Antonio Albacete, a rural tourist is “a person who stays at a habitat of an agrarian town in lodgings with low environment impact (rural houses, rural hostels, family hotelries, campsites, etc.) and responds to motivations linked to the enjoyment of specific values of the rural environment: contact with rural culture, knowledge of its heritage, contemplation of nature and landscape, enjoyment of silence and peace, physical and spiritual recovery, etc.»
To the contrary, tourism activities based on large tourism villages, big hotels, golf courses or ski runs do not fit with the concept of green tourism. The distinguishing condition of tourism supply in green tourism is to provide tourists a personalized contact, an insertion in the rural environment with its inhabitants, as well as a participation in their tasks, habits and lifestyle. The cultural and pedagogic dimension of this type of leisure is much appreciated; studies carried out on this matter show that most rural tourists, who come from upper-middle class, do properly appreciate cultural values and local identity.
The author of the book “Service quality in rural lodgings” affirms that the advantages of green tourism are, a priori: “possibility of developing open-air activities, little pollution, reduced overcrowding, contact with nature and the possibility of practising new cultural activities”.
Reference:
Professor Carlos Antonio Albacete.
Department of Business Management. University of Granada
Phone number: 958 242352.
E-mail: calbacet@ugr.es
