Sustainable Marketing of Agro-Tourism: The Socio-cultural Perspective

Year 2024, Volume: 9 Issue: 3, 320 - 345

Deepak Chhabra , Cary Dewland

https://doi.org/10.31201/ijhmt.1557458

Abstract

Agricultural tourism has emerged as a niche tourism phenomenon and its demand has soared
across the globe. This paper focuses on the socio-cultural sustainability of agro-tourism. Key
socio-cultural dimensions, social capital and authenticity, are examined based on a purposeful
sample of spatially dispersed farms in the US. The study results illustrate that agrotourism holds
tremendous potential to strengthen and promote local food systems by promoting traditional
ways of farming, particularly objective and negotiated dimensions of authenticity, social
cohesion, trust and reciprocity. Marketing strategies promoting socio-cultural consumption of
agro-tourism are suggested.

Keywords

authenticity, social capital, sustainability, agro-tourism, and farms

References

• Acedo, A., Painho, M., & Casteleyn, S. (2017). Place and city: Operationalizing sense of place and social capital in the urban context. Transactions in GIS, 21(3), 503–520.
• Adams, V. (1996). Tigers of the show and other virtual Sherpas: An ethnography of Himalayan encounters. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
• Amoako, E. A. (2020). Agritourism Development in Southwest Michigan: Motivations of Agritourists and Operators. Thesis Andéhn, M., & L’Espoir Decosta, J. P. (2021). Authenticity and product geography in the making of the agritourism destination. Journal of Travel Research, 60(6), 1282-1300.
• Baimoratova, S., Chhabra, D., & Timothy, D. J. (2023). Planning and promoting an authentic slow food tourism corridor in a suburban town in the US. Sustainability, 15(20), 14971.
• Barbieri, C. (2013). Assessing the sustainability of agritourism in the US: A comparison between agritourism and other farm entrepreneurial ventures. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 21(3), 252–270.
• Barbieri, C., & Mshenga, P. M. (2008). The role of the firm and owner characteristics on the performance of agritourism farms. Sociologia ruralis, 48(2), 166-183.
• Barbieri, C., Sotomayor, S., & Gil Arroyo, C. (2019). Sustainable tourism practices in indigenous communities: The case of the Peruvian Andes. Tourism Planning & Development, 17, 1–18.
• Busby, G., & Rendle, S. (2000). The transition from tourism on farms to farm tourism. Tourism Management, 21(6), 635-642.
• Buzoianu, O. A. C., Pargaru, O. C. I., Chiotan, R. F., & Uta, N. G. (2024). The Role of Public Authorities in the Agro-Tourism Sector. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Business Excellence (Vol. 18, No. 1, pp. 733-741).
• Carrasco, J., & Cid-Aguayo, B. (2012). Network capital, social networks, and travel: An empirical illustration from concepción, Chile. Environment and Planning A, 44(5), 1066–1084.
• Chang, L., Yu, P., & Jeng, M. (2015). Effects of leisure education on self-rated health among older adults. Psy-chology Health and Medicine, 20, 34–40.
• Che, D., Veeck, A., and Veeck, G. (2006). Demographic Characteristics and Motivations of Michigan Agritourists. Proceedings of the 2006 Northeastern Recreation Research Symposium, 14, pp. 98-103.
• Chhabra, D. (2008). Positioning museums on an authenticity continuum. Annals of Tourism Research, 35(2), 427–447.
• Chhabra, D. (2010a). Back to the past: a sub-segment of Generation Y's perceptions of authenticity. Journal of sustainable tourism, 18(6), 793-809.
• Chhabra, D. (2010b). Sustainable marketing of cultural and heritage tourism. Routledge.
• Chhabra, D. (2021). Resilience, authenticity and digital heritage tourism. Routledge.
• Ciani, A., & Vörös, M. L. (2020). Rural Tourism and Agrotourism as Drivers of the Sustainable Rural Development–a Proposal for a Cross-Border Cooperation Strategy. Management Tourism Culture, 87.
• Cohen, A. (1988). Authenticity and commodification in tourism. Annals of Tourism Research, 15, 371–386.
• Coleman, J. (1988). Social Capital in the Creation of human capital. American Journal of Sociology, 94, S95–S120
• Csikszentmihalyi, M., & Csikzentmihaly, M. (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience (Vol. 1990, p. 1). New York: Harper & Row.
• Currie, G., & Stanley, J. (2008). Investigating links between social capital and public transport. Transport Reviews, 28(4), 529-547.
• Ferrari, S., Hernández-Maskivker, G., & Nicotera, T. (2022). Social-cultural sustainability of roots tourism in Calabria, Italy: A tourist perspective. Journal of Vacation Marketing, 28(1), 117-132.
• Flanigan, S., Blackstock, K., & Hunter, C. (2014). Agritourism from the perspective of providers and visitors: A typology-based study. Tourism Management, 40(1), 394–405.
• Gao, J., Barbieri, C., & Valdivia, C. (2014). Agricultural landscape preferences: Implications for agritourism development. Journal of Travel Research, 53(3), 366– 379.
• Goyal, P., Chadha, S., & Singh, S. R. (2023). Agro-tourism: A Literature Review. Handbook of Evidence Based Management Practices in Business, 376-382.
• Green, G. P., & Phillips, R. (2014). Local food and community development. Routledge.
• Hamayana, A. M. F. (2021). The motivation of farmers on coffee plants agri business based on agro-tourism in Kayumas Village, Arjasa District, Situbondo Regency. PalArch's Journal of Archaeology of Egypt/Egyptology, 18(7), 947-956.
• Jia, S. (2020). Motivation and satisfaction of Chinese and U.S. tourists in restaurants: A cross-cultural text mining of online reviews. Tourism Management, 78(June 2020).
• Jolly D. A., and Reynolds, K. A. (2005). Consumer Demand for Agricultural and On-Farm Nature Tourism. Small Farm Center, University of California-Davis. Available at: http://sfp.ucdavis.edu/files/143466.pdf [Accessed 15 May. 2019
• Joshi, S., Sharma, M., & Kler, R. (2020). Modeling circular economy dimensions in agri-tourism clusters: Sustainable performance and future research directions. International Journal of Mathematical, Engineering and Management Sciences, 5(6), 1046.
• Joshi, S., Sharma, M., & Singh, R. K. (2020). Performance evaluation of agro-tourism clusters using AHP–TOPSIS. Journal of Operations and Strategic Planning, 3(1), 7-30.
• Julien, C. (2015). Bourdieu, social capital and online inter-action. Sociology (Oxford), 49(2), 356–373. Kamble Z and Bouchon F (2016) Developing a framework for assessing social cohesion via tourism. Tourism Review 71(4): 272–286.
• Khazami, N., & Lakner, Z. (2022). The development of social capital during the process of starting an agritourism business. Tourism and Hospitality, 3(1), 210-224.
• Kothari, H., & Perwej, A. (2021). Agro tourism: A way of sustainable development. Wesleyan Journal of Research, 13(68), 93-101.
• Lane, T. C. (2018). The promising practice of agritourism for small farms (Doctoral dissertation) University of Southern California
• Leo, G., Brien, A., Astor, Y., Najib, M., Novianti, S., Rafdinal, W., & Suhartanto, D. (2021). Attraction loyalty, destination loyalty, and motivation: agritourist perspective. Current Issues in Tourism, 24(9), 1244-1256.
• MacCannell, D. (1992). Cannibalism today. In Empty meeting grounds: The tourist papers (pp. 17–73). London: Routledge.
• McCracken MC (1998) Economic implications of social cohesion. Social cohesion and macroeconomic performance. In: CSLS Conference on the State of Living Standards and the Quality of Life in Canada, 30–31 October 1998, Chˆateau Laurier Hotel, Ottawa, Ontario, pp. 213– 230.
• Medina, L. (2003). Commoditizing culture: Tourism and Maya identity. Annals of Tourism Research, 30, 353–368.
• Nasihuddin, A. A., Pamuji, K., Rosyadi, S., & Ahmad, A. A. (2020, March). The Role of Social Capital in Promoting Sustainable Rural Development Area in Banyumas Regency. In IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science (Vol. 448, No. 1, p. 012067). IOP Publishing.
• National Farmers' Union (2015a). Annual Review. National Farmers' Union.[online] Available at: https://www.nfuonline.com/assets/59759 Nimase, A. G. (2020). Development of agro-tourism in rural Maharashtra: Challenges and disturbances. Aayushi International Interdisciplinary Research Journal, 1-6.
• Nugraha, A. T., Prayitno, G., Hasyim, A. W., & Roziqin, F. (2021). Social capital, collective action, and the development of agritourism for sustainable agriculture in rural Indonesia.
• Park, K., Reisinger, Y., & Kang, H. (2008). Visitors' Motivation for Attending the South Beach Wine and Food Festival, Miami Beach, Florida. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 25(2), pp. 161-181.
• Patricia, T. C., Suryawardani, I. G. A. O., Suamba, I. K., & Wiranatha, A. S. (2020). Farmers’ capacity for Jatiluwih agrotourism management and its effects on tourists’ satisfaction and intention to revisit. E-Journal of Tourism, 7(1), 1-15.
• Petroman, I., & Cornelia, P. (2010). Agritourism and its forms. Lucrări Ştiinţifice Seria Agronomie, ISSN, 1454–7414.
• Phillip, S., Hunter, C., & Blackstock, K. (2010). A typology for defining agritourism. Tourism management, 31(6), 754-758.
• Revert´e F. G. and P´erez S. M. (2017). Cultural and social impacts of events held in tourism destinations. A managers’ perception point of view. Cuadernos de Turismo 40: 681–683.
• Roberts, C. F. G. (2023). Cultivating Cities: A Comparative Analysis of Urban Agriculture Programs and Policies. University of California, Davis.
• Rodrigues, A., & Virtudes, A. (2019). A smart rural project for tourism of Madeira Island. IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, 471(9), 092042
• Roslina, R., Nurmalina, R., Najib, M., & Asnawi, Y. (2021, May). Conceptual model of integrated agrotourism marketing. In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Sustainable Management and Innovation, ICoSMI 2020, 14-16 September 2020, Bogor, West Java, Indonesia.
• Rutten, R., Westlund, H., & Boekema, F. (2010). The spatial dimension of social capital. European Planning Studies, 18(6), 863–871.
• Saarinen, J. (2013). Critical sustainability: Setting the limits to growth and responsibility in tourism. Sustainability, 6(1), 1-17.
• Saarinen, J. (2020). Sustainable growth in tourism?: Rethinking and resetting sustainable tourism for development. In Degrowth and tourism (pp. 135-151). Routledge.
• Saroyo, P., & Mulyati, G. T. (2015). Analysis of prospect of agro-tourism attractiveness based on location characteristics. Agriculture and Agricultural Science Procedia, 3, 72–77.
• Sekali, P. I. K., Suryawardani, I. G. A. O., & Dewi, R. K. (2020). The Influence of Tourist Motivation on Revisit Intention to Alas Harum Agro tourism of Gianyar Regency, Bali.
• Shukla, S. (2019). Agro-tourism-prospects, possibilities and challenges in India. Journal of Accounting, Finance & Marketing Technology, 2(3), 1–15. Siri, R. (2020). Motivations of agro-tourists in visiting agricultural fair: A case study of an agricultural fair in Chiang Mai, Thailand. e-Review of Tourism Research, 18(2), 269-289.
• Smith, S., Costello, C., & Muenchen, R. A. (2010) Influence of Push and Pull Motivations on Satisfaction and Behavioral Intentions within a Culinary Tourism Event, Journal of Quality Assurance in Hospitality & Tourism, 11:1, 17-35
• Sonnino, R. (2004). For a ‘piece of bread’? Interpreting sustainable development through agritourism in Southern Tuscany. Sociologia ruralis, 44(3), 285-300.
• 'Srikatanyoo, N. and Campiranon, K. (2010). Agritourist Needs and Motivations: The Chiang Mai Case. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 27(2), pp. 166-178.
• Stanciu, M., Popescu, A., & Stanciu, C. (2023). Rural tourism, agrotourism and ecotourism in Romania: current research status and future trends. Scientific Papers Series Management, Economic Engineering in Agriculture & Rural Development, 23(1).
• Steiner, Y., & Reisinger, C. (2006). Understanding existential authenticity. Annals of Tourism Research, 33(2), 299–318.
• Streifeneder, T., Hoffmann, C., & Corradini, P. (2023). The future of agritourism? A review of current trends of touristic commercialisation in rural areas. The Annals of Regional Science, 71(1), 93-119.
• Sumardi, R. S., Najib, M., Mahomed, A. S. B., Dardanella, D., & Sneesl, R. (2023, May). Factors affecting sustainable agro-tourism: A review study. In Business Innovation and Engineering Conference (BIEC 2022) (pp. 80-91). Atlantis Press.
• Susila, I., Dean, D., Harismah, K., Priyono, K. D., Setyawan, A. A., & Maulana, H. (2024). Does interconnectivity matter? An integration model of agro-tourism development. Asia Pacific Management Review, 29(1), 104-114.
• Sutiarso, M., Arcana, K., & Suprapto, N. (2021, March). Local Institutions and Social Capital for Agrotourism Development: A Case Study in Sanda Village, Tabanan-Bali. In Proceedings of the 1st Universitas Kuningan International Conference on Social Science, Environment and Technology, UNiSET 2020, 12 December 2020, Kuningan, West Java, Indonesia.
• Tan, Y. W., & Abdullah, A. R. (2022). Agritourism Entrepreneurs on the Other Side: Motivation and Challenges. BIMP-EAGA Journal for Sustainable Tourism Development, 11(1), 85-95.
• Theobald, W. (1998). Global tourism (2nd ed.). Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.
• Uriely, N. (2005). The tourist experience: Conceptual development. Annals of Tourism Research, 32(1), 199–216.
• Van Song, N., Thuy, V. T. T., Van Luong, N., & Quang, H. V. (2022). Influencing factors on customers’ decision to visit agritourism farms: A case study in viet nam. Agricultural Sciences, 13(4), 566-579.
• Vukolić, D., Gajić, T., Petrović, M. D., Bugarčić, J., Spasojević, A., Veljović, S., ... & Petrović, T. (2023). Development of the concept of sustainable agro-tourism destinations—exploring the motivations of Serbian gastro-tourists. Sustainability, 15(3), 2839.
• Wang, N. (1999). Rethinking authenticity in tourism experience. Annals of Tourism Research, 26, 349–370.
• Wang, W., Ying, S., Mejia, C., Wang, Y., Qi, X., & Chan, J. H. (2020). Independent travelers’ niche hotel booking motivations: the emergence of a hybrid cultural society. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 89, 102573.
• Williams DR, Patterson ME, Roggenbuck JW, et al. (1992) Beyond the commodity metaphor: examining emotional and symbolic attachment to place. Leisure Sciences 14: 29–46.
• Yang, L. (2012). Impacts and challenges in agritourism development in development in Yunnan, China. Tourism Planning & Development, 9(4), 369–381.
• Yu, W., & Spencer, D. M. (2021). Motivations, challenges, and self-transformations of farmers engaged in farm tourism on a tropical island. Journal of Heritage Tourism, 16(2), 164-180.