Agritourism : market segmentation profile of potential and practising agritourists

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT:Rural tourism and agritourism are in their infant stages in South Africa. It benefits the farmer,the local community, the rural area, the tourist and the country. It is therefore a viable optionbut requires more research, management, planning and control for it to be successful.Many agritourism ventures are not as successful as they should be. The problem is thatfarmers/landowners do not research the demand for tourist products before they deliver themand do not know whom they are catering for. To stay competitive, the tourists' characteristicsought to be understood. This would provide insight into what facilities and services to supply,what resources to utilise and how to promote the agritourism destination.The aim of this study was to segment the potential and practising agritourists into differentclusters, according to their preferences, and to investigate the clusters' characteristics andbehaviours.The objectives were to:1. Investigate the potential and practising agritourists' socio-economic, demographic andtravel characteristics.2. Rate all the attractions, activities and services according to their popularity.3. Clarify the preferences of these tourists, concerning attractions and activities, bycombining similar ones.4. Divide the tourists into clusters of similar preferences.5. Compare the socio-economic, demographic and travel characteristics of the differentclusters of tourists.6. Produce a set of guidelines for entrepreneurs/farmers/landowners, as to what touristproducts they should supply or develop, and for whom, and how they should marketthem.This study entailed distributing questionnaires to potential and practising agritourists atshopping centres and farms involved in agritouri'swimming', 'picnicking', 'scenic drives', 'dams/lakes/pans' and 'small game' were the mostpopular agritourism attractions and activities. Factor analysis was used to reduce the number ofvariables by combining like variables (attractions) and cluster analysis was utilised to segmentthe respondents into five clusters of tourists with similar preferences for agritourism attractionsand activities. Cross tabulation, frequencies and descriptive statistics were used to describethese different clusters. These groups of tourists were described according to theirdemographic, socio-economic and travel characteristics.Segmenting tourism markets and compiling profiles of the tourists within each sub-market hasproved to be advantageous. Once the demands of the tourists are known, the appropriatefacilities and number of facilities can be developed. Knowing who the tourists are and where totarget them, will lead to better marketing, planning and promotion of the destination. Customersatisfaction will be increased, as it is known exactly who must be catered for, thereby resultingin repeat visits.The five clusters of tourists were: 'general nature tourists'; 'urban tourists'; 'hard outdooradventure tourists'; 'visual or soft outdoor adventure tourists'; and 'agritourists'. All thesetourists, except 'urban tourists', are excellent potential agritourists. The results of this studywere used to compile guidelines for entrepreneurs. These guidelines could help them indeciding who to target (which clusters), what agritourism products to develop (attractions,activities and services) and how to market them (means of advertising). Appropriateaccommodation types and the availability of equipment and facilities for activities also act asattractions.This study demonstrates an inexpensive method of gathering information about tourists, therebyimproving marketing and planning approaches. It illustrates how the potential and practisingagritourists can be divided into sub-markets. The agritourism market is a heterogeneous marketand must therefore be segmented. Any entrepreneur can use the results of this marketsegmentation. Any future studies, similar to this one, could consist of a sample much larger.As this study was primarily based in the Western Cape, similar research should be executed inother distinct regions. It would be illuminating to see how the groups of agritourists varyaccording to geographical areas.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University