The economic impact of tourism activities on agritourism farms

Abstract

The fact that the rural zones are characterized by a high level of unemployment and a lower standard of living determines the orientation of the local population towards another income sources than agriculture. One of the farmers’ favorite options to diversify the agricultural activities is the agritourism. The international reference literature mentions a series of determining factors that may positively or negatively impact the economic effect of tourism activities on the farms. The lack or insufficiency of the economic data regarding the agritourism businesses and the fact that the most part of researches on this topic is conducted on regional level lead to very different estimations of the value and importance of agritourism. The economic impact of agritourism is, in generally, favorable for the agricultural household. In the case of small farms and of those that fight for survival, the involvement in tourism activities is very important in order to increase the total income. Within the agritourism household, the contribution of the tourism activities to the generation of total income and its profit depends on the following: the farm’s size and characteristics, the development stage and the type of the agritourism business carried out, the entrepreneur’s knowledge and abilities in agritourism, as well as the features of the geographical region where this occurs. The revenues obtained from food services, accommodation and marketing of agricultural and handicrafts products have a significant contribution to the total income generated by the tourism activities. Regardless the size of the agritourism farm, the agriculture remains the main source of income, the tourism activity being complementary to the agricultural one. Still, between tourism and agriculture may occur also a competitive relationship regarding the use of some resources, fact which could diminish the economic benefits for the agritourism farm.