The identification and estimation of local conditions of agrotourism development in rural areas

An analysis, identification and assessment of the local conditions of agrotourism development in rural areas is performed in the paper. The important role of tourism both in the state policy and regional policy have been shown in the state and regional documents. In most of European countries off-farming activities become more and more important as a source of income for farmers' families. In some regions agrotourism can be regarded as a significant non-agricultural activity. In Poland the data of Agricultural Census indicates that the number of farms with off-farms activity increased. The agrotourist farms are still more and more important in many parts of Poland, especially in the wi tokrzyskie voivodship. The local and voivodship authorities are obliged to improve and invest in agrotourist base, also using the European Union funds. This study is the analysis of natural and social-economic elements of geographical environment in the wi tokrzyskie voivodship. The article is a trial of showing how rural areas are diversified for agrotourism.