Rural footprints of leisure choice: Exploring spatial complementarities in ‘Happy Feet’ and ‘Green Beauty’ tourism

The ‘Happy Feet’–‘Green Beauty’ tourism nexus represents the functional spatial interplay between entertainment-centered tourism and nature-based visitors' choices. This paper seeks to explain rural (non-urban) tourism patterns emerging from the interaction between the two forms of tourism in the context of sustainable destination development, using Las Vegas and its hinterland as a case study. The analysis addresses important key concepts related to the urban–rural tourism nexus, namely deconcentrated concentration of tourism, health tourism, nature/eco-tourism, tourism crowding, spatial substitution/complementarity in tourism, outer-inner city tourism synergy, and intervening spatial opportunities in tourism. The study develops a novel methodological framework for identifying the drivers of rural (non-urban) tourism choices as spillover factors from tourism crowding in major attractions. Mapping out this transition in leisure behavior contributes to a comprehensive understanding of the ‘Happy Feet’–’Green Beauty’ tourism nexus for post-corona tourism development and informs future research and practical implications in tourism spillover studies.