Development of rural tourism as a tool for the preservation of culture

Abstract

The development of a given place or settlement can be successful if built on local endowments. We must not neglect, however, those «soft» factors without which the respective place would not have been attractive. A large part of this is made by elements of local culture: habits, traditions, crafts, local architecture etc. [1] We can only neglect what we do not know. If we know something, we are attached to it; it becomes part of us, if not in other way, in forms of feelings. On this ground, a known habit is a more definite part of culture related to a respective place, which may be the pledge of survival in some problematic regions and cultures.