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This chapter draws attention to the host-guest relationship as a focal point in addressing rural tourism. It examines the implications of tourist visitors to rural areas becoming 'guests' in relation to their rural 'hosts', in the real rather than the tourist industry jargon senses of these two words. It also explores how the imposition of host and guest identities affect tourist experience and behaviour in rural locales in view of the reciprocity, obligation and control that are inevitable part of the social exchange in the host-guest-relationship. The chapter explores these issues drawing upon the findings of research undertaken in bed-and-breakfast and home-stay accommodation businesses in the Central Otago and Marlborough regions of the South Island of New Zealand.