Abstract:The paper analyses potentials, challenges and problems of the rural tourism from the point of view of its impact on sustainable rural development. It explores alternative sources of income for rural people by means of tourism and investigates effects of the rural tourism on agricultural production in local rural communities. The aim is to identify the existing and potential tourist attractions within the rural areas in Southern Russia and to provide solutions to be introduced in particular rural settlements in order to make them attractive for tourists. The paper includes the elaboration and testing of a methodology for evaluating the rural tourism potentials using the case of rural settlements of Stavropol Krai, Russia. The paper concludes with a ranking of the selected rural settlements according to their rural tourist capacity and substantiation of the tourism models to be implemented to ensure a sustainable development of the considered rural areas.

The attractiveness of the Arctic as a tourist destination has been growing. The growth is determined by a number of competitive advantages of the region in the eyes of foreign tourists. Along with higher income to those countries involved, mass tourism brings serious challenges in remote Arctic areas: increasing pollution through tourist traffic, risk of environmental damage because of accidents with cruise ships. One of the possible solutions to the coexistence between the exploration of Arctic tourist destinations and sustainable development is an innovation-driven growth. In the sensitive Arctic areas, traditional approaches to the development of tourism business are not applicable. Innovation approach represents a new concept of how tourism can at the same time bring economic benefits to remote and peripheral Arctic areas and ensure sustainable development of a fragile environment. The goal of this chapter is to define the categories of innovations applicable in Arctic tourism, including process, marketing, institutional, management, product, and service innovations.

The chapter aims at the identification of existing natural, environmental, and rural resources that have worked together to promote the individual brand of Stavropol Region as a producer of green agricultural commodities and food, as well as a resort area, attractive by its unique environmental conditions. The perspectives of the development of green production are accessed in order to exploit existing regional resources in the long term, encourage local/regional producers and stimulate their economies, which is vital to quality of life in the countryside and a balanced development of rural and urban areas. Special attention is paid to the elaboration of possible ways to increase effectiveness of natural management as an approach to improve the competitiveness and sustainability of rural economies whilst at the same time opening up alternative employment opportunities for rural people.

The chapter studies contemporary innovative approaches to and practices of state support of agricultural production and trade in food and agricultural products. The authors attempt to discover how protectionist policies in the sphere of production and trade affect the level of food security in the conditions of expanding globalization. The chapter focuses on the investigation of advanced innovative practices of state support in the case of selected OECD countries. The authors reveal that the introduction of innovations into the system of state regulation is one of the key determinants of achieving food security in the conditions of the volatile market. Both the volume and priority directions of innovations in agricultural protectionism policies are discussed and evaluated.

The attractiveness of the Arctic as a tourist destination has been growing. The growth is determined by a number of competitive advantages of the region in the eyes of foreign tourists. Along with higher income to those countries involved, mass tourism brings serious challenges in remote Arctic areas: increasing pollution through tourist traffic, risk of environmental damage because of accidents with cruise ships. One of the possible solutions to the coexistence between the exploration of Arctic tourist destinations and sustainable development is an innovation-driven growth. In the sensitive Arctic areas, traditional approaches to the development of tourism business are not applicable. Innovation approach represents a new concept of how tourism can at the same time bring economic benefits to remote and peripheral Arctic areas and ensure sustainable development of a fragile environment. The goal of this chapter is to define the categories of innovations applicable in Arctic tourism, including process, marketing, institutional, management, product, and service innovations.