Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2005. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 223-235).

Thesis (MScAgric)--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / Bibliography. Also available via the Internet.

Agritourism in Virginia is a rapidly growing industry that adds additional income to a farming operation, and helps mitigate risk. Therefore it has become a good strategy for farmers to generate higher levels of profit, but much of the literature in Virginia and surrounding states focuses more on the motivations of operators for starting their agritourism venture. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to empirically analyze demographic, operational, and financial factors and evaluate their correlation with higher levels of profit. The first step was to apply key factors in industrial location discussed by Sloagett and Woods (2003) to agritourism in Virginia. Next, a survey was conducted to produce primary source data on Virginia agritourism operators and how these success factors relate to their ventures. Initial findings suggest a very homogenous demographic amongst operators. In addition, there were four other main findings. First, promotion is highly important and there is a need for increased road signage in Virginia. Second, additional income is a large motivator among operators and 76% of operations indicated their business was somewhat profitable. Third, those near the metropolitan areas of Virginia Beach, Roanoke, and Washington, D.C. tended to have the highest perceived profitability. Finally, operators are highly afflicted by obstacles such as road signage, finding qualified employees, and taxation, all of which can be addressed or mitigated by the state government. The final portion of this paper tests the relationship between these factors and profitability of agritourism operations in Virginia. The empirical results reveal that those operators with a motivation for addition income and higher levels of education, with more acreage, with a higher percentage of their gross farm income attributed to agritourism, and those, on average, that have greater money spent per visitor all correlate with higher levels of profit. On the other hand, the following characteristics appear to have a negative effect on agritourism profits: wineries, greater estimated time to the nearest interstate and difficult access to capital. Assuming operators of agritourism venues seek to maximize profits, these findings illustrate to current and future operators how to adjust procedures and improve their business strategies. / Master of Science

Agritourism is increasingly prevalent in Canadian society and affords individuals the opportunity to experience and learn about agriculture. Social networking sites can allow agritourism providers and consumers to engage outside of the agritourism context. This research used qualitative and quantitative content analysis and semi-structured interviews to understand how agritourism providers and consumers interact on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram; why agritourism providers are using social networking sites in general; and if social networking sites can be used to facilitate free-choice learning. Customer Relationship Management and the Contextual Model of Learning were used as frameworks to better understand these interactions. The results and findings are discussed and confirm that agritourism providers believe educational opportunities can be fostered on social networking sites, but are primarily using Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to promote connections between consumers and agritourism organizations. / October 2016

This study addresses how agrivisitors' social interactions affect satisfaction and, in turn, revisit intention. Adopting social exchange theory and resource theory, the study proposes that social interactions with service providers, local residents, companion visitors, and other customers influence satisfaction, which in turn affects revisit intentions. Revisit intentions, in particular, are considered as social intentions which are shared with other people who travel together. Furthermore, this study argues that the effect of social interactions on satisfaction is stronger for visitors who have greater environmental concerns than those who are less concerned. An onsite and online survey were conducted to examine the proposed model and test the hypotheses. Subjects (N= 400) were visitors who visited organic farms with their companions. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to test the proposed model and hypothesized relationships among the constructs. The analyses were performed with Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS 7.0). One construct (i.e., social interaction with local residents) was removed due to its high nonresponse rate, so the two hypotheses associated with this construct were not tested. Other than that most hypotheses except one were supported or partially supported by the data and the proposed model also had an acceptable fit to the data. Results of the present study provide a direction for the development of a theoretical framework to understand revisit intentions by seeking to improve the social exchange relationships with visitors. In addition, practical implications are presented for organic farms involved in or considering tourism businesses.

This phenomenological study explored the experiences of farm families starting and operating agritourism. Many extant studies of agritourism have privileged positivistic methodologies and quantitative approaches. To better understand the lived experiences of farm families who have started and embrace agritourism and to fully appreciate the intertwined and complex nature of the various factors involved within the family, a more interpretative approach was required. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis(IPA) guided the design, analysis, and overall implementation of the study. Phenomenology allowed meaningful experiences and essential structures associated with the phenomenon of agritourism, from the perspective of those directly involved in it, to be fully and deeply explored. In this study, three multi-generational farm families actively engaged in agritourism within Ontario participated. Unlike previous agritourism studies which just involved one family member, usually the farmer, as many members of each farm family as possible were included in this study. A total of 17 members across the three families participated and data were collected through a combination of on-site observations and active interviews. Beginning with a simple introductory question of each participant, “Can you tell me how agritourism got started on your farm”, a number of themes emerged. By taking an interpretative stance, the individual themes were further baled into six super-ordinate themes: • Retailing, Educating, Entertaining– describing agritourism; • Being the Face of Farming–the re-connecting of farms and farmers to consumers; • We Are the Farm–impressions about how agritourism is retaining and sustaining a farming identity while introducing unique challenges associated with embracing agritourism on the farm; • Family Comes First–speaking to the prevalence of economics as a reason for embracing agritourism, while also further exploring agritourism’s role in sustaining the family farm; • Coming Home–focuses on the inseparability of the farm as a place of residence and work where new challenges, opportunities, and attitudes towards intergenerational transfer of the farm emerge; and finally, • Becoming an Agritourism Farm–captures the incremental process and key watershed moments associated with switching into agritourism. By exploring the experience of agritourism from the perspectives of the families, our understanding of agritourism has been expanded, while some of our pre-existing beliefs and assumptions about agritourism are also challenged. Getting involved in agritourism was articulated by farm families as occurring through a series of smaller, incremental decisions usually over several years as the farm naturally took on new and additional activities and eventually evolved into an agritourism enterprise. The transition revealed the place – the farm, and the people integral and historically associated with it – as a productive agricultural space was changing into being consumptive spaces. The unplanned transition into agritourism affected the farmer as well as other members of the family. However, the transition also sustained a farming identity and way of life in an era of intense globalization and agricultural intensification. This study sheds light on how different members of the families have been involved in the process, as well as illuminated new perspectives on: how agritourism sustains key characteristics defining a family farm, how the farm re-engages with consumers, how an entrepreneurial spirit is fostered, and how continuous adaptation on the farm ensures its viability for future generations of the family.

This phenomenological study explored the experiences of farm families starting and operating agritourism. Many extant studies of agritourism have privileged positivistic methodologies and quantitative approaches. To better understand the lived experiences of farm families who have started and embrace agritourism and to fully appreciate the intertwined and complex nature of the various factors involved within the family, a more interpretative approach was required. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis(IPA) guided the design, analysis, and overall implementation of the study. Phenomenology allowed meaningful experiences and essential structures associated with the phenomenon of agritourism, from the perspective of those directly involved in it, to be fully and deeply explored. In this study, three multi-generational farm families actively engaged in agritourism within Ontario participated. Unlike previous agritourism studies which just involved one family member, usually the farmer, as many members of each farm family as possible were included in this study. A total of 17 members across the three families participated and data were collected through a combination of on-site observations and active interviews. Beginning with a simple introductory question of each participant, “Can you tell me how agritourism got started on your farm”, a number of themes emerged. By taking an interpretative stance, the individual themes were further baled into six super-ordinate themes: • Retailing, Educating, Entertaining– describing agritourism; • Being the Face of Farming–the re-connecting of farms and farmers to consumers; • We Are the Farm–impressions about how agritourism is retaining and sustaining a farming identity while introducing unique challenges associated with embracing agritourism on the farm; • Family Comes First–speaking to the prevalence of economics as a reason for embracing agritourism, while also further exploring agritourism’s role in sustaining the family farm; • Coming Home–focuses on the inseparability of the farm as a place of residence and work where new challenges, opportunities, and attitudes towards intergenerational transfer of the farm emerge; and finally, • Becoming an Agritourism Farm–captures the incremental process and key watershed moments associated with switching into agritourism. By exploring the experience of agritourism from the perspectives of the families, our understanding of agritourism has been expanded, while some of our pre-existing beliefs and assumptions about agritourism are also challenged. Getting involved in agritourism was articulated by farm families as occurring through a series of smaller, incremental decisions usually over several years as the farm naturally took on new and additional activities and eventually evolved into an agritourism enterprise. The transition revealed the place – the farm, and the people integral and historically associated with it – as a productive agricultural space was changing into being consumptive spaces. The unplanned transition into agritourism affected the farmer as well as other members of the family. However, the transition also sustained a farming identity and way of life in an era of intense globalization and agricultural intensification. This study sheds light on how different members of the families have been involved in the process, as well as illuminated new perspectives on: how agritourism sustains key characteristics defining a family farm, how the farm re-engages with consumers, how an entrepreneurial spirit is fostered, and how continuous adaptation on the farm ensures its viability for future generations of the family.

Agribusinesses are multifaceted businesses that may be involved in all the phases of agricultural production, processing, manufacturing, distributing, and retailing. Although US agriculture is a multi-billion dollar industry, the majority of agribusinesses are considered small firms, having less than $250,000 in annual gross sales. This study investigates potential innovative marketing approaches for US agribusinesses, specifically for small farms and agribusinesses. One marketing approach involves an agritourism marketing tool based on an agricultural geocaching program, AgCache. The second proposed marketing approach explores the specialty crops marketing channel to institutional foodservice establishments.  For AgCache, exploratory qualitative analysis was first conducted through a series of in-depth interviews with current AgCache site owners. This was followed by survey data collection and analysis using a probit model to assess the interest in hosting an AgCache. For the specialty crops marketing channel, a probit model was utilized in order to assess the barriers faced by small-scale specialty crop producers as well as their interests in selling to institutional foodservice establishments. Specific attention was paid to logistic and food safety marketing constraints. The results reveal that with adequate attention towards specified barriers, the two marketing approaches can be implemented by US agribusinesses.  As well, there is also a strong interest by small farms and agribusinesses to implement these two marketing approaches. This study provides information valuable not only to small farms and agribusinesses, but also to rural communities\' economic development and stakeholders involved in the agricultural industry. Results will be of interest to those in, and seeking to support agribusinesses and small-scale farms. / Master of Science

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have been used in several sectors and industries and have generated positive results especially in respect of increasing productivity and collaboration. While the discipline of social informatics has studied the use of ICT in agriculture and in tourism as separate fields, little work has been done to look at ICT use in agritourism – the intersection of agriculture and tourism. Even less (or no) work has been done on ICT use in agritourism in small island developing states, the Caribbean, or Jamaica. This thesis presents the first look at the variables to be considered in applying ICT to agritourism in the Jamaican context. A holistic view of the Jamaican agritourism sub-sector, in the form of the newly crafted Jamaican Agritourism Innovation System (JATIS) model, is presented showing the interactions among the various actors (sectors) required for successful ICT implementation. The JATIS model is an extension of previous Agriculture Innovation Systems (AIS) models and is specifically applied to the Jamaican context. However, as opposed to previous models, the JATIS highlights the critical role of purveyors, or middlemen, operating in Jamaican agritourism. The model formulates a mechanism, different from the current Jamaican agritourism structure, to include all industry players in the supply/demand interaction. The inclusion of all players is done through a series of farm and purveyor groups, enabled and facilitated by ICT. In addition, the model highlights the improved quality of information exchange among the players as a result of the modified interaction proposed. It might be possible to apply the model to other Small Island Developing States, particularly those in the Anglophone Caribbean, where the socio-cultural variables and economies are similar to Jamaica’s. However, further research will have to be conducted to verify, fine-tune, or customize the model for external application.

In the course of the modernization of Qatar, the need for camels has greatly diminished; herds have reduced in numbers and are now confined to enclosures. Overall, neglect of this valuable resource means that the camel is threatened with extinction. Currently, there is a need to address problems about sustainable development in Qatar by taking actions such as investing in the existing natural heritage to develop the use of indigenous animals like the camel. Through a review of past and present use of the native dromedary, a new type of sustainable agritourism will be developed that will provide a type of farm where visitors can learn about, and interact with, traditional animals. These farms will create a market for a range of camel products, thereby transforming the national symbol of the past into an icon of a sustainable future.