농촌관광의 새로운 방향과 정책과제

Abstract

1984년 관광농원 조성사업이 시작된 지 근 30년, 2002년 농촌관광 마을사업이 시작된 이래 10년의 세월이 흘렀다. 농촌관광 시장은 확대되었으며 농촌관광 공급 주체도 다양해졌다. 도시민 가운데 농촌관광 경험자의 비율이 24%를 넘을 만큼 농촌관광은 관광의 한 분야로 자리를 잡았다. 한국에서 농촌관광은 이제 성숙기에 들어섰다고 평가된다.

농촌관광 시장이 현재에 이르기까지 정부의 농촌관광 정책이 기여한 바가 적지 않다. 정부가 지원한 1,000여 개의 관광마을이 농촌관광을 홍보하고 시장 규모를 확대하는 데 크게 기여하였다.「도시와 농어촌 간의 교류촉진에 관한 법률」제정을 통한 체험마을에서 숙박 및 음식물 판매는 농촌관광을 활성화하는 커다란 계기가 되었다.

하지만 농촌관광의 지속성 유지와 산업화라는 관점에서 볼 때 정부의 지나친 개입은 바람직하지 않다. 이러한 관점에서 이 연구에서는 농촌관광 수요 동향과 농촌관광 경영체의 경영 실태를 파악하고 정책 방향을 제시하였다.

Background of Research This study aims to identify the demand and supply for rural tourism, and make suggestions concerning the policy direction of rural tourism. This study are based on a number of major policy issues, like "What is the market size of rural tourism?" "What is the rural tourism consumers want?" "What should be the policy for rural tourism at the village level?" and "Should individual enterprises be the target of policy support?"

Method of Research The chapters in this study cover the following contents: Chapter 1 is the introduction to the study; Chapter 2 provides the definition and scope of rural tourism and examines Korea's policy trends of rural tourism; Chapter 3 identifies the market size of rural tourism, rural tourism trends of urban residents, and foreign tourists' demand for rural tourism in Korea; Chapter 4 examines the supply side of rural tourism and investigates the management state and problems of rural tourism driven by the government at the village level and the rural tourism driven by individual enterprises; in Chapter 5, the policy direction and tasks needed to reinvigorate rural tourism are set out; and finally in Chapter 6, the summary and conclusion are given.

Research Results and Implications In this study rural tourism is defined as a basic concept that is based on the rurality of tourism fulfilled in the bountiful nature. In order to investigate the demand for rural tourism, this study conducted a survey of residents in the six metropolitan cities. According to the survey results, it was found that the total length and times of travel for rural tourism increased sharply in stark contrast to the total length of domestic travel which has declined. The foreigners who visit rural tourism villages are mostly Asians and the Chinese comprise a big portion of the visitors, and these people are group tourists who travel through travel agencies. As for the policy direction of rural tourism, the following suggestions are made: tightening of the criteria for selection of rural tourism villages; improvement of the operating organization; improvement of the manager and expert support system; continued evaluation of tourism villages and implementation of accreditation system; development of rural homes for home stay; implementation of reliable insurance and online reservation-payment system; development of enterprises for rural tourism; overhaul of other support systems; expansion of foreign rural tourists; and development of tour packages and products.

Researcher(s): Si-Hyun Park, Yong-Ryul Kim, In-Hye Kwon, Kyeong-Seon Ryu Research Period: 2012. 1 ～ 2012. 12 E-mail address: shpark@krei.re.kr