Vacation farms and ecotourism in Saskatchewan, Canada

Vacation farms represent an increasingly significant rural diversification option for chronically unstable agriculture-based economies such as Saskatchewan. Concurrently, ecotourism is a rapidly expanding form of tourism which could serve to enhance the recreation product of such rural enterprises. Accordingly, a self-administered questionnaire was sent to all listed vacation farm operators in the province to obtain information on the provision of ecotourism opportunities. Just over one-half (n = 40) of all operations returned a completed questionnaire. Of 23 listed recreation options, wildlife viewing was cited as the activity most frequently undertaken by vacation farm visitors, followed by hunting, casual photography and touring. Wildlife viewing occurred most commonly during the spring and summer, with access to the resource occurring mainly on foot, and less so by horse and vehicle. Birds were the most important category of wildlife viewed, followed by mammals and plants; reptiles/amphibians, insects and fish were of only minor significance. It was evident that the sampled vacation farm operators possessed very little training in the area of ecotourism; few barriers or opportunities related to the latter were indicated. Appropriate recommendations include the provision of ecotourism training opportunities, stronger linkages between vacation farms and public spaces, and further investigation into the relationship between wildlife viewing and hunting activities.