Perceived Benefits of Agricultural Lands Offering Agritourism

ABSTRACTThis study investigated residents’ perceived benefits of two types of agricultural lands (farms, cultivated forests) offering agritourism. Specifically, this study compared perceived socio-cultural, environmental, and economic services both types of lands produce and identified socio-economic, lifestyle behavioral, and past visit indicators associated with those perceptions. A survey was mailed to a random sample of 5000 households in Missouri (US), obtaining 969 responses. Respondents perceived that farms and forests produce several socio-cultural, environmental, and economic services to society, with few statistical differences between both. Socio-economic and lifestyle indicators were associated in different ways to residents’ perceptions of the services farms and forests provide. Socializing with friends and visiting those settings during childhood had a positive influence on all types of services derived from both settings. Policy, management, and marketing implications are discussed as to in...