How tourists change farms: The impact of agritourism on organic farming adoption and local community interaction in the Tyrol-Trentino mountain region

Abstract

Agritourism, a growing trend in rural tourism, offers various agricultural activities designed to draw visitors to farms. However, the impacts that tourists have on agricultural operations and farm families are still largely undocumented. This study focuses on the mountainous Tyrol-South Tyrol-Trentino Euroregion (IT – AT), aiming to explain how agritourism affects farms' adoption of organic production and engagement with local communities as proxies for environmental and social sustainability. We gathered data from 493 farms with and without agritourism through an online survey. A deeper analysis of the 229 agritourism operators, using logistic regression analysis, revealed that activities in agritourism encourages the adoption of organic farming practices, thus aligning with the farm families’ preferences for a more sustainable production. At the same time, hosting, and catering for holiday guests on the farm significantly reduces family free time and decreases the family interactions with the local community. Our findings shed light on the various indirect ways how tourists influence farms and their development strategies, emphasizing the need for further research to understand the broader and lasting effects of this shift from traditional farming to more complex farm settings that include service-oriented activities in rural areas.