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