<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>Agritourism is increasing in popularity as more urban residents appreciate the slower paced rural environment and its authenticity. External influences (political crises and pandemics) have recently reduced mobility which makes agritourism an attractive alternative to former more distant holiday destinations. Agritourists are interested in working farms, local production and animal husbandry. Some European regions (e.g., Bavaria and South Tyrol) have successfully developed agritourism whereas the majority of rural regions are left behind. Agritourism diversifies farmers’ business model and increases their income. For our study, we chose Kleve County (Lower Rhine Area, Germany) as an exemplary region for a touristically unknown rural area. Regional opinion leaders, farmers and industry experts were interviewed to share their experiences about factors that could further and contribute to successful development of agritourism. The results of our case study and supplementary market interviews suggest that its success in less known rural regions depends on the geographic location, mutual efforts of local visionary entrepreneurs, regional beneficial networks and on committed political stakeholders to develop a sustainable business model. The results may be useful for other comparable European rural regions to diversify their farming and develop their own business model.</p>
</abstract>

Agritourism is increasing in popularity as more urban residents appreciate the slower paced rural environment and its authenticity. External influences (political crises and pandemics) have recently reduced mobility which makes agritourism an attractive alternative to former more distant holiday destinations. Agritourists are interested in working farms, local production and animal husbandry. Some European regions (e.g., Bavaria and South Tyrol) have successfully developed agritourism whereas the majority of rural regions are left behind. Agritourism diversifies farmers’ business model and increases their income. For our study, we chose Kleve County (Lower Rhine Area, Germany) as an exemplary region for a touristically unknown rural area. Regional opinion leaders, farmers and industry experts were interviewed to share their experiences about factors that could further and contribute to successful development of agritourism. The results of our case study and supplementary market interviews suggest that its success in less known rural regions depends on the geographic location, mutual efforts of local visionary entrepreneurs, regional beneficial networks and on committed political stakeholders to develop a sustainable business model. The results may be useful for other comparable European rural regions to diversify their farming and develop their own business model.

Searching for Success Factors of Agritourism: The Case of Kleve County (Germany)

Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences Kleve

European Countryside

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

{"article-title":"Searching for Success Factors of Agritourism: The Case of Kleve County (Germany)"}

Agritourism is increasing in popularity as more urban residents appreciate the slower paced rural environment and its authenticity. External influences...

Searching for Success Factors of Agritourism: The Case of Kleve County (Germany)

Published Online: Sep 27, 2021

Page range: 644 - 661

Received: Aug 31, 2020

Accepted: Feb 24, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/euco-2021-0013

Keywords
diversifying income, agritourism, rural development, success factors, networks in agritourism, political influence, Germany

© 2021 Mirjam Bosmann et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Searching for Success Factors of Agritourism: The Case of Kleve County (Germany)

Published Online: Sep 27, 2021

Page range: 644 - 661

Received: Aug 31, 2020

Accepted: Feb 24, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/euco-2021-0013

Keywordsdiversifying income, agritourism, rural development, success factors, networks in agritourism, political influence, Germany

© 2021 Mirjam Bosmann et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
diversifying income, agritourism, rural development, success factors, networks in agritourism, political influence, Germany