The tourist on the farm: A ‘muddled’ image

Agritourism is promoted as a method of offsetting decline in farm incomes, and is defined in different ways which creates difficulties in attracting tourists. The present research contributes to a better understanding of agritourism, based on evidence in Wallonia (Belgium) and Luxembourg. It does so by studying the image held by four groups of actors: (i) farmers who provide ‘agritourist’ experiences; (ii) promotional organisations; and tourists who both (iii) have and (iv) have not engaged in agritourism. A mixed method study is based on data collected through 1148 tourist questionnaires and 65 interviews with farmers and representatives of tourism promotional organisations. The results illustrate that there is a lack of congruence between sectoral images with respect to the concept of agritourism and its development. Agritourism is a muddled concept between realities and stakeholder expectations but opportunities exist for targeting particular niche interests.