Turyzm/Tourism , cilt.34, sa.2, ss.191-202, 2024 (SCI-Expanded)
Agritourism
as a niche tourism market has become an alternative income-generating sector
for conventional farmers that focus on both production and marketing. Agritourist
activities involve joining production and harvest, receiving education and on
site-training. However, unless individuals endeavor and they consistently demand
these activities, agritourism cannot be promoted among farm operators. In other
words, agritourism is a demand-driven sector and requires the loyalty of
participants which was measured with respect to more than a single take up of
agritourism in the past two years. With this research, the loyalty of
agritourists and the factors affecting their persistent participation were
estimated based on a sample from the Mid-Atlantic states of the USA. The findings infer that agritourism
loyalty is stimulated by the rising level of agritourist education and
increasing income. Married people with children also prefer rural
participation. Agritourists, who have the potential to become loyal, focus above
all on buying fresh and high-value products. Following this, they demonstrate a
rising tendency to learn about agricultural production, and to spend quality
time with family/friends. These results suggest that with proper marketing
strategies, supportive actions designed for farmers that seek alternative
income, and the involvement of regional/local authorities in decision making
and promotional processes, may contribute to the development of agritourism and
expand its market through assuring customer loyalty.
KEYWORDS
agritourism,
demand, loyalty, discrete choice, probability, COVID-19
[KSz1]Please do not capitalize 'states'.