© 2019 by the authors. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the factors that promote successful rural tourism development in light of EU sponsorship of rural tourism hosts. The paper examines the effect of the size and geographical characteristics of rural tourism hosts on their views towards rural tourism development. The paper employs factor analysis, t-tests, and ANOVA to analyze the data from the survey of the hosts. The survey was sent to 652 rural tourism hosts, of whom 174 replied, giving a response rate of 27%. The results show the following. Firstly, subsidies, leadership, and cooperation are viewed by the hosts as important factors. Secondly, sponsorship, size, and peripheral economic conditions influence rural tourism hosts' views on success factors of rural enterprises.