Turystyka wiejska jako czynnik rozwoju lokalnego w krajach Europy i Ameryki Łacińskiej

The article characterises development of tourism in some rural areas of France, Poland and of Ecuador, aiming at the presentation of opportunities of activation of local economies, thanks to the introduction of tourist function among the existing functions of the studied areas. It has been proved that such possibilities do exist, especially in the regions of high tourist and recreational attractiveness and some tradition of receiving visitors ( examples of Masuria region in Poland, French Serdagne, the Amazon and the Andes in Ecuador). The growing interest in different forms of alternative tourism seems to be a factor contributing to the development of rural tourism. It is characteristic that people, who initiate tourist services ofnew type, usually come from outside the local community (sometimes from abroad). The local population participates in tourist services only in a limited way. The cases presented in the article confirm the idea that the development of tourist infrastructure is relatively easy in those places where the rural population already has had experiences in obtaining revenues from different sources, among them the labour migration. Experiences of many local communities show that financial resources coming from outside, as well as the experience gained during trips and stays in other regions - especially contacts with people coming from other cultural areas can stimulate local initiatives concerning the construction of new tourist installations and the organisation of new forms of tourism and recreation. The importance of local and regional politics favourable to the initiative of developing tourist services, coming from the local communities has been stressed.