An estimation of tourism dependence in French rural areas

This paper estimates the importance of tourism in the economies of rural areas. Considering previous analyses of rural dynamics, the study 1) focuses on tourism activity, 2) analyzes the situation of Functional Economic Areas (FEAs), and 3) takes into account socioeconomic indicators as well as landscape attributes. Using statistical analysis of secondary data, resource-like regions are defined, the local share of tourism employment is estimated, key results regarding tourism indicators by cluster are presented, tourism-dependent FEAs are identified, and the relation between, on the one hand, tourism indicators and resource variables, and on the other hand, regional growth indicators and tourism dependence, is studied.