ASPERMONT, Texas—As cowboys on the Cross Shield Ranch west of here drove a small herd of cattle into a pen one morning last month, the day seemed like any other on a ranch.

The only difference was the motor coach parked near the trucks and horse trailers and the covered bleachers full of out-of-state guests witnessing the typical ranch activity.

It’s a scene economic development organizers hope to see repeated throughout the region.

More landowners such as Eileen and Steve Cochran at the 3,800-acre Cross Shield Ranch are considering rural tourism ventures. Rural tourism takes many forms and can include hosting tour groups, families, social clubs or corporate parties for a few hours or a few days for recreational, educational or historical activities.

Steve Cochran is a third-generation rancher who began hosting tour groups in 2006, averaging about one a month. On June 24, members of the Kentucky Cattlemen’s Association watched the cowboys separate calves from their mothers to be branded, vaccinated and tagged.

The ranch’s six-hour tour agenda also included Don Long of Girard training a 2-year-old filly to accept a saddle and rider for the first time, and rancher Jeff Flowers and farrier Michael Martin shoeing a horse.

“People don’t really see this as tourism that someone would want to see because they do this every day,” said Barbara Bogart, marketing coordinator with Caprock Telephone Cooperative.

But it is that genuineness that most draws people to rural communities, she added.

Other tour activities were a cow dog demonstration and lunch with the cowboys while a three-person band sang western and gospel classics. The lunch included brisket, sausage, roasts cooked in dutch ovens, and breads, side dishes and desserts made by neighbors, friends and relatives. Visitors ate at shaded tables by a tree-lined stock tank. “This is a meal we would have whether you were here or not,” said Bea Allen, Steve Cochran’s sister who travels from Granbury to help with the food. She and her husband, Neil, are partners with the Cochrans in the tour venture.

The Kentucky group was on an eight-day trip through Texas that included stops in Dallas, Fort Worth, Abilene, Plainview and Amarillo.

The Cross Shield Ranch visit was scheduled because the ranch showed “daily activities that the locals do. It’s not staged,” said tour escort Roxanne Bennett with Toby Tours of Louisville, Ky. “They want to see what our grass is like, what our operations are compared to Kentucky,” Allen said about the guests.

The Cochrans also have had tour groups from Russia, Belgium and Japan.

Visits to rural communities likewise appeal to urban Texans, said Remelle Farrar, director of the Knox County Visioning Group, a cooperative effort to boost the local rural economy.

Urban Texans want to visit a place like they think grandma grew up on. They want peace and quiet away from their stressors. They want to walk through nature, eat good food, shop, visit historic places, learn something and see the stars at night, she said.

“Everybody wants to go to Mayberry whether they ever lived there or not,” Farrar said.

Tourism promoters also see a growing interest in rural destinations because studies show that families are taking shorter, more frequent vacations. Abilene’s three- to four-hour drive from Dallas-Fort Worth and Austin makes the city an attractive rural tourism hub, said Nanci Liles, executive director of the Abilene Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Rural tourism will not save a farm facing bankruptcy or solely support a ranch, but it is a viable option that allows landowners to diversify their income, Farrar said.

“It also gives you an opportunity to invest in your own property and your own lifestyle,” she said.

For example, a new bunkhouse for tourists also is an ideal place for the grandchildren to stay during a visit, she said.

Landowners who lease to hunters often broaden into rural tourism to generate income for their property year-round. When the managers at Stasney’s Cook Ranch near Albany started rural tourism seven years ago, some of their earliest guests were their hunting clients who brought their families to the ranch during the offseason, said Debbe Hudman, who oversees guest services and marketing for the ranch. Some farmers and ranchers who are not interested in having hunters on their land find rural tourism rewarding because it allows them to promote their agribusiness and continue their western tradition.