This paper critically examines the role tourism can play in the stabilisation and diversification of rural areas using the example of Poland. Based on the literature and statistical data, the past development and current state of rural tourism in Poland is analysed. Then an analytical framework...

In the 1990s, the European Commission, through the then-novel Leader Initiative, launched rural development programs whose main objective was economic diversification based on the development of new recreational, touristic, or agro-industrial uses that were emerging. The modest size of the...