The role of rural women in Greece is changing gradually within a broad framework of socio-economic transformations the rural sector has been facing in the recent years. This article is concerned with the broadening of rural women's activities to include matters of public life such as the women's agritouristic cooperatives. The moving force behind the development of these cooperatives has been the General Secretariat for Equality as a way to make known the socio-economic role of women in rural communities and to enhance their income. The first cooperative of this type was established in 1984 in Petra, a small village in the island of Lesvos. In its twelve years of existence, this project has seen the smooth shift of this community from an agricultural economy to an agritouristic one, a pattern that has been quite fulfilling in terms of occupation and income for the local population.