Motivations and challenges for entrepreneurs in agritourism

Abstract

The amalgamation of the two large industries, agriculture and tourism, created a new industry called agritourism. In the last decades it has been observed a significant increase in the number of farms that have diversified their activities by engaging in agritourism. The purpose of this paper was to identify the reasons for such diversification on the basis of specialized international literature. One individual can be determined to start a business both for reasons related opportunities as well as for reasons related to necessity. There are two categories of factors that influence the decision to start a business: "push" and "pull" factors. The authors found that the reasons for involvement in agritourism ventures encompass a complex web of both economic and social motives. Also, the farmers involved in agritourism businesses are faced with a number of challenges: lack of experience of farmers in the running of a tourism business; lack of knowledge, expertise and training in the tourism field; limited marketing channels and linkages; necessity to develop new skills in order to manage the tourists and their expectations.