Innovations in Agritourism: Evidence from a Region in Poland

Michał Roman,Monika Roman,Piotr Prus

doi:10.3390/su12124858

Abstract

The objective of the article is to present the study of agritourism innovativeness. The analysis covers agritourism farms in Poland. It is also essential to identify the factors affecting the process of implementing innovation in agritourism. The objective of the article is to formulate conclusions on the impact of innovations on the development of agritourism and the competitiveness of agritourism farms that can be used by representatives of various agritourism-supporting institutions and organizations. A diagnostic survey–study was conducted in 2018, applying a survey questionnaire with a sample of 81 self-employed agritourism farm owners. Ward’s hierarchical clustering method was applied to group the counties in terms of innovativeness. For this purpose, the data provided by the central statistics authority (GUS) and the authors’ own survey study were used. The study confirms, e.g., the key significance of innovation for the development of agritourism in the counties analyzed. Additionally, in the article there is developed an original farm’s competitive positioning index and gaining a competitive advantage on the agritourism services market, with three farms in Germany, France and Poland, respectively as an example.

Highlights

As for many rural areas, agritourism is one of the key rural development factors [1,2]
The most important agritourism development conditions are rural areas’ attractiveness, as well as a favorable pattern of natural aspects, social and economic qualities, which is stressed by Wojtkowiak [7]: “( . . . ) a region which is attractive in terms of tourist qualities is a product of nature and the human activity, while the right use of those qualities can be a springboard for a development of the region or the entire commune”
One of the grounds is an assumption that booming agritourism services enhance the operation of other economic entities in the rural areas and often trigger the emergence of new enterprises targeted at satisfying the needs of the tourists [7]

Summary

Introduction

As for many rural areas, agritourism is one of the key rural development factors [1,2]. It has an impact on the development of rural areas, which is important in the socioeconomic policy of the European Union countries [3,4,5]. One of the grounds is an assumption that booming agritourism services enhance the operation of other economic entities in the rural areas and often trigger the emergence of new enterprises targeted at satisfying the needs of the tourists [7]

Objectives

Results

Conclusion