Rural areas in Poland constitute a special territory with respect to physico-geographical, economic and social aspects. In order that rural areas and an individual commune may use tourism as a driving force for local social-economic development, in the first place there must be conditions favourable for practising various forms of tourism (bases for start-ing and then intensifying the tourist movement are necessary prerequisites), sec-ondly opportunities must be opened up for creating various enterprises connected with tourism and providing services for tourists, and capable of meeting increased needs of local communities. Conditions (factors) determining rural communes predisposition for under-taking and realisation of development through tourism may be either of external or internal character. Increasing at present tourist demand animated situation in market of tour-ist servieces in Poland. Estimating the tourist sector in the świętokrzyskie voivod-ship in last years, it may be said that this voivodship became very attractive to dif-ferent investments in tourist sector especially in accommodation base. Many different factors had intensive influence into it. These are mainly: creating of Targi Kielce, coming into being many new attractiveness and tourist products and intensive promotion of the świętokrzyskie voivodship also in Poland and abroad.
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Since the half of the 1990's, the development of rural areas was directed into a multi-functional form. Apart from main agricultural functions, dominating in the central steering period, different forms of non-agriculture activity started to develop in rural areas. In new conceptions of rural areas development, of important meaning was tourism, including agrotourism. The main aim of this paper is an attempt to discuss the role of tourism in multi-functional development of rural areas, especially in the Świętokrzyskie voi-vodship. In the Świętokrzyskie voivodship, a considerable development of agrotourist farms, with that of cooperating institutions, like agrotourist associations, con-sultative teams and agrotourist chambers is recently observed. The agrotourism is very important function of this area. First agrotourist farms were organized in 1993. Most of them are small and are not profitable, thus most of their owners became part-time farmers. The income outside the agriculture can be for them just the agrotourism. At present the Świętokrzyskie voivodship is visited by many tourists from various part of Poland. Agrotourism is a real chance for the Świętokrzyskie voivodship farmers, to ameliorate their difficult economic situation.
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