DEVELOPMENT OF RURAL TOURISM IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC: CASE STUDY OF THE SOUTH BOHEMIAN REGION

Rural tourism is one of the most significant and especially sustainable forms of tourism, which are further divided into other subcategories - e.g., agrotourism, eco-tourism, hiking, cycling, walking, etc. The South Bohemian Region, thanks to its primary and secondary offer, represents a very suitable area for the promotion and development of this form of tourism. The paper proposes to evaluate the position of rural tourism in South Bohemian tourism and by primary and secondary data to offer specific recommendations for support of rural tourism in the region. Specific suggestions include strengthening cooperation between different stakeholders in tourism or improving transport infrastructure. The questionnaire survey revealed that visitors are interested in rural tourism in the region, with interest in horseback riding prevailing in specific rural activities. The main barriers to the development of rural tourism, which have been pursued by semi-structured interviews, include the lack of cooperation between the tourism stakeholders in the region but with the more or less improving conditions.