A Study of Demand and Supply of Agritourism Activities (Case Study: Rural Areas of Semirom County, Iran)

Purpose- To develop agritourism, based on the supply and demand framework, it is essential to understand the preferences of tourists as well as the tendency and capabilities of the local community to participate in the development of agritourism. The study aims to examine tourists’ preferences, gardeners’ preferences and capabilities for agritourism activities, and to compare tourists’ preferences and gardeners’ preferences and capabilities regarding agritourism activities.Design/methodology/approach- The research method is a descriptive-analytical type carried out by a survey method. The study population consisted of 109 apple gardeners the 15 sample villages of Semirom County who were selected using a targeted sampling method, and 252 tourists who visited the sample villages. The data were collected using two researcher-designed questionnaires. To analyze the data, SPSS software along with inferential statistical methods, including One-sample t-test and Friedman were used.Findings- The findings indicated that tourists’ demand for agritourism activities is high and they are interested in all types of agritourism activities. Gardeners are willing to provide agritourism activities, but they have low capability to offer them to tourists. Also, the findings indicated no match between the demand and supply for agritourism activities; Tourists’ main preferences were for Agri-recreation, Agri-experience and Agri-accommodation, and food services, while the tendency and capability of gardeners were more about agri-entertainment and Agri-education.Practical implications- The findings will be useful for tourism planners to develop optimal strategies for developing agritourism with a better understanding of the behaviors and preferences of tourists as well as the willingness and ability of gardeners.Original/value- Using the integrated supply and demand framework to analyze the gap between tourists’ preferences and gardeners’ capabilities for agritourism activities is the innovations of the research.