Agrotouristic Farms Research Articles

Challenges and performance evaluation of livestock waste energy content

The global increase of the population has generated more and more requirement of the animal-based food. In order to provide this requirement, it was necessary to increase considerably the actual numbers of animals. This has led to both numerous positive and negative effects brought both to people and animals. Creating agro-touristic farms, ensuring fresh food, creating workplaces are just a part of the factors which have beneficial effects on the human beings. Yet, a major problem, which should not be ignored and neglected, is represented by the wastes resulted from animal breeding. These superficially treated wastes can cause numerous negative effects on the whole ecosystem. The animal dejections, the water resulted from the meat processing, the animal corpses, and all represent biodegradable wastes, which might be used, by transforming their energy content into electrical and thermal energy. This can be possible, for example, by using these wastes as raw material for producing biogas. To prove their efficiency in producing the biogases there have been done thermal analysis. In this article are analysed, from a thermal point of view, 3 different samples. In the first part of the experiment were analysed the swine dejections, in the second part were analysed the poultry dejections, and the third experiment consisted in the analysis of the cow stable waste. The analysis of these samples was done with the help of the Netzsch 449 C Jupiter device. The results obtained from the analysis prove the fact that all the three raw materials can be used as raw materials in producing the biogas.

Implementing measures for the safety of products obtained in agrotourist farms

Implementing measures for the safety of products obtained in agrotourist farms

Koncepcja oceny witryn internetowych gospodarstw agroturystycznych

Koncepcja oceny witryn internetowych gospodarstw agroturystycznych

THE INTERNET ADDRESSES OF AGROTOURISTIC FARMS AND THEIR INFORMATIVE VALUE

Purpose. The analysis of information available in the Domain Name Registry and the digital archive on selected internet domains of agrotouristic farms. The answer to the question whether this information can be helpful in choosing a specific offer. Method. The analysis of the domain’s history – digital copies of websites of chosen agrotouristic farms recorded in the Wayback Machine web archive. The analysis of data available in the WHOIS database. Findings. The analysis of data available in the Research and Academic Computer Network (NASK) does not allow to clearly assess a counterparty’s credibility. Tracking the domain’s history enables to record how artwork, contents and technique of performing agrotouristic farm websites have changed and also how their business type has evolved. Irregularities connected, among others, to the operator being the domain’s customer were noticed in the set of analysed websites. Research and conclusion limitations. 10 addresses of agrotouristic farm websites accessed on 19 December 2016 from the first tab of searching results in one of public website catalogues were examined. As the Wayback Machine web archive collects copies of archival websites regardless of the domain where they are available, the WHOIS database only contains information about national domains of the highest level (.pl). Practical implications. Survey methods used in the paper are universal – they can be helpful in evaluation of credibility of any subject promoting services on the website within a national domain of the highest level. They can be also used to verify history of any web domain which can be helpful before its registration. Originality. The concept of using the Wayback Machine digital archive to evaluate a counterparty’s credibility and potential value of an internet domain. The concept of using the WHOIS registry to estimate credibility of an agrotouristic offer. Type of paper. The paper presents the results of empirical surveys. A case study.

PROMOTING OF AGROTOURISM ON THE INTERNET – A LESSON FROM THE VISEGRAD GROUP COUNTRIES

Research results of chosen aspects of agrotourism promotion on the Internet in Visegrad Group countries are presented in this paper. Surveys were performed in three stages. In the first stage, visibility of agrotouristic farms websites in search results was examined. In the second stage, an attemptwas made to measure to what extent websites of agrotouristic farms “reach the recipients”. And in the third stage, selected aspects of their usage techniques were tested. The surveys show that farms from Visegrad Group countries, which carry out rural agrotourism and make attempts to find customers viathe Internet, lose the race on the Web with entities from the IT field. Such entities provide big business portals that accumulate various accommodation offers. They are the ones with the help that makes it possible to find recreation offers in the countryside in a simple and quick way. Some recommendationsresulting from the performed surveys is merging farms into organised groups, associations and clusters and promoting on the Internet. Websites that present unique content and a greater number of offers have a greater opportunity be rank high in search results. This, in turn, can result in the number of displays of a website and in use of lodgings. Therefore, decisions about a competitive advantage can be made.

Witryny i aplikacje mobilne w promocji gospodarstw agroturystycznych

Celem pracy była ocena możliwości oraz stopnia wykorzystania przez gospodarstwa agroturystyczne witryn i aplikacji mobilnych w prezentacji i promocji świadczonych usług. Badania przeprowadzono w trzech płaszczyznach: responsywności przekazu, projektowej oraz ekonomicznej. Badaniom responsywności poddano 287 witryn internetowych gospodarstw agroturystycznych. W trakcie testów projektowych utworzono aplikacje mobilne dla modelowego gospodarstwa agroturystycznego. Ekonomiczne uwarunkowania utworzenia aplikacji mobilnych zbadano rozsyłając zapytanie ofertowe. W zbiorze badanych witryn nie odnotowano ani jednej witryny mobilnej. Żadne z gospodarstw nie udostępniało też aplikacji mobilnej. Gospodarstwa agroturystyczne z badanego zbioru posługiwały się przeważnie witrynami responsywnymi. Pracownicy ankietowanych podmiotów unikali w swoich odpowiedziach tematu kosztów wykonania aplikacji mobilnej. Większość z nich zasugerowała, że z uwagi na kwestie praktyczne (efektywność) i ekonomiczne, korzystniej jest promować gospodarstwo przy pomocy witryny internetowej dostosowanej do urządzeń przenośnych. W konkluzji wykazano, że powszechność wykorzystania aplikacji mobilnych w promocji gospodarstw agroturystycznych jest ograniczana barierami: przydatności, kosztów, a także wiedzy i umiejętności.

Wydajność witryn internetowych gospodarstw agroturystycznych

Dynamika rozwoju agroturystyki zależy w dużym stopniu od działań marketin­gowych, w tym promocji usług. Wielu właścicieli gospodarstw agroturystycznych wykorzystuje witryny internetowe do prezentacji swojej oferty i dotarcia z nią do szerszego grona odbiorców. Takie atrybuty witryny jak: użyteczność, funkcjonalność, interaktywność i wydajność są często postrzegane jako obietnica wysokiej jakości oferty, z której klient rozważa skorzystać. Celem pracy był pomiar wydajności witryn internetowych gospodarstw agroturystycznych. Badania miały charakter pilotażowy i zostały wykonane w zbiorze 100 witryn internetowych, których adresy pozyskano w wyszukiwarki Google oraz jednego z ogólnopolskich katalogów. Testy wy­dajności wykonano za pomocą wybranych aplikacji internetowych. Ponadto wytypowano strony o skrajnych parametrach, które poddano szczegółowej analizie. W konkluzji wykazano, że witry­ny internetowe gospodarstw agroturystycznych charakteryzowały się zadowalającym stopniem wydajności, co nie zawsze jednak korespondowało z ich efektywnością i jakością wykonania.

Internet domains promoting agrotourist farms

Many agrotourist farms use the potential of websites to distinguish their offer from others to attract as many guests as possible. However, maintaining a website is connected with a range of costs, e.g. registering the domain and the hosting package. Searching for cost savings, the owners of agrotourist farms often face the dilemma of choosing between a payable website and its free equivalent. The aim of this article is to analyse internet addresses as regards their type and potential, both informative and marketing. The surveys were carried out on a set of 1,121 websites. The analysis included domain names (main names) as well as domain extensions, paying special attention to type and indicating sub-domains at the same time. Division into payable and free was looked for as well. In conclusion, it is shown that the owners of agrotourist farms mostly use national domains, choosing addresses in functional, regional or European domains less frequently. Moreover, they relatively rarely use addresses created on free services. In their place, they choose free sub-domains often created in the domain of the provider hosting a regional (informative) portal or another.

Measuring Efficiency of Websites of Agrotouristic Farms from Poland and Slovakia

Abstract Subject and purpose of work: The aim of the paper was to study traditional measures of efficiency of websites of agrotouristic farms from Poland and Slovakia. Materials and methods: It was assumed that basic measures of efficiency of a website of an agrotouristic farm are: a number of displays, mean time spent by a user in a website and also a mean number of pages which were browsed. 200 websites were analysed and their addresses were gained from online catalogues. The amounts of established measures were gained by means of SimilarWeb application. Results: In case of websites of agrotouristic farms from Poland, statistical data were available for 54 websites whereas for Slovak websites - there were 52 of them. There was by about 15.5% less number of views on the websites of Polish farms in contrast to Slovak ones, however there were Polish websites where users spent more time. In holiday months, tested websites had the highest viewer rating. Conclusions: Performed surveys brought a series of methodical questions. Gained statistics of websites’ usage do not tell much about differences in the Internet using rate in promotion of agrotouristic farms in Poland and Slovakia.

Trendy projektowe w prezentacji gospodarstw agroturystycznych w Internecie

Celem pracy było rozpoznanie formy graficznej (projektowej), jaką najczęściej przyjmują witryny internetowe gospodarstw agroturystycznych. W pracy postawiono pytanie badawcze, czy najnowsze trendy projektowe znajdują zastosowanie w projektach takich witryn. Badaniom inspekcyjnym poddano 282 witryny obiektów, które zadeklarowały, że prowadzą działalność agroturystyczną. W trakcie badań inspekcyjnych weryfikowano występowanie koncepcji projektowych, m.in.: responsive web design, one-page, long-page, flat design, material design, a także hero image. W zbiorze badanych witryn nie odnotowano ani jednej utworzonej w koncepcji flat design lub material design. Najpopularniejszym rozwiązaniem projektowym była tzw. karuzela obrazów. Tylko jedną witrynę oceniono jako zgodną z trendem one-page design. Nieco większą popularnością cieszyły się koncepcje responsywności oraz hero image. Witryny z badanego zbioru były w większości wykonane w klasyczny, zachowawczy sposób, według standardów projektowych z lat 2008–2012.

Estimation of infection of internal parasites in horses from different type of farms.

Studies were carried out in year 2014 during the pasture period (from April to October) in Warmia and Mazury Region. Fecal samples were taken from cold- and warmblood horses from individual and agrotouristic farms with the different housing, feeding and pasture- care practices. Total of 512 horses were examined (320 mares, 170 geldings and 22 stallions). In the group of 185 horses from individual farms, 119 animals (64.3%) were infected with gastro-intestinal parasites. Among the 372 horses from agrotouristic farms 169 (51.7%) were infected with parasites. Most of the animals expelled the eggs of Cyathostominae. In some individuals occurred eggs of Strongylus spp., Parascaris equorum, Strongyloides westeri and tapeworm of Anoplocephala. The number of infected horses from agrotouristic farms was lower than from individual farms, probably due to more regular deworming (usually 2 times a year) and bigger care paid to cleaning pastures.

Use Rare Breed for Genuine Foods in Romanian Rural Tourism and Possibility of Traceability the Traditional Products

The specific of the touristic product and its quality depend to a large extent on the professional ability of the service staff (kindness, solitude, punctuality, promptness). Aspects related to professional ethics (correctitude, trust, honesty) are seen by the consumer as inseparable from the quality of a service. At the same time, tourist's perception on the quality of the received service depends on the level of performers' involvement. Actually, in rural tourism, at boarding houses and agro tourist farms, the staff is interested in bringing more tourists, their offer being characterized by a thorough competition. Agro tourist boarding houses offer a wide range of accommodation places and natural food products from their own households. Each agro tourist region has its own specific features that are, the building style, comfort, and traditional kitchen. The National Office of Traditional Products protect the name of traditional products to avoid bad competition between producers who made same product with same geographical name but in different zone. The quality of services provided to native tourists by the boarding house or agro tourist firm staff finds itself in an interdependent relation with ecological food products. The analysis based on microsatellite data has demonstrated the possibility to genetically characterize the breeds studied and to distinguish the origin of animals. The incorrect labeling of foods represents a commercial fraud. It is very important to establish that species of high commercial value declared are not substitute, partial or entirely, by other lower value species.

Factors Responsible for Differences in the Development of Agro-tourist Farms in Poland

Opracowanie jest poświęcone ocenie czynników determinujących rozwój gospodarstw agroturystycznych. Badaniami objęto wszystkie powiaty w naszym kraju. Analiza wykazała wyraźny związek czynników naturalnych i przyrodniczych oraz ogólnego ruchu turystycznego z rozwojem agroturystyki. Duży obszar zmienności zmiennej zależnej nie został jednak wyjaśniony przez wprowadzone do równań regresji wielorakiej czynniki.

THE EVALUATION OF SELECTED AGRO-TOURIST FARMS IN POLAND IN KUJAWYPOMORZE REGION

The aim of the paper was evaluation of selected agro-tourist farms in Poland. Research covered 10 tourist farms situated in Kujawy-Pomorze region, 5 were located in Żnin administrative unit and 5 in Golub-Dobrzyn administrative unit. The evaluation of accommodation standard, food and offered services in tested agro-tourist farms was done on the basis of the questionnaire-polls addressed to owners of these farms and guests who were there staying (done in July and August 2005). Among tourist 70% had full-board (3 meals) in 40% prepared from products coming from the farm. Own vegetables (in 70%) and poultry were used. Among respondents 84% thought that meals are varied and 68% that they are rich in all nutritional components. Most asked tourist making up 60% stated that accommodation and food standard is good. This case should be improved because the development of agro-tourism is done in regions, where favourable environmentally virtues with high accommodation and food standard are connected.

Approaches for Improving Rural Romanian Tourism Services Quality

The specific of the touristic product and its quality depend to a large extent on the professional ability of the service staff (kindness, solitude, punctuality, promptness). Aspects related to professional ethics (correctitude, trust, honesty) are seen by the consumer as inseparable from the quality of a service. At the same time, tourist's perception on the quality of the received service depends on the level of performers' involvement.Actually, in rural tourism, at boarding houses and agro touristic farms, the staff is interested in bringing more tourists, their offer being characterized by a thorough competition. Agro touristic boarding houses offer a wide range of accommodation places and natural food products from their own households. Each agro touristic region has its own specific features, that is, the building style, comfort, traditional kitchen. The quality of services provided to native tourists by the boarding house or agro touristic firm staff finds itself in an interdependent relation with ecological food products.

Edukacyjna funkcja gospodarstw agroturystycznych na przykładzie regionu siedleckiego

The aim of this research was to evaluate the educational offers of agrotourist farms in the Siedlce region, the research was conducted on the grounds of interviews with the farm owners and information provided by Mazowiecki Ośrodek Doradztwa Rolnieczego “Mazowsze - agrotourism 2005/2006”.The results confirm the assumption that agrotourist farms carry on an informal environmental education for their customers, but there are possibilities for improvement of this educational activity, the farm owners need appropriate preparation to fulfill the role of guides and teachers.