Abstract. This research is part of the study of the process of configuration of rural tourist destinations, in which the transition from territory to destination is researched. The aim of this paper is to analyze the process of distancing in the rural environment, identified thanks to the potentialities derived from the use of the triple coding that characterizes the Grounded Theory. Distancing is defined as a multidimensional deterritorialization, characterized by four ruptures: socio-productive, socio-cultural, socio-environmental and political. This process is identified as the moment in which a territory oscillates between decline and reconstruction in order to promote territorial development based on the specificities of the territory. It is a qualitative inductive research, carried out from the glaserian perspective of the Grounded Theory as a research and analysis methodology. It approaches deterritorialization from a philosophical and economic perspective to explain the process of distancing. A phase of conceptualization of the territory prior to the construction of tourist destinations in the rural areas. Key words: Grounded Theory, distancing, deterritorialization.