Rural tourism may benefit rural communities that generally depend on traditional livelihood activities such as farming, fishing, and mining. However, the preconditions, skills, and capabilities for rural tourism development need to be researched before local communities embark on such development. This chapter presents a recent study that explored the rural tourism preconditions, skills, and capabilities of local communities neighboring a protected area, namely, Hluhluwe iMfolozi Park, in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa, for rural tourism development. This study adopted a qualitative research method that hinges on explorative and interpretive paradigms. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with the participants. Content analysis was used to analyze the data. Results: The study findings highlight the internal and external factors that influence rural tourism development in this area, from which strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis was conducted. This study suggests that leadership commitment is necessary to drive the process of developing rural tourism through capability building.