Cultural Potential of Rural Tourism

The authors of the article substantiate the relevance of the analysis of the cultural potential of such a direction of domestic tourism as rural. Rural tourism is often interpreted in a narrow sense as recreation in rural areas. The authors believe that this type of tourism should be understood more broadly, taking into account both the interests of the potential target audience and the cultural potential of traditional features of rural lifestyle, rural activities, gastronomic specifics, as well as ethnocultural artifacts and symbols. The purpose of the article is to analyze the cultural potential of rural tourism in the Sverdlovsk region. The analysis is based on a resource-based approach. The authors applied the following methods of collecting and analyzing information: case analysis, an online survey of residents of the Sverdlovsk region ( N = 450), and document analysis. An online survey of residents of the Sverdlovsk region showed that half of them do not know about rural tourism projects in their region, while they are available to the mass consumer. The interests and needs of potential tourists in the region are related to the offers on the rural tourism market. When choosing a holiday in rural areas, the majority of respondents are interested in the cultural and educational direction (66%), the ethnographic direction evokes a response from 33% of the surveyed residents of the Sverdlovsk region. 62% of respondents are ready to spend 2-3 days in rural areas, and 26% of respondents would prefer to devote 10-14 days to such rest. 60% of respondents are interested in visiting local attractions, and half of the respondents would be interested in traditional crafts. In ranking the interests of potential tourists, the preparation of national dishes and participation in national holidays occupy an important place in the organization of rural recreation. It can be concluded that in a narrow sense, rural tourism is recreation in rural areas. In a broad sense, rural tourism is recreation that includes not only accommodation, but also acquaintance with natural, historical and cultural attractions, participation in the everyday or festive life of the village. The cultural possibilities of rural tourism from the point of view of the resource approach meet the needs of internal and external target audiences and have great potential.