The objective of this study is to review the different viewpoints of research addressing “agro”, “agri”, or “rural” tourism, ascertain the implications of relevant scientific articles and suggest future research avenues related to sustainability and sustainable development issues. A two-step systematic approach was followed in identifying “agrotourism”, “agro tourism”, “agro-tourism”, “agritourism”, “agri tourism”, “agri-tourism”, or “rural tourism” articles in the Scopus database. Articles were selected if they corresponded to the keywords: sustainable development, sustainability, local development; thus, 252 papers were selected. The findings indicate that the literature does not analyze integrated approaches to sustainability, sustainable and local development in depth. The results are discussed mainly on qualitative grounds, from the supply side and with limited policy recommendations. They also display that the papers mainly refer to single case studies and comparative studies are lacking.

This study investigates the characteristics of informal agritourism-related networks within destinations with the help of social network analysis by measuring macro and meso structural aspects of networks in two tourist destinations in Greece with different geographic characteristics: an island-Lesvos (in North Eastern Aegean) and a continental locality-Plastiras Lake (central part of Greece). The main objective is to illustrate and discuss quantitative and qualitative aspects of these networks with selected actors who are linked (directly or indirectly) with the agritourism sector through personal in-depth and semi-structured interviews. The quantitative aspects include: quantity of links, spatial extent of networks, type of relationship, its “thickness”, the duration of the relationship, issues of seasonality as well as satisfaction of the cooperation. The qualitative aspects include the type of relationship of the actors over the link and who (if anyone) has “control” over this relationship. The main findings indicate that the examined networks are partially affected by the geographic characteristics of the case studies and they are very similar in terms of absolute numbers and network metrics. Although research on networks has been an emerging and promising approach, qualitative characteristics of informal networks seem to be integral for understanding networks and planning tourism policies.

Tourism is an activity encompassing economy, society and nature. Besides mass tourism, many different forms of tourism activities and products have developed and are gaining ground in terms of demand. Debates on the definition of such typically small scale activities have brought forward a number of different types, including ‘agrotourism’, ‘agritourism’ and ‘rural tourism’. This paper contributes to the conceptual analysis of agritourism with a focus on its effects on local development. After a brief historical sketch of agritourism development, the effects on local development found in the literature are presented. Then, a typology of different forms of agritourism is discussed, including aspects of supply and demand, the scale of operation of the enterprises and networks of enterprises related to agritourism. Finally, we explore the case of small islands, a special type of space, and their local development with these types of ‘alternative’ tourism activities alongside ‘conventional’ tourism. The conceptual framework that results suggests the need for a case and area specific mapping of type, scale and network of enterprises in order to determine impacts and provide important information for managing and planning agritourism, especially on islands.

Accessibility is a multifaceted concept that expresses the case of access between two points in space. For islands, accessibility is a key quality, since isolation and small size considered as inherent characteristics of “islandness”. In this paper, we discuss differences between geographical distance and accessibility potential in the Greek Aegean, combining different transportation modal choice (ferries and airplanes) with the use of an accessibility index that incorporates modes and frequency of connection and data of actual usage. The findings indicate that geographical distance is not determining accessibility and new geographies emerge based more on the availability of transport modal choices.