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Studies & Degrees in Rural Tourism Management

Rural tourism management is the part of tourism studies that deals with businesses and destinations outside the cities: country houses and small hotels, farm stays, campsites, activity companies, wine and food routes, and the tourism offices of villages and natural areas. UN Tourism describes rural tourism as tourism in which the visitor's experience is linked to nature-based activities, agriculture, rural lifestyle and culture, angling and sightseeing. It takes place in areas with low population density, a landscape dominated by agriculture and forestry, and a traditional social structure and lifestyle.

Students learn how to run a small accommodation business, how to design and price a tourism product, how to market it online and how to plan tourism in a way that benefits the local community and protects the landscape. Typical subjects are accommodation management, marketing, quality systems, heritage and natural areas, local development, business plans and public funding for rural areas.

Qualifications and levels

Few institutions offer a full degree in rural tourism. It is usually a specialisation inside a general tourism qualification or the subject of a short course.

  • Bachelor's degree in Tourism. In Spain the bachelor's degree (grado) has 240 ECTS credits. Rural topics appear as optional subjects. The Grado en Turismo of the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), for example, is taught fully online in Spanish and Catalan and includes the electives Turismo en espacios naturales and Turismo y desarrollo local, each of 6 ECTS credits.
  • Master's degree. Official master's degrees in Spain have 60, 90 or 120 ECTS credits. Programmes in tourism planning, sustainable tourism or local development are the usual way to specialise after a first degree.
  • Vocational training (FP) in Spain. Two higher-level qualifications of 2,000 hours lead directly to this field. The Técnico Superior en Gestión de Alojamientos Turísticos lists manager of accommodation in rural houses among its occupations. The Técnico Superior en Guía, Información y Asistencias Turísticas lists local tourism development agent.
  • Short courses. Online courses for owners and staff of rural businesses cover one topic each, such as managing a rural accommodation, creating a company or quality systems. They end with the provider's certificate. Students should ask what recognition it has.

Where to study it

Our directory lists seven schools for this subject: three in Spain and one each in Chile, Austria, Greece and Ecuador.

In Spain, the UOC in Barcelona teaches its official tourism degree online. The Open Faculty in Murcia describes itself as the official seat of the Faculty of Tourism of the Universidad de Murcia. Its tourism degree lasts four years, is taught in Spanish online and on campus, and includes the management of hotels, rural establishments and campsites among its professional areas. Innovtur, based in the province of Valladolid, offers online and tailor-made courses for workers and managers of rural tourism companies, among them courses on the management of rural tourist accommodation, on creating a rural tourism company with its business plan, and on quality management systems.

Outside Spain, Fachhochschule Salzburg in Austria has a Business and Tourism department with four bachelor's and three master's programmes. Perrotis College in Thessaloniki, Greece, part of the American Farm School, receives study abroad students in a business programme built around agriculture, food industries and sustainable tourism. Universidad SEK Chile in Santiago and Universidad Internacional SEK Ecuador in Quito are also listed. Applicants should check with each of them which tourism programmes are open in the current year.

Languages of instruction follow the country: Spanish in Spain, Chile and Ecuador (and Catalan at the UOC), and German or English in Austria. Study abroad programmes at Perrotis College are aimed at international students.

Careers

Typical roles are:

  • owner or manager of a rural house, small hotel, campsite or hostel
  • local tourism development agent or tourism officer for a municipality, county or natural park
  • organiser of activity, nature, wine or food tourism
  • local guide and tourist information staff
  • marketing and booking manager for a group of rural accommodations

Many jobs are in very small companies or are self-employed, and demand is seasonal. Official statistics for Spain show the size of the sector: according to the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE), rural tourism accommodation recorded 2,474,486 overnight stays in August 2026, 2.72 per cent more than a year earlier, with an average stay of 3.48 days and 42.95 per cent of bed places occupied. UN Tourism promotes this kind of development through its Best Tourism Villages initiative.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a university degree in rural tourism?

Rarely as a separate degree. The usual route is a bachelor's degree in Tourism with optional subjects in natural areas and local development, followed by a master's degree or short courses.

Can rural tourism be studied online?

Yes. The UOC teaches its tourism degree fully online, The Open Faculty offers its degree online and on campus, and Innovtur's courses are online.

Which vocational qualification in Spain fits this field?

The higher-level FP qualifications in Gestión de Alojamientos Turísticos and in Guía, Información y Asistencias Turísticas, each of 2,000 hours. Their official job lists include manager of rural accommodation and local tourism development agent.

Is a degree needed to open a rural accommodation?

The rules for opening a tourist accommodation depend on each region or country and concern the business, not the owner's degree. Training in management, marketing and quality helps to run it. Applicants should check the rules with the local tourism authority.