Native Chicken Beauty Contest for Agritourism in the Philippines and Thailand

Abstract

Agritourism industry shows a promising future in the Philippines and Thailand. The countries of the Philippines and Thailand are known to be culturally diverse coupled with magnificent land and water biodiversity. Due to this characteristics various agritourism initiatives is being introduced. The native chicken beauty contest is one among the initiative. This paper assessed the perceived socio-cultural impact of the native chicken beauty contest as an agritourism initiative in the province of Isabela, Philippines. Data were gathered among randomly selected stakeholders on the initiatives. The study was participated mostly by female respondents who are at their adulthood, married and those who are educated by at least the basic education. Most of the respondents are engaged in farming and government employment. Most of the respondents are raising less than 50 heads of native chicken, the respondents are positive that the initiative that it can be a form of entertainment and recreational. Also, they belief that the initiative can promote local heritage and cultural conservation. This result can imply that the initiative is well accepted and is recommended for the continuance since the stakeholders of the activity has a positive assessment on the impact to their social and cultural development. Statistically, when group according to their sex the participants have comparable positive perception on the impact of the initiatives. In addition, the participants who are at their middle age, unemployed, with higher educational attainment and higher number of native chickens being raised, have more positive perception on the impact of the initiatives.