South Africa is part of a subtropical zone located on the southernmost point of the African continent and can be divided into nine provinces.
Agricultural production occurs under various conditions due to the diverse topography of the country. Between 2017 and 2018, there was a 3.95% increase in employment in the agriculture sector (Stats SA, 2018:1) and an increase of 12.7% in gross farming income between 2015 and 2016, specifically in horticultural products, field crops and animal products (DAFF, 2017:1).
This indicated a relatively slow growth within agriculture. Although the agriculture industry faces many challenges, it has many resources that can be utilised through agri-tourism. Agri-tourism is one way to address these challenges by creating an alternative source of income. Agri-tourism is a world-wide phenomenon defined by Irshad (2010:2) as “the act of visiting a working farm or any agricultural, horticultural, or agribusiness operation for the purpose of enjoyment, education, or active involvement in the activities of the farm or operation”.
Several people, entities and organisations have listed their top agri-tourism destinations around the world, for example:
- Top 8 agri-tourism destinations in the world (Lew, 2012): Taiwan; Tuscany; Mallorca (Spanish Island); Brazil; Hawaii; Grenada; California; and Philippines.
- Best agri-tourism destinations across the world (Tour de Farm, 2017): New South Wales, Australia; New Forest National Park, England; Carlton, Oregon; Mount Hualalai, Hawaii; Worcestershire, England; Watkins Glen, New York; British Columbia, Canada; and Pune, India.
- Best agri-tourism destinations around the world (Jay, 2018): Taiwan; Hawaii; and Tuscany.
- Agri-tourism opportunities around the world (Family Travel Forum, 2019): United States; Italy; Netherlands; New Zealand; United Kingdom; and Asia.
This concludes that agri-tourism is scattered around the world, with endless opportunities for South Africa. For the purpose of this study, agri-tourism is defined as any activity or attraction that allows the tourist to visit a working or commercial farm for the purpose of education, enjoyment or to be actively involved in the day-to-day activities of the farm. This creates several opportunities for farms to create additional income.
Even though this is a known phenomenon, information related to agri-tourism in South Africa is limited. It is therefore the aim of this study to determine the size and scope of agri-tourism in South Africa. The report is constructed as follows: Firstly, agri-tourism will be explained in a literature background as well as the 47 different agri-tourism attractions and activities as identified through this research. Secondly, the research aims will be discussed, as well as the different platforms used to gather the data. Thirdly, the results will be discussed, which are divided into the socio-demographics of respondents, marketing information, the current state of agritourism in SA, and future expansions of agri-tourism in SA. Finally, conclusions and recommendations from this study will be discussed. 3 2.
Ms Christelle van Zyl
North-West University Student
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