Rurality in Flux: A Perspective on Rural Tourism Enterprise

Abstract

This study underlines how a reordering of rural space has made rurality into a complex symbol of identity encompassing a broad range of meanings that both unite and split community on how they are applied in packaging and promoting places. In fact, it can be argued that rurality is in flux given the ambivalence it evokes - some take it seriously, arguing for a need to conserve, and others regard the conservation efforts as a joke, more of a gimmick in the light of the dissipation of sociocultural and natural attributes they have witnessed in their community. Thus it is fair to say that rurality no longer embodies static meanings and traits. In fact, whilst on one hand, there is a predominance of urban interests in the countryside, on the other rurality is boxed and presented for consumption in urban localities. In illustrating how creative enterprise is bringing about an innovative use of the rural ethos and space, this work will present case insights from India and Mexico. Findings underline how rurality acts as a tool for thinking about and reassembling local identity, mediating distinctions between insiders and outsiders, fact and fiction and inverting ways in which places are consumed.