Green tourism as a perspective direction for rural entrepreneurship development

Abstract

The current state of market transformation of the Ukrainian economy requires the search for new forms of economic management in rural areas. One such form can be small business, as it maximizes the interests of manufacturers and consumers of products. In addition, all segments of people, especially rural, are interested in the development of this sector of the economy. Because it becomes the basis for the formation of the modern economic system of the country by providing employment to a large part of the population. Rural green tourism is a promising manifestation of entrepreneurial activity in rural areas. The development of green tourism is a proven world practice as a way of raising the incomes of rural people. There is currently no systemic national policy in this area in Ukraine. It is necessary to make extensive use of the European practice and to create the necessary legislative environment as soon as possible to overcome the problems hampering the development of rural green tourism based on personal husbandries and farm enterprises. According to statistics, 35% of residents of the EU cities prefer a holiday in rural areas. One third go there because of the busy rhythm of city life, 20% combine holidays with active self-guided travels, the dame amount of people just wants to spend time outdoors. Rural tourism has been around for over half a century. Alsace in the south of France is considered to be its place of origin. In the early 1950s, many farmers began to travel to cities because of losses in agriculture. To stop the migration, the French government proposed to arrange farms for receiving tourists. And in the 1970s rural tourism gained its own status. Now it brings in 1 billion USD profits to the state budget of France and 3 billion USD to the regional budgets. Rural tourism is also popular in Austria, England, Germany, Italy and Spain. In 1992, the EU reformed its Common Agricultural Policy and started targeted funding of the sphere, in particular, for rural road construction. After all, according to EBRD experts, for people born in a countryside, their accommodation in a city is 20 times more expensive 2 than creating the conditions for their life and work in the village. It is also estimated that the income from one place of accommodation is equivalent to the income a farmer brings per one cow per year1. Rural green tourism is a form of business activity, it can be attributed to the field of small business, which forms the market environment in the domestic agro-industrial complex. Its development contributes to the creation of new jobs in the countryside, the introduction of scientific and technological progress in small forms of agricultural production, it is an important source of formation of local budgets and budgets of peasants. They become a buffer zone that reduces the risk of destruction of the potential of large-scale agricultural production2. The development of rural tourism as a new form of entrepreneurial activity requires substantiation of many aspects, which should promote further development and ensure a proper level of competition, which is especially important in market conditions. Therefore, the main task of the article is to study the general concept of the «green» economy, to consider the features of rural tourism in the southern region and to identify factors that have a negative impact on its development.