Resumo: Rural tourism must respect and preserve the environment and help economic diversification. The objective of this study is to evaluate the capacity of rural tourism as an instrument to promote labor efficiency and sustainable development in protected natural areas. Labor and service factors of 55 Spanish tourist areas located in protected natural areas are considered, applying techniques of Data Envelope Analysis and Multivariate Analysis. The efficiency of employment in rural tourism developed in protected natural areas is not very significant, with few tourist areas reaching some level of efficiency. The high protectionism of these environmental protection figures, with isolationist approaches, does not favor efficiency. Rural tourism can constitute an element of sustainable development of the territory, helping to activate resources and rebalance the territory. But for this, it is important to achieve the integration of protected natural spaces in rural areas by implementing management models suited to the environmental conditions.
