Last modified: 2011-02-11
Abstract
Danish agriculture is currently undergoing drastic changes, with effects not only for the business but also for rural areas in general, especially in peripheral areas. With the primary sector in general and family owned farms in general under pressure from structural adjustments in European agriculture and changing public views on landscape and environmental issues, farms have to either specialize, typically along with intensification, expansion of farm size or find niches to explore, taking a “post-productionist” path.
Rural tourism is often hailed as a solution or at least a remedy for struggling rural communities, affected by agricultural crisis, and is among the most often mentioned options for “alternative farm enterprises”. In a recent study, carried out through 2010, we looked at the potential for the development of farm based tourism in the framework of the highly specialized and very well organized Danish agro-industrial complex – through innovative approaches to establishment of new accommodation and development of existing businesses.
A number of semi-structured expert interviews and interviews combined with visits to hosts in different regions were carried out, along with a web-based survey and descriptions of five “good practice” cases. The results confirmed our assumptions of the importance of strong associations and networks for establishment and marketing of farm tourism enterprises. However, the answers also revealed that the typical holiday farm does not exist, with high variability of farm types, owners’ background and motivations, and varying degrees of involvement with local communities and local/municipal tourism service and development structures. A number of barriers for farmers or owners of country houses to enter tourism were also identified, including time constraints, insufficient training, planning and hygienic regulations and not least the difficulty of raising capital for refurbishing farm buildings into guest rooms or holiday apartments. It is therefore left to relatively few passionate and engaged entrepreneurs to establish and develop farm-based tourism.
Keywords: rural tourism, farm tourism, Denmark, diversification, Multifunctionality, innovation, entrepreneurship